Jon Derkits

BEST@AMAZON NEWSLETTER --> https://bestatamazon.ck.page/

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AMAZON COACHING & ADVISORY --> https://tidycal.com/jonderkits/amazon-coaching-and-advisory

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Hi, I'm Jon and I'm a builder. 

Over the course of my 15-year career in management consulting and technology companies, I've built teams, I've built processes, I've built products, and I've built businesses (the 10-figure kind). I'm at my best when I'm in a role with scope and significance, and my superpower is consistency.

Some things I'm GOOD at include dealing with ambiguity and making good decisions in fast-paced, uncertain environments. Some things I'm *GREAT* at include obsessing over customers and developing my people.

Follow me here on LinkedIn if you want to hear my thoughts on Amazon, building great teams, or the current state of Chicago sports.

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CLIFTON STRENGTHS
Harmony, Achiever, Learner, Positivity, Ideation

DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
eCommerce, Marketplaces/Platforms, Valuation 

FUNCTIONAL SKILLS
Business Performance Measurement, Category Management, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Financial Statement Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, P&L Ownership, Strategic Planning, Team Leadership, Written Communication

TECHNICAL SKILLS
Amazon Seller Central, Bloomberg, Capital IQ, Microsoft Office, SQL, Tableau

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

One common trait among true “A” players 👇


Regardless of whatever bar or standard you set for them, their *internal* standard for themselves will always be higher.

This type of intrinsic drive and pressure doesn’t come without costs though (see: Four Burners Theory).

So make sure that you proactively take care of these folks, and look out for the whole person; not just the work part.

Buying & Building eCommerce Agencies | Ex-Amazon

I woke up at 5am today to listen to the recording of Amazon's Q4 2025 earnings call, so that you don't have to. Here are the 4 most important takeaways: 👇 

1) CAPEX is exploding to $200B in 2026(!)

This is Amazon's all-in bet on AI dominance, and they are prioritizing data centers, custom chips, and infrastructure.

🔑 Quote: "We expect to invest about $200 billion in capital expenditures across Amazon, but predominantly in AWS, because we have very high demand. Customers really want AWS for core and AI workloads. And we are monetizing capacity as fast as we can install it."

2) AWS is roaring back with 24% growth, reclaiming its cloud throne amid AI frenzy. 

Hitting a $142B run rate, it's accelerating at its fastest rate in 13 quarters, and it's being driven by migrations, custom silicon like Trainium, and a $244B backlog.

🔑 Quote: "AWS growth continued to accelerate to 24%, the fastest we've seen in thirteen quarters. Up $2.6 billion quarter over quarter and nearly $7 billion year over year. AWS is now a $142 billion annualized run rate business."

3) Advertising hit $21.3B with 23% growth, becoming one of Amazon's biggest profit engines. 

The growth here was fueled by Prime Video expansion and AI-driven targeting, where Amazon continues to make investments. 

🔑 Quote:  "Our ads team is also innovating with AI. We recently announced our ads agent, which lets brands use AI to create and optimize campaigns at scale, implement effective campaign targeting, and quickly create actionable insights. And our creative agent lets advertisers research, brainstorm, and generate full funnel ad campaigns from concept to completion using conversational guidance in Amazon's retail data transforming what was a weeks long process into just hours."

4) Customers are rapidly adopting Rufus.

Nearly 300M customers have used Rufus in the past year. And, in 2025, Rufus generated $10B in incremental GMV.
 
🔑 Quote: "Our Agentic AI shopping assistant, Rufus, is rapidly expanding. Customers who used Rufus are about 60% more likely to complete a purchase."

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#amazon
#aws
#amazonads

In case you haven't been following the social zeitgeist and internet discourse...

Yesterday, Claude pre-released its Super Bowl ad set, which took a BIG swing at AI companies that plan to monetize through ads (*cough* OpenAI *cough*).

The ads were...kinda funny. 

Even Sam Altman lol'ed at them. But, then went on to intellectualize and defend OpenAI's decision.

And there are internet warriors on both sides, arguing in support of Claude's ads or arguing in support of OpenAI's decision to monetize through ads. 

But, while the professional marketers, media intellectuals, and AI evangelists debate whether the ads were good or bad, right or wrong, pretty or ugly, I can't help but notice...

The average person: 
1) Likes them
2) Likes them enough to tell their friends

There's a lesson in there somewhere, if you're a marketer.

What if the key to disrupting a stale $100 billion category just came down to...

...Innovative packaging

I don't know if that is true in every category, or at all.

But, as a consumer, I love seeing brands differentiate with their packaging.

Toy Brands

I'm growing kids' toy brands on e-commerce platforms plus expanding into brick and mortar retail stores. 

