#79: David Davis II (FBA Flip)

--AI-generated--

David Davis II [00:00:00]:
The moment you decide you don't wanna work a 9 to 5, you just signed up to work 247. The entrepreneurial journey is is one that never that never rests, you know, because there's always something to be done. And especially if you're in the role of being the creator and being that person to drive the progress, there's always something to be done even if there's nothing, you know, tan even if there's nothing tangibly there, you know, to maintain, there's always something to create to eventually maintain.

Jeffrey Stern [00:00:24]:
Let's discover the Cleveland entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are telling the stories of its entrepreneurs and those supporting them. Welcome to the Lay of the Land podcast where we are exploring what people are building in Cleveland. I am your host, Jeffrey Stern, and today, I had the real pleasure of speaking with a friend and with someone who I admire deeply as a true champion of Cleveland, David Davis. David is a native Clevelander where he currently resides. After high school, David directly immersed himself into the tech startup world. He's been an entrepreneur his entire life. Since the age of 13, he's been involved in various direct to consumer ecommerce projects generating over 7 figures before he turned 21.

Jeffrey Stern [00:01:10]:
Gathering years of experience in online retail, David recently founded FBA Flip, a marketplace to service the emerging world of ecommerce m and a transactions in the Amazon ecosystem. David is an orator with an endless mental well of intellectual and well thought out ideas. It's always a real pleasure getting to hear his perspective on entrepreneurship, the changing dynamics of the modern Internet first world we find ourselves in, and the challenges, the opportunities, and the prospects for the city of Cleveland. Please enjoy my conversation with David Davis. So this this conversation, I feel like has been somewhat years in in the making. I I feel like, you know, I'm glad that we finally get to have it.

David Davis II [00:01:56]:
I know. I'm glad to be here.

David Davis II [00:01:58]:
So having kinda talked in-depth with you about your own work and perspective on Cleveland and and entrepreneurship more generally. I've I've been very much looking forward to to sharing your perspective with a a broader audience tuning in, and we'll we'll get to really the breadth of work that you're doing. But but I wanna start with with your history. I know you've you've had a rooted interest in entrepreneurship from a young age, and I'd love if you could take us through your background because it's it's such a a fascinating story.

David Davis II [00:02:27]:
Yeah. Oh, for sure. So I I really got into ecommerce and selling online when I was probably about 13 or 14. It really wasn't you know kinda in an enterprise level at this point. You know, it was more just kinda just independently, you know, just run, just kinda just really almost looking at this as a job for myself, just kinda just when I was in school, just kinda just learning, just learning a couple, you know, just skills about, you know, pay per click marketing, just, you know, different stuff, SEO, just, you know, just website design, different different digital skills, you know. As I as I went on and I started creating my own websites, as I just started to sell things online, I just started to realize, you know, at this time, and keep in mind this is probably my freshman year, sophomore year of high school at this time, so this Yeah. Yeah. And And you know, you'll see, you know, as the story goes on and stuff, just, you know, being in school and at how, you know, just this professional development, you know, like, progressed, you know, and presented a conflict eventually.

David Davis II [00:03:17]:
But pretty much, you know, I I was so interested, you know, just in like the emerging world of just the fact these things could even be done online. And this is like I said, this is 2014, 2015, and I'm 14 or 15 at this time, so nothing is serious. You know? So I'm just playing around online, you know, kinda selling stuff on Shopify and stuff, but but having success in doing so. You know? And and that being said, I just continue to to progress and start to realize, if I'm having this type of success in school and doing this kind of in a part time way, I wonder what could ever happen if I really got serious about it. You know? And I felt as though, you know, at that time, I had, what, enough enough proof of concept to even, you know, like, feel justified to take a leap, you know, more in, like, the entrepreneurial direction just because I felt as though just whatever I had been done, like, just on a rudimentary level had gone well to a degree, you know, I just almost needed to I needed to prove it to myself. Could this go further? You know, so then I continued really, when I was about I'm gonna say maybe 15 or 16, I probably took my next step. I used to, like I said, I used to sell shoes online and stuff. I used to like kinda just do consignment and stuff, sell my own shoes and stuff like that, and really I just say, you know, just really into like the sneaker resale game.

David Davis II [00:04:27]:
And I got to when I was 16, 17 years old, I started to realize it had gone well for, I'm gonna say, the first couple years. I started to realize, like, where's the growth opportunity in this? How can I, you know, how can I take the next step? You know, like I said, at this time, I'm just reselling sneakers and stuff. I'm in 10th grade at this point, so I'm just thinking myself I still I still for one thing, not even having the interest of, you know, an enterprise, granted, in fact, I'm 15 at this point. I'm just trying to see how much more money can be made and and how much more of an opportunity or how much of a market is this even really accessible to be, you know, just done online. So that being said, I started to, you know, wholesale palettes, you know, just different, you know, athletic goods, particularly sneakers and stuff. Created myself a Shopify site. And like I said, really started to do a lot of social media marketing just around, you know, what, just the different products. Granted, these are already, you know, branded products, you know, licensed products.

David Davis II [00:05:19]:
So a lot of them when you're when you're reselling things, you don't really have to, you know, create the brand equity, you know, that is if it was something, you know, that you create, you know. You don't have to you don't have to make Nike popular. You don't have to make Jordans popular. They're already popular. You know, it's just, you know, what more or less your access, you know, to the supply because the demand is already present. So that being said, you know, I just wanted to continue seeing, you know, how much further I, you know, really progressed with this. I got to a point, you know, what I'm saying? I remember in 10th grade, I had, like, a 2 week stretch when I was selling shoes. Maybe not even 2 weeks.

David Davis II [00:05:51]:
It was probably 12 days. And I remember it because it really this is, like, my probably my turning point into thinking, maybe I should just pursue this seriously. I had done, like, 34,000 in sales in, like, 12 days. I'm saying, like, this is, like, 2 weeks in high school. And I remember this one day, I was just sitting I was sitting in math class. I just thought to myself, I shouldn't be here anymore. And I just thought, you know, at this point, I've just done this at, you know, just went on. With such divided attention, I wonder, you know, if I ever could really, you know, pursue this in a full time track, what could manifest that? And that was probably my turning point where I say, you know, I'm really not so much interested in in going to school.

