Inside Marketing with MarketSurge

Welcome to Inside Marketing
With Market Surge.

Your front row seat to the
boldest ideas and smartest

strategies in the marketing game.

Your host is Reed Hansen, chief
Growth Officer at Market Surge.

Reed: Hello and welcome back to
Inside Marketing with Market Surge.

Today we are joined by Neil Twa, who
is the CEO and Co-founder of Voltage

Holdings and one of the sharpest
minds in the Amazon FBAE ecosystem.

After a decade and a half scaling
e-commerce brands, including five private

label launches of his own, which is super
impressive, Neil has personally generated.

Eight figure sales and coached over a
thousand sellers to build, grow, and

exit profitable Amazon businesses.

He's just co-authored the
number one new release

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

worries.

Reed: income with FBA, showing
non-experts exactly how to architect

multi-channel income streams.

Prime for a lucrative exit with a
no-nonsense data-driven approach to ad

spend, channel strategy and operational
automation, and an engaged audience

of 45,000 e-comm professionals.

Neil's here to share the frameworks
and tactics that turn ordinary

sellers into top tier brand builders.

Neil, welcome to the podcast.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Hey, thanks for having me on.

I appreciate it.

Reed: my pleasure.

I, you know, I'm, uh, super impressed
with your story and, and background.

Now, you worked previously in
corporate, uh, with IBM and have

transitioned into entrepreneurship
and coaching and, and, uh, you know,

building and exiting businesses.

How, did you make that transition and,
and what drove you to, uh, to jump

into the entrepreneurship you have?

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah, great question
and thank you for that.

In fact, I gotta update my bio
just a little bit because we've

got actually 12 brands now.

Reed: Wow.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

running under our control and
we're in acquisitions now as well,

closing our first, um, relatively
large acquisition in August.

Reed: Awesome.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

well, it is August now, isn't it?

As of the recording today,
I'm losing track of time.

2025 is like, well, what's
going by like, so fast?

I can hardly keep up.

But to your question, you know, when
I left IBM in 2007, it was really just

a matter of kind of reaching the, what
I considered to be the pinnacle of my,

you know, corporate career that I never
really wanted to start in the first place.

Um, I jumped into the corporate world and
out of college in my third year, I was

about 30 hours shy of a business degree.

Thought I wanted to sort of do computer
science, so I went to a little place in,

uh, it's called TMSU, in, in Missouri, to
spend one semester at computer science.

And I met a gentleman who was like,
Hey, you, you really aren't gonna

learn the things that I'm learning.

he actually worked for
a company called Sprint.

Long distance as a programmer,
and he was an adjunct.

And so he was there two times a
week teaching the courses for that.

And he's like, well, you're not
gonna, I'm not gonna be able to train

you here on what I'm doing there.

And I'm like, well, why
am I doing this then?

Uh, I wanna do what you're doing.

So as I jumped out, you know,
the internet was really a buzz.

So this was around 98 or so,
uh, when I got out 97 ish.

And, um, I'm like, wow,
things are moving so fast.

You know, the corporate world
is moving very differently

than academia at that point.

You know, they just didn't have the
degrees, the tracks, the knowledge,

the things they were doing to even
teach us what was happening in,

you know, near real time in the
world of, of the new internet age.

So I jumped out to just ride that wave
and, and so that's how I ended up in

the corporate world is I kind of worked
my way through the corporate world

and, and sort of with a, I didn't ever
want to be here in the first place,

so I don't really care what happens.

Uh, I almost jokingly called it my
office space experience because really

I just kind of acted like I didn't
care and I kept getting promoted.

and eventually out of Sprint became
PCS, which was the mobile division.

Got to watch the inside of the mobile
division blow up from the 5000th

employee I was hired on to be along
with a small team of people, and that

ended up being 80,000 employees by the
time I got hired away from, uh, there

by IBM to go do what at Sprint in a
larger way for all of IBM's clients,

you know, strangely enough, I grew up
in a situation where I didn't understand

money and finances and business.

My father is a hardworking guy.

He is 83.

He lives on the hilltop with my mom
here, just literally a stone's throw

from us and love having him around.

He's a, hardworking guy.

he taught the value of a day of work.

He was a mechanic.

He was a two tour Vietnam vet on a
destroyer and worked in the boiler room.

he was a, a very tough guy, you know,
as younger, man, and so he really taught

me the value of work, but he never
taught me about money and finances.

He didn't really know about those things.

But my, aunt married a gentleman who did,

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

he had a little business.

And so over the time we
got to know each other.

And as I grew up into my teenage
years and my young adult years,

he really kind of mentored me.

