I operate and invest in ecommerce brands — and I build the AI systems that run them.
I've worn every hat in ecommerce.
I started as an engineer. The Wi-Fi at Starbucks and McDonald's ran on networks I helped build and operate, and I scaled a startup from 300 users to 3 million. All three companies I worked for were acquired. Then I moved into direct-response marketing and built a Facebook ad agency that was acquired by Tier 11, where I grew revenue from $1.1M to $5M and managed $50M+ a year in ad spend. Then I started operating ecommerce brands. And buying them. Today I'm Managing Partner at Freedom Brands, where I acquire and run DTC health, beauty, and supplement brands.
Which is why, in the age of AI, I can build real operating leverage where most people can only talk about it.
Guide
Customers loved our protein line. The data said scaling it would put more people on a treadmill. Here's the two-number table that reorganized our inventory, our ads, and our panic.
Read the article »
Guide
Lean operations aren't about doing less. They're about building systems that do the deciding, remembering, and measuring — so the team, and the founder, don't have to.
Read the article »
Guide
AI tools answer your hardest questions confidently every time — and that's the problem. Here's why they can't tell you what's driving your growth, and how to measure what actually is.
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"While working with Deacon my agency scaled to over 50 people, was recognized by Inc. 5000 for growth, and I took my first vacation in 5+ years!"
Ralph Burns
Founder & CEO, Tier 11
The brands I own, operate, and manage.
Owner & COO
Natural personal-care brand: organic lip balm and aloe vera skincare. Acquired into Freedom Brands as part of our platform deal (2026).
Owner & COO
Non-toxic moth protection for the home: pheromone traps and cedar & lavender products. Acquired alongside Earth's Daughter (2026) and run as its own brand.
Partner & Investor
DTC brand in women's health and wellness. A current portfolio holding.
Owner & Operator
A full buy-operate-sell cycle, done in public — a DTC holistic-supplement brand I acquired, operated, and sold.
Owner → Operator
Founded Funnel Owl ad agency, sold to Tier 11 and took over as operator. Grew revenue from $1.1M to $5M and the team from 8 to 50 over four years.
COO
Two-time Inc. 5000 maker of premium, all-natural pet supplements. Led operations and the efficiency systems behind its profitable growth.
COO
Maker of high-quality, all-natural pet supplements. Led growth operations and financial management.
COO
Premium pet supplement manufacturer. Led operations, systems, and the scaling infrastructure for a high-growth company.
* Select brands anonymized for confidentiality
Through Freedom Brands, I acquire DTC health, beauty, and supplement brands around $1M EBITDA and run them for the long haul. If a sale is on your mind, even a few years out, I'd like to meet you before you're ready.
An ecommerce operator and investor who buys brands and builds the AI systems that run them. He acquires and operates lean DTC health, beauty, and supplement brands, currently as Managing Partner at Freedom Brands. He came up as a software engineer, then built a Facebook ad agency acquired by Tier 11.
Freedom Brands is led by managing partners Travis Zigler and Deacon Bradley, two experienced ecommerce operators and investors. It acquires and operates DTC health, beauty, and supplement brands — targeting roughly $1M EBITDA per acquisition and running them lean. Its 2026 platform acquisition brought Earth's Daughter and Professor Killamoth into the portfolio.
DTC health, beauty, and supplement brands at roughly $1M EBITDA, acquired into the Freedom Brands portfolio and operated lean with AI and data systems.
As an operational layer, not a chatbot. He builds the AI and data systems his brands run on — contribution-margin reporting, product-profitability models, and ARIMA inventory forecasting on BigQuery — and treats AI as a fast implementer to supervise, not an oracle to obey.
He started as a software engineer, building and running infrastructure that included the Wi-Fi networks behind Starbucks and McDonald's. He then built a Facebook ad agency that was acquired by Tier 11, where he grew revenue from $1.1M to $5M over four years, scaled the team to 50+ people, and managed $50M+ a year in ad spend, earning a spot on the Inc 5000. Before founding Freedom Brands he ran operations inside other ecommerce brands as a fractional COO and completed a full buy-operate-sell cycle with Dr. Barry's Remedies.
He publishes definitive guides on ecommerce operations, data, and acquisitions at deaconbradley.com/articles, and writes a newsletter sharing what is actually working as he buys and runs brands with AI.
I share what's actually working — and what isn't — as I buy and run ecommerce brands with AI.
