Ronnie Teja on Building Branzio Watches, Burnout, and the Power of A.I. for E-Commerce
Manage episode 476466674 series 3593658
In this episode of Shopify Happy Hour, Dan sits down with Ronnie Teja, founder of Branzio Watches, to unpack his inspiring journey from picking blueberries as a new immigrant to building a global watch brand with a scrappy $10K start.
Ronnie shares real stories of entrepreneurship—burnout, supplier scams, PayPal bans, and team drama—and how he overcame it all by staying relentlessly curious, leaning into AI, and building a brand that now operates with global scale.
They also dive into:
- The early days of Facebook ads and retail media buying
- The mindset shift from performance marketing to brand-building
- How AI is changing e-commerce—from analytics to ad copy
- Tips on outsourcing, remote teams, and hiring middle management
- His philosophy on leadership, karma, and connecting people
Whether you're a solo founder, aspiring operator, or scaling ecom brand, this one is packed with gold.
👉 Learn more about Ronnie: Just Google his name — he’s everywhere.
🎧 Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you tune in.
Products / products mentioned:
- Ghost
- Alibaba
- 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
- Traction by Gino Wickman
- Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish
- Neil Patel
- BK Beauty
- The Big Short by Michael Lewis
- Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
- Four Seasons
Chapters
00:00
Introduction to Shopify Happy Hour
02:46
Ronny Teja's Journey to E-commerce
05:51
Lessons from Blueberry Picking
08:21
Marketing Education at Best Buy
11:31
Starting Branzio Watches
14:12
Challenges in E-commerce
16:49
Navigating Entrepreneurship
19:41
Building a Team and Leadership
22:31
The Evolution of Branzio Watches
24:50
The Evolution of Online Advertising
27:10
Shifting Mindsets: From Performance to Brand Marketing
29:41
Current Trends in Performance Marketing
31:51
Harnessing AI for Marketing and Business Decisions
36:31
Leveraging AI for Strategic Insights
39:48
Building a New E-commerce Business from Scratch
41:10
Choosing the Right Niche for E-commerce
43:19
Exceptional Customer Experiences in E-commerce
45:12
The Art of Connection and Networking
17 episodes