Jon Derkits

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

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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.

Emergent

Partnering with top talent to create unique connections with customers and build the next generation of best-selling brands.

Founder

Movement Retail

Offering full-scale e-commerce channel management to over 15 partners. Responsible for the following arenas:
• Advertising (Amazon & Google PPC)
• Inventory Management
• Market & Competitor Analysis
• Strategic Planning
• Catalog Maintenance

Chief Operations Officer

Vanguard Outpost

Taking Amazon FBA to the next level and learning how to successfully run a business.
• Founded a retail and online arbitrage business that profits from market inefficiencies through multiple e-commerce platforms (Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Shopify). 
• Shifted the focus to creating and maintaining wholesale accounts with brands to more effectively scale the operation.
• Excelled on Amazon as a third-party seller and earned revenues of over six figures since launch.

Founder/Owner

Babson College

Oversaw a group of 22 students for which I held office hours, did campus rounds to ensure safe behavior, organized events, attended weekly meetings, assisted with move-in and other housing processes, and was available to support in any other way necessary.

Resident Assistant

Common Threads

Analyzed data regarding pricing and sales traffic to develop meaningful insights and transformative solutions.
• Conducted in-depth market research to discover innovative networking and strategic marketing recommendations.
• Consulted directly to the Chief Financial Officer to create a pricing model that would in turn help the company develop a better financial projection tool to forecast costs and increase efficiency.

Consulting Intern

Utz Brands, Inc.

Worked with the various accounting and finance departments to solve problems and reconcile accounts.
• Worked on improving collecting efficiencies with A/R by analyzing why many invoices were not
receiving automatic payment through EDI billing.
• Developed insights on better methods of contacting drivers and set up a homegrown CRM in Excel to track current status of different routes and invoices.
• Collected over $1 million in overdue A/R from one of their largest big box retailers.

Finance Intern

Weis Markets

Started as a cashier and worked to train many new hires at the front end until I was promoted to grocery associate, where I worked directly with the store managers to replenish grocery inventory and rotate periodic sales displays.

Front End/Grocery Associate

RONALD J HAGARMAN

Worked under my grandfather, Ronald J. Hagarman, who was the oldest practicing lawyer in Adams County. As a sole practitioner, he dealt primarily in Estate and Property Law. I used a typewriter to draft various legal documents, including property deeds and descriptions, last will and testaments, and power of attorneys.

Law Apprentice

Kapp Advertising Service, Inc.

Delivered the Merchandiser on my bike to homes in the surrounding area.

Paperboy

I started out working at a grocery store and realized that while I was developing worthwhile skills, having others dictate my future and worth was not for me. 

So... I began selling products on Amazon which allowed me to set my own hours, but more importantly, challenged me to work harder and continue developing an entrepreneurial mindset. I sold thousands of other people’s products through retail arbitrage, but I wanted something to call my own. 

Eventually, after years of fumbling the bag on Amazon, we started a brand in May 2022 (two now) and an agency to leverage our skillset with larger brands. There’s something bigger cooking behind the scenes, but for now we’re focused on building an agency that sprawls off of Amazon to other platforms and into the branding sphere. Feel free to reach out and connect!

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