And as I got through my later half of my
IBM career, he just kept encouraging me.

You know, you need to do your own thing.

You know, start a franchise, do
something of your own, anything, right?

Um, unfortunately he died in
2005 in an ultra craft incident.

He was, you know, he maintained it or
whatever, and there, there was a failure

at flight and he, uh, crashed and died.

Um, and that was two
years before I left IBM.

So it really became the catalyst of
momentum for change that when that

time came, I was like, I'm out.

I'm done.

I'm burning the boat.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

going back.

Thankfully I didn't burn the bridges
'cause a year later they became one of

my largest, clients when I went back
to work on projects that were broken,

that they hired me back as a contractor
to come fix for a lot more money than

they were paying me as an employee.

But, um, am I answering your
question without going too far?

Okay.

Reed: absolutely.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

me when.

Reed: great story and
I'm sorry for your loss.

Um,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Oh, yeah.

He is a wonderful guy and you know,
some of the things I learned from him

are things I'm still figuring out now.

Reed: yeah,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

He just had so much information, he had
such a way of saying it, and he had such

a way of living it that I heard it, but I
didn't know how to take action on it yet.

Does that make sense?

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

I see that with some of my clients
sometimes as we try to teach them

to do things or train them up on
things or see the opportunities

that they can create for themselves.

And sometimes they don't want to do
it or they don't, um, you know, they

just don't see their way forward.

And then later on, I see it sort of
end up happening in many of them.

They catch on, they have that aha moment.

It clicks.

Reed: Um,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

You know, I'm that way too.

Reed: yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

the things he showed me and taught
me and stuff he literally poured

into my head were not necessarily
appropriate at that time,

Reed: Okay,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

very useful later on.

Reed: so what, tell me
about that mindset shift.

You know, you,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah.

Reed: that is significant.

What, uh, you know, you go from a
corporate role where, um, you know, and I,

I, I've made a similar, uh, switch myself.

Um, but I bet you can
articulate that better.

Um, what, uh, is that shift?

Like, what do you have to attune

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

You just have to be willing.

Yeah, it was a naive move.

really was.

And I do now understand why people
continuously say, you're never gonna

be prepared to start your own business.

Just go for it.

And there's never the right time.

You'll never have enough money.

And maybe you have kids
and you don't have kids.

Maybe you're not married and you have
married, and there's all kinds of.

Reasons to excuse yourself from trying
it out of the fear of failure, and

that's really what it's all about.

We're trying to subvert the idea
of failure and not look like

a failure and not fail through
a process that might hurt us.

So we do everything
possible to avoid that pain.

Literally it's all about pain, resistance.

And in that first three to five years,
I felt the pain of that decision.

It didn't go well.

Right?

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

The first year we decided to get
married and we're 18 years married now.

My wife and I had known each
other for a couple years.

And I asked her to marry me, and it
happened to fall in March of 2007,

I decided to leave in June of 2007.

It just so happened that IBM was like,
Hey, your division's changing anyway, so

if you leave, we'll just retire you early.

And I'm like, well, that's timely.

So I took the early retirement.

We were pregnant in October of
2007, which put her on bedrest.

So by December, because it was a
complicated pregnancy and it was

high risk, you know, by December
she was no longer working.

She was an RN by Trade BSN, and
was thinking about going and

becoming a nurse practitioner.

And that sort of all changed
when she became pregnant and

we became pregnant, right?

and then she wasn't working anymore.

So we went all the way through that life.

Baby, kids new thing, new job, you
know, no more job, new business,

and went straight into it, head on.

But the thing is, I will tell this to
anybody who's willing to listen the

same way I tell my four daughters, it is
best to get started when you're broke.

It's best to yolk yourself to somebody,
preferably of faith that will walk with

you through that process and then be
more yoked in the opportunities to grow

together in those things instead of
trying to wait to get all of this done

and then try to put those lives together.

They just don't click the same way.

And we walked through that
process of having a lot of money

as high income earners, uh, I
think they call 'em dinks now.

Dual incomes, no kids.

Reed: Yeah,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yes.

So we were the original dink.

Gotcha.

Uh, but then we started
to have kids, right?

'cause we matured, um, which you should.

And I tell you, if you wanna
grow anything in life, have

kids and that will mature you.

And so that did mature us, uh,
through that walk and slowed

us down and refocused our.

You know, idea of what job,
life, college, everything would

mean to us and our children.

And as she walked through some of
that high risk pregnancy and, and

dealt with those issues, it really,
um, transformed kind of our, our

change, our mission, our purpose.

It was focused on her health
and the baby's health and how

is that all gonna work out.

And then when she was born,
she had some complications.

We had to deal with that.

