Debutify Podcast

Phillip Akhzar is the Founder and CEO of Arka, a completely environmentally sustainable API that allows users to fully customize their brand's packaging designs. Phillip has over 16 years of experience in packaging and supply chain logistics and hosted a course with Shopify on packaging and shipping your products sustainably. From Boeing Aerospace to Silicon Valley startups like iCracked, Philip has brought his core competency at the biggest companies to businesses just getting their start.

On this episode, Phillip and I discuss what it takes to run a totally sustainable operation, how Arka can source all of their products locally in the United States, the impact his company has on the logistics industry, and much more.

Jason Somerville is a Founding Partner of GW Partners, a firm that combines the best elements of operational consulting, financial management, strategic planning, and M&A advisory services to help consumer brands transform into more valuable acquisition targets.

Jason is a seasoned entrepreneur and investment banking professional with nearly 20 years of experience in capital markets, M&A, strategic planning, business operations, and brand building. Before launching GW Partners, Jason executed over $50 billion of Fortune 500 capital markets transactions for companies like Bank of America and Bayview Asset Management. He also purchased, started, and exited five different companies as a solo entrepreneur. He has successfully executed over $300 million of M&A sell-side transactions in the e-commerce industry.

On this episode, Jason and I discuss the kinds of attributes that make an eCommerce brand an attractive acquisition target, the current M&A market environment for eCommerce brands, what founders should know about the acquisition process, and much more.

Justin Sardi is the CEO and Co-Founder of TubeSift, a YouTube Ads targeting tool that empowers users to set up high-performing video ad campaigns quickly by taking the manual work out of finding precision targeted, monetized placements for YouTube advertising campaigns.

TubeSift is trusted by thousands of entrepreneurs, business owners, marketing agencies and media companies to achieve the highest ROI for their video advertising campaigns. It is now the go-to software tool for anyone running video ads on YouTube. TubeSift has also been featured and recommended at Traffic & Conversion Summit 2019, the largest marketing event and conference in North America.

On this episode, Justin and I discuss Video Ad Vault, YouTube videos versus Podcasts, the demographics of YouTube, and much more.

Jim Kennemer is the Founder and Managing Director of Cosmo Sourcing, a full-service, general sourcing company with branches in China, Vietnam, and the US. Jim founded Cosmo Sourcing in Shanghai in 2012 and initially focused on sourcing outdoor gear under Hartford Outdoor Sports Supply. However, in 2014, he recognized the opportunity of Vietnam as a sourcing destination and moved to Ho Chi Minh City. At that time, he shifted to a general sourcing company and renamed it Cosmo Sourcing. Since then, he has helped over 1,000 clients find suppliers in China and Vietnam.

On this episode, Jim and I discuss the viability of Vietnam as a sourcing location, his experience creating a globalized workforce, the value of being adaptable, and much more.

Volodymyr Katanskyi is the Founder and CEO of Worklair, a one-stop solution for remote business management which includes project and quotes management, time tracking, invoicing, budget management, chat, and plenty more.

Volodymyr is considered an expert in telecommunication, productivity, and fin-tech software solutions, including Big Data and Blockchain technologies. His current portfolio counts more than 100 startups, Fortune 500 companies, and patent-pending applications.

On this episode, Volodymyr and I discuss project management, automation tools, organizing workflows, and much more.

Dmitry Kudrenko is the Founder and CEO of Stripo, an email editor platform that offers an intuitive email template builder featuring drag-and-drop and HTML editing tools. Stripo also has embedded tools for interactive content, modular email architecture, and plenty of other features so you can build emails lightning-fast.

On this episode, Dmitry and I discuss gamification strategies, the impact they have on the e-commerce industry, how brands can better engage with their customers through customization, and much more.

Samantha Kozuch is the Founder of the million dollar e-commerce business, The Maniscripting Journal, a manifestation, self-care, and goal-setting journal targeted for female entrepreneurs.

Samantha has experienced over a decade of transformations and changes in her life during her entrepreneurial career which started right after she graduated college. She is an ex-influencer and social media business coach now running an e-commerce business while teaching others how to step into power and create their own reality.

On this episode, Samantha and I discuss her pathway from getting arrested to creating a million dollar e-commerce business, embracing failure, self-care, and much more.

Dr. Brandon Chicotsky is the Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Marketing at TCU's Neely School of Business. Prior to joining the faculty at TCU Neeley, Dr. Chicotsky served on the business faculty at Johns Hopkins University and subsequently as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing at New York University.

Dr. Chicotsky’s career began in United States Congressional lobbying for military aid appropriations for allies abroad at a “top 3” firm, which provided professional inroads in the Middle East enabling his subsequent appointment in the private sector. Dr. Chicotsky’s entry into private equity was in Tel Aviv, Israel through an externship with New York University as a graduate student, which involved capital fundraising for a portfolio of technology startups from investor communities in Europe and Asia. 

This deal-flow led Dr. Chicotsky into Chief Marketing Officer roles in early-stage, and later, venture-backed endeavors, which began a decade of company building, capital fundraising, and more recently, angel investing and marketing advisorships.

On this episode, Dr. Chicotsky and I discuss the general demographics of entrepreneurs, how technology and marketing strategies have changed over the years, his new book Sales Millionaires: Industry Tales and Life Lessons from Those Who Made It (now available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble), and much more.

Neville Medhora is the Owner and Operator of Copywriting Course, a blog that helps existing businesses improve their copy and their conversion rates.

Neville figured out in the pre-Google days that you can get a bunch of very-targeted people to come to your website, consume your material, and even spend their money. He then applied this to every businesses he was a part of, including a rave company, the first financial blog online, Copywriting Course, AppSumo, and TheHustle.

Neville is fascinated by the ways in which humans can transfer information from one brain to another through different mediums. His fingers have typed words that’ve been sent across hundreds of millions of emails, his training videos have been viewed by thousands of entrepreneurs, and his self-proclaimed terrible jokes have made at least 3 people laugh.

On this episode, Neville and I discuss the misconceptions people have about copywriting, how to improve your copy, the blog community at large, and much more.

Joe Spisak is the Founder and CEO of Fulfill.com, a digital marketplace connecting companies with 3PLs. Joe is also the Creator of OK Boomer, a family trivia game, and the Founder and ex-CEO of ShipDaddy, a fulfillment solution for eCommerce businesses.

Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Joe worked at AT&T as a Senior Network Engineer and later as a Network Integration Engagement Manager, where he managed complex solutions for customer requirements. Joe also participated in a business sales leadership development program as an Account Executive.

On this episode, Joe and I discuss how he properly vets fulfillment centers, the matchmaking process of companies and 3PLs, his experience as a board game entrepreneur, and much more.