Empowering-eCommerce-Entrepreneurship
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Hosted By Andrew Morgans

Marknology

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Justin Cobb

Today's Guest: Justin Cobb

Chief Executive Officer - Carbon6 Technologies

New York City Metropolitan Area

Ep. #831 - Carbon6 – Empowering eCommerce Entrepreneurship

In this episode of Startup Hustle, Andrew Morgans and Justin Cobb, Chief Executive Officer at Carbon6 Technologies, unveil the origin and offerings of newly launched Carbon6. Get to know this pioneer in the eCommerce space, a truly dedicated advisor to entrepreneurs worldwide.

Covered in this Episode

Are you an Amazon entrepreneur not quite at the level you’d like to be at yet? Consider joining a community that will help you clear out some of the common roadblocks you might encounter. Carbon6 is actively building a community that provides support to eCommerce sellers through the Amazon seller ecosystem that will guide them every step of the way.

Learn more about Justin’s background and Carbon 6 Group of Entrepreneurs from both the inside and the outside of the Amazon community banded together to help increase the percentage of sellers who will succeed in eCommerce.

Get Started with Full Scale

Find out what Andrew Morgans and Justin Cobb have to say about how eCommerce has leveled the playing field and talk about their shared passion for helping fellow Amazon sellers succeed in the space.

Audio Notes

  • Founder’s Entrepreneurial journey (01:09)
  • Being a musician (08:50)
  • Who do you think is a good person (10:22)
  • When you feel free (12:57)
  • On being an employee (15:33)
  • Teaching someone how to work for themselves (18:33)
  • Ecommerce has leveled the playing field (20:28)
  • Financial freedom (23:50)
  • How the guest started in eCommerce (25:09)
  • What was the journey like? (31:28)
  • Providing eCommerce services years ago without the right tools available (34:30)
  • Doing the same processes and being great at what you do. (37:35)
  • Building communities (41:53)
  • Difficulties in bringing entrepreneurs together (43:06)
  • What PixelMe is (46:57)
  • Data is gold in the eCommerce world (50:01)
  • Getting excited about new things and innovation (53:35)
  • The work culture Justin is trying to create (56:15)
  • Building teams and partnerships (01:01:23)
  • Serving the entrepreneur (01:05:10)
Tips for Business Growth from Startup Hustle

Key Quotes

If you want to make a difference, there are only a couple hundred ways to do it. Either influence a tremendous amount of resources; you have both.

Justin Cobb

I realized that I didn’t have freedom until I had a financial freedom.

Andrew Morgans

Often, the people who would’ve won when something is easy are the same people who will win now and make more money.

Justin Cobb

Everyone has a voice.

Justin Cobb

Sponsor Highlight

Today’s Startup Hustle episode is brought to you by Full Scale, helping you build a software team quickly & affordably. Learn more about how Full Scale can help you find the right software team that will help launch your software business today! Check out FullScale.io to learn more.

Also, meet all of our amazing Startup Hustle partners, each dedicated to supporting the growth of your scaling company.

Rough Transcript

Following is an auto-generated text transcript of this episode. Apologies for any errors!

