Steve Simonson is a lifetime entrepreneur who has founded, purchased, and sold numerous companies over the past 30 years. Currently, he is the Founder of the Catalyst88 MasterMind and the Managing Director of SYMO Global, a consultation practice with a team of experienced marketing and operational executives. Steve also runs the Awesomers.com podcast and website for entrepreneurs.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Steve Simonson discusses the Catalyst88 MasterMind and how it differs from other Amazon mastermind groups
- Steve’s take on the recent interest in investing in private label brands
- The biggest questions and concerns among large sellers looking to exit
- How to start standardizing and documenting your operating procedures before a sale
- Steve’s tips for determining when to exit your business
- The rise of microbrands on Amazon
- Steve talks about finding the right exit strategy for your brand and shares his predictions for the future of investors
In this episode…
Within mastermind groups, it’s easy for the conversation to solely focus on the small stuff — the hacks and tactics that come from years of experience in entrepreneurship. Lifetime entrepreneur Steve Simonson, on the other hand, would rather focus on the big picture: how to build a substantial business.
With Steve’s Catalyst88 MasterMind, his mission is to help Amazon brand owners master the full process of running a business. He helps them perfect their strategies, improve their systems, and scale their brands to success. Now, with the recent interest in investing in private label brands, Steve also shares his expertise on creating an effective exit strategy. So, what is his advice for Amazon entrepreneurs looking to sell their brands?
In this episode of the BBE podcast, James Thomson is joined by the Catalyst88 MasterMind Founder Steve Simonson to talk about his members’ thoughts on the recent changes in the FBA space. Steve discusses the rising interest in investing in private label brands, the top concerns among Amazon entrepreneurs, and his tips for crafting an effective exit strategy for your business. Stay tuned.
Resources Mentioned in this episode
- BBE
- Controlling Your Brand in The Age of Amazon: The Brand Executive’s Playbook For Winning Online by James Thomson and Whitney Gibson
- James Thomson on LinkedIn
- Steve Simonson
- Steve Simonson on LinkedIn
- Catalyst88 MasterMind
- SYMO Global
- Awesomers.com
- Product Savants
- GETIDA
Sponsor for this episode…
BBE applies decades of e-commerce experience to successfully manage their clients’ marketplace accounts. The Buy Box account managers specialize in combining an understanding of their clients’ business fundamentals and their in-depth expertise in the Amazon Marketplace.
The team works with marketplace technicians using a system of processes, proprietary software, and extensive channel experience to ensure your Amazon presence captures the opportunity in the marketplace–not only producing greater revenue and profits but also reducing or eliminating your business’ workload.
BBE prides itself on being one of the few agencies with an SMB (small to medium-sized business) division and an Enterprise division. Buy Box does not commingle clients among divisions as each has unique needs and requirements for proper account management.
Learn more about BBE at BuyBoxExperts.com.
Podcast Episode Transcripts:
Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.
Intro 0:09
Welcome to the BBE podcast we bring to light the unique opportunities brands face in today’s e commerce world.
James Thomson 0:18
A couple months ago, we did a special series of podcast episodes, featuring FBA aggregators, investors, brokers, bankers and some sellers that had recently sold their businesses to these investors. It was one of the most successful podcast series we’ve ever done at BBE. And now we’re adding a new sequence. We’re going to be talking to a number of mastermind leaders, talking to them about what their members are saying what they’re thinking about, as they look at all this investment money now flowing into the space. Hope you enjoy our series over the coming weeks. I want to thank the folks that GETIDA, our sponsor for this series. GETIDA is a global leader in Amazon FBA auditing reimbursements, analyzing Amazon data and reconciling FBA inventory, filing claims for reimbursement on the behalf of sellers, check out getida.com to learn more, enjoy our series. Hi, I’m James Thomson, one of the hosts of the BBE podcast. I’m a partner with BBE and the former business head of the selling on Amazon team at Amazon, as well as the FBA account manager. I am the coauthor of a couple of books in Amazon, including the recent book Controlling Your Brand in the Age of Amazon. Today’s episode is brought to you by BBE. BBE takes ambitious brands and makes them unbeatable. When you hire BBE you receive the strategy optimization and marketing performance to succeed on Amazon. We also help investors with due diligence services go to BuyBoxExperts.com to learn more. Before I introduce our guest today, I want to send a big shout out to the team at GETIDA. A global leader in Amazon FBA auditing and reimbursements, GETIDA analyzes your Amazon data reconciles your FBA inventory and files claims for reimbursements on your behalf. To learn more, check out getida.com. Our guest today is Steve Simonson, founder of the Catalyst88 MasterMind group of large private label sellers that leverage the Amazon channel. Steve is also the co-founder of Product Savants, an organization that helps private label sellers identify and source the best products for Amazon sales. Steve is managing director of SYMO Global, a consultation practice comprised of experienced internet marketing, and operational executives that have partnered up to help other companies reach their goals. Steve runs Awesomers.com, a podcast that shares entrepreneurs’ insights on how to be successful while streamlining. Steve, welcome. And thank you for joining us today on the BBE podcast.
Steve Simonson 2:57
Hey, James, certainly a pleasure to be here. And in my spare time. I also will braid hair. So anybody who needs hair braiding, hit me up on the DM that’s what they call it. That’s what the kids say,
James Thomson 3:07
For all of the folks that have not gotten a haircut in the last year. There may be some hair to braid. So
Steve Simonson 3:14
yeah, nice for demand.
James Thomson 3:17
Let me start by asking you, Steve with Catalyst88. Your mastermind a private label sellers leveraging the Amazon channel. I’d love to hear more about your group and how it differentiates itself from other masterminds of Amazon sellers.