David Davis II [00:06:32]:
I'm more or less interested in starting to teach myself you know these digital skill sets because I felt just though you know, those those skills could manifest into you know more more of a career path than what I might even be expecting, you know. So at that point that that caused a lot of a lot of friction being in 10th being in 10th grade. And I think, you know, when you're in 10th grade and think there's an an alternative solution to school, it raises a lot of eyebrows. You know? So, you know, and just, you know, even kinda speak to that point more, I think it is really an admission of just, you know, what where we were where we were at in society and where we've even transitioned to, you know, even up to this point. Because see, going to school in the eighties, going to school in the nineties is obviously a prerequisite, you know, to do things in those in those traditional ways. But I wanna say, like, just through the emergence of a lot of these, you know, digital and tech and tech tracks, I will say, you know, the opportunities have really changed the landscape. You know, like, what really can even what what really can be done, you know. And I would say, I probably I won't say, you know, like, I'm in the 1st wave, you know, just the just the tech wave, but I will say what I do feel just people, you know, in their twenties or thirties, I think they're really living through the inceptive phase of a lot of new cool stuff.

David Davis II [00:07:44]:
Like, when you think of web 3 and stuff, you know, I tell people, well, you don't even understand. Like, you think this is out, it's not out, you know. Just like there's there's so many things that are just like a a inceptive phase right now with this tech stuff that and it's already making a lot of money. You just think, what is the evolution of this phase gonna bring? You know? And I just thought to myself, I would feel really bad if I got left out. You know? And I just at that point, I just said, I just have to explore this a little more. So that's just kind of what I did.

Jeffrey Stern [00:08:11]:
Wow. I mean, alright. A lot of threads I wanna pull on here before we make our way chronologically forward. But but one of those is I I guess we'll we'll we'll take 2 detours here. 1 is that that question of what happens when you take something seriously. So it is a question, you know, you were pondering it sounds like for for a few years.

David Davis II [00:08:30]:
Yeah.

David Davis II [00:08:31]:
And that there was a catalyst in just the the sheer quantity that that you were working through at that that one time. What how do you navigate starting to to take it seriously?

David Davis II [00:08:44]:
Yeah. Beginning to take it serious is I wouldn't say the hardest. It's the first domino to fall in more hard dominoes. You know, like, people don't understand the moment you decide you don't wanna work a 9 to 5, you just signed up to work 247. The entrepreneurial journey is is one that never that never rests, you know, because there's always something to be done. And especially if you're in the role of being the creator and being that person to drive the progress, there's always something to be done. Even if there's nothing, you know, tan even if there's nothing tangibly there, you know, to maintain, there's always something to create, to eventually maintain. You know? So I think really, really understanding, you know, what what it is or lack of understanding what I was getting myself into at the time probably caused a lot of just the, a lot of the hesitancy and really wanting to take this full circle.

David Davis II [00:09:32]:
The primary reason being 16 at the time, Just being in 10th grade and not really, you know, even having the full autonomy to make my own decisions and stuff, you know. It really, you know, created the last 2 years of my high school experience were some of the most lively times in this in this entire journey. And people who know me well know the reality of it is once I got serious about wanting to, you know, be an entrepreneur, and and I will say being an entrepreneur is something that you tangibly have to know and not assume. Because, see, I I will say there was a period of time when I got out of high school from us to, like, the 1st 18 months, year and a half when I got out of high school that I wanted to leave the door open. You know, till I wanted to go into college potentially or something. See, people people. Everyone has a dream, everyone has an idea and stuff, but there's there's the hard work lies in the execution, you know, because everybody has an idea. And I had, you know, and I had to get to a point myself just not to fool myself.

David Davis II [00:10:27]:
I had to almost, you know, tell myself, put it on the table that it's not for you. It may not be for you. That way, you can at least accept and move on, you know, if this is not for you because an entrepreneurial journey is not for everybody. You know, I almost feel a lot of people are called to it, you know, than go to it. You know, I just what happened to me, you know, kinda in my formative years, making that type of money, making 10, 20, 30,000 out of the 14, 15 year load almost, it sets your mind into a different way. Yeah. You know, to make you think maybe there is an opportunity, you know, that could be, you know, that that that could be actualized. And I just thought, you know, if you didn't have, you know, like, if you don't have those type of experiences, you know, that really validate to you that there is some type of concept to pursue, I was very concerned, you know, to actually pursue it until reality I had made some money because, you know, when when everything's an idea until something's tangible.

David Davis II [00:11:19]:
You know? And to not go to school and, you know, like, and to and really, you know, take that leap of, you know, kinda just doing things on your own, I think that is probably probably the hardest leap to do because I will say one thing that really helped me is the earliness of my decision. It allowed me to start creating the structure that when I when it was time to graduate, when it was time to get out of school, I wasn't just starting to build that structure. So by the time high school was over, I almost had a different structure to kind of transition my, you know, into my adult life. You know, I wasn't, you know, getting out of high school, trying to start a business and stuff. I really been doing that in high school. So by the time we got out, you know, it was a little bit of a smoother transition, I think, you know, what it would be if I just were to start, you know, doing some of those things once I got out of school.

David Davis II [00:12:03]:
And as you were acquiring this digital skill set, is it truly, you know, trial by fire? You know, you're just you're a student of the Internet. You know, did you have mentorship? How did how did you go about actually figuring out how to navigate this world?

David Davis II [00:12:17]:
Yeah. When stuff is so new and so malleable and so inceptive, people don't understand every every master was once a student. These people, you know, who really mastered these things, they started from nothing because there's no barometer in these spaces. There's no barometer in ecommerce. There's no barometer in web 3 for success right now, you know. So the people who are really, you know, creating these things are doing just that. They are creating it, you know. They really are those people with those visions and the strategies to really carry these things out, you know.

David Davis II [00:12:47]:
And I thought to myself, it was probably it was probably the most advantageous thing for me to start doing this in school in a learning track because this was my learning, you know. So like I said, during that time, you know, I I was very fortunate to be able to, you know, like, take a lot, you know, like, my professional professional else, you know, like, while I was in school. Because I would say by the time I really, you know, got out, you know, into the professional scene, a lot of things probably didn't come to light because they had been fixed so early on, you know, just in my development. I didn't have, you know, like mentors and stuff just because like I said, some some of these things are so progressive and so new and so far fetched. There's not a lot of traditional acumen, you know, to really be able to to guide you through these things. When I was about 19 years old, I would say like my first year out of school, I mean like I said, a few months after school, I wanna say maybe like September or October after, you know, I first got out of high school, I really started getting serious about, you know, like working with this dude in Jersey. This dude this dude Steve, just really, really and Steve, you listen. Shout out to you, man, because one thing that really happened is when I got out of high school, I was fortunate to have been dealing with somebody who really came into my picture and really, you know, helped me to to structure a lot of things, you know, just kinda in this e commerce world, you know.

