Jordan West

E-Com Investor & Podcast Host | Multiple Exits| Avid Golfer, Biker + Hiker | Dad Of 3 | CEO + CMO | Mastermind Host

My Journey 
When I was 23 I decided to buy a Taco Del Mar restaurant... I knew I had made a huge mistake at 2pm the first day when only 3 customers had walked in... (and two of them were my parents haha) 
For 5 years I worked hard to grow sales every way I could think of and in the end, tripled our revenue which still didn't seem to matter on the profit side. (I lost a lot of money 💰)

The one thing that I seemed to be the best at in the restaurant endeavor was marketing and getting people in the door. 

Fast forward to 2014 when my wonderful wife Carmen (definitely my better half) started a modest baby clothing line and was selling at craft markets. 

I asked if I could test running a few ads on Facebook... and the rest is history. I learned every up-and-coming strategy and tactic and helped grow the small start-up to a multi-million dollar company and still growing!

Since then we have acquired multiple DTC brands and have built an agency (upGrowth Commerce) to service our brands as well as others who are in a similar situation to us!

In 2019 we started the podcast "secrets to scaling your e-commerce brand" which is now in the top 50 business/marketing podcasts in multiple countries including Canada and the United States.

I love connecting with people, so please connect. (I do have a no a**holes policy though, so don't connect if that's you.) 

I talk all about scaling businesses using paid ads on “Secrets To Scaling Your E-Commerce Brand”.

Chief Executive Officer

We just helped a brand pass $3,000,000/month on TikTok Shop LAST MONTH and it wasn’t luck!!

We’re now ranked as one of the Top 5 TikTok agencies in North America at Social Commerce Club!!

What I've seen is... 

Most brands have no clue what the investment into TikTok Shop ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE!

They guess when to spend, when to restock, or when they’ll hit break-even.

We don’t guess.

We plan every move using a forecasting system we built in-house. 

It shows exactly:

 📈 When to scale and how fast
 💸 When you’ll hit break-even
 📊 How much to invest in creators, inventory, and ad spend
 ⚙️ When to pull back or double down

That system is the same one we use daily to manage multi-million-dollar TikTok Shop brands.

And now, we’ve decided to make it available to other operators.

If you want the same forecasting tool we use to plan, invest, and measure scale... comment “Forecast” and I’ll DM it to you. 

(must be connected)

Let me know what you think!

Another random day 
Another random screenshot from TikTok Shop at Social Commerce Club 

This is ALL incremental as fas as we can measure!

PLUS HALO 

Once you nail this channel things het WILD 

But... 

You really have to invest in the beginning. 

It's not facebook ads 

The bar to breaking even is higher thann you think. 

I just built a forecasting tool that keeps EVERY SINGLE NUMBER in mind. 

Send me a DM and I'll connect you with my team to walk you through it for your brand to see where break-even happens on platform.

I want to be clear 🫠 
These daily random TikTok Shop GMV MAX screenshots that I share are from ADS driven results ONLY 🤩 

This doesn't include organic affiliate driven content 

I feel like the guy in 2015 trying to tell his friends that Facebook ads work (I was that guy lol) while the majoirty of people were waiting...

I realize that if you haven't gone HARD on TikTok shop you won't be able to to before BFCM 

But... 2026 will be the BIGGEST SHIFT into social commerce that we have seen. 

As AI content becomes more prevalent, HUMANS will crave human connection 

Which is why I believe that LIVE SHOPPING + Afilliate driven content will be the two biggest levers any brand can add to their arsensal. 

So what is my recomendation for bransnds in 2026? 

1. Talk to my team NOW to get in line at Social Commerce Club
2. If you can't afford us... I'll send you recommendations for cheaper agencies
3. If you're just trying to dip your toes in the water of TikTok shop join my skool group here https://lnkd.in/gMAu-gDZ

Me: “If you had one controversial take on what brands get wrong on TikTok Shop… what is it?”
Zohaib Rattu 🤳: “Over-subsidizing their products.”

Me: “Not could be cannibalizing your other channels… you ARE.”

That moment hit hard!!!

Because here’s what a lot of brands are doing right now:

They take their main hero SKU
Sell it full price everywhere else

Then make it stupid cheap on TikTok Shop “just to get sales” + get momentum

And then they’re shocked when

Amazon flatlines

TOTAL MER blows up

Retail partners start asking questions
TikTok didn’t break your unit economics.

You did!!

The way I think about TikTok Shop:

It’s the only channel that will pay you (even breakeven) to give you insane impressions.
If you even make $1 profit there

And you’re getting a $30 CPM worth of awareness for free
You’re winning.

The problem...

Most brands aren’t tracking the halo.
So they see “low-margin TikTok orders”

Instead of “cheap reach that lifts Amazon / Shopify / retail”.

If I were rebuilding your TikTok Shop strategy from scratch, I’d do 3 things:

1️⃣ Protect the hero
 
No more “fire sale” pricing on the SKU that drives your brand.
 Use:

 – Smaller bundles
 – Trial sizes
 – TikTok-only variants
 
And keep price architecture consistent across channels.

2️⃣ Define your blended model
 
Decide up front:
 – What MER are you happy with including TikTok
 – How you’ll measure halo (Amazon, Shopify, retail lift)
 – What CPM you’re effectively getting from organic + creator content

If TikTok is breakeven but blended MER is up and CPMs are down… keep going.

3️⃣ Make TikTok the awareness engine, not the profit center (at first) 
 
Creators get you reach.
 
Reach fills retargeting pools on Meta, Google, Amazon, retail.
 
Your job is to:

 – Seed a ton of creators
 – Let TikTok Shop break even
 – Harvest the profit off-platform

TikTok Shop doesn’t have to be “super profitable”. (at first)

It has to be super scalable.

