Bill D'Alessandro

Built & sold 8 DTC/SaaS companies. Pioneered the ecommerce aggregator model. Host the @acquanon podcast.

Now acquiring pet brands @ FoodScience/Morgan Stanley.

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

Here's my big personal news:

Natural Dog Company has been acquired by FoodScience, a Morgan Stanley Capital Partners portfolio company!

After 13 years, the journey that started with me quitting my job to go all-in on Elements Brands has officially come to an end.

What started as one guy in a rented office turned into $200M+ of sales and something much bigger.

We bought (and exited) 8 brands, from skincare to laundry detergent to pet wellness.

We pioneered the "ecommerce aggregator" model long before that was even a thing.

We built an incredible team with deep expertise across ecommerce, Amazon, retail, operations, and finance, all of whom are staying on to work on Natural Dog and FoodScience's other amazing brands.

And I'm not going anywhere.

I'm staying on as VP of Corporate Development for the combined platform, where I’ll be leading M&A - finding and acquiring the best pet brands in the world.

If you know me, you know I love this stuff. I can't wait to keep doing it with the firepower of FoodScience and Morgan Stanley behind me.

Huge thanks to everyone I've learned from here on Twitter/X, and especially the EcommerceFuel crew. Y'all have been my sounding board, my therapy sessions, and my second brain for the last decade. I've learned more from you than any MBA could've taught me. Thanks for being generous with your knowledge and support.

If you're running a pet brand and thinking about an exit - or know someone who is - DM me. We’re buying. I'd love to help you write your next chapter.

Press release is in the next tweet!

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@JamesonCamp @tylertringas can tell you all about it

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@geigster I fear insta on the couch is also more addictive / dopamine inducing

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

What do we make of this? Feels like a big yikes to me - is the future just sitting at home on our screens?

[brood @broodovermind]

@maiamindel It's everything. We don't have anything at all anymore

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@AaronOrendorff @mbertulli I must give the people what they want!

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

Literally all of America right now 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@AaronOrendorff @mbertulli Oh are you saying I should play the hits again this year???

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

Literally all of America right now 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@Clearingfog_ I have absolutely no patience for the not fair mindset. Pointless. Either do something about it or stop complaining. “It’s not fair” is about the lowest agency thing a person can say.

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@TaylorHoliday The idea is that they’re trying to measure in-person/IRL amusement

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@rossiadam @totalshield_llc Such a cool business. You acquired it right? I’d love to read more about that process (search, and then growing it post closing)

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@Austen Especially wild to tax someone on wealth that they’ve put into a trust they can’t access that could have totally different beneficiaries

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@SMB_Attorney @DinoSawaya Yup this feels right - you should do a bigger post with this data

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@girdley Cowboy hat is the GOAT beach headwear

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

https://t.co/ysRXhHSsGS

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

Am I doing this right @ecommcowboy?

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@Seanfrank @codyplof Makeup? Are we talkin about makeup?

My brother - how many different ways do I have to tell you to sell supplements?

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@MichLieben ads

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@AdamGillman ECOM

[Adam Gillman @AdamGillman]

If I was forced to make $100K/month with ecom in 30 days starting from zero, here's exactly what I would do in 20 steps:

Days 1-3:

Pick the right category and build the foundation

Find a category where the buying decision has a strong trust component — supplements, kids products, beauty, pet, health-adjacent

Validate the market size before touching anything — minimum $500M+ addressable market

Find a white label manufacturer — target 80% gross margins before spending $1 on marketing

Build a 100% subscription offer — no one time purchases ever

Price at premium from day one — $10 signals $10 quality. Never apologize for your price.

Days 4-7:

Build the product and brand

Design packaging that makes customers want to display it proudly — your packaging is your #1 silent salesperson

Build a simple DTC website — no Amazon, no retail, own the customer relationship completely

Offer 50% off month one — this is the highest converting offer structure I have ever tested across two 9-figure businesses

Write 5 core educational pieces about what is wrong with your category — education builds trust faster than any ad

Days 8-15:

Launch influencer machine

Find 25 micro influencers in your category — mommy bloggers if kids, health creators if wellness

Pay flat fees — expect only 10% to convert, kill the other 90% fast

Give them guardrails on what they can and cannot claim — then let them speak in their own voice

Track every post — views, clicks, sales, hold rate. The market is voting every day. Your job is to listen.

