Welcome to the ASOM Pod - the only video first eCommerce podcast that offers four different unique perspectives. A(gency) S(aaS) O(perator) M(arketer).
Join Jimmy Kim (CIO and founder of Sendlane) and John Roman (CEO and co-founder of BattlBox), Amer Grozdanic (CEO & Co-Founder of Praella) and Bryan MacDonald (Director of eCommerce at Oma’s Pride) as they provide a holistic view of the DTC, eCommerce, or retail by sharing our perspectives.
Whether you're looking to grow your online store, optimize your marketing efforts, or enhance your overall e-commerce strategy, ASOM has you covered.
In this final episode of the ASOM Pod, hosts Jimmy Kim (CEO of eCom Email Marketer, formally Founder of Sendlane), John Roman (CEO of BattlBox), Amer Grozdanic (CEO of Praella), and Bryan MacDonald (Director of eCommerce at Oma’s Pride) sit down together one last time to say goodbye.
After almost two years of recording, debating, and laughing the guys talk candidly about the decision to end the pod. They get real about the time, money, and energy it takes to produce a show at this level, how it started to compete with their businesses and personal lives, and why it felt like the right moment to step away.
There’s a lot of reflection in this episode. The fun moments. The unexpected lessons. The friendships that came out of doing this week after week.
This isn’t a dramatic goodbye. It’s an honest one. A conversation about seasons, priorities, and knowing when to close a chapter, even when it’s been a good one.
Thank you for being part of the ASOM Pod. This is the final send, and it meant a lot.
And this isn’t the last time you’ll see us. We’re still very much a part of Commerce Roundtable. We’ll see you in Austin & San Diego!
Get your tickets at www.commerceroundtable.com (http://www.commerceroundtable.com)
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Big shoutout to our sponsor who has supported us along the way and made this pod possible!
Omnisend — With 125,000+ eCommerce merchants, Omnisend is the all-in-one email & SMS marketing platform built to deliver seamless, personalized experiences via email and sms with ease. Learn more at https://www.omnisend.com/
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00:00 Teaser Trailer
01:30 Introducing the Hosts One Last Time
04:00 Reflecting on the Journey and Challenges
06:15 The Realities of Podcasting
13:16 Lessons Learned and Future Insights
15:04 The Financial and Time Costs of Podcasting
15:42 The Importance of Niche and Audience
18:26 Final Thoughts and Reflections
19:56 Difficult Decisions and Different Paths
22:02 Reflecting on Personal and Professional Growth
23:06 Acknowledging Contributions and Changes
25:14 Final Thoughts and Farewells
27:53 Gratitude and Future Endeavors
31:59 Closing Remarks and Memories
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#asompod #businesspodcast #businessinsider #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #ecommercepodcast #ecommerce #ecommercebusiness #ecom #dtc #dtcpodcast #ecommercetips
8 Jan 2026
EP79: SaaS and agency pricing is broken and no one wants to say it
In this episode of the ASOM Pod, hosts Jimmy Kim (CEO of eCom Email Marketer, formally Founder of Sendlane), John Roman (CEO of BattlBox) and Amer Grozdanic (CEO of Praella) go straight at one of the most uncomfortable questions in eCommerce:
Should SaaS companies and agencies really be taking a percentage of your revenue?
This conversation gets opinionated fast. Here’s what they dig into:
Why percentage-based SaaS pricing feels great early and painful later
Whether agencies should earn upside or stick to flat fees
When “we grow when you grow” turns into misaligned incentives
The hidden costs of SaaS taking a cut without taking any downside
Why cancel threats, discounts, and churn games are becoming normalized
How brands should actually think about value, pricing, and long-term sustainability
If you’ve ever looked at your SaaS stack or agency invoices and thought “this doesn’t feel right anymore”, this episode puts words to that feeling.
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Big shoutout to our sponsor who makes this podcast possible!