And so the struggle became do
we go back to work or does she

go back to work, do we not?

And it was just like, I don't want to.

And I said, I don't want you either.

And that became the new purpose
in, in value of our life.

Was to focus on building that family.

Reed: Awesome.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

it wasn't easy for the
first three to five years.

It just wasn't,

Reed: Well, so let's
jump right into those.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

yeah.

Reed: um, you've started
several companies and have,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Correct.

Reed: exited, uh, did you do all at the
same time or, you know, and how did you

select these, uh, products you started to.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

it was an idea that no matter what I
started, I truly believed it wasn't

gonna be the last thing I did.

I didn't have to see it become
the most successful thing.

I was willing to see what it would
become as I worked one thing to

another, and I think a lot of us
get caught in the idea that if we do

something, this has to be the one thing
that's successful and it can't fail.

Reed: Right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

And with that mindset, you've already
sort of failed the process of allowing

your growth, your knowledge, your
experience, and your actions to

shift and move you and pivot you into
something that can be very life changing.

we create boundaries.

We predict a future out of arrogance
and pride, and instead of just

doing the daily work, we keep
depressing ourselves every day.

We're not closer to that imaginary goal
we created, and I had none of that.

I did not believe that there was some
imaginary goal that had to be hit in year

five, or the whole thing was a failure.

What I believed now was every day was now
the purpose of walking with my family and

the business would become the thing that
would allow me to continue to do that.

Reed: Great.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

that was it.

No matter how it came, no
matter when it came, no matter

what component of it turned.

So as I took opportunities and
got into opportunities, what that

led to was success and failure.

Let's make no mistake.

There's room is filled with a pile of
failures, probably 10 times in more

people, but I've had some really great
wins and one of those major failures,

which a lot of people fear and try to
remove the pain in any way possible

from their life, was going bankrupt.

Right?

Was going to a position where I pushed it
way too far, right, and I learned a very

valuable lesson of the sunk cost fallacy.

Okay.

And with that, I realized
that I had ingrained too far

into a particular business.

This was one based outta Oklahoma.

It was in the oil and gas industry.

It was a high tech product.

We had patents on it.

Reed: Oh

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

We were developing it.

It was actually super cool product
that no one's ever gonna see.

And in the process of helping to
fund it and being a part of it, that

we ran into some financing issues.

Some people got greedy and weren't
applying the money in right

locations, and one of them would've
been to paying me for my time.

And so I basically ran outta money,
invested too much and had to go.

You know, broke and, define
myself through what I realized

they were doing with the funds.

And I did not wanna be attached
to, 'cause I wasn't doing it and

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

able to be proven in the court of law,
but I had to go bankrupt to do it,

Reed: Oh,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

uh, and then start over.

Reed: It's awful.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

that was a tough lesson,

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Um, out of that, you know, learning
lesson came the opportunity to understand

that if I can't sell the product,
it doesn't matter how good it is.

Reed: Yes.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

was a tough lesson.

'cause a lot of people think of
product world and they think,

I need a perfect product.

I need a Tesla, I need to be Elon Musk.

I need to have this super
innovative idea and so did I,

and I failed on it miserably.

So as I launched the next
business opportunities, as

I grew through that process.

I started to realize, you know that to not
marry the product, marry the brand, marry

the sales process, sales fixes everything.

You fix that, and the product is good.

You will sell well.

If the product has problems, you fix the
problems, but as long as you can sell

it, the number one problem is fixed.

Reed: Right, right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Right.

And so a lot of people will hesitate
to even get to that point out of

fear that it won't sell or that
it won't be a good enough product

or whatever the case may be.

And I'm like, well, that
is your opportunity.

You have to get over that.

those are excuses to taking action
outta the fear that something

might fail in that process.

And here's the thing.

It's going to fail because you're human
and you don't know yet, you're ignorant.

You have to go learn, right?

you can train, you can consult,
and we have a lot of sayings in

the country, so forgive me if I
start popping off on some of 'em.

But you can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make it drink.

So I can show you that path forward.

But if you're not willing to
listen or hear or take action.

Then you're gonna potentially fail.

You're gonna die of thirst
because you weren't willing to

even try and drink the water.

And so I had to overcome those
challenges and I had to adapt.

And as I adapt, I started to
learn to innovate more on existing

things that were in the market.

And while I got really good at
sales, I wasn't terribly good at

the product side because for a
long time I never did any of that.

It was more like digital and
marketing and consulting.

I'd never attached a
physical product to it.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

at first I had that problem.

I thought I had to over-engineer a
product and make a perfect product or

it wouldn't sell and do a lot of good.

