Amazon Shifts to Optional Channel; DTC Remains Most Profitable
AMZ is moving from mandatory -> ancillary. 17% like selling on AMZ. 93% like selling on their own site. And DTC is more lucrative. Even after accounting for the increased CAC spend, DTC-first brands are making more money per our recent Trends Report. Can't ignore brand demand on AMZ, makes sense to capture it. But as an optional pain-plagued growth channel? AMZ can only squeeze so much. #chartoftheweek
10‑20% Growth Unlocks Cash Extraction After $1M
Extracting capital from a fast growing eCom business is nearly impossible. But there's a sweet spot where it does make sense. I surveyed 200+ store owners to figure out where. Here's what I found: The magic growth range is 10-20% annual revenue growth. Half of...
Financial Fluency Doubles Owners' Cash Extraction From Revenue
If you don't have financial fluency, your chances of turning business revenue -> personal cash plummet. I have the data to prove it. I surveyed 200+ store owners as part of the 2026 eComFuel Trends Report (full report coming soon). One of the...
Build a Personal Cash Cushion, Not Just Business Equity
How much of your net worth is your business? Knot in your stomach? Keep reading. Roman Khan (@RomanEcom) spoke at one of our eComFuel events a few years ago. If you ever get the chance to meet Roman in person, do...
Raise Prices Now: Stop Giving Customers a Hidden Tax
Are you paying a 50% tax you didn't vote for? You're just gifting it to your customers instead of the government. Here's how: Say you're a store doing $3M at 10% margins makes $300K in profit. You finally raise prices 15%, something that's LONG...
Lean Teams and Outsourcing Drive Higher Profits
One store owner in @ecomfuel had 35 people on payroll. He made some hard calls. Hired a 3PL. Replaced most full-timers with freelancers. Today he has one employee and eight contractors. His profits have never been higher. And his management stress is...
Liquidity Beats Private Deal Hassles, Even for Savvy Investors
I know a guy who bought Tesla in the early 2010s, close to the IPO. Made a killing. And he'd made a lot of other really savvy bets over the years. So I was excited to have him in the syndicate I was...
Personal Guarantees Threaten Your Assets—Test Before Signing
One of the most terrifying moments for @billda happened in a deal we did together. He was sitting in his car in a parking lot, hands shaking, staring at a letter. Our main supplier—80% of the SKUs—was terminating us. And he was...
Profit on Paper ≠ Cash; Forecast to Stay Afloat
You can have your best year ever, revenues up 500%. ...yet STILL run out of money. 💀 Cash and profit are not the same thing. Your P&L says you made $250K in paper profits. But that cash isn't sitting in your bank account. It...
LLM Ads Outperform Meta; Human‑Verified Badges Rise
Well, this is interesting. Update on a few of my 2026 predictions: #1 - LLM Ads Predicted they would knock the socks off of Meta ads. It's early, but reports of OpenAI charging the beta group $60 CPMs, roughly...
Profits Don't Prevent Bankruptcy—Cash Flow Is Critical
Your P&L looks incredible. Record profits. Then you go bankrupt. How?! By misunderstanding what your financial statements are telling you. Think of your business as an airplane. Your income statement represents trajectory. Assuming you can survive any turbulence and keep flying, you'll get...
Own Your Money: Monthly Spot-Checks Prevent Financial Disasters
Financial Commandment #1: Your money, your responsibility. Running @ecomfuelco for 12+ years, I've watched hundreds of store owners behind the scenes. The ones who blow up often have one thing in common: they're mentally checked-out financially. Not the work. The ownership. Big...