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Ben

@jabbawy

Followers
9,894
Following
1,880
Media
553
Statuses
8,414

Bringing commerce to recipe creators with . Founded + led from start through 9 figure exit.

Joined March 2009
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@jabbawy
Ben
6 months
Today I'm excited to unveil my new company: Grocers List. A commerce platform for food creators and the brands that sell through them. Tools that drive creator growth, and capture the insane intent behind recipe audiences. After Privy got acquired, I never thought I’d do it
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Advice I wish I had in 2012: Don’t build a deck. Build a business.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
I couldn’t be more excited to share that @attentivemobile has acquired @privy . Two industry leaders. Better together. I literally can’t stop smiling because of what this means for YOU, our customers + partners.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
Today is a once in a life time day as a founder. I get to press “send” on 152, life changing wires. Investors that took a bet on us. Employees that invested years of their career with us. Family + friends who put in the first checks to Privy.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Unfortunately, a family member of mine in Israel was at the festival working the event. He had been missing since October 7th. We got word that they found his body. 2 children. There are no words for this evil. I will not be silent as synagogues around the world get
@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
25 years AFTER the holocaust, on the 3rd night of Hanukkah, “militants” stormed into my dad's house, dragged him out in front of his parents and little sisters. They put him in prison and tortured him. Similar happened to another cousin of ours. She was five. 5 years old. For
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
2020: the year people recognize multiple @Shopify “apps” are building billion dollar businesses. Privy. Yotpo. Klaviyo. Gorgias. Smile. Shipbob............Even so, room for many more. Still early days.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Pulling together an expansive list of angels + VCs who invest in commerce SAAS and infrastructure. Who ya got?
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Over 10 years, we got 8 acquisition offers for Privy. Early on, we got offers from godaddy + hubspot. In the middle, we had a few PE deals on the table. Then we sold to a strategic. Today I share the early offers to demystify acquisitions structures for founders.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Being a founder is like getting punched in the face every day for 10 years. Even when things are going great. You ready for that?
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Last week marked the end of journey of a lifetime. 10+ years as founder + CEO of Privy now comes to a close. I'll continue supporting the Privy team + Attentive in an advisor capacity. 🙏 to everyone in the Shopify ecosystem for playing a role in making Privy what it is. 😢
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
I sold my company for $120M. There were many key people. Some positive forces. Others not so much. I still replay many moments. I'm launching a new type of podcast, exploring those moments w/ those key people. Season 1: Closure. Join my newsletter to be the first to know.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
There is a new cohort of next gen @shopify apps cropping up. In 3 years they will all be giants. Exciting to watch everyone.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
We do sabbatical when you hit 3 years @privy . Sending off our VP customer success for 4 weeks...
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Miraculous Monday.
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
“If you can get to 10 customers, you can get to 100” - @jasonlk (my guiding light in some of our early dark days in 2014 🙌). Next stop 50k
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Remember when we all used to commute for 2 hours a day to do work in the same, big, open room?
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
2015: we almost went out of business w/ $1k left in our bank account. 2019: we’re included in @Inc magazines list of fastest growing companies. Thanks to everyone that has believed in us along the way. Funny thing is the company has already doubled since.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
25 years AFTER the holocaust, on the 3rd night of Hanukkah, “militants” stormed into my dad's house, dragged him out in front of his parents and little sisters. They put him in prison and tortured him. Similar happened to another cousin of ours. She was five. 5 years old. For
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
We've accomplished a lot as a small team since 2015. $1M ARR. $5M ARR. Soon $10M ARR. But we're building to help ecom entrepreneurs grow. Today we crossed a HUGE milestone. We've now helped stores drive over $4B in sales using @Privy . That's what really matters.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Today we announced we're shifting work @privy to remain remote-first. I'm super excited about this next chapter.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
✌️
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
Jotting down some thoughts on being acquired. What a year 🙏.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Bullish on email, again, in 2021. Value of an email contact rose from $16 in 2019, to $33 in 2020. (From Privy data across 80M email contacts). Intent via email is incredibly strong. This is from @Shopify BFCM 2020.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Shopify is creating an entirely new category of app dev opportunity w/ Shop Minis. We were early building into core APIs + got in front of 2M stores. You can be early building Shop Minis + get in front of 10s of millions of monthly users! This is a massive opp for devs 👏👏
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Trying to find ecommerce operators sharing their stories. Who do you know running an ecom store between $0 and $2M in sales?