Well, I failed at that misery and, and you
know, so does a lot of people actually.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So we innovated through a number
of businesses and we ended

up launching a number of, you
know, places and businesses.

I eventually found an Amazon
channel in 2012 'cause it was

really new and it was growing fast.

Now it's 49% of all
e-commerce sales online.

So it's huge.

So yell at it all you want, but
it makes 49% of all us e-commerce

sales for physical products.

Reed: that's amazing.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

that's big, right?

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

And we started flipping products
on there to see what would work.

And that led us to, our first brand.

And once we hit our first brand, that
took off, you know, 10 times faster.

And we were at seven figures
by 2015 on that first brand.

Reed: us a little bit about
some of the, like, examples

of products you're putting out

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Oh, sure.

Reed: and how

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah.

I will give you some examples, but I'm
gonna preface that by saying something

very, very non-normal in the process when
people come up with physical products.

Right.

Having a great physical product,
very important, but when does it

actually become about the product?

Reed: Right,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

When you get it?

you buy from Amazon.

Right.

Reed: right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So did you actually have the product or
a version of the product in your hand, or

did you have a belief that when you hit
add a card that two days later or less it

would show up and that when it does show
up, you open the box that it's what you

expected, and then when you plug it in or
use it or do whatever, it doesn't break.

And if it fills your.

Expectation, right?

Your preconceived expectation

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

then you either, you know, are
happy with it, maybe go as far as

leaving it a positive review, or if
bad things happen, you return it.

You might even go as far as
leaving a negative review.

Reed: Right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So when does it actually
become about the product

Reed: Well,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

I,

Reed: Obviously when you get it, yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So that's actually a secondary concern.

So in our world, we inverse this
to what is the main opportunity, so

it becomes less about what I sell.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

And it becomes more about how I
sell it and who I'm selling it to.

So in that way, we have sold
literally everything under the sun,

Reed: Huh?

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

as long as it's profitable.

So we started out flipping
products, all kinds of stuff,

like we went and found this deal.

On these energy, uh, not like a
shake, but like a protein drink.

And it came in like a container, right?

Like a, like a two pound
container, like a big one.

And we found a coupon for like
40% off, and they had like

200 units on their website.

And we went over to Amazon and they
were selling for like $40 more.

So we went and used their coupon
and bought out all their inventory,

took it over to Amazon and flipped
it for like a $6,000 profit.

And we're like, oh, we're hooked.

So we went back to order more from that
company and they stopped our order as

it was going through again, the vice
president calls my partner 'cause

his number was on the order sheet.

And she says, what are you
doing with our product?

And he said, well, I'm
selling it on Amazon.

He was like, totally transparent,
maybe you should have been not,

or should have been is fine.

She's like, well you can't do that.

And he is like, well
you, there's a coupon.

You said we could, we bought it.

And she's like, but you can't do that.

And I'm like, well, we are doing it.

And she's like, well no,
I'm gonna stop your order.

You can't ever order from us again.

And I remember him telling me this
story and he just, he was on the

phone with her and he is like, lady,
like, we're selling your product.

You're making the money you
asked to get for the product.

Does it matter where we sell it?

Well, no, you can't sell it on Amazon.

So that was, you know, as we were
learning to go through that process,

we were finding very quickly that you
could trade a lot of time for money,

flipping other people's products,
doing what's called wholesale

arbitration, uh, that kinds of stuff.

But you're gonna run into
all those kinds of problems.

And, you know, fast forward
Amazon system doesn't really

like you doing that much anymore.

They want you to build brands.

So we were started flipping things.

We found a run of supplements and we
started to run a supplement company and it

did really well until it didn't because,
you know, uh, two words, big pharma

and they kicked in and unethical things
happened and they want to shut you down.

Reed: okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

you start taking their market
share, they don't like it very much.

Um, so really get down to that.

We don't sell supplements anymore.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

we don't sell electronics.

Things that are highly technical, highly
manufactured, have lots of turnover due

to constant innovation or have customer
support issues and return problems, right?

And that's the same for like
clothing, t-shirts and jewelry.

Those things, uh, have a lot
of returns, a lot of trouble,

you know, that kind of stuff.

So we sell everything else that you can
think of, as long as it's profitable,

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

long as it maintains more than
a net $12 in profit per unit,

preferably closer to 50 to a hundred
dollars in net profit per unit.

We'll look at selling it as long as
there is a high in demand already

in existence for that product,

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

right?

So there are millions of those
product opportunities, right?

It really gets down to, if I understand
the data, the avatar, the demand,

the profitability, that's the metric
by which I can have success selling

products online and make money doing
it while still keeping it profitable.

So in simple terms, I'm product agnostic

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

I know they want it.

