Avoiding Norman Bates in the Aggregation Industry

In any industry there are trustworthy operators and then there are the "used car salesmen" hawking lemons. The aggregation industry is no different. If you do not spend significant time in the industry, it's hard to tell one from the other. I have seen the inside of the aggregation industry and it is a barrel of apples with some really bad ones that spoil the entire batch.

Previously, I was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at unybrands where I came to understand the aggregation industry from both a theory and "hands-on" perspective. I am also an ex-Amazonian with many years of experience in that one-of-a-kind company managing integrated data engineering, analytics and data science teams across multiple verticals. Today, I am the co-founder of symphonie.ai – which takes my 20-years of experience in technology and e-commerce to build the technology platform that e-commerce brands need to scale their business, optimize their decision-making, and maximize their contribution margin. We are building the technology I previously wanted to buy and could not find.

Since launching symphonie.ai, I have been vocal about my skepticism of the aggregation industry. I think it rarely delivers on its promise to e-commerce brands. I believe the future of your brand is not selling to an aggregator that will run your e-commerce brand into the ground, it is getting access to the technology that the "big guys like Amazon" have internally to "boost" your own e-commerce brand. We're working on this 24/7 and are excited about the future.

... I hear you but I still want to sell

Notwithstanding my skepticism, sometimes selling to an aggregator is the right solution for your e-commerce brand. That is a decision only you can make. Since I left my prior role, I've been informally approached by e-commerce brands to share feedback and insight on potential deals – to give them a sense of the "lay of the land", which aggregators they can trust, and which are "close cousins of Norman Bates".

Today I am turning that informal process into a formal one. If you'd like to get advice and insight on how to work with an aggregator to sell your brand, I am available. You can reach me via DM at LinkedIn or through this contact form:

I will help you understand:

• which aggregators you can trust
• which you may want to steer clear from
• how you should structure your deal and what to watch out for (i.e., never ever take shares in the aggregator in place of cash – never ever ever ever)
• which "gotchas" aggregators love to slip into your contract
• how to negotiate for both the largest payout for your brand and how to maximize your flexibility to become a serial e-commerce entrepreneur

Initial conversations are completely free.

And I will tell you more about symphonie

As an e-commerce brand, I know how difficult it is to optimize decision making and maximize your contribution margin. Both my co-founder and I have been there. We know the challenge having suffered through it ourselves. If you want to sell to an aggregator, I'd be happy to help you do that the right way. And if you'd rather work with us helping to build the next generation of technology for e-commerce brands – for your brand, then come have a seat at the table and become our partner in this process.