00:01.44 Andrew Morgans
What’s up hustlers welcome back. This is Andrew Morgans, founder of Marknology here as today’s host of Startup Hustle covering all things e-commerce Amazon software entrepreneurial stuff you name it. We’re gonna get into it all today I’m super excited about today’s guests this is what I made special space for. Ah, because I’m just ready regardless of the time, we’re just going to get get get into not only um, the company that he’s representing. But even his origin story. We’re gonna have a lot of fun before we jump in a shoutout to our sponsor for today’s episode fullscale io helping you build software teams quickly and affordably. Justin Cobb, founder of carbon 6, welcome to the show. Yeah I’m glad we got to warm up a little bit for a show and you know we’ve had about um we were both at prosper together. But I think it was a little late and we were. We were a little bit tipsy. So ah, yeah, that was a great night. Um.
00:37.27 Justin Cobb
Um, thanks, Andrew. Excited to be here.
00:48.49 Justin Cobb
Um, that was a fun night
00:53.73 Andrew Morgans
Ah, a big part of the industry and community and what we’re gonna be talking about you know, even today. But um, super excited to have you on you’re calling in from Puerto Rico I can see the palm trees behind you. That’s part of the story too. But I love getting the show started just by getting to know more about your entrepreneurial journey specifically. Ah, you know. Let’s back up way before carbon six or as far back as you want to go? Do you know what’s your first entrepreneurial memory or did you all always know you were going to be an entrepreneur?
01:20.16 Justin Cobb
So the first entrepreneurial moment that I had was selling blueberries when I was like eight years old, so we had a bunch of blueberry Bushes in the neighborhood and in the yard, I grew up in Connecticut, and my brother and I, he was 12 at the time had this idea, we were going to pick the blueberries and put a little stand out in front of the.
01:26.19 Andrew Morgans
Okay.
01:40.50 Justin Cobb
Yard and there was a pretty busy road, and we were going to make a sign, and so we picked a bunch of blueberries, and I came home with my mother the next day from shopping, and we drove in, and my brother was sitting there, and I love my brother He’s definitely not an ah he’s sitting there. He’s got a got ah ah a table a little piece of paper. That says you know blueberries one twenty-five one dollar 25 a pint as if someone was gonna drive by going forty miles per hour like see it and stop. Um, so I go in and we got ah ah a wood sign and we spray paint on it and I still have it says pints one Twenty Five Quartz Two fifty I think it was and then I was this little kid I was you know, really small.
02:04.12 Andrew Morgans
Um, right.
02:18.15 Justin Cobb
Those 8 which is young but I was very small 8 year old and so I go out and I’d and I’d bet I’d like run back along the front of my of the stonewall sometimes like fall over on purpose or whatever but do whatever we could do to to get people’s attention and we made like sixty bucks like the first day you know and.
02:33.47 Andrew Morgans
Um, yeah.
02:38.11 Justin Cobb
And then I had a break from being an entrepreneur and I tried a bunch of different jobs and I found that I was very bad at working for somebody else. Um, really really bad. Ah, I think I probably had 55 different jobs on the shoreline never for longer than three and a half weeks um lots of like waiting tables and.
02:47.66 Andrew Morgans
Holy moly.
02:57.11 Justin Cobb
And busing a lot of restaurant stuff but also some manual labor and a bunch of different things. Um and then I went to college and because that’s what you do and graduated degree in psychology from school in New Orleans and I was set to go to law school and I was playing music that’s what I really wanted to do and my parents really wanted me to go to law school and so.
03:07.12 Andrew Morgans
Um, okay.
03:16.16 Justin Cobb
Me and my buddies were traveling all around, and we would do all sorts of stuff like you know, buy Cigarettes in Kansas for $2 and then sell them outside a concert in California for like 7 you can get a lot of money for a pack of cigarettes at the end of a long long festival day. Um, please, please.
03:24.44 Andrew Morgans
Yep.
03:27.88 Andrew Morgans
Okay, I have one for you here hold on just like ah because we talked about our I think it’s so interesting just like the path that entrepreneurs or founders take like to get the door. They’re at and I haven’t counted up all my jobs but I have always thought like I know I have a ton like from warehouse work to bar attending to.
03:38.91 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
03:47.24 Andrew Morgans
Everything I want to know because I’m like 55 is sounds like a lot but I would think I’m somewhere like 20 something you know, um, but this part about selling stuff while on tour like to make money while you’re playing music. So I toured for four and a half years um playing metal.
03:49.43 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
03:56.28 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, yeah.
04:04.24 Andrew Morgans
And we would buy the guys and the guys in the band would buy like broken instruments at 1 stop like off Craigslist fix them on the road in the van or whatever at like the downtime and then sell them in the next town that was our little hustle. Ah yeah, we would just buy broken instruments that people are getting rid of or free stuff and the guys were all just like.
04:14.98 Justin Cobb
Um I like it I like it.
04:23.13 Andrew Morgans
Figured out how to be techies and rodies and stuff and it was the mainly the instruments that were paying our way ah to play music. Okay, so.
04:28.30 Justin Cobb
Yeah, yeah, we we did cigarettes like we or we’d get like white t-shirts and screen print Bob Marley’s face on them and they would cost us $3 and we’d sell them for 15 I mean a lot of it was going to concerts too I was always really always been really into I probably still go to like forty fifty concerts a year live music is kind of my thing. So so.
04:42.60 Andrew Morgans
Um, yeah I went to three this week I went to three this week. It just happened to be ah intervals intervals metal intervals was metal metal show and animals as leaders then I went to ah Charlie Crockett which is.
04:47.52 Justin Cobb
Weird We’re driving kind of crop. Um, it’s amazing.
05:00.18 Justin Cobb
Um, cool. Yeah yeah.
05:02.42 Andrew Morgans
Real country. Um, and I think that was it I actually I think there’s 2 and then I’m going to one this week so there’s there’s two I’ll save it there.
05:08.90 Justin Cobb
Did you see the country the country singer Eric Church canceled his show the other day to see that to go to the unc duke in how it’s wild I don’t know either.
05:14.22 Andrew Morgans
Oh my god I honestly like don’t even know how I feel about that because I’m just like for so many things I see him as like as a founder that gets overwhelmed sometimes you just want to be like if it like I’m out I’m doing my thing. Whatever responsibility was I need to break you know I don’t something. And I don’t have to do this and then on the other side as a fan, you know that’s had maybe my biggest artist or whatever be dick tomy or something and it just kind of ruins it for me think about all those Eric Church fans that were like you really would rather watch other people play than like you know your fans have paid money to be here. So.
05:49.10 Justin Cobb
Yeah I read I read a there was a couple that had bought tickets from Alaska to go to the show and like airbn b and that that the but it is it is um yeah.
05:50.73 Andrew Morgans
Um, conflicted.
06:00.49 Andrew Morgans
Is what it is hopeful. Hopefully he takes care of them because that’s you know whoever was there gets their money and everything but okay so shows I have a massive list I’m gonna share with you just because I think okay.
06:08.81 Justin Cobb
So this this is that love it. This is 2002 and so we’re driving like a Volkswagen bus around and it breaks down. We’re back in New Hampshire which was kind of like our home base at the time graduate of college in New Orleans my dad flew down we kind of like hik the Appalachian Trail basically walked halfway back to Connecticut.
06:27.45 Andrew Morgans
Nobody doing.
06:28.31 Justin Cobb
Um, and I went up to New Hampshire and we were going. We’re going all over the place and so we needed money for a new engine and so I think it was five hundred and thirty one dollars a piece that we needed and took a job waiting tables lasted like a couple shifts the manager upset me or something I didn’t have a great attitude.
06:33.33 Andrew Morgans
Um.
06:46.55 Justin Cobb
About criticism back then as they look back on it and took a job and in Boston like got a Boston Herald you used to look for for jobs in the newspaper I’m dating myself and went down and ended up taking a job selling Coupons door to door for like blockbu of video Domino’s pizza
06:55.38 Andrew Morgans
Are.
07:04.89 Justin Cobb
Local restaurants and golf courses in the winter in Boston so I started on November Fourth good start at like three o’clock um Boston people are tough. You know it’s like there’s a reason why there’s a disproportionately high amount of standup comedians that are from Boston right? like they’ll boo Tom Brady um
07:11.97 Andrew Morgans
Um, yeah.
07:21.56 Justin Cobb
You know, fourth quarter of the super bowl if he throws an incomplete pass when they’re up by 20 points. That’s just kind of the way that they are um.
07:25.68 Andrew Morgans
Literally that’s the truth because I got picked up I went to babson for this like Goldman Sachs business accelerator with marnology a couple years back and it was like dude picks me up in a black car from the airport I mean that was the first for me I was like this is awesome. He has a sign of my name on it and he was like literally like as a chiefs fan.
07:31.82 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, yeah.
07:45.54 Andrew Morgans
Look at Tom Brady and we’re like oh my god every reporter loves him like you know everyone like he’s beat us a bunch of times like all this kind of stuff we run. People’s fancy where they’re there. This driver is like just blasting Tom Brady like hey we don’t want him get rid of him.
07:46.36 Justin Cobb
Course.
08:01.16 Andrew Morgans
Like he had just won or something you know and there’s like he’s like we don’t want him I’m like that’s exact I was so surprised that like if you get in a car in Kansas City people are like love Pat mahomes you know so I don’t know you’re right? Okay, so you’re in Boston I’m sorry I’m derailing it a little I get excited about it.
08:07.87 Justin Cobb
People I was just thinking about us I was think about Pat Pat mahomes ah family seems to love? Yeah um, so.
08:17.85 Andrew Morgans
Oh my gosh I got drama that I can’t share on the show. But.
08:23.75 Justin Cobb
So I take that job and originally it was just to make five hundred bucks I make five hundred bucks I call my bandmates none of them had gotten a job yet. So now I stayed I was going to quit that business but that job I went back in the next day and they said oh what’s your goal now and I said now I need one thousand five hundred and ninety three more dollars so after like you know four or five weeks I’d save $2000 and it was the most money I felt so proud.
08:41.42 Andrew Morgans
Um, yeah.
08:43.33 Justin Cobb
Um, and up until that point like it just felt different and I know I was almost starting to doubt myself in terms like my own ambition level and my work I think there was things I obsessed over like I obsessed over the guitar and I rustled in high school and college like obsessed over that. But I just hadn’t found that in something that was going to make me make me money and make me you know, productive in that way.
08:59.10 Andrew Morgans
Could I like on that thing right there I think there’s something big I want to share here is like when I was a musician I was raised as a missionary kid money was like not something I needed. It was just a necessity thing to get me to the next place right? I’m a musician I’m touring I’m living with dudes in a van you know on the road material things just weren’t.
09:01.60 Justin Cobb
And.
09:09.95 Justin Cobb
Um, yep.
09:17.91 Andrew Morgans
Wasn’t a need for me. It was this like relationship with it. So it was like money was always my problem but I never thought of it as like a need meaning like I would work my butt off 3 jobs or whatever to be I would go on tour for six weeks and money was the issue there and and then you start like.
09:28.74 Justin Cobb
Um, yep, yep.
09:34.39 Andrew Morgans
Solving that just even a little bit like you know where you save $2000 this thing that’s always been an issue for you. You see that stress kind of go away that 1 thing that’s been your focus for so long. Um, that confidence that comes with I think even as as a person just like conquering that thing that relationship with that money once I saw that hey I don’t.
09:53.15 Justin Cobb
Yeah, and you can do good and you can and and you can do a lot of great things. Um, yeah to se to to to little bit of a tangent but I think it’s worth noting so two months before I start in that in that adooro sales company I’m ah and I was a total hippie So I’m sitting at the table with my dad.
09:53.77 Andrew Morgans
I can be good with money or I can manage money or I can save it was like a swish for me I can help others right.
10:12.41 Justin Cobb