If there is demand, someone
else is passionate about it.

I think a lot of people also.

Think that the product makes the
whole thing, and number two, I have

to be passionate about the product
or this whole thing won't work.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

are two myths, right?

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

I'm not passionate about
my products per se.

There's a few I really like, right?

For reasons that I just
personally like them,

Reed: Sure.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

but I have a preference to the brand.

So we say don't marry the products.

They have a life cycle.

They have people that are passionate
about them and want their outcomes

faster, bigger, cook better, lose
weight, gain weight, jump higher, run

faster, clean this, don't clean that.

Like there's products for all
of those solutions if those

people are passionate about it.

I want them to be
passionate about my brand.

And it really changes the way you
focus and takes out some of the

complexity that I think a lot of
people put on this business model,

uh, that doesn't really exist.

'cause they sort of make that, you
know, mountain out of a mole hill.

Reed: Yeah.

now you're doing things at
volume and finding opportunities,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yes.

Reed: know, uh, products that,
that would fit what you describe.

Um, you know, and I'm hearing
a, a theme of you use a lot of.

Analytics to

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yes.

Reed: process.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah.

Reed: a little bit about that?

Like what tools you use or what,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Mm-hmm.

Reed: you know, your methodology,
what kinds of, uh, metrics

are most important to you?

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah, there wasn't a data
tool back in the day.

We had to do a lot of, um, you
know, how do you say this, right?

We had to do a lot of data mining.

We had like five VAs at one point
that would go out and help us try

to mine any data we could get to
bring some understanding of that

product from, uh, existing systems.

Demand market research, I think
is the best way to say that.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

But there wasn't a lot of analytics data.

There wasn't AI systems we have today.

So we used a lot of spreadsheets
that we would build out and

eventually we built kind of what
we call a green light process.

If it goes green, yellow, or red,
that determines the data points

of that product and it's upside.

So we built calculations, algorithms
into that to help us come up with.

more complex ways to make simplified data
decisions by the data, not by emotions.

And then eventually, developed a
tool and became part of a company

that was one of the first Amazon
analytic tools in the marketplace.

Reed: wow.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

we used that data to kind of help us
harden the, process we had started,

uh, eventually sold that company and
then evolved our process internally.

to building a system behind our
non-disclosure agreements without a

public view of what we were doing, because
some people had taken our information

and used it and we'd shared some things
and people took advantage of that.

And so we're like, well, no more of that.

We're bringing that back in
house and we're not letting

people know about that anymore.

and so through that process, we
developed a different system later

on, off of that same green light.

And then we built a SaaS
based intelligence engine

that now uses AI research.

We have access to things called product
Opportunity Explorer inside Amazon.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

once you're a seller and, and these
kinds of data tools, now give me exact

information and numbers about products,
categories, how much units they're moving.

What is the customer demand by keyword?

What is a customer need that
the AI engine or a customer need

intent that the AI engine is using

Reed: Hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

determine how to put a product
just in front of somebody in 30

seconds or less, and match that
audience intelligently using ai?

And I don't have to do that,
I just have to understand.

What I need to be is just smart enough
to understand the data so I know what

to give it so that it will audience
overlap somebody in millions of people

who want that product and are willing
to buy it in 30 seconds or less.

Reed: Wow.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So I've taken that data and systematize
that process down now so that it

will pull products together for us.

It will tell us where those products
currently file inside the engine.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

which is referred to
as Cosmo now on Amazon.

And then tell me which products meet that
demand by customer need and which ones are

the closest to the top customer demand.

And as long as that is profitable,
I've equated 80% of the data I need

to take a version, a test version we
call a market test, a hundred, 200

units of that product to market and
validate that the 20% we get back.

Proves we can sell it profitably,
proves the data forward as the system

then projects out to 12 months out
to a container, out to projected cost

required to grow, should its sales
velocity, move to, X in 12 months.

And then I know how
much capital to deploy.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

to deploy it, how much to deploy
it, and when the metrics come back,

the conversions, the profitability.

The market test says green light.

Okay, then I go order a thousand units
and we go to a full product test, which

is to take us into profitability and
understand how fast the velocity will

happen of that inventory turnover.

Okay.

You still with me so far?

I know I'm, I'm going fast.

Reed: yeah.

I

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So when I know that I can then
determine how many times I could,

you know, project forward to turn
over on a cash on cash value, cash

in cash out over every 90 days.

How many times I can turn that inventory.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Okay, so with that, I can then
predict that by the end of that

12 month cycle, I might have 50, a
hundred thousand, 250,000 in profit.

I will have deployed somewhere around
that much in capital outlay, but

on the cash, on cash value, knowing
I kept my profitability, okay?

