Roei Yellin is the co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of 8fig, a technology based AI CFO and funding platform for ecommerce sellers. Following his start as a two-time Olympic athlete, Roei became active in the startup world. He has since accumulated over a decade of experience building fintech products with a focus on payment systems and supply chain analytics. After serving as COO at Prytek and participating in over 30 fintech investments, he noticed a need for better financial management and funding services for small ecommerce enterprises. This led him to co-found 8fig in 2020, with the goal of providing ecommerce entrepreneurs with the resources and capital they need to succeed.
Please tell us a little bit about your business – what is 8fig all about?
8fig enables successful small to medium sized eCommerce businesses to reach their full potential by providing them with both flexible funding as well as the serious financial tools they need to grow. We call this an AI CFO, as it utilizes data on a large scale in order to give entrepreneurs the resources required to optimize their cash flow.
Our growth plans are unique in that we align the flow of capital to a seller’s individual supply chain, ensuring that they have working capital on hand when they need it so they can stay in stock. This built-in financial management helps eCommerce businesses reach greater levels of growth and success.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started 8fig.
My journey began as a two-time Olympic athlete, competing in canoe sprints. This experience taught me invaluable lessons in the power of hard work and dedication, values that I’ve carried with me into the startup world.
I’ve since had the privilege of building and launching multiple successful products and apps, fueling my passion for transforming innovative ideas into revolutionary solutions that resonate with users.
I gained a great deal of knowledge and expertise in payment systems and supply chains through my participation in dozens of fintech investments, as well as through serving as COO of Prytek. This started me on the path that ultimately led me to co-found 8fig, as I, along with co-founders Yaron Shapira and Assaf Dagan, noticed that many eCommerce sellers were struggling in their ability to grow their businesses due to lack of both capital and cash flow management resources. We founded 8fig as an answer to this challenge, and are continuing to create groundbreaking solutions that redefine the industry.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
1. Focus: It’s very hard to succeed if you are not focused on one specific end goal. If your goal is to reach $1 million dollars in sales of a certain product, stay focused on that target. Don’t try to make $100K in sales with ten different products; that will require ten times more manpower, ten times more marketing, and make your work that much more difficult. The key is staying focused in one area until you succeed.
2. Curiosity: Every successful entrepreneur needs to be curious about what’s going on in the market and in the ecosystem as a whole on the macro level as well as on the micro level. They should have an appetite for investigation, actively seeking answers so they can see the bigger picture and understand the client’s needs.
3. Flexible determination: The fastest way to the finish line is not always the shortest way. Successful entrepreneurs need the ability to adapt while still being able to stay focused on their end goal.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow 8fig?
We will utilize the data we have collected and the technology we have developed to continue to grow 8fig, providing clients with more and more product and service offerings. Our goal is to offer them a comprehensive all-in-one solution that will allow them to succeed and grow their businesses faster and more sustainably. With 8fig as a partner, our clients will be able to leave the funding and financial management to us, so they can focus on what they do best, which is selling. We plan to reach these goals by way of true technological solutions and a deeper understanding achieved through data collection and analysis. With these tools in hand, we will continue to build additional tailor-made solutions designed specifically for eCommerce sellers.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
We separate ourselves through our use of technology. 8fig is first and foremost a technological company. We build technological solutions that help us understand the eCommerce market and then create specific solutions using technology as well.
Since we are focused exclusively on the eCommerce market, we are able to tailor our technological solutions to online sellers, providing them with a more effective and suitable answer to their challenges. This sets our offering apart from that of our competitors.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
- 1. We didn’t build our team fast enough. As a young and growing business, we maintained a lean team for as long as possible. In retrospect, we could have grown our team faster, which would have benefited our business and allowed us to expand our solutions more efficiently.
- 2. We didn’t scale our marketing operations fast enough. When you have a product that works and solves a pain point in the market, getting the word out is crucial. Therefore, scaling your marketing operations accordingly is a key step toward success.
- 3. As the business grows, solutions must be scalable. Solutions that worked when we were a smaller company are no longer viable due to our expansion. We now need to invest in scalable solutions that will work as we continue to grow.
I now have a better sense of when to take certain important steps when building a business. If I were to start a new business, I would have a deeper insight into when to build the team, when to scale marketing operations, and when to implement scalable solutions. This is valuable knowledge that can only come from experience.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
For me personally, transitioning from being a professional athlete to a startup executive was a great challenge. I finished my career as an Olympian when I was 31 years old, with little education, little money, and little experience outside of the world of sports. At that critical time in my life, I had to completely reinvent myself and figure out what I wanted to do with my future. Fortunately, the drive and motivation that benefitted me as an athlete continued to serve me well as I moved into the startup world. I have now built a new career of which I am immensely proud.