David Davis II [00:14:03]:
And I did think, you know what, there's a lot of, there's a lot of information, but you know what, things are, things are kinda, you know, piecing together piecing together a puzzle with a lot of these things, you know. I don't think any one person truly has all the answers, but if you're fortunate enough and you're blessed enough to be in the right realms and acquire enough information, I feel as though you can use, you know, those puzzle pieces, you know, to, to create your own puzzle. And I was definitely, you know, very fortunate to be able to find somebody in, you know, where it can really engage with somebody who had, you know, a lot of experience, you know, just in the e commerce realm and stuff, and was able to help me take, you know, kind of just like my my intermediary or, you know, like my my introductory rather skills at that time and really, you know, like give me some opportunities to start, you know, actualizing them and applying them to, you know, like, just a real venture. And like I said, out of that, you know, I was able to, one, get some real proof of concept, you know, showing, you know, what I can do with that, you know, be, you know, being able to finally get paid, you know, just like being that age and stuff. When you're also starting, you know, at so young and stuff like and I've just realized kind of the blessing of that is you don't have a lot of money that needs to you don't have to do you don't have anything you need to do at 19 years old. You know? You don't have bills. You don't have a kid and stuff. You know? So it definitely allows progress to expediate.

David Davis II [00:15:10]:
You know? Can you think to yourself, like, how many people, you know, in their thirties or forties are interested in doing stuff? You know? But it's like, you know, bills have to be paid, you know, there's children, you know, there's there's other hurdles and stuff, you know, as you just get into this entrepreneurial journey that, you know, you realize, you know, real there there's a point where real life meets, you know, a lot of this stuff, you know, and you realize, you know, I can't I can't sacrifice too much of my real life, you know, for this for this journey. And, you know, and I was I think I was grateful, you know, to get that before then.

David Davis II [00:15:38]:
Yeah. No. Really, really fascinating. I mean, I I think the the the crux of what education is supposed to give you is, like, how to learn in the 1st place, and it it sounds like you just kinda have that innate with within you already. Yeah.

David Davis II [00:15:52]:
I I appreciate it. I definitely like I said, I got to a point once I started really and just like I said, I I tell people a lot of times just in a way, generationally and stuff, the benefits and or or the things and the tools rather than our generation has and I something that I don't think we we execute on enough. Our generation has probably, not probably, definitely the most access to information of any generation before. You know, just having the Internet accessible to you, you have to understand why there's a lot of old disparities that oftentimes stagnate new progress. You know, like when you hear how things used to be in the past and stuff, you try to apply them to how things are today. You oftentimes can fool yourself out of, you know, the blessing and, you know, and and the situation that is today. You know, and I say that to say, when people are able to access that information, if you already have, you know, if you're already intellectually curious, there's no way that you can be held back at this point in society if you already have that drive because the information is just so available to you, you know? And I thought, you know what, just having the Internet, you know, just having, like, I I think that was probably another unique thing, you know, prop from a lot of other, you know, startup entrepreneurial stories in our generation to a lot of prior ones. We had people who just casually have laptops in the nineties.

David Davis II [00:17:00]:
You know? This was not, you know, that having a computer is not, you know, the household thing, you know, in the past. So I've had to almost, you know, like, kinda step back from the trees and kinda see the whole forest and realize, you know, a lot of the blessing that, you know, to have me the access to information so early on has really been able to speed things up a lot.

David Davis II [00:17:17]:
Yeah. No. I I mean, I think the Internet in a lot of ways is is kind of the great equalizer. Right? Like, the wisdom is abundant. The council is free. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

David Davis II [00:17:27]:
And it's just this it's this all all all the knowledge is there.

David Davis II [00:17:32]:
Yep. Yes. I love that. The council is free. That's what I'm saying. I tell people all the time, you know what? You can't make the excuses, you know, of your dad's America now because the reality of this, whatever, you know, like, people talk about, especially like being, you know, a black founder. Stuff. We talk about, you know, systemic disparities and stuff and oftentimes a lot of things, you know, just that that exist in our society.

David Davis II [00:17:55]:
And not to downplay the significance of how, you know, the how the ways of old have affected the times of new, but just how you said, the Internet is the ultimate equalizer. I think, you know, for anyone who feels as though, you know, that they've been despairs or anyone who feels as though, you know, like I said, opportunities are not as abundant as they could be. I think there is an equalizer. And just with the introduction of, you know, technology into society at this level, I think And almost it mitigates a lot of excuses, you know, that people can make. You know? So I I definitely thought about that a lot.

David Davis II [00:18:25]:
Alright. So we're we're getting pretty meta here. I I wanna maybe just, you know, take us to the next step in the chronological journey. Right? So you're you're starting to take it seriously. What what happens? Yeah.

David Davis II [00:18:36]:
So when I started taking it seriously, it really it really became rough. I like I said, so being 16 at this time, and my mom and dad wanting wanting me, you know, to continue, like I said, just in school, you know, just like in that track, it really just unnerved my foundation and just, you know, what just how my life had been up to this point. Like I said, I mean, 16 years old, you know, I I go to US, you know, I'm in private school and stuff. Just the the the environment of what that expectation was and what I was doing, it contradicted itself to a high degree at that point, you know. And especially, you know, like, with the expectation, like, that type of traditional success, you know, like, and that track already kinda in place I think it not so much confused but almost upset a lot of people around me because I felt as though, you know, a lot of people felt I had, you know, a very nice track set before me, you know, if I were to just continue with this, there should be no problem. You know? But like I said, I was and this is what I talk about generationally. It's very hard to compare what old success looks like to new success. You know? And I was saying, you know, that just speaking to that point, the internet has really changed what this even looks like.