And we’ talking about bill gates and like 19 year old me or 21 year old me or whatever it was is gone all like that guy’s not that great and like computer like maybe the the devil I’ve made some crazy like hippi 19 year old you know comment my dad’s like oh who do you think is a good person I said ah mother Teresa he said mother treats is a good person who do think’s done more good for the world and I’m like mother Teresa buy a mile What are you talking about? he says all right. So tomorrow to go do some research and come back to dinner tomorrow night I’m gonna present an argument that bill gates has done more ah good for the world than mother Teresa. So I go to the I go to the yale law school library the next day and which is 15 minutes for me which is one of the schools that I had been considering going to and.
10:39.34 Andrew Morgans
Wow. Sounds like my dad.
10:50.33 Justin Cobb
Do some research and I come back and I was all proud to talk about how many hospitals and how many children saved and they felt like big numbers and then I said in his and has inspired countless others and my dad’s like well how do you count it if it’s countless and I’m like you know what I mean and then he he rolls off some quick. Yeah and then he’s like you know, ah credited with saving.
11:04.43 Andrew Morgans
Semantics.
11:08.53 Justin Cobb
However, many hundreds of millions of lives through medication and gave this tens of millions of computers to inner-city schools in the states and on and on and on and on and on um, and and after he said you know you want to make a difference. Um, there’s only a couple of different ways to do it either got to have influence. Or tremendous financial resources and ideally you have you you have both and that always kind of stuck with me. Um, number one because I feel like I got destroyed in an argument that I was somehow confident in going into it as ah as a ignorant kid. But um, ah. so so I start in that in that company and something feels different and the the idea of the the business is you if you do well you can open up your own company and that’s just really motivating and I see people that are talking big and they have big goals and the guy who’s running the office is like 26 and he’s making you know 7 8 grand a week and the guy who was his mentor. Was 28 and he was making twenty Thousand a week and it turned out he had wrestled at the same college and I’d wrestled at the same weight class and like when he came in and gave a speech um, ah, kind of like a morning meeting before we went out to the field. Um I I made that connection I remembered seeing his name like on the wrestling room wall and so long short short I was just feeling different about what I was doing. And it was strange because sometimes the medium like the medium was door-to-door sales which you know I’m talking about in this like romantic poetic way. But it’s the way that it felt at the time which just it was just different. What I didn’t realize but I I quickly realized was I was feeling an entrepreneurial spirit for the first time and and that I had all the motivation in the world right.
12:33.30 Andrew Morgans
Um, and you had someone look up to right that was relatable meaning like the wrestling at the same school and like I’m doing this thing and and kind of getting kind of being successful at it and look at what he did and someone attainable like something attainable.
12:39.60 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, yeah.
12:48.17 Justin Cobb
And and it and it just people people felt they seemed free. So all the all the fears that I had um about what I was gonna do with my career like I can go to a great law school and go out and when will I be free when will I feel free when will I feel.
12:52.92 Andrew Morgans
Um.
13:05.52 Justin Cobb
Like I can do what I want to do and the answer for many people is never. You know it’s it’s never and there was this one day that I’ll never forget I was ah were selling ah like these Coupons we call them vip cards where they were like laminated pretty looking Coupons for dependable dry cleaners. It’s a dry cleaner in the us and we’re going business to business and I’m in this law firm.
13:10.65 Andrew Morgans
Yep.
13:25.41 Justin Cobb
and and I was a little bit embarrassed about what I was doing. Um, it’s not the sexiest. Yeah, especially around him so I was like just you know like I’m probably going to ya law school next year drop up, but but but but I’m just doing this for like a summer job and he’s like well why do you want to wasn’t even the summer like it was the winter and he’s like what? why do? why? Do you want to go to law school I’m like because I want to be like you.
13:27.14 Andrew Morgans
Um, because you because you want to be a lawyer like.
13:44.44 ustin Cobb
And I was like aren’t you happy and and he and he looked at me and he’s like pays well and I was like oh ah and at that moment I realized like I was making $100 a day commission only selling coupons in the winter in Boston and was substantially happier and meant more mentally free.
13:48.20 Andrew Morgans
Um.
14:03.58 Justin Cobb
Then he was and he was a name partner on Newberry Street in you know one of the top law firms in Boston and that that made a huge impression. So um, yeah.
14:08.49 Andrew Morgans
That’s a moment. Let’s pause there for a second just a second because I think I you know I don’t always have the best memory about everything. Um, but I can specifically remember as someone didn’t document my whole journey and you know I’ve been in the Amazon. Like helping brands and Amazon 11 years in that space I can’t remember everything I can remember these like moments where um, one of them was I went to rally house I was an ecommerce manager and at first I was just trying to be the best e-commerce manager like you know what’s the top end of a e-commerce manager I went to school of computer science and I looked online at that time. Probably like two thousand ten eleven the top end of an e-commerce manager was like 100000 in New York or something like that right? I’m in Kansas City making like 42 or something and so I’m like okay there’s some you know 6100000 Kansas city goes a long way are used to at least um and so.
14:58.87 Justin Cobb
Um, sure sure.
15:03.39 Andrew Morgans
Um, like okay that was my path I didn’t see entrepreneurship and I started interviewing I interviewed at a company called rallyhouse which is like sports gear and stuff here. They’re kind of really big and you know so I’ve been working all day with sports and like okay watching games then. Shooting out emails and promotions for the winners of this thing and this thing and I’m like that doesn’t sound so bad and they’re offering me 70 K which compared to 42 was like okay this will be a big deal. My parents will be proud you know and ah the other I’m always trying to prove myself to everyone like that’s my struggle you know?? Ah and I don’t need to.
15:20.75 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
15:34.83 Justin Cobb
Um, you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing I mean everything’s probably both. But do you think.
15:35.84 Andrew Morgans
You know, but that’s like my struggle like I Just wish it was like proving it to myself more so like what I’m capable of than it is like ever Outwardly you know I would that would be more pure to me. But.
15:43.82 Justin Cobb
Um, got it got it.
15:49.93 Andrew Morgans
The other one was lockedin I don’t know if you’ve heard of locked in there. A financial firm very prestigious if you work there around here. You’re like you know that’s a great resume move and I went in there and everyone was in these suits and like I mean like if you’re at a date and you tell a girl you work at locked-in like that’s the thing you know and so like that’s a prestigious thing. Someone in this family didn’t even go to school or like have degrees or things like that I work at locked and like that would have been a badge. You know? and ah I was proud of honestly one of the moments I’m proud of myself because I just left there I remember flipping it on her when she was like offer me kind of the job and I was just like I think I’m interviewing you because like. It’s like super quiet in here and I’m like everyone looks like they’re in a tie and you know when you’re an I t in ecommerce like you don’t have to be that way and so I’m like what what is no one looks happy in here. There’s no vibes in here. There’s no energy in here and um I stayed with my $42000 a year job and I built marology.
16:32.84 Justin Cobb
Um, so I.
16:44.88 Andrew Morgans
Instead of taking those 2 jobs which ah you know that was a yeah thank you like in hindsight it was I walked into that law firm is ah essentially how I felt and I saw I saw some people maybe that were like where I wanted to be ah that company or that position and I’m just like.
16:45.85 Justin Cobb
Great move. You might have gotten caught right.
17:02.94 Andrew Morgans
You guys are not having a great time and ah.
17:03.26 Justin Cobb
In general. That’s just great advice for someone trying to figure out what they want to do with with their life project where you could be 10 years from now 15 years from now 20 years from now or 5 years from now.
17:14.20 Andrew Morgans
Take them to coffee like go interview and people like all the time I ask people like that.
17:19.83 Justin Cobb
And just start out with are you happy just start out with. Are you happy.
17:25.88 Andrew Morgans
Yep I know when people are happy or not because if they’re happy with what they do. They talk about it So but I just like I love Shaness because as anyone that’s listening is just like this is the things that we all have in common doesn’t matter what we’re doing how we’re doing it like you know how’d you get there? how’d you get successful people ask me like oh my God how’d you get into this like.
17:28.50 Justin Cobb
Totally.
17:43.28 Andrew Morgans
Well I had a light bulb moment that I was like I I am chasing money. That’s why I’m on this interview and I’ve like you know, worked it out with my boss to get out and get the free time but at the same time I’m like I’m not sacrificing money for happiness for a short-term game. That’s just like not what I’m that what that was a moment and there’s these light bulb moments that if you pay Attention. You know, are there The other one was traffic fuck traffic. So Ah, anyway, um, let’s get back to it. We’ll cut that part out where we okay.
18:09.64 Justin Cobb
No, no, no, you’re good. so so no it’s great. So so then I ah they sign a couple clients in Charlotte including the Charlotte bobcats the basketball team and it’s his big deal because we signed a sports team and so they said hey you’re doing a great job. You know teaching and training people. Um, we’ll give you a. Money to open up your own company call. It. Whatever you want and we’ll support you and so at 24 I think it was I opened up my first company in Charlotte and quickly. no I forget no Justin Cobb Academy I have different companies essentially do do consulting the business now I have I have thousands of people and in many many countries and so.
18:33.53 Andrew Morgans
Was that Justin Kove had ah.
18:47.00 Justin Cobb
Um, it’s just kind of like a holding company that that gives an explanation of because at this point I’m mentoring the mentors I think so to speak. So um, what star is just me knocking indoors is now it’s a very different look now we work with the biggest companies in the world where in you know majority of walmarts and best buys in America.
18:48.71 Andrew Morgans
Um, okay.
19:03.97 Justin Cobb
Um, the people with the kiosks selling telco services whether it’s for exinity or for at and t or charter where 80% of the charity fundraisers that you see in downtown city centers across the country we were were in were in many we’ll cut out this part too.
19:20.52 Andrew Morgans
Everywhere you’re everywhere now.
19:23.85 Justin Cobb
Yeah, we’re everywhere and and and and built like ended up to to truncate the story. A little bit went from charlotte to to Atlanta to London to Leeds to Sheffield in England it was the first time ever had a passport I bought a I got a passport like five o’clock out on a seven o’clock flight moved to England next day we opened up. We went with ah. Just me and and and and my mentor and and 2 other people and from there we opened up you know 40 businesses over the course of like a year and a half in England um.
19:49.82 Andrew Morgans
If I recall right? that was leadership saying you like just absolutely crushing everybody take it to the next level like can you just go to Europe and do this all over again.
19:55.27 Justin Cobb
Yeah, yeah, and there’s all this green space. Yeah, there’s all this green space and so did like England Island Scotland Wales move to Spain Spain Portugal italy Poland before coming back to the states and and in 2015 and you know real life.
20:09.99 Andrew Morgans
Were you married at that were you married at that time when you went to Europe. Okay.
20:14.24 Justin Cobb
Um, so I met my wife in London she grew up in Sweden I met her in London and then ah we we got married in in when we’re living in Madrid and our daughter first daughter was born in Barcelona my son who’s now 9 was born in London and then my my daughter was my youngest is two and a half she was born. We moved back to New York and then Atlanta before coming to Puerto rico um.
20:34.60 Andrew Morgans
That’s so interesting are they are do those countries have dual citizenship or how’s it work cool. That’s super cool. Um, like I was born in Canada so my parents gifted me that canadian you know I got canadian citizenship by being born there which I think is a cool thing for travel and you know.
20:36.46 Justin Cobb
