Today you're in for a treat—we're about to learn the story of JungleScout.com, an analytical software tool for selling on Amazon. It's grown astronomically since it was founded, and Greg Mercer—the man behind it all—is here to give us the full story. Today you'll learn about the strategies and motivations Greg used to scale JungleScout to a team of almost 100 with 200,000 customers (and counting).
JungleScout is an ace in the hole when it comes to keyword research, competition, sales numbers, and more. If you're doing any sort of business on Amazon, you should know about JungleScout. Greg created an amazing, super helpful product when he started and his story will help you learn how to turn problems or pain points into profitable solutions. If you've ever wanted to create software or an online tool, or even if you just want to know what it's like starting a massive company from scratch, this is the episode for you.
Learn more about Greg and JungleScout by reading the JungleScout blog. Right now they're doing something called The Million Dollar Case Study, where they're publicly growing a physical products business to $1 million in revenue with full transparency. Pretty sweet! Plus, they're donating all of the profits from that campaign to Pencils of Promise, an organization which I'm actually an advisor for. Pencils of Promise builds schools for children in impoverished countries, and I'm so thrilled that Greg is supporting them with The Million Dollar Case Study.
If you want to hear episodes like this one where I interview the founders of software-related companies, here are a few you'll love:
- SPI 244: Bootstrapping a Startup with Nathan Barry from ConvertKit
- SPI 185: Solving a Problem by Building It Yourself—The Story Behind ConvertKit with Nathan Barry
- SPI 071: Successful Start Ups, Millions Lost and Everything In-Between—Inside the Mind of Noah Kagan from AppSumo
- SPI 061: Successful Startups and the Entrepreneurial Mindset with John Saddington
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Special thanks to Greg Mercer for joining me this week. Until next time!
Today's Guest
Greg Mercer
What does it take to create a successful software tool? Learn about the inspiration, strategies, and marketing effort that scaled JungleScout to a team of nearly 100, plus what the founder would do differently if he had to start all over again.
- Website: JungleScout
- Twitter: mercer_greg
You'll Learn
- How Greg got his start in entrepreneurship, from GoPed scooters to Amazon.
- JungleScout's origins, and how Greg got inspired to create a software tool.
- How Greg stumbled on success through Amazon sales.
- The methods Greg used to develop JungleScout's software and hire the right staff for the job.
- The strategies and experiments Greg used to create a powerful marketing effort for JungleScout.
- Who Greg hired for his team first and how he scaled the company from the ground up.
- What Greg would do differently if he had to start all over again.
- A strong mindset for pitching a new product in a way that's authentic and profitable.
- What Greg's workday is like and the struggles of managing a team of nearly 100.
- Greg's experience working as a digital nomad and why he decided to settle down.
- The critical question you should ask before building a product tied to a platform, and more!
Resources
Note: Some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.
- Session 78 of The Smart Passive Income Podcast
- Session 46 of The Smart Passive Income Podcast
- Smart Podcast Player
- Leadpages
- ConvertKit
- JungleScout on YouTube
- JungleScout's blog
- Pencils of Promise