Jason Hui's Linkedin Analytics

Finally went to an Ecom North event this week. It did not disappoint. Met some really great founders doing incredible things. Also got to listen to Dan Demsky, one of the founders of Unbound Merino talk about growing his business to over $40M annually.  Here’s my biggest takeaways from his talk… 1️⃣ Find your Nolan At the early stages of your company’s growth, you can’t afford to bring in a lot of people with extensive expertise. They just cost too much. What you can do is find people that share the same values and have the ability to figure shit out on their own. For Dan, that was Nolan and we all need to ‘find our Nolan’. Stop constantly hunting for A Players. Build a place that makes them.  2️⃣ Being Lazy is a Strength If you are smart and lazy you tend to find ways to get things done quicker and more efficiently. I’m a strong believer that all of our biggest weaknesses are our biggest strengths. Find ways to point your “weakness” in the right direction. 3️⃣ Finding Freedom Dan talked about travelling and having fun with his co-founders who, coincidently, are his long time friends. He’s a real inspiration on how to build a business you are actually excited to show up to. I’ve struggled with this if I’m being honest. Real freedom is something I’ve been chasing since starting my own business. → No more sitting through back to back meetings → No more fixed 9 to 5  → No more commuting just to sit in a half empty office Chasing revenue targets has pulled me away from the real freedom I want so bad. → More time with my boys.  → More time to travel.  → More time with the important people in my life. And yes, having a lot of fun along the way. 2024 was probably the opposite of the “freedom” I'm looking for but I’m determined to not make the same mistake this year.  Find your freedom and fun. Life’s too short not to. Side note: Loving the resort vibes. For 30 mins at least, I felt like I was hanging out in Hawaii! Thanks again Nicasio Co III for the invite!

The best team management tool I've found isn't an app or framework. It's actually much simpler than that. It's getting to know the people on your team. I was in Austin last week for Rachel Jacobs 🇺🇦 Ecommerce Agency Summit and someone mentioned struggling with different personalities on their team. I shared with her our "Working With Me" doc - a tool I borrowed from Val Geisler years ago when she posted about it. We use it as part of onboarding for every new hire. It's simple: Each team member creates a document that outlines thing like: → How they communicate best → What motivates them → How they prefer feedback → Working style and boundaries The key insight? It's easier to adapt YOUR approach to what brings out the best in others than expecting everyone to adapt to you. This single doc has reduced conflicts, shortened onboarding, and helped different personalities collaborate instead of getting frustrated with one another. I'll share our modified template in the comments if you'd like to try it out. Would love to get your thoughts and feedback on it.

Is this the future? Took my first ever fully autonomous Uber today in Austin. Felt a bit unreal. AI is coming fast and the truth is, it will take a lot of jobs over. We all need to be prepared for what that means. Rather than fear it. Embrace it. There are problems in this world worth solving and maybe with AI we can focus on them.

Google Shopping are you ready for this? ChatGPT search with shopping features is here. Gave it a quick try searching for a new spatula. Side note: I've melted 🔥 one too many spatulas.

I realized something crazy about eCommerce today. Shopify now hosts over 2.5 million active stores. Amazon has 9.7 million sellers competing for attention. The barrier to entry? Almost gone. This is fantastic for entrepreneurs. But it's also been a growing storm causing CAC to rise and LTV to drop. Here's the hard truth... Most consumers can't tell the difference between your brand and 15 others selling similar products. We've created a sea of sameness. → Same messaging → Same templates → Same benefits → Same design → Same copy Your brand is lost in the noise. The brands winning today aren't just selling products. They're selling a distinct point of view. They understand their customer's better than their competitors. I've analyzed hundreds of brands this year, and the pattern is clear: The brands that win don't just know WHAT their customers want. They know WHO their customers want to be. You need to ask yourself an honest question... Is your brand really different or just another store in a sea of millions? Let me know in the comments the brands you think do this well. Will drop a few personal favorites there.

