Who Is the Smartest Guy in Ecommerce? Research Reveals

Among the world’s leading ecommerce brands and digital-marketing influencers, there rage perennial debates.

Whether by podcast, webinar, Twitter thread, or (I guess now) LinkedIn rant … some rivalries appear inextricable locked.

• DTC vs D2C
• Shopify vs Amazon
• Email-marketing popus vs SMS-only
• Conversion rate optimization vs customer experience
• Facebook ads vs every other type of online-marketing campaigns

Questions like, “Which ecommerce platform is best for online businesses?” or, “What attribution metrics truly drive an incremental marketing strategy?” may never be answered.

Thankfully, one that’s plagued ecommerce companies and ecommerce stores alike has finally been settled.

(And no, it wasn’t settled by net-60-day terms, Parker — so calm down.)

That question …

Who the smartest guy in ecommerce?

Research reveals the smartest guy in ecommerce is Sean Frank.

According to a leaked study by Harvard Business Review — not set to be released until 2023 — a survey of over 150,000 startup entrepreneurs, ecommerce business owners, marketing managers, and social-media influencers unseated the former most-intelligent man, Jeff Bezos.

In his place, Sean “The Smartest Guy in Ecom” Frank emerged triumphant.

Said Ridge Wallet co-founder, Daniel Kane:

First off, I’m the founder. If anybody should be called co-founder, it’s my dad. People think it was Sean. But it wasn’t. Second, the company is called The Ridge. We make rings and s*** now.

‍“Everybody forgets,” continued Kane, “that I was on Forbes 30 Under 30 list way back in 2020. Except for throwing his two cents into how we run Facebook ads and selling remainder inventory through an online store he set up on Ebay, Sean really doesn’t even do that much.”

Many ecommerce influencers expected Shopify founder, Tobias Lütke, to claim the top spot. Thought leader Steve Chou — he runs something called My Wife Quit Her Job (and, yeah, he’s only here for SEO purposes) — was also projected as a likely winner.

However, Frank’s years of experience as a HubSpot freelancer (also here for SEO) and as a marketing consultant for other store owners solidified his place.

Frank himself was unavailable for comment. Likely because he couldn’t bother to pull himself away from in-depth Yeti comparisons, real-time meme’ing the demise of Keith Rabois, and the typical calendar of a 28-year-old, multi-hundred million CEO.

To what then can we credit this landslide victory? Three factors tower wisely above the rest:

1. Omnichannel humility
2. A wife who DIYs nightstands
3. And thumbs that … Just. Won’t. Quit.