I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Nate Ginsburg, an entrepreneur, investor, world traveler, and yogi. After selling his eCommerce business in 2017 Nate now invests in and helps accelerate other eCommerce brands. Nate believes building businesses is the best vehicle for freedom and wealth and that the popular eCommerce industry is poised for even more growth in the coming decade. He is passionate about helping others build better businesses and shares his journey as well as expert interviews on his Ecom Exits Podcast. 

After achieving such great successes, he’s not stopping to celebrate and has created a value-packed podcast that breaks down for motivated entrepreneurs what it takes to succeed in such a competitive market.

I spoke to him to learn how he and some of the ECommerce industry leaders are growing, scaling, and selling their companies. 

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us your origin story? Who is Nate Ginsburg?

Thanks for having me on. Really glad we are doing this! I guess my story starts in a small bamboo covered hostel common room in this little town called Pai in northern Thailand. I was backpacking on my way home after finishing teaching English in Korea for a year after college. Wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life but knew I didn’t want to do a traditional 9 to 5. 

I met this guy Andrew in the hostel who was running his own online business. He really inspired me! After meeting Andrew I knew that I wanted to build my own online business. 

Fast forward about 10 years, probably 30 countries, 6 businesses, 2 exits, infinite lessons, and here we are today. I believe we all can achieve whatever we want with the right teachers and community. So I hope my story can help inspire some people to follow their dreams too. 

What’s your podcast about? What is the main value people get from listening?

The Ecom Exit show helps eCommerce entrepreneurs build better, more profitable businesses that they can successfully exit for millions. We have interviews with top marketers, business brokers, 8 figure success stories, and more. 

ECommerce is a space that has become crowded with get rich quick schemes. What are your thoughts on this?  

There are scammers and get rich quick in any space, in eCommerce as well as other business models. To have success you need to play the long game. Success doesn’t come overnight. It’s about surrounding yourself with the right people, having a proven plan, and making progress every day. People need to remember its a marathon and not a sprint. Success is staying in the game for 10 years. Learning and improving. Not blowing up overnight. 

Based on your experience, what’s the best type of ECommerce business to create and sell? 

The best business that will get you the highest multiple is going to be a diversified brand. Not just selling on a single channel. So for example a brand that is selling on Amazon, with paid ads on their own store, generating revenue with email marketing, etc. That will get you the highest valuation. 

Can you specifically address how to start and scale and ECommerce business as you have? Step by step, how did you do it? 

Well my biggest e-commerce success was selling on Amazon. There is definitely an opportunity there still. But it’s also challenging. Specifically with cashflow. It’s a very capital intensive business. 

If I was starting a new brand today, I’d start with a niche or products that solve a pain. Then you can use spy tools to reverse engineer what the top sellers are doing. It’s pretty crazy. You can see their ads on different platforms and even how much they are spending. I think its best to work backward and model after what is working. 

Can you share any suggestions for newbies who have no experience with ECommerce. Are there potential obstacles or issues they should be prepared for with this lifestyle? 

You should think about this as a long game and building skills. Different eCommerce models can teach you different things. For example, Amazon FBA teaches you how to source/manufacture products, manage supply chain etc. Dropshipping will teach you how to leverage advertising. 

Look at your products as steps in your journey and not the final solution if that makes sense. Success rarely happens right away. And that’s ok. As long as you are learning and building better skills and keep at it you’ll find the success you are looking for. 

You run a powerful podcast that helps experienced entrepreneurs and novices learn how to exit seven-figure online companies. If you could put into words what people get listening to your action-packed podcasts, what would that be?  

These days I’m obsessed with building, scaling, and exiting eCommerce businesses and I am grateful that so many amazing people are down to come on my show to share with our listeners.  I like to keep it real on my show and really dive into my guest’s story and experience to pull out their lessons. I’m a naturally curious person, and so I always have tons of questions myself. 

Finally, can you please give us your favorite  “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? 

You’re the average of the five people you most surround yourself with. This has been the most powerful rule in my life! Remember though your 5 people don’t physically have to be near you. That’s why podcasts can be so powerful. Surround yourself with amazing people in your earbuds to help you learn and achieve more. 

Thank you for these great insights!