Um, so they they have Swedish passports and us passports. Yeah, which. Um, ah, that’s great. Yeah yeah, Ah, yeah, so she they could. She could have gotten a Spanish pass for it but because my wife is.
20:51.32 Andrew Morgans
Ah, whole host of reasons but I didn’t know if that was the same case with Spain.
21:01.80 Justin Cobb
Swedish it was just it was easier as we did a swedish my son same thing he could have gotten a british passport but got a swedish instead. He could probably get a british passport at some point if he wants and then our our youngest who’s two and a half is the only one who can technically be the president of the United States one day hopefully she finds any other job on earth to do other than that.
21:01.66 Andrew Morgans
Got it.
21:17.68 Andrew Morgans
Won’t happen I like I’m like I don’t I don’t see you letting her do that. But ah she can shoot for that’s for sure. Yeah.
21:20.90 Justin Cobb
Ah, yeah, she if she’s into the freedom if the freedom gene got passed down ah that that would not be the right course of action. Um, and you know but I think like Andrew what before saying realized I wasn’t a great employee had this. Energy being an entrepreneur learned that like the rocket fuel for me at least was and I know we spoke about this and we share this in common. Um, you know in the past conversation was teaching someone how to have that freedom teaching someone how to not need to.
21:53.87 Andrew Morgans
Um.
21:59.86 Justin Cobb
Continue running on the hamster wheel teaching someone how to work for themselves to learn a ah set of skills which whether it’s leadership. It’s seo. It’s ecommerce. It’s in whatever medium it is um.
22:15.79 Andrew Morgans
Mindset. Yeah.
22:16.62 Justin Cobb
Yeah, and there’s a certain type of person that’s built a certain type of way that’s looking for that and ah, you know I think that ah that that’s the best feeling I’ve found you know? Um, yeah, it’s it’s it’s an incredible It’s an incredible feeling and that’s really what. A lot of our purposes which we’ll get into later I’m sure you know at at carbon sixes is to empower entrepreneurial ecommerce and help people take control of their lives and like that’s said in such a hyperbolic way so many times and I don’t mean in like the running ads and like here’s the lambo and here’s like the fake. Private jet from the set that I rented way but in a very real in a very real way where when you can make decisions based on um from a position of control whether that’s $200 a day or $2000 a day or $20000 a day. Everyone’s gonna have a different kind of like number and appetite for work that it.
23:07.75 Andrew Morgans
Like.
23:12.55 Justin Cobb
How far they want to take that but have just found that the single most rewarding thing I’ve been able to do in my professional life and now been lucky enough to be doing it and being part of people’s Journeys for 20 years is to give them that back that control that in many and in many cases they didn’t realize that they had they didn’t realize it was an option for them and not just doing that. You know here but doing that doing that abroad. You know when we went into Poland and we were able to teach people in Poland how to make you know, really good money and learn really great skills that they weren’t otherwise going to learn that wasn’t the most profitable part of me building my direct sales army but it was in some ways the most rewarding because. The the lack of options that that and ecommerce has changed that I mean it’s really it’s changed that in such a major way It’s a very beautiful thing.
23:56.90 Andrew Morgans
Yeah I have to agree I’m nobody from nowhere with no real pedigree I mean I have amazing parents and um, but as far as like. Politically or in business or any of those things you know first get a college degree ecommerce leveled the playing field for me. Thank you? Um Ecommerce leveled the playing field for me and if we were talking about social content and putting it out and.
24:18.89 Justin Cobb
Congratulations That’s awesome.
24:27.94 Andrew Morgans
You know you’re you’re projecting the best of whatever you want people to see or some people even get popular on negative stuff. You know so there’s there’s both sides of that negative stuff since trend higher. Ah you know so there’s there’s all kinds of stuff there. But for me, that’s what my social media has been about. You know I’m calling it the legacy chapter. And my hashtag has watched me work because for the last eight plus years I’ve just been documenting my grind you know and people talked about that grind culture hustle culture. Sure you take anything to extreme. It’s bad but you know it’s just like constantly being on constantly chasing that freedom and for me I was raised like.
24:51.29 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
25:05.30 Andrew Morgans
In Africa as a homeschooler you know and it was ah my parents were there teaching english they at that time I thought it was a great thing that they were doing. They’re giving speaking english you know in any of those countries gives you a much larger chance of being employed and um.
25:19.00 Justin Cobb
Um, sure.
25:22.52 Andrew Morgans
All those things and so they were using christian curriculum I was using the same curriculum they were using to be honest with you. So if you think I’m smart like you know they’re getting good stuff and that’s what my parents were doing. They were just like teaching. Um you know teaching english over there. Their french missionaries. Well my day would start like you know. This isn’t like an american day but in in ah in Africa you wake up early because it’s hot and the sun’s coming in. You can’t sleep anymore. Really It’s just like hot and so you get up and I’m speaking in generalities but bear with me, you know there’s all different parts of Africa but where you know where I was in both Swana and congo hot super hot and you’d get up I would you know.
25:48.28 Justin Cobb
Oh yeah, I mean there’s yeah.
25:59.31 Justin Cobb
No, no, no air conditioning of course no air conditioning. Obviously yeah yeah, blowing around the hot air.
25:59.84 Andrew Morgans
Um, not up super crazy early to catch the bus at five thirty no air conditioning fans and like yeah, definitely not during the day and exactly so you’re like you can’t be indoors even that long right? You know so I would we would wake up I would go through my we had 5 subjects. It was like meritocracy in regards to like get your work done I had set goals. Get your work done. Go play so from a young age like from like kindergarten up I had this level of freedom that like whenever I came back to the us I didn’t have and it wasn’t because of wealth. It wasn’t because of any of those things that provided freedom for me as a kid. It was like just simply environment and rules and so just adjusted really bad here. Um, but I always had this just like desire for freedom and that’s why I was playing music and touring that’s what I was chasing really creative creative freedom and expression and.
26:48.10 Justin Cobb
Um, tell me.
26:53.53 Andrew Morgans
All of those things was for me. It was like a lot of a lot of stuff inside of me that like metal music was an outlet I just threw down. We did create you know jump around on stage and let out a lot of energy and it was ah it was like a real transition time for me, but the financial thing wasn’t resolved like and meaning like. It was always a struggle come back where 3 jobs be exhausted like you know, go back on tour and I didn’t I realized I didn’t have true freedom until I have financial freedom. Um, and so for me I was settling for like a freedom That’s like maybe 70% or whatever you know,? whatever you can estimate there and so. Financial part which ecommerce bringing it back home to ecommerce and then carbon six even a tool to help in ecommerce and create you know more entrepreneurs or even I’m an agency owner now helping multiple you know brands and companies and sellers. Um, give them the tools to be able to just like excel in the space. Um. Yeah Commerce changed my life. So I’m I’m a I’m like a big fan. It’s it’s real with me.
27:50.20 Justin Cobb
And excelling in the space really means breaking free from a lot of chains that most people are bound by and that’s a pretty special thing.
28:02.60 Andrew Morgans
Yeah, we’re gonna get into that before we do shoutout again to our sponsor full scale Io helping you build software teams quickly and affordably Okay, let’s let’s jump into carbon six. We’ve talked about the origins. Um.
28:14.90 Justin Cobb
So.
28:19.42 Andrew Morgans
Actually I think before we do we just need. We need to share one more part of the story and that’s where you know you went from Europe and the leadership Academy and everything you’re doing I know it’s like grown and and involved into a whole bunch of things. Ah, ah we we haven’t had this intro into where exactly you and ecommerce met.
28:34.30 Justin Cobb
Sure. Okay, so we’re we’re living in Atlanta lockdown start there was rioters we live right down the street from the governor the governor’s place in Atlanta and there’s and it’s just kind of a crazy time I think they but I think there was like a Wendy’s that got burned down that day and my wife looks at me and she’s like hey could we get out of here for for a couple weeks or a couple months
28:48.18 Andrew Morgans
Move.
28:54.22 Justin Cobb
And a plane we come down to Puerto rico we find this amazing neighborhood called Durada Beach we fall in love with it. We decide. We’re going to stay here and a lot of the leaders in my in my directex sales business. Um, you know are really ready to take the torch and they’re kind of telling me like please don’t come to the meeting. Let us close it and like let us do it and so I start to have more time than I’ve had in in a very long time and. And have some money so I start doing a bunch of investment stuff and that’s my plan I’m going to become a great investor and I’m looking at a bunch of different deals and had some some people are mentoring me there realize really quickly that it just doesn’t get my juices flowing that I wanted to operate and build something now. So i.
29:26.44 Andrew Morgans
What do you start with was just like quickly was it real estate was it like buying other businesses franchises like what were you looking at.
29:33.38 Justin Cobb
Yes, so so a couple of my cofounders with carbon 6 Um haveve had lots of success like in junior mining and in tech and some other stuff. Ah in Canada abroad. 1 of our founders Sean just has huge deal flow. Um, you know one day we’re looking at a bitcoin miner. An ng project the next day we’re looking at something. You know, revolving around carbon credits the next day we’re looking at like a gold discovery the next day we’re looking at minerals on the moon the next day we’re looking at something more traditional where it’s like ah you know patches that are going to be distributed through a multilevel marketing business that change your mood so we’re looking at 5 or 6 different things a day.
29:56.11 Andrew Morgans
Um, okay.
30:11.10 Justin Cobb
And and then all of a sudden after a couple um ah is a connection. Okay, okay, cool. So after ah, there was a period of time last January where for two weeks everything that I ran into was e-commerce and I didn’t know a whole lot about e-commerce.
30:17.55 Andrew Morgans
Um.
30:28.26 Justin Cobb
Um I had met a few people in my neighborhood down here in Puerto rico there are about a half dozen people that have exited their Amazon businesses and then ah several into aggregators and then bought a house in the neighborhood that I live in right now. So I met a few of them then they mentioned they were Amazon Sellers are like that’s cool. That’s interesting. And and then I I saw a bunch of ecommerce stuff. We saw a couple deals where they were doing shopify rollups. We saw a deal where they were doing. They wanted to roll up Amazon agencies and and some saas as well. A couple of the aggregators a few the well more well-known aggregators. Um.
30:53.30 Andrew Morgans
Um.
31:00.18 Justin Cobb
Ah, pitched us and they were raising. You know some crazy valuation that everyone’s gotten accustomed to hearing like these numbers like they were normal. It wasn’t normal to me at the time it was unlike anything I’d heard and so I started doing a deep dive learned about thacio started to understand the space that weekend I was at the pool so all couple of those sellers and just started doing a deep dive and asking them a couple of questions saying. You know how big is your team and they said it’s me and 3 or 4 you know v a that are super helpful people that I met an upwork that live in the Philippines and I’m like and that produces 3 or $4000000 a year in sales like how does that work like it was just ah, it was unlike any anyd story I’d heard and it it became intoxicating. You know it was just super interesting and.
31:32.95 Andrew Morgans
And it’s interesting to me that like as someone that’s like I’m becoming an eye and you know like looking into I also amm in real estate and property management and Airbnbs and I was like shall I be into dumpsters or what’s some passive like things that doesn’t require a lot of humans involved and like you know thing like that and then.
31:40.42 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, yeah.
31:47.27 Justin Cobb
Um, server like ah storage spaces and yeah storage space.
31:51.67 Andrew Morgans
So you’re hearing you’re seeing everything you’s seeing a lot of interesting things you like you’ve been all over the world. You’ve seen lots of interesting things and then you like come across E-commerce and it’s got you just like deeper. You’re going deeper. You’re going deeper. You’re going deeper.