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
A startup only ends when the founders stop. If you have a team of 4, over a hundred thousand in the bank, and some MRR, this is the greatest part of the journey. Just spend all your time talking to customers and revenue will grow. Don’t rush into hiring.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Apres for a bit while I wait for my 6 year old to finish ski school. AMA.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
A glorious evening in WFH life. Got to watch my girl ride for the first time instead of commuting home.
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
Congrats to our friends @Shopify on the launch of Shop. Seamlessly following small brands I’ve ordered from + easy to find more. A win for small brands looking to drive repeat orders + get additional distribution, free. No brainer to check the box to enable for your store.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
Instagram vs reality of the passport photo at USPS.
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@jabbawy
Ben
10 months
Excited to launch our SAAS for recipe creators. The market has exploded, but they're cobbling things together that weren't built for them. Jumping back into B2B with a freemium offering built exclusively for recipe creators. Grow, engage + monetize a recipe audience. Never
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
“Hi Ben - we’ve lost executive sponsorship on the acquisition. Sorry, but we’re not going to buy the company.” This was a call I got in November 2014. It was the darkest moment of my career.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
In ecommerce, it's mobile first. Not "mobile friendly". 7 Billion sessions for Privy merchants in 2020, 73% mobile.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
This is a huge step for podcasting as a medium. Wow.
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@jabbawy
Ben
7 months
Founder-led sales. No CRM. Just this sheet that builds to 100 customers. 1 by 1. Progress every day. 100 this year. 1,000 next year.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Best feeling as a founder is hitting $1m ARR. Be sure to celebrate that one with the team. Few moments more special in the journey.
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
We don’t speak enough about the ratio of capital raised to revenues. So many in the @Forbes list are incredibly out of balance. Dangerous for everyone who works at companies like this.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
2019: We grew from $4M > $8M in ARR, so I set out to raise a round of funding. Every single firm passed. Every one. I truly don't hold it against any of them and learned a ton, it motivated me (+ worked out for the best). It'd be valuable for founders to understand why.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
@agazdecki Took us 4 years. Then went from 0-$1M in that 5th year, $10M in year 10.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Today we launch Privy for @Wix so that 600k stores can get the tools + coaching they need to grow from $0 -> $1M in sales. While we're brand new to Wix, we are not new to ecom. @privy has helped online brands make over $5B. I'm excited to see what we can do for Wix brands.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Tel Aviv for a few weeks feels right.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Big day for us @privy . I've been working with @shopify stores since 2015. My focus has been on stores working on getting that first sale through $1M+ in sales. One of the big challenges I've seen is app fatigue. As a small merchant, you don't need 30 apps for marketing 👇
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Ok let’s go
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
No. You do not need an iphone app for your ecommerce store.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Working out of my gym's cafe today. Guy next to me on a call talking about BFCM marketing plans for his Shopify store. Should I grab him for a few after the call?
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
March board update: 30% month over month growth
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
There's been a transformation happening for small brands on @Shopify : The old way: popup app + shipping bar app + cross-sell app + cart recovery app + email app + text app The new way: @Privy Shops want consolidation, ease of use + great support. New
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
Great play from @nomadgoods Using a single product image to showcase "new" vs "100 days used". Saves support time, and may hook buyers purely for the "used" look.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
If you build it, they won't come. Building a product is the easy part. Distribution is everything. What's your plan for getting customers?