Making sure that each unit had 12, 24, 40
$8 in profit, I should equate to roughly

that much profit at the end of the year.

Reed: Okay.

Wow.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So I have market test.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

have product launched a thousand units
At that point, sales velocity and

profitability and the, uh, system of
Amazon organically and through paid

traffic will tell me how fast I can
acquire those customers at the speed

at which that velocity will go up.

And then I know basically how much
capital to deploy to go faster if I

want to double that or triple that.

I'm gonna know now I need double to
quadruple the inventory, both in the

warehouse and on the water to replace
what's selling at that velocity and

at the manufacturer that's being
manufactured to replace the upstream

called just in time inventory, right?

Reed: Right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

But the speed at which these systems
work, that could go extremely fast, okay?

When you hit the numbers correctly and
the algorithm is like, you nailed it.

And you're giving us more
inventory to sell faster through.

'cause that's all it's looking
to do is say, well, we discovered

you're selling really well.

You're converting really well.

People like your product.

There's good reviews coming.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Well, an engine that turns
over 7,000 products a minute

on Amazon has a lot of scale.

Right?

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So where do people miss
this On the last point?

They miss it on not the beginning.

Getting in, finding the data,
like we've solved those problems.

It is capitalizing the inventory
and reminding yourself it is

a physical product business.

I'm going to have to buy more inventory.

That's your opportunity cost
for this kind of business.

If you want to go to three figures,
five figures, six figures, nine

figures, when the data says go
and the market is dialed in, it is

now, how fast can I inventory up?

The amount of units I have available
for that engine to spread out to that

audience, and when I have a lot more
inventory, it moves a lot faster.

What it will do is slow me down
in the sales cycle because it

doesn't want me to stock out.

Think about it.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

I'm removed and the customers want
me, but I'm no longer on the platform,

that's a negative to Amazon's customers.

So as long as I'm available, they'll sell
my inventory through a certain speed.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Okay, but if the speed by which that
market where I placed my product is

selling 50,000 units a year, and I only
have 5,000 units, you see the problem,

Reed: Yeah,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

right?

So now I know I have to get up
to 50,000 units of inventory in

stock in order to move that in an
entire year or less because the

algorithmic engine can do that.

I have some people that are doing
6,000 units a minute, excuse me, a day

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

a day.

Reed: I mean, yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Amazon does that in a minute.

I have some people doing that in a day.

So when you see the growth and scale
of this system, just to understand that

once the data proves you should go,
the system itself will take you there.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

that's where I coined the
phrase almost automated income.

Because at that point, when you are
touching and dialing in and then

moving it, you don't touch it again.

You feed the inventory.

So your automation basically
becomes your ability to manage

the inflow and outflow of product.

Reed: Interesting.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

we kind of become import exporters.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Mm-hmm.

Because the system itself
is doing everything else

Reed: now obviously, um, you have near two
decades of experience doing this process.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

closer to 12 years.

Yeah.

'cause I kind of established
this about 12 years ago.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Reed: to, for accuracy sake,
but, um, you know, a lot more

experience than most people do.

you've developed a very robust
system and, thought it out very well.

is this something that, person
with no experience in e-commerce

or, importing, exporting, is this
a good time to get into that?

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Questions.

Reed: you know, I don't know.

Is this open to anybody or is this,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah, it's open to anybody.

We just have to understand
like who the anybody is.

12 years ago, it was open to
everybody, let's call it, right?

So in 12 years, as the market's
matured, the systems have changed

the speed at which data is moving,
AI intelligence, changing things.

And just a lot more experience
dealing in that market.

We do have an advantage because of all of
those things, but someone getting new into

the market right now has to understand
something that, um, from the ground up, I

can see this and not a lot of people can.

Based on where we're at since 2013,
I've never seen a greater opportunity

to get in this market than right now.

Reed: interesting.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

occurred with tariffs and changes
and post COVID issues is that there

is now net 300,000 less sellers.

That have entered the market
this year for the first time

since this whole thing started,

Reed: Huh.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

which means the gap in their
products and opportunity is gone.

So everybody who is currently in the
market share, and by the way, the demand

every month, 5 billion impressions on
Amazon every month has not changed.

Okay?

So that market share is now filling up.

We've got brands that went from 30 to
43% market share simply because they have

been in the fight for the last 10 months.

And when the tariff shakeout went
down, all those other companies and

sellers went out, and the market
share just increased naturally.

Reed: Wow.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

fill the gap, right?

