In the Room with Andrew Savage
Welcome to the sixth episode of Season Six of the Room Podcast. Today we sit down with Andrew Savage, founder and CEO of Suma Brands. Suma brands finds, acquires and grows successful Amazon and DTC brands across a variety of categories. Suma focuses on differentiated brands that have loyal followings and unlocks further expansion for these brands. Suma is a part of the explosive Amazon aggregator space which has collectively raised $11 billion in funding in 2021 alone.
Growing up in the Midwest, Andrew learned to value family, friends, and working as part of a team. He particularly credits his upbringing to his emphasis on the idea that any one person is not as strong as many people together, cherishing the idea of working alongside one another, which Andrew has tried to prioritize in his professional life.
After attending the University of Oklahoma, and inspired by the emergent e-commerce business, Andrew began his career at companies such as Target and eventually went on to Amazon as a product leader as well as online brand Dolls Kill as their COO. Using his vast experience from helping establish early e-commerce to guide other growing retailers to high-level success, Andrew eventually founded Suma Brands with the goal to “find, acquire, and help brands realize their potential.”
In this episode we discuss why the Amazon acquisition space is so popular right now, when and why founders might want to exit and sell their business, and the future of consolidation in the ecomm space. Let’s open the door.
Let’s open the door.
Listen to the fourth episode of season six here.
Key Theme 1: Popularity of the Amazon acquisition space
Working in this Amazon acquisition space allows for rapid growth and scaling, aided by companies such as Suma Brands. Andrew explains how, even while working under Amazon, Suma Brands manages to operate in a unique manner due to his background in building e-commerce businesses and consumer brands, rather than one of capital allocations. This has allowed Andrew to focus on building relationships with customers in particular, causing many founders to view Suma Brands as the buyer of choice when entering into an acquisition deal.
Key Theme 2: When and why founders might want to exit and sell
Throughout his time with Suma Brands, Andrew has noticed certain patterns within brands whose founders have decided to exit and ultimately sell their business. Andrew notes that while some of these patterns are revealed by looking at quantitative data — including financial history and growth trends — whether or not a founder sells to Suma Brands is more often determined qualitatively. Founders who see an opportunity for growth based on what organizations like Andrew’s do, and also still feel passionate about their business enough to want to remain involved and see its next chapter are more likely to sell to, and be accepted by, Suma Brands.
Key Theme 3: The future of consolidation in the e-commerce space
Focusing on the early days, Andrew recalls how e-commerce was centered around understanding the fundamentals of what makes its channels unique, looking specifically at expanding selection beyond the limited physical shelfspace. He labels the evolution of e-commerce as the increased comprehension of the two concepts of offering a larger universe of possible products while simultaneously creating a personalized experience.
Looking forward, Andrew has noticed companies considering what it actually means to be a brand, especially in a digital space with a far-reaching platform. He’s looking forward to the ways in which businesses will change their thinking about this topic, and, in his own work at Suma, he is looking to build the next generation house of consumer brands.
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Thanks for checking out this episode of The Room Podcast. Stream this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
We will be back next Tuesday for a new, inspiring conversation.
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