Our products are sold DTC on Amazon (FBA)/ Shopify. We sell wholesale directly to retailers and through distributors. 

I play a key role determining overall business strategy. My primary focus is the marketing, customer experience and communications strategy. I'm also heavily involved in new product development and champion our sustainability initiatives.

Co-Founder & Director

Acorn Connection

I develop and guide the execution of marketing and communications strategies for sustainability-minded Small and Medium Enterprises.

I help our clients build and grow their brands along a strategic and values-oriented trajectory using my experience as a senior marketing, public relations and communications professional, with an interest in sustainability practices and ESG.

Co-Founder & Consultant

I improved the lives of Canadians by managing the coverage of widespread systemic issues, resulting in change. 

I led multi-disciplinary, cross-departmental teams at Canada’s national public broadcaster. I grew pitches into complex, large-scale projects culminating in revelatory journalistic content and public outreach events. 

In 2020, I managed our internal editorial communication and cross-promotion for COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter programming. This included starting a dedicated email for Canadians to ask CBC News their COVID-related questions and implementing a process for handling and answering the tens of thousands of questions that filled the inbox in the weeks after our launch. 


Some of the Impact Stories that I project managed in 2019 included:

Shattered Trust: CBC News investigated Sexual Offences in Amateur Sports and revealed, for the first time, the extent of assaults against amateur athletes in Canadian sport.
This reporting led to a new national zero-tolerance abuse policy and toll-free helpline, a federal study into abuse in sport, and the development of a code of conduct for coaches. Both the provincial and federal governments responded to our stories. 

***MICHENER AWARD FINALIST: Canada's top award for public service journalism

In Our Backyard: Over 3 months of coverage, we showcased the effect climate change is having on Canada and what Canadians are doing to combat it.

School Violence: Our CBC News series examining the impact of peer-on-peer violence on students and parents.

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Effective internal communication and extraordinary project management skills were critically important to my success in this role.
This required collaboration, meticulous planning and communication with multiple internal teams working over many media platforms and shows over a prolonged period of time.

Senior Producer of CBC News Impact Stories

I led the production of Olympic content across all CBC platforms showcasing our phenomenal Canadian Olympians.

Before and during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, my responsibilities included:

-leading our feature production unit
-planning and coordinating content for French and English broadcasts
-developing and hiring freelance producers and technical operators
-ensuring sponsored series exceeded expectations for clients
-liaising closely with external sports and Olympic organizations
-ensuring our content was representative of the broad spectrum of Canada's impressive athletes

Olympic Games: Senior Producer of Feature Content for CBC Sports

At the intersection of journalism and communications, I developed, executed and communicated plans to promote priority news programming.

My goal was to extend its reach via strategic roll outs across news shows and platforms: radio, television, online including social media. 

Content included CBC News' exclusive and investigative national-level stories broadcast on CBC News and on our shows Marketplace and The Fifth Estate.

I was also closely involved in CBC's multi-level, high-profile projects such as our our award-winning interactive and journalism around Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, the 2015 Federal Election, innovative thought-provoking programming such as Face to Face with the Prime Minister and our coverage of events such as the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.

Producer of Cross-Platform Programming

National Assignment Producer

News Network Producer (various shows and roles)

Maple Leaf Foods Inc

Based on demonstrated leadership and strong academic achievement, I was hired into the prestigious Management Trainee program.

I worked in in Marketing, Sales, Finance and led an Organizational Development project. 

The purpose of the MT Leadership program is to train future executives by developing specific skills across different functional areas while gaining broad exposure to the business.

Leadership-Based Management Training Program 

Successful brand-building entrepreneur | Business can make our world a better place!

Planting rows of spiky pineapples in rural Ghana, I gained an understanding of how business can change lives - especially for female entrepreneurs. 

I witnessed first hand how microfinance loans allow women to build small businesses that advance their families' lives and their children's futures. 

Since then, I’ve succeeded in building a career across different industries, always with the objective of having a positive impact on others. 


Most recently, I leveraged the power and reach of Canada’s public broadcaster to improve the lives of Canadians through multi-platform journalistic storytelling.

Now, I’ve circled back to where I began: small business. But this time around, the businesses are my own.

I founded and am growing two successful businesses: the first is a children's toy brand and the second is a sustainability-focused nature stewardship service. 


Over two decades of varied experience with increasing levels of leadership responsibility lead me to believe more strongly than ever that business can be a powerful force to drive change and make our world a better place.



I am committed to lifelong learning and taking walks in the woods. Once again this year, I've joined the #walk1000miles challenge and am enjoying (almost) every step!




Areas of expertise: communications, e-commerce, digital marketing, branding, customer experience, email marketing, internal communications, corporate affairs, project management, leadership, journalism, news production, media relations, boundary spanning, sustainability, ESG.

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