All of us at one time or another have wondered, Where do I come from? Why am I here? With humans this can be a complicated question, often with many possible answers. The origin of most software is considerably less involved.
It can, however, be almost as interesting.
The Dawn Of Seller Software
You may know our founder, Philip Jepsen. You may even have met him at any of the many events he’s attended over the years since becoming an Amazon seller. If you’re a member of the Amazing Selling Machine (ASM) you probably know Philip from the Mastermind groups and events put on by that organization. ASM is in its 8th version and has helped launch the selling careers of thousands of Amazon sellers.
In fact, that’s where the story of ManageByStats begins.
Four Score And A Hundred And Twenty Weeks Ago
Roughly. There aren’t enough months between 2013 and now to use “Four Score” and some number of months, so we had to go with weeks.
Okay, maybe that isn’t the best paragraph header.
The point is, back in 2013 Philip made the leap and got the Amazing Selling Machine. ASM teaches users how to sell on Amazon, so, in a sense, if we abbreviate ManageByStats as “MBS”, we could say MBS started with ASM.
From the beginning Philip was very successful selling on Amazon. He applied all the techniques in the course and started selling on Amazon, in volume, right away. ASM has a great program for teaching people how to do exactly that, and Philip took to it quickly. Excited, rocking and rolling, he immediately ran into the same thing any Amazon seller runs into:
How do I see the data I need to manage?
Things like clear sales reports, customer info, orders and all else you need to run your Amazon business. Things that are buried deep within Amazon’s convoluted Seller Central interface, often in many separate, disconnected locations. As Philip’s business grew he found himself spending more and more time on administrative tasks like downloading data from multiple places in Seller Central, making spreadsheets and trying to get a clear idea of what was going on.
We should pause here to mention Philip has a background in IT and software. Therefore the inefficiency of the Amazon interface was driving him a little crazy. Time he could be devoting to expansion was being spent gathering data.
And so it wasn’t long before an epiphany struck.
A Solution
Amazon offers ways for software developers to connect to Amazon and see all that hidden data. Philip realized he could make some basic software that would do this, and then present the data he needed in a very easy to digest, very transparent format. And he realized he could do other things, like add graphs to visualize trends. Ooh, and if he had the customer and transaction info, he could tie orders to customers and present them easily with all their info in one place. And repeat buyers, and statement reports and … on and on.
He got to work.
The first version was created for his own use, but as we mentioned Philip is a member of many like-minded groups — plus he’s an all-around great guy, who wants to see others succeed — and it wasn’t long before he started to share.
But Wait! There’s More!
People loved it. It wasn’t long before requests were being made, at first additions and refinements of what was already there, but then requests and ideas for tools. What if ManageByStats could be used for more than just displaying data? What if it gave you a way to do things?
Philip brought in professional developers to take ManageByStats to new heights. Tools to send emails were added, report generation, services for real email gathering, email campaigns, keywords, reviews … with more being added at all times. Today ManageByStats has thousands of users and is in a constant state of new development. New features, new designs, new tools and other enhancements are in the works and being released regularly. ManageByStats is a full-on software suite for Amazon sellers, and at the time of this writing offers more tools and more features in one place than any other single software package.
And, you guessed it, more is coming.
Thank You
So there you have it. A short rundown of the inception of our little software package. Humble beginnings that have lead to an industry leading solution. None of which would’ve been possible without the support and feedback of you, our users. We hear from you daily and we thank you every opportunity we get. Philip’s philosophy of Help holds true today as much as it did 200 weeks ago when this all began.
Our first and primary goal is and always has been delivering the best service and the best solutions for our Amazon-selling family, trusting to the idea that everything else flows naturally from there. In our experience, it totally does.
Thank you.
Here’s to your success.