31:59.96 Justin Cobb
And and you know yeah and I don’t know why at first it’s like you know when um, like you hear a word to hear a concept and then all of a sudden you hear it like 15 more times the next week and you don’t really know why that is and when that’s happened to me in my life. There’s been certain times where I really felt like I was on the right track and so it just kind of ended up being.
32:08.50 Andrew Morgans
Um.
32:17.84 Justin Cobb
Just ended up being that like was just a series of moments where where it it was just okay. This I gotta I got to look at this a whole lot deeper ended up canceling all the pitch calls that we were supposed to be on for the next week and I was like there might be something here and that week when I’m talking to the to the sellers at the pool and I said. You know what’s the difference between you and the 10000000 sellers that won’t end up exiting their business for 8 figures and and there was there was some answers that would be the answers for any entrepreneur the application of information the attention to detail motivation. There’s going to be a point in the story where. You could have given up and you don’t and you fight through and there’s gonna be a point in the story where you have to innovate so all the normal stuff you’d hear from any entrepreneurial journey right? and then just a lot of software I use this software for keyword research this for product research this for my ads this for my inventory this for repricing um and at the time it was like you know was 10 or.
32:57.89 Andrew Morgans
For any business right.
33:10.41 Justin Cobb
Now it’s fifteen billion and and money had been put into the space for for doing the roll up of the brands and my simple question was how many companies are there knows 114 that are doing this and and the answer was you know 1 and decided on that moment that that there would now be more than one.
33:17.10 Andrew Morgans
Doing software.
33:28.98 Justin Cobb
And reached out to Kazi I had been the lead investor. He’s our Ceo o kazi amed he’s incredible guy he um, ah after graduate in Harvard business school. He went and and built a software businesses that he a thought business that he that he exited and then his second business I was ah the lead investor on the last round.
33:43.65 Andrew Morgans
Um, have written.
33:46.49 Justin Cobb
It was a rollup of ah mental health clinics in the us actually dealing with psychedelics and with like a data layer on top with remote patient monitoring. Super cool stuff for a different conversation. But I think you’d be interested in it and so he just exited it and so I said Kazi I think I think um I think I got the next you know deal and he assumed I was talking about. Something that we could invest and I said no I think I think there’s a real opportunity. Um here and we that was ah I guess it’ll be a year ago um April Seventh this will probably be of just it’ll just have passed I assume when this comes out today. We’re doing this at April Fourth and since then we’ve been going a hundred miles per hour so
34:22.21 Andrew Morgans
That’s pretty cool to be here today from my side like a year later after that. Um you know the first year is ah is a big one I think and ah, it’s pretty cool to be here right? there and see what you guys have done already I wanted to go back to 1 moment.
34:30.70 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
34:37.53 Andrew Morgans
Ah, because I think it’s those moments that kind of stand out to me and what can you just share like in it. Ah, you know what? you’re feeling kind of your confidence levels. Maybe the moment itself. Um, when you said well how many companies are. Doing the rollup thing in the software space and you heard that there was one I can imagine okay that there was this like that’s it like like like this different level of confidence or like that you knew Yeah, that’s the good stuff.
35:01.35 Justin Cobb
I couldn’t sleep I haven’t really slept Well I haven’t slept well since like in a good way. Um, yeah, it’s a good stuff I Ah yeah yeah, it was. It was so clear and so and so obvious um. Then of course like people. Oh It’s hard. It’s not going to work and how are you going to integrate and how are you going to do this and that and like some of those problems are are problems that we’re still solving on a day-to day basis right now, but it’s like but but but the the desire and the team will solve the problems. Um, the problems are hurdles right? Um, so we were excited that there were some hurdles because it made us.
35:25.49 Andrew Morgans
Um, they’re they’re always there and but but.
35:39.62 Justin Cobb
And made us know that maybe the barrier entry to what we were doing might be so us a little bit higher than what the brand aggreators were doing and I don’t know if that’s true or not maybe that was what we told ourselves to to feel confident about what we were doing but we thought we had something special and we saw a bunch of companies like I said doing it in in shopify including Wecommerce. Um, and they’re they’re publicly traded up there. They they um have been aggregating. Um, you know absolutely different in shopify straight from the app store but we felt you know in the first like month or 2 it was you know Thacioracio Thrio we commerce We ecommerce ecommerce and here’s what we’re doing you know and the story it resonated.
36:04.92 Andrew Morgans
No.
36:18.79 Justin Cobb
You know and we we were lucky enough that we had we’d all had a good amount of success. Um in our lives and so we had a large network of high network worth individuals and family offices and and and funds that were you know investors and we all put in our own cash as well and set out. Yeah.
36:30.98 Andrew Morgans
The next problem came but but like to me like not that I’m dismissing that but I’m like that happens like across business everywhere but like in an entrepreneur when you’re like to me when it’s like I’m looking for a solution or I’m looking like what is this in this thing that I’m supposed to find and then I find it.
36:37.21 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
36:49.10 Andrew Morgans
And whether I know everything about it or not I know when I find it like I guess that’s something that um I can just imagine that like once I’ve got my focus I’m like this is the thing that marknology needs to be focusing on or this is the the direction we need to go. Thank you thank you for anyone listening that doesn’t know because my name is Drew not Mark.
36:58.53 Justin Cobb
Um I Love the name by the way. It’s a great name.
37:07.92 Andrew Morgans
And you know martinology just being ecommerce is in the middle of marketing and technology and and it’s the combination of those 2 that really you know makes a good ecom.
37:13.28 Justin Cobb
I think I think that you know one of our ah 1 of our pillars at carbon six that we’re talking about is is innovation and a lot of innovation is seeing around the corner and giving people that which they didn’t even know that they needed. We didn’t all know that we needed a phone in our hands. Not everyone knew you needed an ipad.
37:23.22 Andrew Morgans
Are.
37:32.96 Justin Cobb
But there’s a bazillion. There’s there’s there’s there’s tremendous amounts of use cases. Um, but.
37:36.22 Andrew Morgans
Speed and innovation are to me are like my major weapons. That’s what I have I’m I’m a bootstraper. Not tons of capital. Not tons of resources but it’s always been speed and innovation and much like carbon 6 doing it in the software space for me with marnology. There is no roadmap.
37:43.82 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
37:54.50 Andrew Morgans
No one knew that they needed to be solving for Amazon or doing seo or optimizing their images or anything like that and it was like ah you don’t know what you don’t know let me tell you about it. You know that was eight nine years ago where it was like hey guys did you know you can optimize you know your brand on Amazon and these are all the things you should be doing that. You’re not oh by the way I need tools to do that.
37:56.90 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
38:13.85 Andrew Morgans
So for me as like someone providing that service. The tools are just like oh my God I’ve been waiting for these by the way I’ve been waiting you know I’ve been waiting I’m not software developer so I wasn’t a space I wanted to pursue but as a person doing the work like as ah as a team like marnology it was. We’re only as good as our tools and and I mean I’ve seen.
38:27.12 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
38:32.66 Andrew Morgans
But in the space last eleven years I’ve seen a lot come and go um but it becomes very, it’s all about the data. We’re talking about the access of information and not just to get the data. But I think you know there’s ah, there’s an absolute art and science about interpreting the data. Um you know and what to do with it. We’re going to talk about some of those features later. But.
38:46.59 Justin Cobb
Um, hundred percent
38:51.47 Andrew Morgans
Um, no, just like when people say hey what you know? what do you do? What’s your passion. What’s your thing. My thing is I’m a problem solver. So I guess like some people get hook hooked up on like well what are all the things that can go wrong after we decide to do carbon six. You’re like no, its that doesn’t matter. It’s It’s the vision is set. We know what we’re gonna do.
39:04.87 Justin Cobb
Um, it doesn’t matter. Yeah, yeah.
39:10.71 Andrew Morgans
Expect the problems and honestly like the difficulty to entry like I’m pumped with the aggregators I’m pumped with all the influx of of capital I’m pumped with Amazon getting harder I’m pumped with Amazon coming down hard on review manipulation and giveaways and all those kinds of things because to me as an entrepreneur and a founder I say if it’s easy. That’s not what I want to be focused on as far as like solving a problem I want to be focused on the hard stuff.
39:33.54 Justin Cobb
I Also think you know oftentimes the people that would have won when something is easy are the exact same people that will win now they just make more money. Um, so so to wrap to go back to the innovation.
39:45.42 Andrew Morgans
Um, I had to pause there. That’s like that’s a big statement and I think that’s that’s.
39:50.46 Justin Cobb
What we say when we were selling coupons for domino’ is I was making $9 a sale right? and that was door to door in the in the winter that’s very different than making a couple hundred bucks a sale selling internet to someone and and inside of a Walmart almost being seen as part of a Walmart from a nice kiosk the same people that do well in that business now are the same people that would have done business done well in that business.
40:03.32 Andrew Morgans
Yeah.
40:10.26 Justin Cobb
Before the same people that have excuses in that business now are the exact same people that would have have had excuses before and and and they just make more money Now. Um and and maybe flame out in that in that business flame out takes them longer to flame out in ecommerce. Maybe they’ll flame out a little bit quicker because it’s a little more competitive and I think that. Um, you have a space with just a gigantic tam and the sophistication sometimes can lag in some ways behind that which you know is isn’t is a normal part and I imagine I imagine it must. It must be so exciting over the last couple years since the since the aggregators came just the validation. Um, the validation and the the clear vision that the seller now has on I mean how many different industries can you sell your business and then start another business where it can’t compete obviously same category but all the same systems all the same tools all your same knowledge base. To build sell build sell build sell build sell build sell um not a lot of places. Let you do that.
41:14.37 Andrew Morgans
I’ve done it 300 plus times not exit, not exit but build repeat rinse. You know doing the same processes across Amazon e-commerce for different brands through the years you know there’s it’s a repeatable process and it’s not it’s not rocket science everything has its own little set of problems to you know, solve for and whatever.
41:24.27 Justin Cobb
That’s incredible.
41:31.92 Andrew Morgans
But what other industry is like that what other industry The best man woman can win. Um, you know if you’re great at what you do and you sell a good product and your prior’s quality or your methods are so are strong. You can win in this space. You know I’ve been beating the giants ah like with you know, a small local businesses cookie shop. You know out ranking.
41:50.20 Justin Cobb
Congrats.
41:51.20 Andrew Morgans
Out ranking like the the nabiscos or the ships ahoy just meaning that e-commerce is like level and meaning it’s ah it’s ultimate leveler and if you have the right information we were going after keywords and the big brands are too slow to move on Amazon yet. So we’re just you know you’re out ranking them. Um, those are the things.
42:04.85 Justin Cobb
Um I believe that I believe that’s called Startup hustle and and so and and so seeing all that stuff ended up being like the innovation that I didn’t know I needed for the next business idea was where I was kind of going with that. Um I didn’t know I didn’t know I was looking for it but it it kept smacking me in the face.
42:09.90 Andrew Morgans
That’s called Startup puzzle. Yeah I love that? Um, okay.
42:18.79 Andrew Morgans
Um, okay.
42:24.72 Justin Cobb
