Carlos Cashman – Lessons from the Amazon Ecosystems – [Founder’s Field Guide, EP.15]

My guest today is Carlos Cashman, co-founder and co-CEO of Thrasio an acquirer of third-party Amazon sellers. In a surprising departure for a high growth company, Thrasio has been profitable since its founding in 2018 and was most recently valued at $1 billion. In our conversation we discuss the full spectrum of the Amazon third party seller ecosystem, the effects of globally commoditized manufacturing, and the terms of Thrasio's acquisitions of Amazon businesses. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Carlos Cashman. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content check out https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/28372673/cashman-lessons-from-the-amazon-ecosystem This episode of Founder's Field Guide is sponsored by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for ecommerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience. See why Klaviyo's trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial check out https://www.klaviyo.com/founders. This episode is also sponsored by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to both get and maintain your SOC 2 report, at a fraction of the normal cost. Founders Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick. Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide go to https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here - https://www.joincolossus.com/newsletter. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Follow Colossus on Twitter at @JoinColossus Show Notes [00:02:44] – [First question] – Origin of Thrasio [00:07:27] – The types of business they work with [00:11:19] – Challenges for smaller businesses selling on Amazon and when they need a Thrasio [00:15:31] – How the Amazon ecosystem has changed since they started [00:18:14] – The capital sourcing side of their business [00:19:49] – Future of the ecommerce space that has them excited [00:27:20] – What makes the major online powerful so powerful for DTC companies [00:32:18] – How edge erodes on spend when people crowd into a platform [00:34:46] – Building the recognition of the Thrasio brand [00:44:06] – His history as an entrepreneur and what was the common thread in these businesses [00:45:47] – Getting customers early on [00:46:47] – Knowing when something will fail [00:48:48] – Downside of MBA’s [00:50:07] – The importance of people in building a company [00:51:01] – Effectively hiring people [00:52:37] – What has to remain with the founder [00:52:50] – The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success [00:53:53] – Other places in ecommerce that fascinate him [00:56:36] – What are the risk factors that he worries about [00:59:12] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him