Omnisend — With 125,000+ eCommerce merchants, Omnisend is the all-in-one email & SMS marketing platform built to deliver seamless, personalized experiences via email and sms with ease. Learn more at https://www.omnisend.com/
Subscribe at https://asompod.com
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00:00 Teaser Trailer
03:15 Debate on Agency Pricing Models
16:32 Discussion on SaaS Platforms and Pricing
32:17 A True Story from the SaaS World
32:43 Debating Gross Margins in SaaS
33:12 The Cost of Processing and Technology
34:36 The Reality of SaaS Market
35:26 Examples from the Reviews and Loyalty World
36:24 Challenges in SaaS Implementation
37:39 Pricing, Positioning, and Product
47:47 The SaaS Subscription Hack
54:06 The Financial Reality of SaaS Companies
01:00:32 Concluding Thoughts and Final Remarks
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Follow us on:
X: https://x.com/TheAsomPod
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theasompod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theasompod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theasompod/
Contact us at hello@asompod.com for sponsorships, appearance requests, interviews, or general information!
#asompod #businesspodcast #businessinsider #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #ecommercepodcast #ecommerce #ecommercebusiness #ecom #dtc #dtcpodcast #ecommercetips
31 Dec 2025
EP78: 2026 goals, real numbers, and the lessons 2025 taught us
In this episode of the ASOM Pod, hosts Jimmy Kim (CEO of eCom Email Marketer, formally Founder of Sendlane), John Roman (CEO of BattlBox), Amer Grozdanic (CEO of Praella), and Bryan MacDonald (Director of eCommerce at Oma’s Pride) crack open the real recap of 2025 and get painfully honest about how they’re leveling up for 2026.
This one’s not polished. It’s wins, misses, hard lessons, and the kind of goals you only set after getting absolutely humbled by running real businesses in real markets.
Here’s what they dig into:
Setting aggressive but actually achievable revenue and EBITDA targets (no delusion, just focus)
Building stable teams and strong leadership without slowing momentum
Moving toward sales-led organizations and using AI as a real service, not just a buzzword for decks
Launching and scaling new businesses with $1M+ ARR potential
Prioritizing health, family, and delegation without blowing up growth
They also get candid about why business success is wildly unpredictable, why delegation stops being optional as you scale, and why protecting family time eventually becomes a strategic decision, not just a personal one.
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Big shoutout to our sponsor who makes this podcast possible!
Omnisend — With 125,000+ eCommerce merchants, Omnisend is the all-in-one email & SMS marketing platform built to deliver seamless, personalized experiences via email and sms with ease. Learn more at https://www.omnisend.com/
Subscribe at https://asompod.com
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00:00 Teaser Trailer
04:08 Reflecting on Last Year's Goals
05:05 Bryan's Business and Personal Goals
27:06 John's Business and Personal Goals
39:46 The Unpredictable Nature of Business Success
40:49 John's Steady Leadership
41:18 Amer's Business Goals for the Year
41:39 Building a Sales-Led Organization
45:11 Personal Goals and Reflections
49:16 Goals for 2026
59:39 Jimmy's Reflections and Future Plans
01:09:11 Closing Thoughts and Reflections
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Follow us on:
X: https://x.com/TheAsomPod
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theasompod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theasompod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theasompod/
Contact us at hello@asompod.com for sponsorships, appearance requests, interviews, or general information!
#asompod #businesspodcast #businessinsider #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #ecommercepodcast #ecommerce #ecommercebusiness #ecom #dtc #dtcpodcast #ecommercetips
Inside a recent episode
EP57: From Navy Vet to Burned-Out CEO: Scaling from $0 to $50M in 2 Years
Published 24 Jul 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Um, you've now, you've now secured the funding, not a lot. So I was like, I thought you were going to say a lot, but okay, not a lot. Okay. No, cause like, even when we were going through the race process, like things were not looking good. Um, and there's a lot of reasons for this. So when we went from 25 million to 50 million in 2020, we didn't, we didn't hire any additional, um, teammates, like we used the same amount. I think it was like 52 ish teammates, the same amount of teammates for 2020 or 2019 for 25 million is the same amount that got us through 2020. And that wasn't intentional. That's not like a genius play of like, Oh, we're just going to figure out, no, it's because if we were going through the pandemic, everything was on fire at the time. […]
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