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
My first company was called The Couch. It was designed to enrich the viewer’s experience of live events by providing them with a second screen live commentary. I came up with the idea for The Couch because I wasn’t satisfied with the commentary that was the norm for live events. I wanted to replace the commentator on the television with a higher-quality commentary, so that’s what we did. We ran the company for two years, and then we had to close the business. But for those two years it was kind of like Twitch before Twitch.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
8fig is a growing startup, so we are now learning to manage growth challenges. We are no longer a small company in our early stages of development, so the strategies that served us well in the beginning are no longer the most effective or efficient for our current needs.
Since the scale of everything we do is now larger, our solutions must be scalable as well. We are learning to find and build technological solutions that work on that larger scale, which is a positive and exciting challenge to have. We are now coming up with large-scale solutions that will continue to serve 8fig and our clients no matter how big we grow, or how many eCommerce sellers we serve. We are looking forward to seeing how far this growth will take us.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
When we started 8fig, we identified a need, created a plan to solve it, and executed well on that plan. We came into the business with a very clear, well defined idea of what we wanted to do and who we wanted to help. We knew the industry well, had a specific market in mind, and spent the time collecting and analyzing data before developing the technology necessary to meet the needs of our potential customers. This led us to build a successful product and a thriving business.
If I were to start the business again, I would go about it in much the same way. I believe that entering into the business with a clear-cut plan as well as the data and knowledge necessary to build a unique and functional solution made a big difference in our success. Many entrepreneurs go about it in reverse, stumbling into an industry and figuring it out as they go along. I would always make sure I have a plan first, then build the product.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
My biggest productivity tip is to meditate. Meditation is an invaluable tool that benefits me in every aspect of my life. It helps me cultivate focus and increase my productivity while maintaining a sense of perspective. I now have a 1,092-day meditation streak on Headspace.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
I recently read the book The Entrepreneur’s Essentials: Lessons for Startup & Leadership Excellence by Brett Hurt. I met him at an event and then I read his book, and I found it an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs. The book makes a connection between the life of an entrepreneur and the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl as well his work in the field of logotherapy. Logotherapy, for those who aren’t familiar with the concept, is the idea that finding meaning in life is a person’s main motivational force, no matter the circumstances. I find this work significant and inspiring and therefore recommend both Man’s Search for Meaning and The Entrepreneur’s Essentials.
In terms of podcasts, I think I listened to some 500 episodes of The Tim Ferriss Show. It gave me a lot of knowledge and a lot of confidence. His interviews are informative and enlightening and can provide value not just to entrepreneurs but to anyone looking for the tools to achieve greater success in life.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
My previous boss came from a private equity firm that handled tens of billions of dollars on a daily basis. He told me that his firm commissioned McKinsey to perform an analysis for their business to determine what makes a good private equity investment. After a year and a half of research and millions of dollars spent, McKinsey concluded “Buy low, sell high”.
It may sound simple, but in the end this is the most important tip in investing and making a profit. Therefore, if I had only $1,000 to spend, I would buy low and sell high. I would find something that I could buy at a low price and sell it at a higher price.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
In order to understand how I stay driven and motivated in my business ventures, you have to read the book I mentioned earlier, Brett Hurt’s The Entrepreneur’s Essentials. I find a great deal of meaning in my work as an entrepreneur, and this keeps me motivated not just in work, but in life.
Through my work as an entrepreneur, I am actually building the future, rather than standing by and watching from the side. I strive to “be the man who is actually in the arena,” as Theodore Roosevelt said. I am the most fulfilled and driven when I am moving forward in my business ventures, and this in itself is motivation to keep going.
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Intelligence is the hardware on which your brain runs, wisdom is the data that your brain collects through the years, and being smart is the opportunity to incorporate both. Therefore, the more you do in your business ventures and the more experience you acquire, the smarter you will become and the better decisions you will make.
That’s the key to success. Get out there and keep trying, keep collecting data. It may take time to reach great success, but the only way to get smarter and make better decisions is by doing it over and over again.
Who should we interview next and why?
I would like to see an interview with Brett Hurt. In addition to being a celebrated author, he has a long history as a CEO and founder, currently working as CEO and co-founder of data.world, a successful SaaS platform. His wisdom and insights are so inspiring and life changing for entrepreneurs from all walks of life, and I feel that an interview with him would be a great resource for readers.
What is your definition of success?
My definition of success is Knut Holmann’s incredible performance in the 1996 Olympic Games, where he achieved a time of 3:25 in the 1,000 meters canoe sprint. He was my role model growing up. I had a video of him winning that race, and I think I watched it 10,000 times. This is the type of success that I have always sought out in every aspect of my life.
For me, success is reaching new milestones in your field, whether that’s in the world of sports or business. Striving to be the very best you can be, overcoming obstacles in your way, and meeting ambitious goals bring out the very best in human nature.
How do you personally overcome fear?
In order to overcome fear, I feel it. I don’t fight it. I just let it sit and continue to execute while I feel it. I don’t allow it to stop me, but I also don’t try to make it go away. I think this is the healthiest and most effective way to manage fear, which is a very natural aspect of the human experience.
How can readers get in touch with you?
Readers can reach me directly via email at roei @8fig.co. I’m also on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/roei-yellin/.
