John Surdakowski

Avex E-commerce

Leading eCommerce agency providing creative, development, email marketing & strategy for brands such as: Mondelez, Hugo Boss, KITH, O’Neil, HAUS, Undefeated, Marchesa, Balance Athletica, TomBoyX, Wolf & Shepherd, Badgley Mischka & Iconix Brand Group.

Founder & CEO

Agency-X Podcast

Agency X — Hosted by John Surdakowski, is a Podcast that takes a dive deep into the world of ecommerce, digital strategy, and the evolving landscape of marketing technology. From the challenges of building a brand to mastering the latest tools shaping the future of commerce, Agency X offers insights drawn from real experiences at Avex. Each week, we break down what works, what doesn’t, and the bold moves that drive growth for leading brands.

Host

Shogun

Shogun empowers brands and agencies to create unique ecommerce experiences by making it easy to build and optimize online stores. Shogun is seamlessly integrated with leading ecommerce platforms, and is trusted by over 12,000 eCommerce brands, including Leesa mattresses, MVMT watches, Gaiam yoga apparel, K-Swiss, and Chubbies shorts

Investor

GRIN

Grin is the #1 all-in-one influencer marketing platform designed to help brands own their influencer relationships. With our tools in your corner, you’ll build a pool of credible ambassadors and reap the financial and brand rewards that come with it. GRIN puts every aspect of your influencer marketing program at your fingertips, empowering you to own it every step of the way.

Inveterate, Inc

Govalo

Kinn

Consulting

Freelance creative direction, web design and development for various brands and agencies, including Google, Samsung, Havas, JWT, Campfire, USANetwork, Cinemax and Sony

Creative Contractor

Havas

Designed digital experiences such as: websites, mobile ads, video story boards and rich media campaigns.

Sr. Art Director Consultant

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Designed and developed digital campaigns for Estee Lauder’s online creative department.

Art Director Consultant

Founder & CEO at Avex, a New York City based creative, technology and e-commerce agency for fashion & lifestyle brands. 

With 20 years of experience creating for the web, I’ve seen the digital landscape evolve. From Web 1.0 and Flash animation, to the explosion of mobile and e-commerce. I utilize my vast experience in creative, technology and business to help DTC brands achieve rapid growth. 

Throughout the years I've consulted for JWT, Havas, Estee Lauder, BBDO, NBC, MRM Worldwide, Nickelodeon, MTV Networks and many other New York based companies.

In 2015 I started growing my freelance business into a boutique digital agency, with focus on fashion, lifestyle and premium products. 

Avex has partnered with major brands such as: Hugo Boss, KITH, O’Neill, Undefeated, Simmons Serta Bedding, Marchesa, Eugenia Kim, Badgley Mishka, Ports V, Reem Acra, Iconix Brand Group, Google, PONY, Starter, Rocawear, Shutterstock, 88Rising, USANetwork, HBO, UBISoft, Sony Music and many more. 

Today, I continue to act as CEO and Founder (among other titles) of Avex. I’ve applied my experience and ability to adapt to creating a business that I am immensely passionate about. I love working with other creatives, building my team and taking on new challenges.

In 2019 Avex was invited to become a Shopify Plus Partner. Our agency focuses on helping brands navigate eCommerce.

Big announcement from Shopify during NRF. UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol), co-developed with Google, will enable selling in AI Mode in Google Search and the Gemini app. 

Non-shopify brands can now use Shopify Catalog to deploy products discoverable by all AI platforms, without having a shopify storefront. 

💡This is big for brands who don’t want to be on Shopify or simply want to test the waters. 

I’d liken this to commerce components. Shopify gets the transaction fee and the brand gets catalog distribution. 

Will this discourage some brands from fully migrating?

I don’t think so, because most move to Shopify for TCO and efficiency reasons. The ones who don’t need to move, wouldn’t have anyway. However, this can get a foot in the door. 

UCP will provide brands who did not plan to move to Shopify a way to utilize cutting edge AI discovery. 

