An engineer who got bored and started selling things instead

Even though I have a background in engineering, I’ve always been passionate about business. I can’t remember skipping a single business class in college, not even on Friday mornings. After graduation, I got my first job in Paris. Living in the suburbs, my commute was absurdly long, and reading kept me sane during these years.

The book that stuck with me the most was The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. I quickly realized that Ecommerce is a fantastic opportunity to scale a business and reach customers all over the world. I also loved that ecommerce combined several disciplines, from supply chain to analytics, copywriting, or IT. I quickly found the motivation to start my own small business, creating my brand of nootropics and health supplements.

Skin in the game

No one taught me ecommerce properly, it was mostly trial and error for quite some time. Sourcing, positioning, picking the wrong channel and finding out the expensive way, all of it. Starting my own brand was for me the fastest way to learn, and having skin in the game was an invaluable experience.

However, I am not one of these guys telling you theory has no value, and believe that education is a great complement to practical experience. This is why I wrote Ecommerce 101, the book I wish I had when I was getting started in the field.

Eventually I moved to Texas, the state I’d missed since college, to run ecommerce for a small company.

Where I’ve landed (so far)

These days, I sit on the University of North Texas College of Digital Retailing advisory board and mentor students there when I can. I still write here whenever something’s worth saying, and I’m working on a second book, more focused this time, on a piece of ecommerce strategy most people get wrong.

Outside of that, I spend a fair amount of my free time keeping my car running, cooking French food, and hunting down treasures at my local thrift store.