So there's this huge opportunity though,
where all those sellers left that this

is the window by which you should get in,

Reed: Interesting.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

open up very often.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

with the speed of AI systems, now that
we implemented every level of the process

of building a product and taking it to
market all the way through, analyzing the

PPC data in inventory management systems
later and all the way through analyzing

data for company acquisitions as well as
company exits is done all with AI now.

So you can speed and expedite all of
this stuff now, uh, very differently

at the process level than we were
able to do even five years ago.

But here's the thing that
most people should understand.

The opportunity changed
because the complexity changed.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

it's not the same as it was 10 years ago.

Does that mean the opportunity is less?

No, it actually means it's greater for
those who are willing to get in, but

the barrier of entry has also grown.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Right.

So in four years ago, okay, we all
know what was going on to some degree.

Um, he said for copyright strikes, um,
that occurred and there was roughly $100

million originated companies on Amazon.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Okay.

In four years that doubled, there are now
100, $100 million companies on Amazon.

So the speed by which the information,
the data, the purchasing and all

that stuff is increasing greatly.

We're seeing more people buying
now than they were three years ago.

So people are like over here
yelling all of these things in the

geopolitical business world, really
not understanding what's actually

happening at the ground level.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Okay, so they're feeding into too much of
this hysteria and mass and all this other

crap, which we just kind of shut off.

There's just a stop.

Doesn't come in.

did the tariffs affect us?

Yeah, a little bit, but most
people should understand that

that was actually an opportunity.

We pivoted and we moved into
that opportunity, not against it.

Reed: Right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

'cause we learned from five years ago,
that's exactly what we should have done.

When the market freezes up and goes
crazy, then staying in the fight

and positioning and removing capital
is what you should actually do.

You shouldn't pivot out, pivot away,
or change anything you should dig in.

That's a hard thing for
people to understand.

So at this moment, digging in is a hard
thing for a lot of people to realize

because it's a little more complex
and it takes a lot more capital.

Reed: Mm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

But the upside potential is like 10
times greater than it's been since 2013.

So people are gonna have to weigh
that in their minds, but that's

what entrepreneurs should do.

That's a risk reward ratio.

Doesn't mean I shouldn't get in, it just
means when I get in, the opportunity

is a little bit higher, but so is the
greater, uh, reward for that risk.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

marketplace has one.

Every marketplace has one It
evolves and changes, and it is

definitely evolving and changing.

And money is just a river.

It moves.

It flows, it changes direction.

Sometimes it goes out of its bank.

Sometimes it moves.

So money has just moved and shifted.

And when we were buying inventory, for
example, in December of 2019, a big

container of product cost us $4,800.

To move it into port.

That was pretty good.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

actually was there about 12 months ago.

It actually got down to about 39.

It, basically almost, uh, two and a half
to three times that due to the tariffs.

Okay?

But keep in mind, in
December of 20 19, 4800.

In March of 2020, okay.

During that first quarter of the 2020
situation, not only did we see 10 years of

growth in the entire e-commerce industry
in three months, you know why, right?

Reed: right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

But price of containers went
to 25,000 per container.

Reed: Oh my gosh.

Wow.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah.

Nobody even sees that, right?

Because they don't understand
what was happening economically

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

behind the scenes for business
owners and people moving product

and logistics and inventory, because
we were all focused on what all

the other stuff that was happening.

Right, and we were at home
and we were just buying.

We weren't really thinking
about what was happening.

The rest of us were like, holy crap,
like you're 10 years of growth.

This has gone hypergrowth situation.

And oh, by the way, so did the
price point of everything, right?

Tariffs were not like that at all.

Reed: Okay.

Interesting.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

shifted and in some cases doubled, but now
are coming back down dramatically fast.

Inflation is nearing out zero,
but most people don't understand

that because they're, I don't
know, they're paying attention.

Hopefully you are, if you're a business
person, and the opportunity to move

forward is now greater than it has been.

So we're deploying millions of dollars.

We're acquiring a company that's
over $10 million in August.

We are being very bullish

Reed: Hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

to enter a market as though
I would analogize it like

a rubber band pulling back.

It is pulling back right now
and it is the brink of snapping.

So there's about six to 12 months
forward where people who miss this

window right now and aren't willing
to take the risk, they either start

their business, get in a product, or
do something like that, or even just

get in business to some degree because
it's gonna slingshot back the other way.

It inevitably is, and if pay
for two seconds attention to the

geopolitical, you'll realize we are
at a surplus of tariffs every month.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

has actually come down.

And what that means is all that capital
that's gonna flow into America will take

about 18 months to fully be realized.

And if you're not building during
that timeframe, you will be behind.

Reed: Right.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

will literally be behind it,

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

miss an opportunity.

Reed: Yeah.