David Davis II [00:19:47]:
I tell my dad a lot just like, when you think about an old billionaire versus a new billionaire, you look like an old real estate developer, a billionaire or something, just in a traditional wealth accrual tract, something like that versus when you think of Elon or you think of Bezos, you know, just how much richer they are, you know, than, you know, like a traditional, you know, billionaire. Just the scale of what new wealth looks like, you know, it's just totally different, you know, just because the medium in which it's created, which is the Internet, you know. So that being said, I I just I just almost could not take the opportunity to at least see it, you know, just because I had just already felt as though what I've experienced on a low level, you know, just selling shoes was really just mind numbing to me, you know. And I thought to myself, what it almost it almost mitigated a lot of things and I believe it was just kind of us being in Cleveland and stuff, kind of just speaking to a lot of things even geographically we we might go through. I almost thought to myself that this is an opportunity that really mitigates a lot of these things, you know, lack of job opportunity, you know, at things, you know, what maybe, you know, the the lack of the industry diversification, you know, what what if there's an opportunity I wanna be able to pursue, but it might not be in Cleveland? You know what, being able to do these things online and having these skills, you know, and play in those arenas that you please to, I realized, you know, that's probably, it's probably the most conducive track to success, you know, in these days. And I think that that was such a a turbulent time because there was so much ambiguity. Just the Internet, like I said, just the Internet every year has taken a new step in this evolution, you know, and just and and just how this new economy is creating itself for you, the web 3 and e commerce, and and really the the formalization of e commerce and these new, you know, digital verticals into just this is how things are done in society, you know, what e commerce being the new retail, you know, just stuff like that. And I think when you're in those transition periods, it's very difficult, you know, what, to kinda sell someone on where you're transitioning to versus where you're transitioning from, you know.

David Davis II [00:21:40]:
And I think I I feel like I'm a poster child for having went through that. I ended up, like I said, as as school went on and stuff, I was so entrepreneurial, entrepreneurially motivated. By the time I was in by the time I was in senior year, I actually ended up getting in trouble and left school early, 2nd semester senior year at US. I just really was not involved in school because it just didn't, I didn't I didn't see school elevating me to my next step post post high school at that point, you know. And then I had also seen a couple of things, I said, those last 2 years of high school were very, you know, those were definitely not my most formative years because the things that happened, you know, they definitely know I just set the expectation of how, you know, I expected or how, you know, I really, you know, just like kinda moved myself, you know, just kinda do my my adult life up to this point. Another thing ended up happening, we had another classmate. When I wanna say what, maybe he ended up leaving, he ended up leaving US I wanna say our sophomore year. Okay, so like I said, when I was 15, we had a classmate and he was you know, kinda like I said, into artificial intelligence, you know, stuff like this, stuff like this, A lot of concepts that are, you know, prominent and become, you know, very prominent now, but in 2014, and it's crazy to think, you know, that this is 7, 8 years ago, but it was totally different, you know, even 7, 8 years ago, you know, to just how it's looked at now, you know.

David Davis II [00:22:57]:
But long story short, people really were looking at this guy like I don't know what he's doing. I could tell he was somebody else in school who really, you know, like, had something else going on. And because I could tell that in myself, you know, I could tell, like, who else was maybe pondering, you know, like even if this may be for them, you know, as well, just because I knew I was doing it myself, but I knew he was doing something with artificial intelligence, you know, and I, you know, I knew just kind of something like the wealth management world and stuff. I didn't get too involved in it and whatnot, but as time went on, like I said, he leaves school, 10th grade, 11th grade. I wanna say maybe mid 11th grade, 1st semester of senior year. He's in TechCrunch. Okay? And they just raised, like, $14,000,000 in a series a from from Sequoia Venture in Silicon Valley. Okay? And to have gone to school with somebody like that and to start seeing, you know, like, okay, the manifestation of this is a classmate, you know, like, to have raised in a way at a $100,000,000 valuation.

David Davis II [00:23:52]:
And like I said, we're I'm still in school at this point. He's 17. We're all 17. And this is talking about the mind numb of of what I feel like I might need to pursue. When these type of things are happening around you, it just almost makes you feel as though like the validation is there. I know this can be done. It's just more or less my ability to do it. It's not in a way the space or the validity of can it be done, it's can you do it, you know.

David Davis II [00:24:15]:
And I just felt at that point like I had to just roll my dice and I had to, you know, just go and wholeheartedly see if, you know, if this is a viable track for me. Another thing that kind of ended up happening just like those final years of high school was me not doing so well in school like I had done all my life before really just showed me the devotion of your time. It's just how you were talking about just when you get serious about something a 100%, the outcome of that is gonna look totally different than 50% serious. And I saw the outcome of 50% serious by devoting myself halfway to business and halfway through school, nothing was really working out you know at the level that I wanted it to you know. And I thought to myself, you know, I just if I continue to pursue the entrepreneurial track, 50% of my time devoted to that was already working out to something. I just really was curious to see that what would a 100% work out to this, you know. And me taking that step, it definitely was really, really hard for people around me to begin with. But like I said, I wanna say if that proof of concept really starts to, you know, actualize itself, those things, they went out the window.

David Davis II [00:25:18]:
So so tell us about about Fulfillment by Amazon. Right? And and the the beginnings of of an enterprise that that you're that you're pulling together outside of, you know, maybe just your own pursuits.

David Davis II [00:25:30]:
So FBA Flip, pretty much like I said, now just trying to understand a little bit about my background, just like the whole world, you know, behind ecommerce. Selling online, like I said, selling online, really growing up in that world, I had never thought of, you know, why the e commerce world as I never thought of it as too overly formal. You know, I never looked at, you know, why this isn't wealth management, you know, this isn't financial advisory, this is, you know, this is e commerce, this is selling stuff online, you know, this is wholesale, you know, branded goods, you know, I guess and stuff like that, pay for good optimization. I wanna say maybe somewhere around 2019, 2020, what ends up happening, and nothing just was sent, what COVID really did for everything on the line, you know, was really institutionalized and formalized things being done online. You know, when you think of remote learning, you know, like telehealth and stuff, you know. After COVID, this is now the way things are done, you know. And before then, if it were a concept or if it were a trend or if it were a niche, it's now more the norm, you know? So pretty much what ends up happening is around 2019, this thing called aggregators, aggregators really start to become a concept. I start to realize like, what are aggregators? People people are telling me, you know, you can sell your you can sell your store now, you can do this.