Do you know the problem with the world today? No one is listening. We live in the attention economy and it feels like we are screaming over each other just to be heard. One of the things we understand at Taken Digital is the power of… LISTENING We help brands scale their DTC channel beyond $100M+ by connecting the dots between customer insights and increasing LTV. Helping better understand customers so brands aren’t just pounding them with discount after discount after discount. When we onboard a new client, we kickstart month 1 with: → Customer surveys → Customer interviews → Short email questions → Social and forum listening → Customer service ticket reviews → Deep dives into buyer journey data → Review mining (brand + competitors) → Competitor reviews on messaging & pricing Your customers are telling you: ↳ their pain points ↳ what they are looking for  ↳ why they are or are not buying. The problem is Most brands aren’t listening. That’s why there are so many brands that sound and look the same. The only differentiator... Who’s running the biggest discount this weekend. It’s a race to the bottom. If you are tired of competing in a crowded space send me a message. As a proud quiet introvert, I would love to show you how we can help you listen to your customers better. It's what we do best.

My immigrant parents taught me all you need is hard work + grit. Put your head down and you can do anything. I thought that... → I could start a business and do it all on my own → I could go further and faster solo → Asking for help was a sign of weakness What I learned over the years is that I was wrong. Dead wrong. All this did was cause me to: → take too long to make decisions → repeat mistakes I already made → burn out multiple times I wanted to prove to myself I could do it all on my own. So that I could prove that I was enough. But I’ve learned that you go further and faster with help. I learned how to… → find opportunities to meet other people → have a give - give - get mentality → invest in relationships People say that a rising tide lifts all boats. Community is 100% that rising tide. If you’re still trying to do it all on your own. Stop. Go out and find your community. P.S. Shout out to Rachel Jacobs 🇺🇦 for building the best community for DTC eCommerce agencies. This photo was from a few weeks ago in Austin where I reconnected with and met a lot of new incredibly smart, talented and giving people.

This week I went to TechTO Commerce. It was a great event filled with some terrific speakers and I got to meet and reconnect with some amazing people. Here were a few highlights. 1️⃣ Ran Goel from Mama Earth Organics Ran talked about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. He was honest in telling us you can’t always have it all. That you need to be aware of the sacrifice you are and aren’t willing to take. This one really hit home. As someone trying to balance out being a good dad with a great entrepreneur, I’ve struggled with this. Even attending this event, I felt the guilt of having a very sick son at home. We need to be aware of the things we are willing to sacrifice. If not, your success can come at the cost of something you really care about. 2️⃣ Ghassan Halazon from EMERGE Commerce (TSXV: ECOM) Ghassan gave my new favorite quote: “I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time.” - Michael Jordan 🐐 He talked a lot about resilience and grit during challenging times. I think everyone who works in eCommerce dealing with uncertainty and tariffs can agree with this one. Remember, the game isn’t over yet. 3️⃣ Jake Karls from Mid-Day Squares Jake talked about the importance of authenticity, vulnerability and transparency. I’ve struggled a lot with this one, particularly here on Linkedin. - Do people care about my struggles as a dad + entrepreneur?  - Do people really care about stories about my asian immigrant parents? - Do people really want to hear about the challenges of running an agency? Or are they really just attracted to “success” and want to see the glossy versions of ourselves we all put in front of the world? What I’ve realized is… That I’ve been telling myself a lot of stories I shouldn’t. What I should be doing... Being unapologetically myself and telling stories about me. PS. Please support these wonderful #CanadianBrands that were at the event! Itso Coffee, Beck's Broth, Classic Juice Co, Mid-Day Squares, Mama Earth Organics, Sasellie Inc. Thanks again Rob Manne for the invite and ticket. It was a good one. #TechTO

Someone told me yesterday they felt like an imposter. It made me think of all the times I did too. I felt like an imposter ↳ training people at Ford ↳ writing code at Microsoft ↳ being a Product Manager for SaaS ↳ Leading digital transformation projects ↳ Facilitating workshops with C-Suite execs ↳ building data warehouses for major banks ↳ Implementing a supply chain management system ↳ Launching new websites for brands like Smuckers ↳ Managing SFMC for brands with millions of subscribers ↳ Leading & managing a team of super smart marketers ↳ Teaching a lifecycle marketing class to grad students ↳ Starting my own marketing agency in eCommerce ↳ Networking with agencies 10x our size The thing is, you feel like an imposter... When you're doing something you've never done before. It means you are growing and pushing yourself past your limits. If you don't feel like this, you likely aren't growing. So for anyone out there feeling like an "imposter" You should be proud of yourself. It's a good thing.