In fact, I’d imagine this would allow Shopify even bigger land and expand opportunities. 

For existing Shopify brands, they now have a new channel for discovery. Outside of optimizing for search, brands can/should be optimizing for LLMs. 

Will the big brands take advantage of this or will smaller players navigate the technology to take market share? 

Shopify is definitely changing the game and things are getting exciting. 

#shopify #ai #nrf

Founder at Avex. Partnering with industry-leading brands to design, build, and optimize unified commerce experiences. Podcast Host.

Ben Wright

Revenue @ Sendspark - On a campaign to get Americans to say football instead of soccer!

This is the section, where I tell you about how my degree in computer science catapulted me into the world of tech right?

That couldn't be further from the truth,  I did a law degree at the University of Sussex, and realized very quickly that I didn't want to spend anymore time reading case law.

Worked for a large engineering company in London for a while, started moving up the corporate ladder, before deciding to relocate to Salt Lake City ( just to let everyone know there are far less pubs here)

I then found the world of technology and start ups & I haven't looked back.

I am extremely passionate about building relationships and tackling tough problems, specifically in the customer success and partnerships space.

I also have a personal interest in social impact and corporate social responsibility, so much so that I decided to start a business that focuses on B2B charitable gifting (check out Go Give)

VP of Revenue

Fun little side project to help job seekers through the use of ChatGPT! Free for all!

I just bought $300 soccer (football) cleats and it made me realize something wild about AI.

Last week I needed new cleats. 

Started with Claude like any normal person in 2026.

"Best soccer cleats for wide feet under $300"

Got a solid list. 

But here's where it gets interesting.

I didn't buy anything based on the initial recommendations.

Instead, I spent 3 hours on YouTube watching some random guy from Manchester review each cleat. 

Then I hit up r/bootroom on Reddit. 

Only THEN did I pull the trigger on a pair of boots.

Why am I telling you this?

Because everyone's panicking that AI will replace human influence in buying decisions.

It won't.

AI gave me the shortlist. But when it came to buy time? The Youtuber and their affiliate link, that's who got my $300.

I see this pattern everywhere now that I'm in the affiliate space.

People use AI for research. But they buy based on human recommendations.

The guy who wore those cleats in actual matches.
The reviewer who's been testing gear for 5 years.

AI optimizes for efficiency. Humans still buy based on trust.

What's your take - do you trust AI recommendations enough to buy, or do you still need that human validation?

#ai #affiliate #ecom

Revenue @ Levanta - On a campaign to get Americans to say football instead of soccer!

RevOps might be the most underrated hire at a scaling SaaS company.

I'll die on this hill.

Here's why it matters so much from a leadership seat: early-stage startups almost always operate in "growth at all costs" mode. 

The result? A CRM that has a lack of accurate data.

And here's the thing — for your AEs and CSMs, it doesn't feel like a problem. They know their deals. They know their accounts. The chaos lives in their heads and that works fine... for them.

But from the top down, it's a different story entirely.

When your CRM is a mess, two critical things break:

Forecasting becomes guesswork. You're committing numbers to the board based on vibes and pipeline stages that mean different things to different reps. 

You lose the ability to course-correct in real time. Clean data shows you what's actually working. Which sequences are converting. Where deals stall. What's changed in the last 30 days. Without it, you're flying blind — and by the time you spot the problem, you've already missed the quarter.

RevOps isn't a "nice to have when we're bigger" role.

It's the hire that lets you actually see what's happening in your business and move fast enough to do something about it.

If you're a fast-growing startup without a RevOps hire, you're not just disorganized.

You're making guesses about your business, that will come back to bite you later.

#RevOps #SaaS #SalesLeadership

Sco Ducks!

That is all today!

🙏 🦆

taplio

The Battle

John Surdakowski

Ben Wright

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJohn Surdakowski's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBen Wright's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

John Surdakowski

Ben Wright

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}John Surdakowski's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBen Wright's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJohn Surdakowski's LinkedIn Performance