And it’s been It’s been the most incredible ride since you know from there we started going out and and and looking and sourcing businesses and understanding the lay of the land and you know meet and founders. It’s it’s amazing and the vast majority I’m proud to say we’ve completed 12 acquisitions and out of those 10 and a half will call. It. The founders are with us in some capacity. Um, many of them stayed on in a few cases. They wanted to exit and wipe their hands of e-commerce and go into something else and they’re so excited about what we’re doing that they’re that they’re stayed on for the journey and now they’re part of the the team and it’s this interesting thing where.
42:56.58 Andrew Morgans
I Love that.
43:00.66 Justin Cobb
And we’re building it through acquisition I could name so many of them. You know we we um probably most your listeners will be private label um focused we we were um, kind of niche agnostic. We bought some some tools in Merch by Amazon including pretty merch which is the largest tool in that space Guy Harris and cyprus amazing guy. The founder. We bought a few. Wholesale tools large wholesale tools scan un limited supplier scout. Um, we bought a book arbitrage tool called zen arbitrage and we’re and we’re and we’re ah buying a suite of tools in ah in private label private label our most recent acquisition with seller tools and you know Brendan who actually lives in my neighborhood Brendan Morris um who was one of the first guys to have an 8 figure exit of his brand I think was like 2016 or 2017 I would say um yeah and Troy Johnston and so we’re building this kind of like voltron of entrepreneurs and building a community of entrepreneurs to help entrepreneurs and it’s really it’s really like a dynamic fun.
43:44.16 Andrew Morgans
Wow Wow! That’s early. Yeah.
43:59.80 Justin Cobb
Exciting challenging you know rod.
44:02.36 Andrew Morgans
I think that’s cool for the founders that you guys have like built a team where people are working together I think that’s unique and very special and you know what I love about the aggregators and the attention to our space is 1 in some ways now like more people are getting educated and more people are putting efforts into educating about. Space that we’re in this industry that we’re in one I love that sharing the message of you can be. You know you can be an entrepreneur. You can find freedom but also brands businesses manufacturers you know everyone putting out more knowledge and information and having funding to do that and software is getting funded and you know for me as ah as a person that loves this this space. Um.
44:35.10 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
44:41.73 Andrew Morgans
I Love that the validation part too. But this founder thing is unique in that. Um they did. They’ve all done their thing and been successful right? to to annexit. Um, but now get to be part of something that hasn’t been done before ah and then they’re like yeah I get to stay in this thing the space that I love without just redoing exactly what I just did.
44:51.69 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
45:00.11 Andrew Morgans
But to get to be part of something and add to the bigger picture. Um, you know I think that’s something unique. You guys are doing That’s that’s really cool.
45:05.40 Justin Cobb
Yeah, it’s fun. Yeah, thanks I. Ah yeah, it’s It’s a it’s It’s a lot of fun I need this.
45:11.90 Andrew Morgans
And I think by keeping them in like you know, just your your introduction to ecommerce is young. You know in regards to like learning quickly like you know this um getting introduction to it but by keeping the founders there you know have an ah, an internal community. That will be centered and focused and and experienced right from the get go which I think is is very brilliant.
45:30.37 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, and like it would be. It would be disingenuous to say like that was the vision like in the beginning it was. We weren’t none of us were engineers. We need to make sure we keep on the engineers and we don’t have a ah big background in. Amazon we need to make sure that we keep on some of the founders. Um, but have found it to be in many ways you know the most rewarding part of of the of the whole thing you know we we stayed in in total stealth. Ah until until prosper a couple weeks ago and this is actually the first podcast that any of us are going on. Um, we’ll go from being pretty quiet to to pretty loud. Is you sponsoring everything all over the place and and releasing tons of content and being able to because there’s so because there’s so many people that were the face of that tool or the face of that community. Um, it should give us you know this kind of big tent community.
46:08.15 Andrew Morgans
Yeah, let’s get loud.
46:26.80 Justin Cobb
Where we’re able to get out a message. Um, yeah quickly which is super fun and and yeah, yeah.
46:26.95 Andrew Morgans
Yeah, quickly. Yeah, well speaking of building that team like how are you finding integrating the team into the fold and assembling you know, essentially a group of entrepreneurs that are all working together has there been any difficulty there or.
46:43.52 Justin Cobb
Yeah I mean there’s difficulty every 5 minutes with that. But but we have an incredible group of people in terms of the infrastructure. Um, and I think a good combination of ah you know entrepreneurs from inside of Amazon.
46:44.61 Andrew Morgans
So far. Yeah.
46:52.27 Andrew Morgans
Um, yeah.
47:02.32 Justin Cobb
Ah, people like Leo Segovio um people like Brendan who I mentioned and Albert Farthy who’s at 24 is already built to businesses and exited both of them as a cto. Um, ah people that were entrepreneurs from outside of Amazon like. Kazi and myself and nasim people that did a little bit of both um like Clayton um our director of affiliates. Um, and because there’s a variation I think in personality and background the team is in I don’t know 1516 countries already. Um, there’s always someone and because everyone looks at it like it’s their company. 1 of the things that we did is you know nearly everybody who’s been with us more than a month or 2 has some equity in the business and we think that that’s really important is that if we want to recruit entrepreneurs and have them feel. Like they’re not working for us and we’re all working together that you end up with a situation where where after like all the normal problems of like communication and I used to this way of doing slack and I’m used to this way of http://monday.com and and all the emotions that kind of go into that and messaging. Um.
48:13.48 Andrew Morgans
Would change.
48:17.40 Justin Cobb
There’s just you know there’s just we We hope that there’s they all feel a lot of support that if there’s something that’s confusing that we’re doing a good job of communicating and saying you know and that starts with like the legal language in the loi can be confusing and offputting right? and so throughout that process you develop.
48:29.00 Andrew Morgans
Um, yeah, yeah.
48:34.74 Justin Cobb
You develop a rapport and an understanding and a communication and then you have all these different people that are supporting it some of which all kind of know each other um and and of course it’s challenging. Um, you know I think that as a Ceo of a business that’s doing m and a you do spend a lot of your time on. Um you know, interpersonal. Relations if you’re doing it if you’re doing it right? and you know I also love that it’s one of my you know I think it’s I think that um, figuring out how to put the it’s it’s.
49:01.36 Andrew Morgans
You are you are the you are the the Ceo of leadership academy that’s about building independent leaders and entrepreneurs. Um.
49:09.73 Justin Cobb
Yeah, and throwing and and throwing them all together and finding some harmonious way to work and kind of so you know I say selling people I think selling people are getting people to understand I think it’s probably a ah more benign way of saying it. But um, rallied behind a ah vision which is we’re going to change the success Rate. Of Ecommerce sellers in some way and speed up through innovation and community and education and software. Ah, we’re going to add some degree of turbo boost and Rocket fuel to those who are already succeeding by. Finding a way to seamlessly integrate into a community that came long before we did. Um, yeah, That’s what we’re doing.
49:54.65 Andrew Morgans
Okay, what is what is 1 carbon six software solution. The sellers really need I know exactly what you’re gonna say because there’s some there’s something that’s fire that I can’t wait to get my hands on myself.
50:03.31 Justin Cobb
Yeah, everybody I mean everybody needs pixel me, um you know, especially with the t os changes and even before that people know you know you get more raking juice. Ah driving driving people from Google and off Amazon and it can help you maintain you know establish and maintain ranking.
50:19.70 Andrew Morgans
Break that down just like real simply like I don’t I’m not sure that all of our listeners would know what pixel me is you know so.
50:25.55 Justin Cobb
Okay, so so pixel me I’ll talk about what it started out as the problem that we identified and what it’s solving so it started out as one of the larger um url shorteners and and and and retargeting pixel.
50:32.75 Andrew Morgans
Okay, yeah.
50:45.52 Justin Cobb
Software is used by marketers you know, Procter and gamble tatyana um, many people when we went under loi we saw on the roadmap but they had Amazon attribution on the roadmap. We made a condition of sale.
50:45.87 Andrew Morgans
Okay.
51:02.60 Justin Cobb
Um, Tom and Stan the ah amazing founders um of pixel me will give you your price but we want to we want to speed up amazonbution because at that time everyone knew the the world of ranking and the world of rebates was going to experience a cataclysmic shift. There was a tornado that was brewing off in the distance that was headed for your house and so um and they had started Amazon had started giving you a bonus back when you drove traffic from off of Amazon onto their onto their platform that created a sale. Ah, 15% fee now went down to 5% so we thought in addition to what this tool pixel me already does it can be very helpful for Amazon sellers right? off the bat. We then again kept the founders on. Um, they worked with us to build an ad tech tech platform that is the first and only currently. Ah, in the world where you can run your Google ads your Facebook Instagram Tiktok ads straight from the platform driving traffic to Amazon with attribution to get the the referral bonus back. With the kicker being what the company was what the software was in the first place it was it was the pixel that will you know in the nicest possible way stalk your customers around the internet and and and and follow them so whereas other you know ad platforms if you can run Google ads you get a sale. Great. If. You don’t you don’t with pixel me you install a pixel where you can retarget those customers that buy or don’t buy essentially building up an address book. You know we just onboarded a few aggregators. We only released this tool the day before prosper. And just onboarded a a few aggregators and I think we’ve been on like 85 demos this week with with different agencies and and aggregators. Um for an aggregator that maybe bought three ah home cookware brands. This allows them to cross sell in a way that they’ve not been able to do. Before? yeah.
53:16.18 Andrew Morgans
Holistic ecommerce which is I mean my ultimate passion like we’re Amazon experts have been all in on Amazon but my passion is very much holistic ecommerce and what’s a healthy ecommerce ecosystem look like for a business and that’s where you are getting the ultimate data as much as you can I mean gold is. Gold is data in the e-commerce world and um, you know what? he’s talking about for for our listeners is um, you know it’s to me. It’s the canva of like you know media buying off Amazon in regards to like canva brought like you know any of us can be creators almost like versus having to be know how to do Adobe. Right? So right? there from your phone on canva if you don’t know what it is. You can just like quickly edit photos and it brought it down to the normal person in that regard. You didn’t have to be a pro designer to really do stuff and um, that’s what pixel me is in the same way in regards to even setting up just Amazon attribution. As someone in the beta program as someone’s been there since the beginning it’s clunky. It’s clunky. It’s gotten better. It’s it’s it’s a struggle. It’s not It’s not easy to do and so what it’s doing is tying in this off Amazon effort. That’s so important and and becomes even more important as on Amazon Tactics get harder. And more difficult and categories get hard to get into for sell for new sellllers and things like that kind of levels the playing field again. Um and brings that ad creation or bring it all in together into one spot. It makes it attainable for you know, the average brand is trying to learn or let’s say an aggregator managing a bunch or any number of solutions. Um. I think it really is that big I think it’s as big as and I don’t know if you know but canva is like ah yeah, very large, um, a simple idea in my in my mind but that by bringing it and making it like reachable for someone. That’s not a designer to to do stuff is huge. Same thing here thing is gonna be huge, not just for Amazon um.
54:47.41 Justin Cobb
Um I do.
55:05.58 Andrew Morgans
But for sellers that are trying to find new opportunities where you know Cpc costs are rising and all these things that you just hear on the Amazon side this kind of levels of playing field I’m I’m super stoked I’m on I’m going to be 1 of those demo calls. Ah because I’m actually I had to wait a little bit to get on. But it’s something that we are. My team is excited to just jump into too.
