Will Jones’ Post

ShopTalk EU was so solid and so good to get out there with Bethany Balanoff and Greg Burstein, CPA.... But it feels so good to be back!! Just took 3 weeks in the EU and it was amazing but my inner workaholic is so stoked to be back at my desk hahahah.... Let's go!!

As a founder/C-suite, it can be hard to define hard skills that you use in your day to day, since we all wear so many hats… In the fast-moving E-commerce world, you need a lot of different skills to succeed. What do you think are the most important skills for our industry? Here's what I think: Stay open to learning: E-commerce is always changing. Being ready to learn new things helps us stay flexible and able to adapt. Handle challenges quickly: Problems come up in e-commerce all the time. Instead of avoiding them, we should face them head-on and find solutions fast. Believe in your product: Having confidence in what you're selling is key. It builds trust within your team and with your customers. What skills do you think are vital for doing well in our industry? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Finding inspiration for your work isn’t always easy… Someone asked me about people I look up to, and man, my grandpa instantly popped into my head. He was one of seven kids, and his family didn’t have much. He worked to support his siblings and single mother by delivering newspapers before and after school. But he didn’t stop there. He worked his way up and eventually became this awesome entrepreneur. Despite facing all sorts of challenges, he stayed focused on his goals and never gave up. That’s some serious determination! What I really admire is how he always put his family first. Every move he made was about making life better for the people he loved. That kind of selflessness is what I aspire to have. So, as I navigate my own career path, I’m keeping his lessons close to heart. He showed me the power of hard work, sacrifice, and looking out for your family. Who’s one of your heroes? Drop their story in the comments!

"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." - Joshua J. Marine As a founder, I’ve faced many challenges while building SavedBy Package Protection and Pack Leashes. One of the biggest has been growing our businesses responsibly. 🔍 The Challenge: How to expand without risking too much financially 💡 Solution 1: Smart Bootstrapping: We decided to grow using our own revenue. This means managing our finances carefully and investing resources wisely 💡 Solution 2: Hiring Smartly: We only hire when absolutely necessary, making sure every new team member adds real value. Quality over quantity keeps us lean and productive. 💡 Solution 3: Using My Youth: Starting young has been a mixed bag, but it lets us take bold risks. Leverage the energetic college environment to spread ideas quickly 🌟 The Result: By growing responsibly, using profits wisely, hiring strategically, and taking advantage of starting young, we’ve been able to overcome challenges and set up a path for sustainable success with SavedBy and Pack. I’m thankful for the lessons learned and excited for what’s next as we keep innovating and growing!

I figured out a way to slow down time… Life seems to get faster every day, so I try to slow it down with new experiences that switch up my day-to-day. A dream of mine is to move to Barcelona, Spain someday. Why Spain? Because it’s about more than just the place; it’s about growing as a person and seeing things from a new perspective. Living in another country and learning a new language will open up new opportunities and new memories. Although my move to Barcelona is a long-term goal, I look forward to the day I can call that my home. In the meantime, I’m looking for moments that slow down time, enjoying each one as a taste of the adventures ahead. So, if you want time to slow down- dive into something new, challenging, and exciting. Step out of your comfort zone, embrace the unknown, and make every moment count. Life is too short not to fill it with awesome experiences. If you could live anywhere, where would you go? Let me know in the comments!

Now that I'm in SaaS, I've had to fight with imposter syndrome a lot more. B2B SaaS is a different monster than DTC — not harder or easier, just different. When I started Pack Leashes, success was a pretty simple concept: make leashes, sell them. I was physically involved with manufacturing for the longest time, so there was a mental "end" to my workday (even as a founder). Every day, I felt like I was getting work done because it was undeniable. SaaS has shifted my entire mental outlook. Now, I have to work extra hard to keep my mind on my own goalposts: - Not raising $20M doesn't make me a failure - Not closing deals for a week doesn't make me a failure - Not getting an email sequence right doesn't make me a failure Naïveté is a blessing, not a curse. Having an openness to learning and awareness that I don't know everything helps me deal with imposter syndrome. There is no playbook. I wasn't given a foundational course. Every day has been "figuring it out" — I'm not an imposter because I'm not following someone else's path.

I think more DTC brands should be taking notes on Death Wish Coffee. There are a few things that stand out to me (that most DTC brands aren't doing): 1. Obsession with the product and the "look." 2. A truly stacked subscription offer. 3. Site copy that makes you look twice. Here, I break down why these three tactics from Death Wish Coffee Company should be on every DTC brand's radar:

Sometimes, you gotta shoot your shot: two of my dream brands to work with would be 1Up Nutrition or 1st Phorm International. Here's my elevator pitch, tell me how you'd improve it: "I don't like the supplement space because I'm some huge fitness guy. I like the supplement space because it's the home of go-getters — nobody works harder and loves their product more than the teams behind supplement companies. Every go-getter brand deserves a go-getter service provider. Who better to work with than a package protection service that eats and sleeps the supplement space: SavedBy. Look no further than brands like Axe & Sledge, Raw Nutrition, and Core Nutritionals who already trust SavedBy to protect their packages and treat their customers with the same level of commitment as they do. Let's talk if you're ready for the hands-on service you deserve, every single day." Theoreticals aside, I have tremendous respect for what these companies are doing. They're making amazing products, have immensely loyal customers, and most of them genuinely love what they do. The greatest feeling you can have as a merchant is knowing your product is having a real impact on your customers' lives — the supplement space has one of the greatest customer connections, and we love being trusted by some of the best in the business. Shout out to 1Up and 1st Phorm for being two of the best to do it.

Here's one thing most people don't know about me: I passed all my CPA exams and was ~800 hours away from being certified. I'm not just talking barely skirting through: ➝ Masters in Accounting, 3.89 GPA ➝ Became an Accounting TA to pay for school  ➝ Hired at PwC and got 1,000 hours before quitting Then I went all in on Pack Leashes and never looked back. Yes, I let the potential CPA title slip away. Yes, others might see all that work and consider it a total failure. I'm not someone who likes bureaucracy and going through "technicalities" for some title — I like to get up and do work for my business. Intentionally failing on that set me up for so much more as a founder. Now I consider myself an honorary CPA because I know everything it takes to do the job, but I'd never go back to that environment again. Lesson here? Trust yourself. I knew I didn't want to be a CPA a few weeks into my job. Continuing to hammer away at that rock wouldn't produce anything meaningful for me — it was just wasted time I could spend on something better. So I did, and Pack Leashes took off for me and Greg. Now we're building SavedBy. But if I had latched onto spending all that time trying to be something I wasn't supposed to be, who knows where our businesses would be? Question for you: what's one thing most people don't know about you?