Michael Southworth is the Co-founder and CEO of Elemerce, a full-service eCommerce marketing agency that has successfully launched and developed several multimillion-dollar eCommerce brands. Elemerce’s team specializes in marketing, SEO, consumer products, eCommerce trends, and Amazon’s marketplace to help clients reach their goals, increase brand equity, and elevate their Amazon sales. As a connector, entrepreneur, and investor, Michael has created successful businesses in fashion, packaging, marketing, and entrepreneurial networking. In this episode… Funding for small businesses has become more difficult to acquire. As a result, startups aren’t vetting their options and are accepting opportunities from aggregators whose primary goals are to close deals and expand their portfolios. So what's the best way of obtaining capital for your brand? Michael Southworth advises identifying an end goal for your business. Whether you’re looking to exit or obtain capital for growth, developing an objective helps you determine an ideal funding method. One of the most valuable funding models you can leverage is partnerships. Strategic partners provide resources and expertise to optimize your business operations and maximize its value for potential investors, allowing your plans to materialize. Join Aaron Conant in today’s episode of The Digital Deep Dive as he sits down with Michael Southworth, Co-founder and CEO of Elemerce, to talk about funding models for startups. Michael also addresses market trends in the brand acquisition space, how to acquire partners to maximize your business value, and the key criteria for brand success.