55:23.26 Justin Cobb
Um, awesome. Yeah, it’s ah the the url is pixel me dot me um, check it out.
55:25.42 Andrew Morgans
Um, see what we can do.
55:30.48 Andrew Morgans
How long until how long until these are all like you know where instead of going to the individual companies we’re in carbon six like simple question. But for anyone listening Ah okay.
55:36.76 Justin Cobb
So yeah without giving away the hope I’m gonna I’ll give away as as much as I’m comfortable giving giving away today within the next few weeks so perhaps by the time this episode airs. Um you will be able to go to carbon 6 io and access all the individual tools. From there. They’ll be single sign on from there. There’ll be a much more intimate marriage taking place over the next you know 6 to twelve months with the integrated day data layer et ceterat cetera um et cetera.
56:07.80 Andrew Morgans
Ah, as someone’s been in space a long time. What I can say to our listeners is. There’s something feels like an extra added value or there’s something special about being engaged with something from the beginning. Um, like you know whether my last one was the ecom cooperative I got in there from event number one and. You know I’ve just felt like an o g even though there’s like 4 or 5 events so far.
56:27.49 Justin Cobb
Ah, worst worse where we’re sponsoring ah an event up there. Ah I think it’s the fort thirteenth or Twelfth. Ah yeah, so yeah, the seller dinner’t after sponsoring cool I like those guys I like this guys.
56:35.72 Andrew Morgans
Asg tg or the sellers dinner afterwards. Yeah so I’ve been to every dinner like that’s how you know I’m I’m there. those are my boys yeah those are my boys I like supporting that that community and that was a community I joined from day one. Um, so. You know to anyone thinking about this software There’s just something about and it will get better and it will ah evolve and it will require more businesses and you know carbon 6 is is going to continue to grow and change. Um and with anything new. There’s there’s things that happen right? like that’s I guess that’s just common sense. But I get excited about. Something from the beginning getting to know when people are still excited about it getting that kind of like that first look at stuff. Um, you know the space is about innovation so seeing that kind of stuff really come out I think um I’d encourage anyone to get involved as early as possible to learn this stuff as it’s really like you know it’s really new It’s really fresh. That’s why everyone is. Is is excited about it and and I’ve heard carbon 6 um there’s a few times I think this year where someone would mention carbon six I’m in Miami I’m somewhere. It’s is secretive. You know its secretive is that Hushhush. Um I’m like no I haven’t heard anything and I wasn’t getting a lot um until prosper. You know when I when I kind of got more of the of the full picture. But you guys have been working on this a long time. What’s what’s been the best part so far specific to carbon 6.
57:55.98 Justin Cobb
Ah, yeah, there’s been a lot. Um.
57:59.79 Andrew Morgans
Pi the moment when you knew you were gonna do it.
58:05.95 Justin Cobb
Yeah, the there was a moment at prosper where we had just we had just received word that we that we completed our see our our our series a be a large large fundraising round that we’ll announce over the next couple weeks got the.
58:18.89 Andrew Morgans
Okay.
58:25.14 Justin Cobb
You know the investors evolved that we really wanted to um the timing was incredible. We had just sponsored like the pool party the night before and everyone’s going who are these guys who are these guys and we invested a lot in the stand and branding and we sponsoring a bunch of stuff. Um and and being able to have a team meeting that day before the first day at prosper.
58:28.47 Andrew Morgans
Um, wow.
58:44.86 Justin Cobb
And tell everybody the path that we’re on and thank them for their hard work and feel like we’re coming through on where we said we’d be in the way that we said we’d be. There was a pretty. It was a pretty special pretty special day. Yeah.
58:58.62 Andrew Morgans
I Love that I Ah I had I I won I could tell the energy in your team I didn’t know the details but I was at the pool party so it was a awesome party by the way I got a couple picks. Um and then the booth. The booth was amazing. Um, you know and the energy just there I think they’re about they’re doing some podcasts right when I was kind of coming up. They’re like grabbing a couple of the speakers and doing some early podcasts and there’s just this energy as I was getting introduced and that’s where I was like ah I loved it. I I could tell.
59:26.39 Justin Cobb
It’s entrepreneur but that’s the entrepreneurial hustle and spirit and and and we’re gonna do our. You know we’re gonna do our best to maintain that and grow that you know you know forever. Um.
59:38.17 Andrew Morgans
Yeah, what? what is the culture exactly a carbon 6 like you talk about this entrepreneurial thing. It’s easier said than done to keep that you know flowing through the team not just from the founders. What’s the culture you’re trying to create there.
59:48.90 Justin Cobb
Look I think I think I mean we’re looking for talent everywhere. We’re hiring So So reach reach out reach out to us reach out to me personally reach out on the website um look everyone has a voice. We. Are ah engaged in mastermind upon mastermind upon mastermind within within the group trying to make the best The the best decisions. Um, where everyone ah and I look at it like my job is just to call balls and strikes and officiate. Um.
01:00:14.28 Andrew Morgans
Um, kind of.
01:00:25.19 Andrew Morgans
Um.
01:00:27.81 Justin Cobb
And to bring in a bunch of experts and facilitate a conversation that allows us to make decisions with the geniuses that we have um and it’s fun. It’s cool. You know it’s all over. We have you know Philip who we bought we we acquired his company um several months ago and now he’s a general manager of our wholesale division and he lives in Kenya and. We’ll be on a Zoom call and there’s you know giraffese in the background and and there’s bunch of us down here in Puerto Rico and you know most of our operations seems up in in toronto caus and nasim andsim is our chief revenue officer who’s been a superstars to start with us. He was ah went to harvard business school with Kazi and and they’d known each to the for many years and he’s exited a bunch of startups as well.
01:00:47.99 Andrew Morgans
Oh my gosh. But.
01:01:06.33 Justin Cobb
Lot of our operations and marketing is is is up there in Toronto and you know we’re all over. It’s international and and we plan on taking the software internationally we see huge white space and huge blow up blue ocean everywhere that we look um and just. You know there’s a lot of excitement and and we’re building and growing and building and growing and the space is so big that we we believe that for years and years and years we should be able to look in front of us and see this much this much runway. Um. And and just continuing to think bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.
01:01:37.84 Andrew Morgans
I love that I love that no reason to think anything else or anything less and I loved also that you pointed out that feeling of being able to you vocalized it or verbalized it where you said being able to back up kind of the promise that we had told the team. And that this is what we’re Goingnna do and how big we’re gonna be and where we’re gonna go and um, you know have that meeting that moment where you’re just like hey guys I told you you know just keep believing in the team and.
01:02:05.70 Justin Cobb
Yeah, and you did it and you all effin did it. You did it.
01:02:10.18 Andrew Morgans
Yeah I love that I had that moment last year with the team and my sister who’s been was employee number 2 Um, yeah, and we made everyone that was a contractor and employee a full time employee which is just a small goal. Um, but for us.
01:02:16.41 Justin Cobb
That must be awesome. Working reason thing. Yeah.
01:02:28.87 Andrew Morgans
Kind of got the last person. Ah you know as a fte and you know and we gave a bunch of raises you know at the end of the year and kind of just saw where we were and I had 1 of our younger guys that started at ah he was um, a sales agent at a ah. Eighteen t I think doing sales and I kind of poached him. He just had a hunger and I poached him and he’s been there a couple years now with us and just went from being like in that to like literally leading calls of big brands and like you know he’s just he’s doing his thing and was able to give him some raises and you know he looked it. It was to my sister not to myself. But I think I he wouldn’t care if I showed a story but he was just like ah know you guys told us that you guys were going to make this happen and you know you told us if we just stood with you that like we you know, um, you know we’d get paid and I hope there’s a lot more of those coming down the road you know, but he just was like you guys. Back to what you said you’re going to do and we’re all noticing and you know it was just a special moment. Um that I think I can relate to a little bit there where it’s just like man you set this vision. You believe it your’re hardest you hope they believe it with you you know and you’re just like so thankful that people are helping you build this thing and. I don’t think they see it as all of them but like there’s no way I would have been able to get to the point of raises if they hadn’t helped us build it. You know and so it was a pretty full circle moment.
01:03:44.35 Justin Cobb
Course Of course course where where where ah where do you go from here.
01:03:53.55 Andrew Morgans
I Was gonna ask you the same question but you flipped the script. Um, you know for me, it’s just like continuing to like I’m finally on this point where I feel like I get to serve the team and and I feel like I’m this like you know coach trying to get to the championship. Ah.
01:04:09.88 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
01:04:13.35 Andrew Morgans
That’s like really trying to just focus on talent and you know I’ve got this kid that I think is going to move from Wichita like this kid I met I say kid he’s he’s 25 and um, not a kid at all but you know just he has his passion.
01:04:22.32 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah yeah I’m 42 I call my friends kid. It’s yeah yeah, and that’s right.
01:04:30.47 Andrew Morgans
Okay I don’t mean any disrespect like but I just get fired up. Um, and and I met him. He has his passion to change his family legacy and their cycle and um, he’s had a very super hard life. He’s super kind. And um, to me that’s just something special, especially when their life’s extra hard and they just come out gentle as hell and um I like I want to show him what his potential is I see it. You know and so for me personally it’s like keep building this team and and ah. And building partnerships and just making marology one of the best dam agencies in the in the Amazon space at what we do and um, as far as a company. It’s just continued to to bring professionalism to this to the industry I’ll be honest with you. Um I really love what we do I have a passion for it. I think what we do is. Um, the brains in the space are amazing and all those things but and there should be respect way before having to get to an exit you know for a lot of people that do what we do even all the way down to count managers and um and so for me in a space is kind of the wild west which has made it. You know a level playing field as well as be be seen as a community. That’s. Um, bringing professionalism to what we do and leveling up everybody along the way I think that’s those are some broad goals but like I don’t really have an end in mind. It’s not like get to this revenue number this employee count or whatever. It’s just continue to be better.
01:05:51.79 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, that’s probably a good indication of you truly loving what you do.
01:05:57.87 Andrew Morgans
Yeah I Love ah I love doing that I Love Team building I Love leadership. You know I think that’s why we connect in that regard. Ah you know it’s almost like some people are talented and then some can just like spot or develop talent. You know, almost like a producer. There’s the artist and there’s a producer and some do both right? ah.
01:06:04.16 Justin Cobb
For sure.
01:06:14.27 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
01:06:17.70 Andrew Morgans
But for me I feel like I can see people’s talent before they see it. Um and I get excited about that like it’s just almost as as if it’s even better than if I’m doing it myself. You know to see them realize that can I ask you that can I flip the script and ask you the same question. Both personally.
01:06:28.29 Justin Cobb
Awesome.
01:06:34.67 Andrew Morgans
And carbon six I mean you guys have so much secrecy around. It seems like everything is what’s next and you guys are moving super fast with a series a coming down the road but let’s talk about you personally and then carbon 6 Ah you know the next year roadmap. What’s what’s what’s coming up.
01:06:51.20 Justin Cobb
So they’re they’re very intertwined. The answer is very intertwined. Um, and I think we’ve we’ve hit on a lot of the I guess the principles or the tenants or the core values of carbon sex. Um, and what we’re going to do.
01:06:53.12 Andrew Morgans
Um, of course.
01:07:09.95 Justin Cobb
