Athena Severi co-founded Titan Network, an Amazon-seller community, in 2019 with Dan Ashburn, a U.K.-based merchant. Before that, the pair launched China Magic for product sourcing.
Titan Network hosts in-person events and offers workshops, mentoring, and collaboration.
Severi and I recently discussed Titan, selling on Amazon, and more. The entire audio of our conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.
Eric Bandholz: What do you do?
Athena Severi: I have the largest mastermind in the world for Amazon sellers called Titan Network. I started my journey on Amazon nine years ago with my own brand.
I’m into building community. When I got into Amazon, I started putting on dinners, events, and seminars, and then it turned into a cruise, and then it turned into a trip to China. It’s been a really fun, adventurous, crazy journey.
Bandholz: Tell us about your mastermind.
Severi: We’ve brought together some powerful industry leaders. These guys are in the trenches, eight to nine-figure sellers. We have experts in sourcing, branding, outside traffic, and more. We call it Titan because they are the titans of the industry.
Where you’re at in the ecommerce journey determines your focus. Someone trying to find their first product has different needs than someone doing a million a month in sales. Each has unique pain points, strengths, and focus.
How it works. We onboard you and start with a one-on-one strategy call. You get assigned to a Titan mentor, someone who’s a few steps ahead of you in the game. Everyone’s different. Your ambition level will be different than the next guy. Are you looking to exit? Are you looking for cash flow? What are you trying to achieve? Based on those goals, you’ll be assigned to a small group of like-minded folks at a similar place in their journey.
Bandholz: What do your in-person events look like?
Severi: My background is in events. When I put things on, it’s like a whole other universe. We pick a beautiful location, and we do the networking in the pool and at the beach. Many entrepreneurs hold everything close to their chest, so we’ve built a world where individuals can build trust with each other, have a few drinks, and enjoy the environment as they form that relationship. I love watching people’s eyes light up and seeing how they connect. Events are my calling, what I was meant to do.
We have workshops at our events, three or four hours. They’re very hands-on — conversion, pay-per-click, product, strategy.
All told we have about four or five events a year.
Bandholz: Do you have competitors in the same space?
Severi: The first time this happened was in China. Two of our guys were selling similar products. I took them to a room and said, “You have two options. You can either have friction, or you can collaborate. I suggest you collaborate.”
They went to their suppliers, leveraged the size of their orders together, combined containers, and became friends. I’m not saying that’s going to happen all the time. Healthy competition is a good thing.
There’s plenty of room for everyone on Amazon.
Bandholz: What is the ideal member of Titan Network?
Severi: We’re looking for intellectual property and unique brands that speak to their audience. We do not seek cookie cutters. We’re interested in brand owners and their stories. The products are doing well because they’re different.
For example, we have a member brand for special needs children. The woman who started it has a beautiful story. We believe in that brand. We look for something that we can grow. Successful sellers understand who they are serving.
We’ve been leveraging AI for research. What we can do in five minutes with AI is insane. It used to cost thousands and take months.
ChatGPT can create a brand from scratch — start to finish — the products, suppliers, everything. Midjourney can design a product. It’s crazy.
With AI, we’re in a new era. Everyone’s like, “The gold rush of Amazon’s over.” I’m like, “No, we are just getting started.”
Bandholz: Where can people join the community or find you?
Severi: TitanNetwork.com. I’m on Instagram and Facebook. If you’re starting, go to GenesisBootcamp.com.
