Just received a ton of new followers because our Amazon policy fight, so here’s a quick intro. I’m Eugene. I live in Miami. I've had 1M+ unit purchase orders (the good days), I've lost millions opening gyms (the bad days), i am just a typical ecom guy. I started in ecom in 2011 building my own brand. I spent years in the trenches of Amazon, trade shows, product launches, inventory stress, and all the stuff that comes with trying to build a real consumer business. Some things worked. Some things did not. I’ve had wins, bad bets, great partnerships, painful lessons, and a lot of expensive education along the way. In 2017, I joined MDS as a member. That changed a lot for me. I was young, had some success, but did not have many people around me who really understood what I was building. MDS became that room for me. Over time, I got more involved, started helping shape experiences and events, and eventually became a co-owner. Today MDS is a community of nearly 800 ecom founders, representing more than $15B in annual sales. We hosted 150 events last year and are building a member-led culture centered around trust, sharing, and real relationships. What you’ll see from me here: Sharp takes on Amazon, TikTok and the Ecom ecosystem Event recaps and what you may have missed Trends across consumer, retail, and ecom Things founders are doing right Things this industry gets completely wrong I go to a lot of events, meet a lot of smart operators, and pay attention to where the market is going. So if you care about Amazon, TikTok, DTC brands, founder communities, and where ecom is headed, follow along.

I polled 100+ founders doing $1M+ a year out of our group of 800. Amazon’s latest seller changes are not just “annoying.” They are draining growth capital. 52% said the cash flow hit from Amazon’s ad spend + DD+7 changes will be over $100k. 28% said over $250k. 79% said the recent policy changes impact more than 25% of their free cash. This means less payroll, less innovation, more stock outs, less PPC, fewer launches, and more pressure. These are average businesses already making single digit margins paying 70 cents of every dollar to Amazon. Amazon says it supports small business. These numbers say otherwise. @WSJ @business @nytimesbusiness @BusinessInsider @ReutersBiz @CNBC @APBusiness Please reach out to get the full story.

My community has $15b of yearly sales on Amazon with 800+ members. These are small businesses. They employ real Americans and support local communities. They do not have large margins to absorb shocks. Every year Amazon squeezes them more and supports overseas Chinese sellers instead of local American businesses. Now Amazon is hitting sellers with even more of a squeeze all back to back: 1.Amazon has moved many sellers to DD+7 Meaning funds are held until 7 days after delivery, not simply paid out on the old cadence. 2.Amazon just added a 3.5% fuel/logistics surcharge on fulfillment fees. 3.To top it off now Amazon Ads charges will be pulled directly from disbursements rather than floating on a credit card. That combination matters. Amazon already forces sellers into an environment where ads dominate visibility. So now the same platform that pressures brands to spend more on ads is also tightening payout timing and pulling more cash out before sellers ever see it. For a very large business, this is just a minor annoyance. But for a small business making payroll just got 50x harder. Less cash on hand means: less inventory more stockouts more debt more strain on small teams and ultimately a worse customer experience This is not “supporting small business.” It is starving the brands that create so much of the value customers come to Amazon for. @WSJ @business @nytimesbusiness @BusinessInsider @ReutersBiz @CNBC @APBusiness If you’re covering Amazon, local communities hit by a hard economy and large companies trying to squeeze hardworking Americans hit me up.