David Davis II [00:26:39]:
And I'm thinking to myself, like, what do you mean sell my store? You know, sell my Amazon store, you know, would it sell my income, you know, sell sell what I, you know what, sell what pays the bills? And I just started to, you know, really become curious as, you know, just the concept, you know, this whole M and A world around ecommerce assets. As I really started to kind of just like dive into it, just do my own research, I just started to realize, you know, pretty much what an aggregator is is a private equity firm with a strategic emphasis on acquiring Amazon native brands. So when people are starting brands on Amazon, pretty much those people who are growing those brands, they're private equity firms who are pretty much seeking to become CPG companies of the future. You know, so pretty much they think to themselves, if I go ahead and aggregate you know 10 to 15 of these small brands on the same category, I will eventually end up dominating this category online, you know. And I start to realize what the mantra is of aggregators and what their acquisition criteria even is. To me just being an Amazon seller, I started to realize you know, you can sell your store for 2 to 4 times you know, annual net, I'm starting to think this is not so much like a store, this is more like an asset and this is starting to become much more traditional, much more formalized than you know, what I initially thought it was. So that being said, I started to kick the tires on selling my store. You know, I'm just starting to think, you know, if you make a 100,000 in a year and just being able all of a sudden to sell it off to a private equity firm, you know, that's gonna pay you 250 to 400,000 for it, you know, I wanted to start exploring those options.

David Davis II [00:28:04]:
As in doing so, I started to realize there's not, there's not a real formalized way, you know, to really sell your business. You know what? There's over, there's over 70 buyers, you know, that do this. You know, there's a lot of firms that are starting to acquire, you know, what direct to consumer Amazon brands. And I just started thinking to myself, how do I know, you know what, that this guy is going to offer me a $1,000,000 and this guy won't offer me 2? Well there's just no formal process behind this. And then when you use a broker, brokers, you know, of course, you know, like they they want, they they claim to operate, you know, in the best interest of their client. But, you know, when you're receiving, you know, a sell side fee, the reality of it is, you know, you're you want to get paid too, you know.

David Davis II [00:28:40]:
So Yeah.

David Davis II [00:28:41]:
So so the broker avenue, you know, is just what it is. And I just started to realize there's not a good way, you know, for this to really formalize itself and to scale. So pretty much what we did is we started to say, okay, how can we almost create a marketplace that connects Amazon sellers with all of these professional buyers and almost create a bidding system where it's like, okay, when I have my store and I wanna go sell it, I wanna know that every buyer has pretty much seen my deal and that way I can almost make sure I'm gonna get the max payout for my business. So pretty much know what we start to create was we look at it like the Zillow or the realtor.com of Amazon businesses. When you wanna sell, when you wanna exit your Amazon business, pretty much what FBA Flip is this. We're a marketplace for Amazon, FBA mergers and acquisitions. We're a buy side platform where pretty much all the sellers that list on our platform pay nothing to use the platform. Every buyer that signed up, you know, through FBA flip pretty much pays us a success fee or a commission, you know, for every successful transaction flow.

David Davis II [00:29:41]:
There's no cost to use FBA flip until, you know, actually a deal was done. But pretty much what our work is is really working on the sell side. Even though we are a buy side platform, the value in any transaction, you know, just with with digital assets is that digital asset itself. If the seller is bringing, you know, their store to sell, there's a 100 buyers. There's only 1 store. You know? So really making sure that seller feels valuable and making sure they know what they need to and making sure, you know, that their exit plan, you know, is is is sufficient, you know, to walk away from their business. Making sure that that component of the transaction feels valuable, that is is pretty much, you know, just our our the the mission behind FBA Footprint is really making sure that FBA seller feels like we can help them through this exit process and ensure that they get the max payout for their business. So kind of dove into that.

David Davis II [00:30:29]:
I want to say what this is really, we just went live and stuff on us on the 26th June. This has really been all year in the making, you know, just kind of just like the private, the private equity network, just really making sure we have the professional buyers lined up, you know, that when we are getting deals, you know, that we can quickly, you know, kinda shout these out to our network, you know, turn these around, you know, get the get offers, you know, kinda in our bidding system. Like I said, really please sellers, you know, by showing them that we expeditiously, you know, are bringing value to you guys, making sure you know what they're you know, you're you're getting the looks, you know, for your asset. And, you know, they're they're at the the value that you see, you know, your your business so selling for.

David Davis II [00:31:02]:
Such a fascinating idea. How did you go about you know, you mentioned maybe there's 70 year big players in in the space. Yep. How do you go about approaching those folks, getting them interested in the platform, getting their buy in?

David Davis II [00:31:15]:
Yep. This just and this I mean, just how you and I have been just speaking about how, like, a lot of these things just in the tech economy are so inceptive. People don't realize, you know, oftentimes these startup companies are your opportunity to pretty much probably catch a wave, you know, before, you know, it really is wave, you know. And that being said, when you think, you know, these aggregators and all these private equity firms that are buying these Amazon businesses, when you think of the largest buyer in a $15,000,000,000 space, only been an inception since late 2019, you think this is relatively a new space, you know? So that being said, really some things are right place, right right time. And so so much of, you know, like just the the establishment of, you know, FBA transaction, trying to figure out how can all these buyers streamline the M and A process and the due diligence process, the sourcing of deal flow and whatnot. So like I said, everyone's trying to, you know, like be the private equity firm, we start to realize there's nobody who's, you know, like really formalizing, you know, what this kind of this mid sector and, you know, and really, you know, organizing these things, even be sent off these private equity firms, you know, to be looked and sought for for acquisition. We just started to realize there's a huge gap in this market, a market you know that really, I want to say everyone who's in the market probably has started off in the same way as us, just as native Amazon sellers. You know, you just start to think to yourself, if you were in that position, would you want to sell your business? And and oftentimes the answer is no, you know, because there's not there's not enough, you know, formalized processes in place, you know, to really make sure that you as the seller are gonna walk away with, you know, what you think your business is worth.

David Davis II [00:32:43]:
There's not even there wasn't even a formalized way to appraise an Amazon business before we came into the space. We started offering real time data driven, you know, valuations where most traditional brokers were pretty much just multiplying whatever, you know, you make in a year times 3 and that's just what it is, you know. And like I said, the the evolution of these things, you know, like, they're so early on. It gives you an opportunity, like I said, if you're a creator, if you're someone, you know, with that vision, with that strategy, really, you know, kinda, you know, put your put your stamp on on the space.