Whitelist the 2-3 winners immediately as paid ads from their handle — this is where the real leverage lives

Days 16-30:

Scale what is working

Take winning influencer creative and run it as paid ads — 20-40% of budget behind whitelisted content

Text every new subscriber personally within 24 hours — not a bot, a real human

Let customers customize their order — it raises costs slightly but creates a moat billion dollar companies cannot replicate

Survey every customer who churns — their reason is your next product improvement

Pour everything behind the 1-2 channels converting — kill everything else immediately

The conservative math:

25 influencers × 10% conversion rate = 2-3 winners 2-3 winners whitelisted as paid ads = dramatically lower CAC Lower CAC + 80% gross margins = profitable from month one Profitable from month one = no VC needed, ever

$30/month subscription × 3,000 subscribers = $90,000 MRR At 200 new subscribers per day = $100K MRR in under 30 days

That is the floor.

One viral post can add 500 subscribers in 24 hours alone.

I did this with $0 venture capital.

$103M annual revenue.

$260M exit.

The playbook works.

Comment "ECOM" and I'll send you the full breakdown.

**must be following + retweet to receive.

Every Wednesday at 3:30PM EST I host a free 30 minute open call where anyone can ask me anything about ecom, business, or building from scratch.

Link to register: https://t.co/sExcRo2qzY

Or interested in working with me 1-1 ?
Here's the link to apply:

https://t.co/h9RYPMtama

Let me know if you need anything else :)

[Andrew Youderian @youderian]

Real estate is a bad investment for entrepreneurs.

Half of you just blocked me. Hear me out.

When you start pulling money out of your eCom business, and you should, don't reflexively shove it into residential rentals.

I'm not talking about commercial RE. Or if you're full-time RE specializing with deep expertise.

I'm talking about the casual residential play, the 2 or 3 rentals on the side. It's not worth it.

My good friend @billda had a rental house. He ran the numbers when he sold, 20% IRR over a couple of years.

Bill normally DREAMS about 20% IRRs. If anyone was going to love a rental portfolio, it was him.

He got rid of it.

The 20% IRR was pretty low in actual dollars. And the tenant renting it was a pain.

They called him once because she saw a spider on the front porch.

I use to own a rental in Bozeman. Bought in 2015 and rented/held through COVID and the TV show Yellowstone, which sent prices to the moon.

Even with crazy appreciation, returns were in line with an index fund over the same stretch. But with infinitely more hassle, zero liquidity, and no geographic diversification.

It was in a top 5 market for the period in terms of appreciation. What do you think median returns looks like?

I love the concept of hassle-adjusted returns.

When comparing RE returns you have to consider turnovers, property managers (still have to manage them), illiquidity, late-night spider calls, capex, the tax complexity.

In my experience, returns struggle to match basic indexes. And that's before the hassle factor is considered.

I'm not saying don't buy real estate.

A primary home you love is awesome. But it's consumption, not an investment unless you're cashing out and moving into a van.

Or maybe you have a property or vacation home you rent to defer expenses. Great, enjoy it!

All I'm saying is it shouldn't be a meaningful way you deploy cash outside your business.

Photo: Hassle-adjusted returns include paying for and managing 2 new rental roofs in 12 months. Ask me how I know.

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

@thedanielbudai Honestly what are you trying to achieve by setting an LLM loose on your Twitter account? Do you think people can’t tell?

[Bill D'Alessandro @BillDA]

Leaving a 5 star review with photos is legitimately the kindest thing you can possibly do for a small business owner

[Mark Delaney @markbdelaney]

Super easy way to help somebody out today is leave a review for a local small business that you like

Huge for them