Creating Ecommerce Kings - Mark Thomann - Amazon Legends - Episode # 141

Successful Amazon brands are a hot commodity for investors, but in order to successfully exit or scale, you need to approach it the right way. Mark Thomann is a kingmaker, a lifelong entrepreneur, and the managing partner of Spiral Sun Ventures. Mark gives a peek behind the curtain to explain what investors are actually looking for when assessing a company. Mark also shares retail best practices, how to pitch your company to investors, and what selling on Amazon can do for business.

Takeaways: 

• The first thing venture capital firms look at before investing in any business is the entrepreneur leading the business, their personality, and their values. If that person is a fit, then they will look at the category.
• Many investors prefer to invest in blue ocean companies with very innovative products while avoiding niche products in a highly-competitive red ocean market.
• It’s crucial for founders to be extremely self-aware and cognizant of their own weaknesses. It really helps to surround yourself with people that are better at certain things than you. 
• It’s more important to establish a personal connection with investors and ensure there is alignment before having them look through your slide deck and financials. 
• The founder of a company is so important because they are usually the source of innovation that keeps the company fresh. This is part of the reason that investors focus so much on aligning with the right founders. 
• Truly successful entrepreneurs will never quit on their vision instead, they will take that vision and pivot to a different approach that offers greater opportunities. 
• Selling on Amazon provides companies with better feedback and gives them a greater understanding of their customers than they would get from trying to fight for shelf space in a big box store. It’s also much easier to educate customers by selling on Amazon.

Quote of the Show:

• “Amazon has changed the way early stage companies and consumer products can build and scale” - Mark Thomann

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-thomann-0626815/
• Email: [e-mail]
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiverWestBrands
• Spiral Sun Ventures website: https://www.spiralsunventures.com/
• Pacas website: https://www.pacas.us/pages/meet-paca

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