David Davis II [00:33:12]:
So it it's pretty, you know, unsaturated. It's not like there's a huge competitive force at play for the kind of work that you're trying to do? Or how does it look right now?

David Davis II [00:33:23]:
Yep. So to just kinda to speak on that, there and I I I say this a lot, I call it a default monopoly. Oftentimes when spaces are so underdeveloped, there's there's oftentimes a default monopoly where someone really has a monopoly on on the space by default just because there is no competition. You know? So that being said, for the first the last 10 years, okay, just of even, you know, just m and a transaction with with ecommerce stores in general, most mostly have been with sell side brokers. Us being a buy side platform totally resets the dynamic of just what the marketplace looks like because and we're all vying for sellers. You have to understand whoever brings the most value to the seller is gonna win that seller. They're gonna win that deal. So the reality for us, we look at it through those lenses, we start to say, yeah, there's sell side brokers.

David Davis II [00:34:08]:
You know, there's a couple of big platforms and stuff that are all charging to sellers because these sellers don't have an alternative. There there is, you know, like these peep these people have default monopolies on this space up to this point. And I will say in the up until 2019, it really wasn't as easy on the buy side of this even to exit to the right, you know, strategic buyer because aggregators are are really, you know, kind of a new concept. You know, like the private equity firms that are exclusively there to buy and acquire Amazon businesses and to scale those things out. Now, you know, just with all those different with all those firms who, you know, kind of in the fold, just in the space that are exclusively looking, you know, what to make those type of acquisitions. We just saw, you know, this is a this is an opportunity that we, you know, kind of take all, you know, the obvious buyers and then, you know, kind of track down into, you know what, more, you know, the private family offices, you know, independent ecommerce operators who are also interested, you know, to acquire and scale Amazon stores. But we just started to realize this being unique, you know, and really, you know, like, one being first, you know, but outside of that being unique and bringing the most value to who's valuable is really, you know, what separates us.

David Davis II [00:35:12]:
And when you think about who is valuable, right, the other side of the equation, how is it that you're you're going about bringing in the the supply side?

David Davis II [00:35:20]:
Right. When when we're pursuing sellers, and like I said, this is this is really the frenzy, you know, kind of in this whole Amazon M and A space is when you have 75 buyers that are all, you know, trying to acquire businesses, it's like they almost all have 75 individual outreach strategies, you know, to find these sellers. And the reality of it is, it almost creates a it it creates a very advantageous situation for us because for us, we look at it like there's so many buyers aggressively pursuing, you know, at these these sellers that we're the only people saying, how about we just go to dinner and discuss exit planning? You know, we're going to because we have all the buyers signed up anyways. The way we pursue these sellers, we're we're in we're in competition to be the intermediary almost directly with the buyers because the reality of it is the buyers cutting us out, yes, it reduces, you know, like the, you know, your total acquisition cost, but the reality of it is you need the seller because, you know, the seller has that asset. And if the seller feels most comfortable working with FBA Flip, then you'll be working with FBA Flip commensurate as well, you know. So we realize that the value in a FBA transaction is making sure that seller feels, okay, I have a team around me. I have an M and A advisor. I have a legal advisor.

David Davis II [00:36:32]:
I have an accountant with me. Pretty much gonna, you know, handle my financial due diligence on this side. They're gonna discuss, you know, these APAs, these LOIs, you know, like with these firms. And now I feel much more comfortable in having these conversations, you know, and when we present ourselves to sellers, like, we build a team around you, and it's really, you know, kinda results in us, you know, being being pretty successful, you know, even with us being a relatively new new marketplace.

David Davis II [00:36:54]:
No. Yeah. It it's it's such a cool model because I think in a lot of ways, it it borrows a lot from some of the old kind of mechanisms, but it's just in a in a completely new way. It's very cool.

David Davis II [00:37:06]:
I mean, I I tell people all the time, a startup is purposeful restructuring. There's nothing new under the sun, so I call it purposeful restructuring. If you can bring purpose to something, you're really just restructuring a lot of things and stuff. Like, when you think about Airbnbs and you think of the hotel industry, all Airbnbs is a is an agglomerated platform. You know, pretty much to offer a hotel service in a in a I I was about to say decentralized, but like an independent way. Not not decentralized. Yeah. You know what? It pretty much it takes out, you know, like an intermediary, you know, and that's why I said when you think of Uber and the taxi industry and stuff, you know, There's a lot of relationship, you know, to how things used to be done and the modernized way of doing it.

David Davis II [00:37:49]:
Because all Airbnbs are and all Ubers are are, you know, 21st century hotels and 21st century taxis, you know? So when you look at it through the lenses of purposeful purposeful restructuring, you say to yourself, I don't have to totally, you know, construct something. I have to take the best factions from preexisting things and make a better mousetrap.

David Davis II [00:38:09]:
So having kinda put this together, looking forward a bit, you know, what what is the vision that you have for the future? What what is the the impact in retrospect you're you're looking to to have with with FBA Flip?

David Davis II [00:38:23]:
Yep. We definitely know are seeking to be an industry leader. We see ourselves we're in this for the long haul. We definitely see, you know what, just reality of this, I am a big believer in the fact that ecommerce assets are probably some of the most sustainable digital asset investments that could be made now. When people look at crypto and people look at a lot of things like in the Web 3 economy, I tell people you almost have to commensurately look at crypto investments like a S and P 500 investment. That has to be looked at over the long haul because the reality of this, I think there's a lot of a lot of cloudiness coming into a lot of the tech space and just the ecosystem in general because of false expectations, you know. When people are investing a $1,000 into Ethereum, you think, you know, by the end of the week, you know, this is gonna be 10,000. The fact you set a false expectation, it almost ruins the entire, you know, process of what you're doing, you know.

