Currently building — Internet Research Unit + 3 Shopify apps
Dennis
Hegstad
I've been working in ecommerce since 2009 — first running my own stores, then building software for the people who run theirs. Two exits, one public shutdown, and four products live right now. This is where I write down what I actually learned, including the parts that didn't work.
- Based
- Austin, TX
- Building
- Internet Research Unit
- Companies
- 6 built or bought
- Exits
- 2
- Shutdowns
- 1, publicly
- In ecommerce since
- 2009
Writing
- 3 min
The platform can change its mind
Vigilance was working. Then Shopify deprecated the one file the whole product ran on. Here's what I'd price differently next time.
shopify · platform risk · shutting down
- 2 min
I sold OrderBump four months after I bought it
Bought it in October, sold it by February, then spent months handing it over. I've had people ask me how to repeat this. You mostly can't.
acquisitions · shopify · luck
- 2 min
What bootstrapping actually bought us at LiveRecover
We were one of the only SMS apps at that scale without investors. The advantage wasn't the equity. It was who was allowed to call us.
bootstrapping · sms · exits
- 1 min
Why this site exists
I've been posting on X since 2009. Nothing I wrote there survives, and none of it is mine.
meta · writing
Shipping now
- Shopifysonarid.com ↗
sonarID
Turn every order into an opportunity.
Flags the celebrities, investors, and influencers buying from your store the moment the order lands, by enriching it against public data. You find out in time to actually do something about it.
Visit→ - Shopifyorderedit.com ↗
OrderEdit
Let customers fix their own orders before they ship.
Wrong address, wrong size, changed their mind — shoppers edit or cancel unfulfilled orders themselves, inside their account, under rules you set. Your support inbox stops absorbing it.
Visit→ - Shopifyordersurvey.com ↗
OrderSurvey
Know why they bought. Know why they left.
Post-purchase surveys on the thank-you and order status pages. Attribution and NPS in your own words instead of whatever the ad platform claims credit for.
Visit→
The ledger
- 05
Vigilance
Coupon-leak protection for DTC brands.
2022 — 2023
Co-founder
Closed - 02
Exposely
Self-serve marketplace pairing brands with social influencers.
2013 — 2016
Co-founder & CEO
Closed - 01
Ecommerce stores
My own stores. The school I actually went to.
2009 — 2017
Operator
Closed
Channels
- X@dennishegstad
- LinkedInin/dennishegstad
- Instagram@dennishegstad
- Threads@dennishegstad
- Product Hunt@dennishegstad
- Emaildennishegstad@gmail.com
Best way to reach me is dennishegstad on X. I read everything, I answer less than I should.