Every Step to Start an Ecommerce Business Revealed: Operators Build (E1)

“We’ve done it before. Can we do it again?” 

Five executives put half a million dollars on the line to start a new ecommerce brand. Operators Build follows every step, in public. You get the math, the disagreements, and the cost of launching an online business in 2026. 

This is not dropshipping. We bought inventory, formed an LLC, and registered our domain name: https://getwinks.com The plan? Shopify and paid social (Meta) with online marketplaces like Amazon and new channels like TikTok added as the numbers earn it. 

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Skio 

https://9ops.co/skio-9operators 

Aftersell 

https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 

Omnisend 

https://www.omnisend.com/9operators 

SARAL 

https://calendly.com/maxx-getsaral/operators 

Motion 

https://9ops.co/motion-runneth 

Shoplift 

https://shoplift.ai/operators 

Operators Portal 

https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard 

Operators Newsletter 

https://9operators.com/ 

Curtis covers the category and the year they spent on the product + inventory management (sourcing, co-manufacturer, 3PL). Sean frames subscriptions and the CAC goal. Cody runs email and social-media marketing with AI to keep OpEx low. Mike pushes for constraints while Matt argues for high conviction, one big bet.