David Davis II [00:39:13]:
And when, if you had expected, you know, that maybe this Ethereum is gonna appreciate over 3 to 5 years, then you probably would be a lot happier with the outcome because you set a realistic expectation, you know. So I say that to say, we definitely, you know, like, see ecommerce and selling online, you know, as probably the most consistent and how do I say the growth opportunity that is unparalleled because of just the unprecedented traffic in selling goods online, You know, you can there's always a there's always more of a growth opportunity online that, you know, with some traditional investments, you know, you pretty much there's a capacity. One of my favorite examples I tell people in real estate is, you know, when you think of when you think of a development, you think, you know, like 500,000 units, you think to yourself, you know, that okay, at capacity I can have 500, I can have a 1000 tenants. But you know when you're selling stuff online, you think of product diversification, you know, you think about new catalogs, you think you know there there's unlimited growth opportunities. So when you look at an ecommerce investment, you can look at it just from where it's at commensurately and if it maintained, but the growth opportunity, it's so much more. So us looking at it like that, we're really making a bet over the long haul, you know, that what our, what we're doing and what our structure is, we're positioning ourselves just with the marketplace. We want to expand into, you know what, really offering and transition to being a digital asset portfolio management company where we really, you know, I started to offer people fractional ownership and investing into e commerce assets, you know, through our, through our portfolio. That is really, you know, like the type of structure, you know, that we're trying to create.

David Davis II [00:40:49]:
But like I said, the marketplace is kind of the first domino to fall in that because that that in its own right has kind of created a lot of enterprise structure and a lot of strategic partnerships that will really help increase the value of a portfolio like that when it's time to do that. So like I said, us just kind of looking into where things are at now and just kind of, you know, betting on the future and just, you know, the evolution of this space, we definitely don't just see FBA Footbridge, you know, really want to be a national leader, you know, just kind of in this space. Us being in Cleveland, it really, you know, hasn't been on. It's really, you know, driven us more, you know, to, wanna do something national, because I feel so very often, stuff, Cleveland and a lot of our ecosystem, you know, may not have the respect, you know, just in the national playing field, because we don't oftentimes, you know, do things that are, are naturally useful. And I don't think we all sometimes I think that sometimes we're a little bit behind, you know, when we capture trends. Like, see, there's there's a first adoption benefit, you know, everybody knows that, you know, you can't you can't invest in something, you know, like when it's appreciated. You gotta buy on the dip, you know, and everybody knows, you know what, that's that's just how you make money, you know, and people, you know what, when you are bringing value, you know, like you can't bring value once it's established, you know, you have to bring it when it's not there, because that's what makes it valuable, you know. And just what we really, you know, envision this to be is really wanted to, you know, have a real like a large tech win, you know, out of Cleveland and stuff, really start to show people nationally and stuff.

David Davis II [00:42:11]:
A lot of our concentrations in Brooklyn, you know, in Miami, in LA County and stuff, really, you know, being able to show, you know, that there's a company or, you know, there's a faction that's strategically involved and deeply involved in this space, and they're based out of Cleveland, you know. And I live in Miami, or I live in New York, and I live in LA, you know, but I deal with people in Cleveland all the time. You know, I think that will, you know what, start to increase, you know, our brand as a city, you know, when we start to do things, you know, on that level.

David Davis II [00:42:36]:
Yeah. No. Maybe let's let's pull on that Cleveland thread for a little bit because I I know you have a ton of thoughts on on just kinda where we are, how we've evolved.

David Davis II [00:42:44]:
Yeah.

David Davis II [00:42:45]:
I'll maybe just leave the floor to you to kinda share some some of the thoughts that you have and and some of the perspective.

David Davis II [00:42:51]:
Yeah. You know, I I think a lot of people I think a lot of people close to me know, you know, like, my my my the the way I look at Cleveland is is deep. But just to kinda, you know, pull some to to peel some of those layers back, you know, I think that our city has all the infrastructure to be a national player. And I think that you know what, that is the reason why sometimes I may be hard on it and stuff because I think you know what, when you and someone like you and other people who you know just kinda involved and not even necessarily involved but aware of you know kinda just some other tech things that have happened just kinda in the Ohio ecosystem. You look to some place like like Columbus, you look to some place like Cincinnati, you look and say, okay, look Cleveland has 3 major sports teams, we have a lake, you know, and we have more of a city structure than some of the other, you know, like, places in Ohio that are probably progressing at a faster rate. And you have to ask yourself, why, you know, why is that happening? You know, even, you know, kind of speaking on something with FBA Flip, there are 2 of these major buyers, you know, in Ohio. You know, there's a a brand called Cinci Brands based in Cincinnati and another brand called Society Brands. They're based out of Canton.

David Davis II [00:43:55]:
And like I said, both of these guys have raised over 200,000,000 debt and equity in the last 6 months, like exclusively just to buy Amazon businesses. When I look at stuff like this and I just look at the ecosystem and I look at the concentration of these new and emerging sectors in New York and then I see it in Ohio, but not in Cleveland, in Cincinnati or someplace else, it just, it almost you know speaks to sometimes our complacency in Cleveland. And I think you know what, that is why it's so needed right now in our ecosystem for someone to kind of forge ahead and to show how much we're really missing out on. Secondly, how other people would view Cleveland if we were just to step to the plate because I think oftentimes we get an unnecessarily negative reputation on a national scale because sometimes I think, you know what, that we don't perform as well as we truthfully can when we're on the national playing field, you know. And I think, you know, that's something else like just in our ecosystem in turn, we have to, you know, just be more cognizant of, you know, like that when we do have those national spotlights and stuff, you only have one time to make a first impression, you know? And I think that oftentimes, you know, when you have people come from New York, when you have people come from these larger cities and stuff, I think that the way that we present Cleveland could be a lot more commensurate, you know, to a major city because I think that there are, there are major city elements in Cleveland, you know, and I think, you know, like if those things were pulled together and presented in a little bit more of a progressive way, I think the the flavor of Cleveland would totally change.

David Davis II [00:45:20]:
Yeah. No. I I I'm I'm with you there, shared perspective. I think it's a good opportunity to to maybe just bring up, you know, consider CLE and and some of the the work thinking you've you've been doing around that. Maybe just start with what it is and your your perspective there.

David Davis II [00:45:36]:
Yeah. For sure. So consider CLEVE is is my nonprofit. So just kind of just on my entrepreneurial journey, just you know what I just do with tech for business and stuff, I just started to realize all the things that Cleveland was really void of, you know, just really good at a legitimate tech ecosystem. When you look at a lot of major cities and stuff, a lot of major cities are able to benefit from the flavor of other cities because they have more in and out traffic. People who live in New York, they're fortunate because they experience a lot of people who are not native New Yorkers because there's a lot of people who come to New York frequently. And I think the way we, the way we really start to re engage ourselves into just a national playing field in Cleveland is for 1, really being able to not only leverage the assets and the resources that we have in Cleveland, but being more, being more o open and conducive to, you know, doing things for people from out of town because that is how a lot of progress is made in other cities, you know. We truthfully I don't think we we look at these things, you know, as intricately as we truthfully should, you know.

