In this episode, Danan sits down with Ben Leonard — founder of BeastGear, 7-figure brand-builder, eCommerce consultant, speaker, author, and co-founder of Peregrine Commerce and Ecom Brokers.
This episode is packed with timeless lessons for brand builders, Amazon sellers, and DTC founders who want to scale smarter and build real defensible brands.
🔗 Connect With Ben Leonard
Website: https://www.benleonard.pro
Brand Rescue Mission: https://brandrescuemission.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjleonard
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benleonardpro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benleonardpro
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@benleonardpro
⏱️Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome to The eCom Growth Show
00:30 – Ben Leonard joins the show
01:21 – Funny name mix-ups & intros
01:50 – Rapid-fire interview setup
01:56 – How Ben accidentally got into eCommerce
03:04 – Danan’s motorcycle accident & origin story
05:12 – Getting healthy, injuries & fitness
06:06 – How health challenges pushed both into entrepreneurship
06:50 – What sets Ben’s approach apart
08:18 – The “Amazon Goldfish Bowl” problem
09:09 – Why most Amazon sellers lose
09:52 – The resurgence of multi-channel diversification
10:28 – What Amazon is doing better lately
11:00 – TikTok Shop’s halo effect on Amazon
11:27 – Building a synchronized brand “orchestra”
12:11 – Creator marketing & real brand building
13:22 – The pipeline effect of social content
14:15 – Why indirect attribution matters
15:26 – 7-11 touchpoints before conversion
15:55 – Product seeding strategy
16:42 – How Danan did creator marketing in 2013
17:12 – The scalability struggle for small brands
17:33 – Why founders must act like real CEOs
18:46 – The plague of low-quality agencies
19:39 – Picking the right agency — Ben’s criteria
20:17 – “A rising tide raises all ships”
20:19 – Ben’s biggest mistake: not entering the US market
21:39 – How that choice limited his business size & exit
22:03 – How Ben now evaluates new markets
22:50 – His new brand (baby carrier for dads) & tariff strategy
24:21 – Why launching in your home market can be smarter
25:41 – Danan’s UK experience pre-Brexit
25:48 – The wild early days of PAN-EU
26:51 – The caveman & valley analogy
27:38 – Why Amazon’s friction creates a competitive moat
28:23 – Ben’s biggest lesson learned
28:46 – The IP lawsuit that almost derailed everything
30:23 – Amazon’s broken infringement system
31:53 – “Cheap is expensive, expensive is cheap”
32:23 – Insurance, IP protection & lessons
32:53 – Ben bought BeastGear back from Thrasio
33:03 – Where to find Ben’s newsletter & content
34:02 – Closing remarks
#TheeComGrowthShow #BenLeonard #BeastGear
KEEP IN TOUCH:
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow
👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow
🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow
Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.