Curious where you’re at...
 Are you still discounting your main hero SKU heavily on TikTok Shop? 

Or have you already pulled that back?

You’re talented?
Great! Let me tell you what matters more… 
And why talent is the thing that I look for last 👇👇 

Are you complainer? 
Are you a victim?
Do you not have a growth mindset?
Can you not take criticism?
Do you have a fragile Ego? 
Is it everything everybody else’s fault?


 if you answered, yes to any of the above, I don’t want you in any of my organizations.

If you are thinking to yourself, oh man, I have these people in my organization… do everything in your power to first coach and correct, but most likely you need to remove them. 

It’s incredible What will happen when you do! 

Anyone else with me?

Big ask LinkedIn 🙏
We’re looking for a head of live shopping at Social Commerce Club 

Will be insane growth over the next 5 years 

Maybe one of the biggest ops that I can think of TBH 

Will be sooooooo much work

But you will help us build something HUGE! 

NA based only 

Message me if you think it’s you. 

This role will report directly to the CEO btw

Yes yes yes 

We have been thinking more about what this role looks like from the agency perspective.

How we train fast

Who’s base knowledge makes them a good fit etc. 

And I will tell you what I know. 

99% of people don’t get it. 

They haven’t had the paradigm shift yet. 

It’s a new muscle 

It’s a new way of thinking. 

Working with creators is HARD! 

They don’t perform like ads do 😆

But this role is really big in terms of impact and responsibility 

Seems like more brands are catching on. 

But tbh I still feel like guy in 2014 telling their friends to invest as much as they can into Facebook ads and they laugh at me 🤷‍♂️🫤 when it comes to how big social commerce really is going to be!

Here’s how I look at this…

At Social Commerce Club we… 

1. take the highest performing tiktok shop content

2. Offer a percentage of ad spend (capped) to the creator to use their content on Meta 

3. Print brands cash with these ads omnichannel 

This is the 2025 playbook imo

Yesterday I was driving with my son who’s 6… 

We saw a bunch of billboards and he was asking about the messages on each

It reminded me of the classic Tim Ferris question… so I decided to ask him

“If you could put one message on a Billboard, what would it be?” 

He took about 3 seconds and said 

“My message would be “I love you””

This kid gets it ❤️

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John Roman

BattlBox

Board Member

Chief Marketing Officer

Commerce Roundtable

Investor and Advisor

ASOM

Co-Host

Online Queso

Owner

WelcomeWFH

Advisor

GTM Global Technology Market

Partner

Carnivore Club

Managing Partner

AVOXI

Vice President - Enterprise Business Development

BullsEye Telecom

Market Manager

Cbeyond

Director of Sales - Enterprise Accounts

Territory Sales Manager

Sales Team Lead

Sales Consultant

CEO @ BattlBox, Co-Host of ASOM

Experienced Executive and Board Member with a demonstrated history of working in both the consumer goods and technology industry. Strong sales and marketing professional, skilled in both D2C and B2B strategy.

John Roman is currently serving as Chief Executive Officer at BattlBox.

Read John's blog at:
https://onlinequeso.com/

In 2005, Toys"R"Us was still winning.

They had 1,600 stores, 20 percent of the toy market, and nearly $12 billion in annual sales.

Then came the buyout. $6.6 billion.
$5.3 billion of it financed with debt.

Overnight, they went from profitable to owing over $400 million per year just to service the debt.

That money could have gone into e-commerce.
Into customer experience.
Into preparing for the Amazon era.
Instead, it went to bondholders.

And just like that, the operator was no longer operating.
They had the title, but not the power.
The brand, but not the budget.

When they needed inventory for the 2017 holiday season, they couldn’t afford it.

Shelves stayed empty. Customers never came back.

By early 2018, the company was bankrupt.
33,000 jobs disappeared. 
$470 million in fees went to the firms that buried them.

Because once you give up control, you also give up your ability to adapt.

✅ Cash went to debt
✅ Profits went to Wall Street
✅ Vision went out the window

The people who could have saved it were stuck watching from the sidelines.

If you're not careful, ownership becomes a costume, and by the time you realize it, the business is no longer yours to run.
__________
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https://lnkd.in/eMyvVfch

Wow. Did not think it was going to get pushed through so quickly.

Scaling isn’t just about doing more.
It’s about removing friction.

The stuff that drains time, energy, and momentum.

That’s what tax compliance was for us.
A drain.

Filings across 35+ states.
Changing rules.
Manual uploads.
Conflicting deadlines.

Until we brought in Kintsugi.

Suddenly, that entire category of friction disappeared.
Replaced by a calm system we barely have to touch.

The best tools don’t demand your attention.
They quietly return your time.

If growth is your priority,
start by removing the things that slow you down.

I’m a proud partner and customer of Kintsugi, and I endorse their product.
https://lnkd.in/eRqVz_Te

You can’t have it both ways.
Everyone’s losing their mind over Coca-Cola’s new AI Christmas ad.

You want to use AI for your marketing copy, your thumbnails, your product photos, your blog ideas... but when a big brand like Coca-Cola does it, that’s when you find your morals?

They’ve been using CGI for decades. The polar bears. The glowing trucks. None of that was hand drawn by elves.

The only difference now is they used AI instead of traditional animation tools. Same outcome. Similar quality. Just a different method.

But because a corporation did it, and that means fewer human jobs, you suddenly hate it? That’s some “cake and eat it too” energy.

If we cheer on AI when it helps us move faster, we can’t act shocked when big brands do the same. You can’t invite the technology into your own workflow and then boo it when it scales.

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jordan West's LinkedIn Performance

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