In a conversation with Sreenath Reddy of Intentwise, Nathan recounts his journey from AO2 to Kaizen, a story of fast growth, key lessons, and a deep commitment to continuous improvement. As founder and CEO of AO2, a full‑service Amazon and retail media agency in San Diego, he scaled quickly, serving a wide range of clients with very different approaches to advertising. Some wanted meticulous, manual control over their campaigns, while others preferred to rely on automation and AI. When earlier tools like Seller Labs and Selix were sunset, Nathan needed a new platform that could support both styles without compromising performance. Intentwise became that bridge, giving AO2 the flexibility to serve diverse client needs at scale. For about three years leading up to his exit, AO2 ran all of its client advertising programs on Intentwise, and Nathan credits this partnership as a meaningful factor in the strength of his eventual sale.
Rapid growth, however, also exposed structural issues. With so many clients and team members, Nathan found himself pulled into too many decisions and stuck in the middle of the business. Looking back, he describes his biggest lesson as the need to build a strong leadership team and middle management so the founder isn’t a bottleneck. Guided by EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, he believes the founder should operate primarily as a visionary, while an integrator and empowered leaders run the day‑to‑day. That means choosing the right software partners, investing in the right people, and building systems that allow the company to thrive without depending on the founder’s constant involvement.
After exiting AO2, Nathan launched Kaizen, a small e‑commerce focused CPG private equity fund. Drawing on his time living in Tokyo and studying Japanese, he explains that “Kaizen” means to make great again, and that principle shapes the fund’s strategy. Kaizen focuses on two kinds of businesses: those that need a reset and those that need acceleration. For mature e‑commerce brands struggling with competition, supply chain challenges, or tariffs, Kaizen often steps in as a full acquirer, then works to strengthen their catalogs and expand beyond Amazon and Shopify into retail and additional channels.
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