638: (Solo) How I'd Launch an Ecom Brand in 2026 with $10K and Zero Followers

Hey, founder fam. I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omnisend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for ecommerce founders. We've been recommending Omnisend to founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling to 7 figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results. Did you know on average, Omnisend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment? And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code founder 50. Just head to omnisend.com forward / founder without the e to get started. Alright? Now let's jump back into the show. Hey, founder fam. Nathan here, and welcome back to another episode of the founder podcast. And today, I wanna do something a little different, something super practical, especially if you're just getting started with ecom. So at founder, you know, we're an education company. We produce a lot of content. We have a coaching arm of our business as well. And first and foremost, we've helped thousands and thousands of e com, d to c brands start and scale their businesses from scratch. And one thing I'm often asked is how do you get into scaling your business when you only have a small amount of cash? Like, how do you actually get started? So if I were to start a brand new business tomorrow with no audience and just a $10,000 budget, here are the strategic moves that I'd make to actually scale. This is what I've done before when I launched Healthish. I've got that business to a million dollars a year at close to 40% net margins. It was a great business and this is exactly what I would do. This is what I've seen successful brands do within the founder ecosystem. Hear the stories. Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chen. So first and foremost, I would start with a high margin product and now your unit economics. One thing I see is a lot of founders, they fall in love with their brand idea and their product idea. And I have this saying where they tattoo their business idea to themselves onto their arm, and they just wanna hold on to it. And they feel so kinda like, yes. That's mine. This is what I've gotta do. And this is, you know, I can't do anything else because I've gotta protect it. And, you know, this is what I've worked out, and I I like, the thought of actually having to do something else or the thought of it not being the right thing just kind of freaks people out. Right? And it's it's it's kinda crazy because at the end of the day, there are so many different products you …