And in some ways the answer is just run the playbook right? Run the Playbook call audibles when you need to make audibles. Um, keep going faster go faster by having a bigger critical mass in terms of the team.
01:07:12.53 Andrew Morgans
Um.
01:07:29.51 Justin Cobb
You know we’ve gone from you know me and Kazi and I think like Jill was employee number 3 um to a team of 95 or so today and and we’ll be at two fifty and three months and probably 1000 this time next year and that’ll allow us to move.
01:07:42.56 Andrew Morgans
Um, it’s incredible.
01:07:48.85 Justin Cobb
Faster both in one direction as well as you know in several directions. Um at at once and I think that it’s as we go from a small company to a small medium to a medium to later to a large company. Um, they’ve spent a lot of time talking to some of the guys at thracia over the last few months just an anticipation of like what changes. How do how you keep the culture as you grow to that to that scale and that you know, kind of explosive timeline because that’s the path that we that’s the path that we’re on. Um. Think it’s maintaining that entrepreneurial spirit. 1 thing. We’re going to be releasing for all of our employees and contractors. Ah, very soon is ah is a program where they can all start their own ecommerce business and you know we’ll be doing like probably zero percent loans for that and.
01:08:40.91 Andrew Morgans
Oh that’s awesome.
01:08:43.96 Justin Cobb
And gifting it and the idea is that is that we’re all serving the entrepreneur because that’s what we’re here to do and make their boats go faster. Um, and we’re also here to help you you know, become an entrepreneur and hopefully one day you leave because you’re making so much money for yourself that that’s what makes sense or maybe or maybe.
01:09:01.14 Andrew Morgans
You don’t know.
01:09:02.87 Justin Cobb
Having so much fun. You don’t and maybe that’s even better or maybe it’s not but but ah, you know I think staying ah ah staying you know feet on the ground down to earth and just and continuing to innovate and provide better better and better solutions. You’re going to see some really incredible things in terms of. Some of the acquisitions will be announcing over the next few months some of the creative ways that we’re going to integrate those some of the different kind of bundles and and add on pricing and things that we’re able to do you know en route to our goal of becoming you know this one day where and we’re we’re ways away but you just need one login. You need one login and it does a lot for you. Um, additionally, we’re we’re putting together a full training academy I know you and I spoke about it. Um, you know so many people we hear talk about um some of the early training programs with asm one and 2 and 4 and you know by virtue of the fact that we’re building this huge big tent and we’re partnering with so many different people all over the space. Um.
01:09:43.35 Andrew Morgans
Um.
01:09:59.53 Justin Cobb
We’re going to you know in our attempt to become a value out in the space create ah create ah, a really robust training academy that that leo and his team and and several. Ah um, you know advisors are helping us create and we’re going to be you know, continuing this big tent approach um expanding into a bunch of different markets internationally. Um, and continuing to execute on the game plan that that is evolving but we feel really confident is going to be a huge value added for everybody. Um, no matter what type of seller you are no matter where in the in the journey you are from trying to source your first product to trying to figure out how to do your taxes to. Getting your business ready. Um to exit. We want to be part of the sophistication through innovation and community. Um that the space is it’s gonna happen with or without us and you know our job is to be as helpful. A part of that as humanly possible.
01:10:54.49 Andrew Morgans
I Love that and I couldn’t say honestly Marology is extremely aligned with that same mission I’ve vertically integrated. Yeah exactly um I just been I’ve been looking to sell help sellers and brands and solve for that and that.
01:11:01.53 Justin Cobb
The first time we talked to I we think we’re supposed to talk for 15 minutes we talked for a couple hours. Yeah I appreciate.
01:11:14.18 Andrew Morgans
That’s built marnology because I was just looking like oh you need help with international expansion. You need help with tracking organic keywords or that’s why you find the software partners or the Sas. The saas partners or who’s who’s great with social or how do we get this. How do we get that you know constantly looking to serve. Ah, you know we’re we’re talking about Amazon. And Amazon’s a platform is built for the customer. So to me, it just made a lot of sense to build a company that looks to serve as well in aligning instead of looking for easy or or things like that. So absolutely I couldn’t put in better words myself about just looking to continue to innovate and this is a thing like.
01:11:35.88 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
01:11:51.97 Andrew Morgans
Can’t really have that strong of a plan to obsess about your plan. You have a plan you have a playbook but this is e-commerce. It changes daily. So even you know having too strong of a playbook or too strong of a play without being able to pivot or or move or change what that looks like is is a bad move.
01:11:56.59 Justin Cobb
Totally.
01:12:08.26 Andrew Morgans
You know you need to be able to stay flexible and quick and fast and you know the playbook will change.
01:12:09.96 Justin Cobb
Yeah, and sometimes you got to change you got to call an audible and sometimes you got to completely change your offense.
01:12:14.74 Andrew Morgans
I definitely have to link up with you about you know that program that you’re gonna have there and I think that could be a great way. A great offer to get people working at carbon 6 you know help them create that business or whatever that looks like I’ve been trying to be super creative within marknology where the the brands we’re building. And getting equity in our employees now get equity in those businesses that we’re building. Um so a cool kind of spin on a four zero one k kind of thing so instead of exiting them like an aggregator. Ah you know the the employees as they stay with us build up equity in the in the businesses.
01:12:36.60 Justin Cobb
Um, who it’s amazing. Good for you.
01:12:47.28 Justin Cobb
And and that’s ah and and that’s and that’s really the essence of the point of be of working for yourself which is depending on something that you have some degree of control over the outcome of where you don’t have. You’re not gonna control what happens in a boardroom.
01:12:56.45 Andrew Morgans
Control over.
01:13:04.85 Justin Cobb
At some of the companies in your four. Ah 1 k you should and you know being a stock market. It’s a good idea. It’s not a bad idea. Um, but the motivation that your people have knowing that they’re gonna have a direct impact on their on their situation is incredible. Good for you.
01:13:19.50 Andrew Morgans
Imagine having a young 22 year old designer you know a martinology that’s done a rebrand for an Amazon business that was kind of lacking on the branding side and doing all very well and he creates the a plus pages and the brand guide and the photography and that business has an exit and he’s 22 years old now he didn’t do everything himself.
01:13:36.91 Justin Cobb
Um, choice.
01:13:38.92 Andrew Morgans
He’s able to point to that and say I had this amount of shares or equity or you know and and I did that and ah, that’s how my attempt at the same.
01:13:43.23 Justin Cobb
I Mean for for for your for your clients like for your clients just on the concept of no one’s ever gonna work harder for your business than you are um, having that be so many different people’s business means you have a lot of people with that with that juice and that excitement and that. And that gas in the tank all going in the same direction could just yeah.
01:14:02.13 Andrew Morgans
Yeah, Ah I Love what you just said about helping them build an http://e-com business and it’s like got my heads spin and because for me, it’s just been how do I create this entrepreneurial culture where I’m not creating all these entrepreneurs within marknology because we have a lot of specialists that that aren’t entrepreneurs. They’re designers and they. Advertisers and but I want them to have that same spirit and that happiness and that to me fulfillment that comes with we’re we’re humans and we’re made to create I Believe that all of us in some some degree whether it’s food or art or families or whatever we are humans create and um, giving them an ability to do that. And create a different lifestyle for themselves that that kind of thing that entrepreneur brings that freedom whether it’s like with our schedules or internet you know international exposure being able to travel. How do you do that within an agency. It’s not like the same as within sellers Sure you’re helping sellers do that. How do I do that within an agency where my team. Um.
01:14:52.96 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah.
01:14:58.28 Andrew Morgans
Doesn’t leave me to go to a company in New York with a series a that can offer them 30 k more you know it’s becoming culture. Um and and investing in them whether it’s a course whether it’s you know a training course which I’m stoked about because. I think what we do can be trained that that academy I think done right? You can have a tool. It’s like you know you can have a tool if you don’t know how to use it. It’s useless right? So understanding how these things work um will be super cool and it’s super cool. You guys are launching that along with.
01:15:32.16 Justin Cobb
Um, yeah, we’re excited about it.
01:15:33.18 Andrew Morgans
You know the software and and tools I personally like yeah it takes a lot of time to learn all these things like as someone that’s learned so many softwares and it’s like you know, having someone a lot of software companies aren’t built like that. It’s 2 or 3 guys in and in a shop you know that have built something pretty cool and it’s made to go automation and you have to learn how to use it or it doesn’t work. You know. Um, just signed up for tons of stuff I never figured it out so you guys putting in that time that’s investment into you know the customers. Um I’m super excited to see where you guys go I’m gonna be a ton of events this year I’m already I’m already tired I think it’s April so I know you guys are gonna do amazing things.
01:16:05.13 Justin Cobb
Well, we will be seeing a lot of each other and I want to go back just a step and and say for anyone who is interested. Um, it’s careers at carbon six Io Um, for anybody who’s interested in. Thanks you have son to out of the team. You know, always looking for great people.
01:16:10.96 Andrew Morgans
Yeah.
01:16:21.20 Andrew Morgans
Yeah I’ll do something special and I’ll I’ll throw it in the show notes of this episode. Yeah, we’ll add that to. We’re going to have all of Justin’s and carbon six’ contact information in regards to like getting ahold of them where can you follow the brand where can you get engaged where can you sign up, we’ll have all of that in the show notes for anyone that’s in their car listening or.
01:16:24.72 Justin Cobb
Appreciate it.
01:16:40.89 Andrew Morgans
Is not near a computer right now. Um also throw in that careers link for anyone that’s interested in and seeing what it’s like.
01:16:44.17 Justin Cobb
and and and I was really you know I didn’t want to get on here and pitch our 12 tools. Um, you know there’ll be some details I’m sure we can put in there. Um, ah you know I wanted to keep it as as as little sales purpose driven as possible but just you know thank you for having me on. This is the first. Podcast that I’ve gone on since we came on a stealth and and the ability to tell the carbon 6 story and rever’s listening we we care and and we want to connect and we can’t wait to go down the road with you together.
01:17:10.78 Andrew Morgans
Yeah, to our to our listeners. Um, you know Justin just very successful before even coming to carbon six I know whatever him and his team touch I think half the names he mentioned as far as the co-founders of some of the the softwares that have come on board I have yet to meet but know their softwares. You know, buy name and and and um, it’s just really powerful and awesome thing that’s happening there for the price point I heard the price point and I was I was just blown away at how affordable ah you know it’s coming to market. So I think um, you know the the money you can make with like one of those 12 ah, you know your money back for whatever you’re paying is is nothing so we didn’t even talk about the alerts and all the other things like some of that some of your software can do as far as value to the sellers and and what’s there. So this is just really an intro to all our listeners. We want to talk about? Um, you know the why the why carbon six is here. And what it can do will continue to release I know maybe I’ll even get you back on the podcast and we can do a second episode a year from now on what’s changed in the last year and where we are so thanks again to our listeners. Thanks again to our sponsor fulls scale io helping you build software teams quickly and affordably and thanks again. Justin.
01:18:11.83 Justin Cobb
Um, let’s do it would love to.
01:18:27.19 Justin Cobb
Thanks man I appreciate it I had a lot of fun.
01:18:27.43 Andrew Morgans
Excited to see what you’re bringing in space. Yeah, we’ll see next these final hustlers.