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
We saw an all-time high in Shopify orders last week. Wow. Ecommerce is booming despite all the craziness out there. We're seeing some verticals skyrocket, others struggle, but as a whole, the numbers are climbing.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Incredible night with @harleyf and @mduboe . 2 legends supporting this ecosystem.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
0 to 7 Figures in 18 months with @EggrolI of Doe Lashes: - jumpstart w/ microinfluencers - find blogs answering customer questions, work to educate them about his product (+ get back links) - write educational content consistently to 3X traffic - Build email list early
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
✅cofounder ✅funding ✅customer waitlist ⏹️ first revenue (targeting next week)
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Thankful to spend some time with @fatimayusf these last 2 weeks. We built @privy into the @Shopify app store in June 2015. That was the moment our trajectory changed. The opportunity remains endless in this ecosystem 🙌.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
It's funny - this scene is always what I imagined it to be when we got acquired. Instead I was alone in shorts and flip flops on docusign.
@jaimeschmidt
Jaime Schmidt
3 years
4 years ago today, when I pulled an all-nighter negotiating the acquisition deal with Unilever. Putting that pen to paper was the most surreal moment of my life.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Gut wrenching moments as a founder kill or accelerate motivation. When our first M&A deal was pulled in 2015, we had $1k in the bank. Today we’re worth 10X more. When Covid struck we had a second deal pull out. I’m thankful it didn’t go through. We’ll grow 10X again.
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@jabbawy
Ben
6 years
2018 @privy : - 126k new merchants began using privy - success team resolved 12k+ tickets - merchants used privy to acquire 60M emails💌 - crossed 100M email signups - merchants drove 60M orders through privy campaigns 🛒 - 3x headcount growth 💃🕺🏽 - 2x revenue growth 🚀
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Has your CEO said anything yet? I know it’s hard to denounce terrorism, rape and pillaging. Hopefully soon your ceo will muster up the courage.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Ecommerce in a nutshell:
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Are you working on a DTC business? 2021 is all about story. 1. Drop in your brand URL 2. Let us know *why* you started
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Wrapping up a 3 month 🌍 adventure and back to the US this weekend. Lucky. Grateful. Ready to plan the next set of dreams. Taking meetings. (Full pics on IG)
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
Jan will cross 30K! Insane. Thank you all 🙏
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
A close friend in ecom. Sold his company. 3 kids. Called to defend his people. This is not that far from any of us. חזק וברוך
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
Tonight was the @privy holiday party. I gave a speech. I might have cried. It was an incredible night.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
The most humbling part of being a founder is that we all start at $0 in January. All of us. Every year. Go get it!
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@jabbawy
Ben
10 months
One of the fastest growing companies I invested in is looking for a first marketing hire. Grew from $500K to $2M ARR in 2023 Work directly with founder. Jumpstart the basics: case studies, nice looking content from canva, notify customer base of new feature launches, some
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
That feeling when your vision begins to come together 8 years later. Worth the wait.
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@jabbawy
Ben
7 months
Nothing more humbling than starting back at 0.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
✅first revenue < 60 days from first line of code I love freemium + the internet. More soon.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
✅cofounder ✅funding ✅customer waitlist ⏹️ first revenue (targeting next week)
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
I’ve learned a lot these 10 years, but the last few weeks have really boiled it all down for me. The the most important currencies in business are *integrity*, + building trust with everyone around you.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
✅ Successful kickstarter launch ✅ Raised $1M in funding ✅ Selling Zoe on ✅ Multiple viral hits So I had to ask @TheYelitsa in today's episode of Ecommerce marketing school: Do you ever do regular marketing like popups + email + stuff?
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
I'm launching a daily segment for the ecommerce marketing show. Taking all the data + tactics from the last 5 years, distilling things down for founders new to ecommerce. Less than 5 minutes a day, plays and tips you can steal
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@jabbawy
Ben
7 years
Updating our monthly numbers and crossing another major milestone in May. Realizing it took 5 years to reach $1M ARR. and only 1 year later crossing $3M ARR. Amazing what happens when you finally get over that $1M hump in SaaS.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Daughter and I working hard on a new DTC olive oil company.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
$1m in ecommerce revenue. $0 in paid spend. @itsviviankaye is a legend.