No,

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

A great one, a very large one actually.

Reed: So now, you know, this is
great information, of course, but,

uh, do you have a book, which you've
mentioned, and do you also offer

consulting services for people that
would like to hop into this field?

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

I do at a very small level.

It's kind of strange 'cause everybody's
like, well, is there a course or program?

No, I don't believe in
doing that kind of stuff.

We do a 12 month one-on-one mentorship.

I'm looking for the unicorns listening to
this podcast right now, where maybe the

one or two people who are crossing through
time and as they say the mentee, uh, is

when the mentee's ready, the mentor will
appear and you will resonate with what

I'm saying today and you'll understand.

You'll know it's true.

The opportunity is to work
one-on-one for 12 months.

we train these people up into our systems.

I'm looking to build CEO operators.

This is not for everybody.

There's a barrier of entry for a
buy-in, but you also need to bring at

least 50 to a hundred K year one to
run at the speed we're gonna go at,

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

that's the opportunity to take that
market share in, hit those products

and brands, and see yourself actually
get to a seven figure business.

Revenue is possibly even profit.

So I look for a very
small amount of people.

To do that with, I do a disc assessment
of each one to ensure their aptitude

meets the aptitude of my four operators
who run the 12 companies we run.

And to ensure that you are not just,
uh, capital ready, but you have the, you

know, the time, energy, and attention
dedicated to this and prioritize to this.

You don't need to find the time.

You need to dedicate the time
to a three to five year venture.

Where I have seen multiple times
people's lives be changed generationally

after five years, either through
exits or simply the growth of the

business changing their entire life.

And here's the thing, when I work with
my people, I put some skin in the game.

So part of my fee is held back $10,000
as a bet that they working with us over

a year can get to a hundred thousand
in net profits in their business.

There's a couple of reasons,
the success growth for them.

is proven number two in the economic
engine of Amazon going from a live

product through the next 12 to 18 months.

There are certain system things it's
going to do that we have seen repeatedly

over 12 years that will allow a business
to mature faster and faster and faster.

And by the time it hits a hundred thousand
in net profits, it means that you're

generating 50 to a hundred thousand a
month in revenues inside that system,

and you are now entering the top tiers
of market share and sellers, and it is

going to become an economic juggernaut.

So when we see that, I set that on purpose
because as people hit that they're also

hitting those metrics inside of the system
and Amazon has told us directly, you can

get 5% of the market share in year one.

If you do really good
for your marketplace,

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

can jump to 20% in year
two and 40% in year three.

So when people commit to the year one
growth with us, we're looking for the

building year, and then growth is in
the second year, and then potentially

scale in years three through five.

I have some of the fastest
growing case studies.

You guys are welcome to check them out.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

One of 'em, you just gotta beat Matt.

Matt hit 5 million a month in nine months.

Reed: Wow.

That's

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yep.

Reed: That's

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

it's a big machine and I don't think
everybody quite comprehends its scale,

but we have to come with the right team
effort, right time, energy, attention,

and money to see this opportunity.

It's cheaper than a lot of
franchises where you have to end

up splitting profits in this way.

You keep all the profits.

I actually look for a first right of
refusal from my clients that they will

come to us first when time to uh, sell the
business, and then we look to acquire it.

That's kind of what's in it for me.

If they grow up and they get a business,
we win, they win, and then we both win

in the end when we acquire the company.

Reed: Awesome.

Well, like a tremendous opportunity.

Where can people reach you if they'd

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Mm-hmm.

Reed: in learning more?

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Yeah, the book is on Amazon.

So if you're a book reader,
that's a great place to start.

Um, if you want a smaller digital version
that's also on the website@voltagedm.com,

there's a free presentation.

Um, my friend Kevin Harrington has
also been my mentor since 2016.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

wrote the introduction to it and we do a
presentation that teaches you, you know,

kind of the, uh, ins and outs of what we
do, why we do it, who we're looking for.

And then, you know, those who feel
LED will reach out and talk to me

personally, I don't have a sales team.

Reed: Okay.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

only looking for a few people.

Um, sometimes I go months not talking to
the right people who don't get an invite.

Reed: Yeah.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

So this is a very invite only specific
kind of event for a one-on-one,

uh, mentorship opportunity.

Reed: Awesome.

Well, fantastic.

Um, I'll leave the
links in the show notes.

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Wonderful.

Reed: you know, Neil, you've obviously
built a great process and, uh, you know,

it does sound like this is a tremendous
opportunity for somebody that wants

to really scale up a business fast.

Uh, and under your.

Tutelage.

So, uh, thanks so much for connecting

Neil Twa @ Voltagedm.com:

Thanks for having me.

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