David Davis II [00:46:32]:
But a lot of, you know, a lot of progress made in Silicon Valley and a lot of progress made in New York, not always by native New Yorkers and not by people who are from San Francisco, you know. There are people who who go and seek opportunity in places they view opportunity is there. And I think that if we start to more on a national level, start to express the opportunity that lies here in Cleveland, I think that's one thing that people don't even understand. Because people don't come to Cleveland, you know, like like they do some other city. Cleveland and even you know building the FBA, football, I've realized you know, the cost of doing business, I mean, I think especially in a startup phase and just really trying to be, you know, just cognizant, you know, of of out flowing cash, I think that Cleveland is probably the best economic opportunity, you know, for a, just a tech startup. I think that just how we were kind of early in our conversation, being connected on the internet and have, you know, just to access the information that's kind of unprecedented like in generations before. It almost eliminates the geographic constraints because you know, you think to yourself, you know, we have LinkedIn, you have, you know, all these different networks and stuff that, you know, you can interact with people in New York, you can interact with people in Miami and stuff, you know. You have all, you know, Discourse, you know, these different DAOs and different things like that.

David Davis II [00:47:38]:
It allows you to connect yourself in a way that you probably wouldn't have been able to in the past. So I almost have to look at our ecosystem from like 20, from like 2015 forward because I think that, for example, I think people who probably left Cleveland in 2000 seeking opportunity, it was a lot more valid because, you know, I think that, you know, we weren't at this state in society where you can you get on LinkedIn and, you know, you got a group chat of dudes in Manhattan right then, you know? I don't think we were there, you know, in 2004. So to consider Cleveland is really like, I don't know if I mentioned it, but to engage Cleveland on a national scene, Drew, tech and innovation. I really feel the only thing that can really revitalize us and really remove that Rust Belt stigma is really accepting and adopting all these new and emerging digital concepts and we're trying to become a leader, you know, in new things like just the development of the web 3 economy, you know, ecommerce, different things like that. And and kinda like I said, leave a lot of our traditional baggage in the past that hasn't really worked out for Cleveland so much, you know, post and since the post manufacturing era, you know? And I think that our city probably, unlike other cities, is the most primed and ready to to to turn the page because we don't have a lot going on. Right? Thinking of with some other cities, turning the page means closing the book on something else when I don't think there's so much being written in the current chapter. You know?

David Davis II [00:48:55]:
I love the way you put that. Honestly, I could probably I I know because we've done it before. If I could talk to you for hours about this stuff

David Davis II [00:49:01]:
I know.

David Davis II [00:49:02]:
I'll be cognizant of our time here, then and we'll keep it in Cleveland. But, I'll ask you the the same closing question that, we have everyone on the show talk about, which is not necessarily for your favorite thing in Cleveland, but for something that other folks may not know about, hidden gem.

David Davis II [00:49:21]:
I mean, I I really enjoy our cultural gardens. You know? I mean, like, that's probably probably my favorite stroll on the east side. I in in Cleveland, like I said, keeping in Cleveland, I mean, should should I go east side suburbs right now? I I would say

David Davis II [00:49:32]:
You can go there, you

David Davis II [00:49:33]:
can go there. Okay. I'll step out a little bit. I mean, I would say my my favorite place in Cleveland, like I said, just some aesthetic geography, definitely Chagrin Falls. You know, I definitely see, you know, in a few years and stuff definitely, you know, I see that being a destination point. But for now, downtown and stuff is definitely where I feel like this is definitely the most progressive place to be in Cleveland. You know, right now it would be downtown Cleveland. I think that outside of Culture Gardens, Chagrin Falls, restaurant wide, I'm thinking, oh, I like Angelo's, I like Black Box and Legacy Village, stuff like that.

David Davis II [00:50:05]:
You know? I think, you know, I think people when they come to food and actually brew us like our food scene is is probably on par with other cities. You know, I I'm I'm happy to say that because I'm I I like to think of myself as a chef after 6.

David Davis II [00:50:21]:
That's awesome. Well, I I'm really genuinely glad we finally got to have this conversation. I I know it's been too long and in the making, but, really appreciate you coming on and and sharing your story.

David Davis II [00:50:33]:
No. Likewise, Jeff, it's been great. This has definitely been months in the making, and and next time, we we won't keep them waiting that long to get back on the pause.

David Davis II [00:50:41]:
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. If if folks have anything they would wanna follow-up with you about the breadth of topics we've covered here today, what what would be the best way for them to do so? Yeah.

David Davis II [00:50:52]:
Definitely my LinkedIn and stuff. I I will say, you know, as time has went on and stuff, and it's funny, I think more people in tech don't use tech so much in their social life because that's all they do.

David Davis II [00:51:02]:
I I I

David Davis II [00:51:03]:
don't even really use my, like, my Instagram, my Twitter as much as I used to and stuff just because just what I do for work. I probably say, like, best way is my LinkedIn and stuff. I'm always on my LinkedIn and stuff. So just look me up on LinkedIn. I'll give you, you know, I I'll give you the week after work and stuff, but that's free. Probably probably my best way to go.

David Davis II [00:51:20]:
Alright. Well, thank you again. Really appreciate it.

David Davis II [00:51:22]:
Appreciate it again, Jed. Thanks again,

David Davis II [00:51:25]:
man. That's all for this week. Thank you for listening. We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's show. So if you have any feedback, please send over an email to jeffrey@layoftheland.f m or find us on Twitter at podlayofthelandor@sternfa, j e f e. If you or someone you know would make a good guest for our show, please reach out as well and let us know. And if you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or on your preferred podcast player. Your support goes a long way to help us spread the word and continue to bring the Cleveland founders and builders we love having on the show.

David Davis II [00:51:59]:
We'll be back here next week at the same time to map more of the land. The Lay of the Land podcast was developed in collaboration with The UP Company, LLC. At the time of this recording, unless otherwise indicated, we do not own equity or other financial interests in the company which appear on the show. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of any entity which employs us. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next week.