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@jabbawy
Ben
9 months
My daughter wrote me a bday card, and gifted me $1 of the $10 she has in her piggy bank and now I’m ready to melt.
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@jabbawy
Ben
11 months
If you are sub $5M + growth slows from 100% to like 30%, it may be hard to stomach but here’s the truth. You are off the venture path. Completely. So shed all venture path leaders+ expenses. Get to breakeven tomorrow. Keep a team of doers. Survive first, then grow.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Lots of over capitalized apps without enough momentum in Shopify ecosystem right now. Expect things to get ugly next few months. Be ruthless about rallying the team to profitability (even if your investors disagree). Still the greatest ecosystem. Just different.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Your flight is at 11 AM. What time do you show up to the airport?
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
This weekend I am coaching my 4 year old daughters pre-k soccer team and I’ve never been more nervous in my life.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Having fun building again. Here's the first breadcrumb. It's super fun. A free consumer service that turns IG recipe posts into shoppable ingredient lists. Expanding into more tools specific to recipe creators. Give it a go by signing up (free) through the link in our IG
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
Proud of the team for launching today. We're doing everything we can to support our customers in this chaotic time. Get listed on the world's first marketplace for small ecommerce brands like yours. Submit your store today:
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
@saraduit A path to profitability helps
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
As a shopify app dev, how you price and package your offering can drive tremendous upside. Today's post is the full history of our pricing efforts, and a ton of what I learned a long the way.
@Zero2Exit
Zero to Exit
2 years
The power of pricing and packaging for your shopify app. Here's the full evolution of our app's pricing and what we learned along the way.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
Are you even a founder until an acquisition term sheet gets pulled? Sadly, Just got this text from a friend. Market is hot, but this is the 5th TS I’ve seen get pulled this year. I remember every word of my phone call when this happened to me in 2014. Always will.
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Firing. One thing every founder needs to get comfortable with. The sooner you understand that, the better. Every minute you wait puts your team and business and cash at risk. Just handle it as swiftly and generously as you can.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
From $6M to $100M @ridgewallet , I caught up with CMO @couuor - experimentation and the ability to fail - growth levers for Ridge - his love of post purchase real estate and @disconetwork
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
👀
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Launching something new. Audience is founders + app developers building in commerce. Room for a single, presenting sponsor across all assets (content, newsletter, podcast). Last podcast I did got to 40K monthlys. DMS open.
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@jabbawy
Ben
3 years
"we never discount"
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
Dad always taought me you treat everyone with respect. Coolest part about this is that I did not start this effort. Love the incredible people @privy .
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Chargebacks. At one point we had 10K monthly charges on stripe, + tons of chargebacks. Nightmare. Manually gather evidence, screenshots, write up responses + still lost most of them. Which is why I'm excited to participate in the seed round of @ChargeflowHQ 💳. Fully
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Ramping up investments in the next generation of founders building SAAS for commerce. If you're interested in coming in along side me, slide into DM and I will add you to my syndication email list. Most recent investments below:
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Booth is prepped and ready for shoptalk. Figured it would be fun to offer camel rides to anyone who signs up for a demo! LMK if you’ll be in town.
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@jabbawy
Ben
5 years
Big day here at @Privy . We started by helping merchants convert leads. The original channel was email. Over time, small ecom brands started asking us for more + we expanded the suite with email, and today, Privy text. Dead simple text marketing for ecommerce.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Most importantly I'm chillin with my wife + 2 daughters, planning some major travel for 2023. Morocco > Egypt > Israel > Greece > Italy > Portugal Don't be shy - I can't sit still for long, and happy to help in any way I can.
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@jabbawy
Ben
2 years
Genuine question - is anyone buying DTC brands at healthy multiples? Seeing people making investments (I'm one of them). But unlike SAAS, haven't seen a ton of M&A activity btw $50-$250M. At least, not like SAAS. Curious what happens or if cashflow is the optimal path.
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@jabbawy
Ben
4 years
👀
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@jabbawy
Ben
1 year
Religious persecution and prison couldn’t hold this guy back from immigrating and crushing the American dream. Forever grateful for this guy.
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