Scaling an e-commerce brand across borders requires more than logistics—it demands systems that adapt faster than the market shifts.
Roman Gagloev learned this not in a classroom, but while watching sales spreadsheets collapse under the weight of global complexity. That experience revealed a deeper problem: not a temporary bottleneck, but a structural flaw that needed rebuilding from the ground up.
As co-founder of PropVue and Propamp.ai, Roman applied his background in international finance to architect solutions for modern digital commerce. His work spans product innovation, logistics design, and enterprise-grade ERP tools, built specifically for independent sellers navigating multi-market complexity.
But this evolution didn’t happen overnight. It was shaped by years of experience in global finance and a sharp recognition of the structural gaps that slow e-commerce businesses down.
From Financial Models to Operational Discipline
Q1. What sparked your transition from international finance to e-commerce and entrepreneurship?
“Data isn’t just a mirror—it’s leverage. In banking, every critical decision is modeled. In e-commerce, most sellers ignore structure entirely. That gap pulled me in.”
Before founding PropVue, Roman held senior roles at VTB Bank and Sberbank CIB, where he streamlined complex financial operations and automated reporting using R and VBA. This lens for spotting inefficiencies became vital once he entered e-commerce. Rather than remain in finance, he chose a new path: bringing analytical discipline to a field driven more by improvisation than systems.
Operational Control as a Growth Lever: Lessons from PropVue
Q2. How did you and your brother launch PropVue?
“David had a sharp eye for product potential. I knew how to model costs and build the back-end. Together, we built a structure that could scale internationally.”
In 2018, Roman and his brother co-founded PropVue with a dual focus: product insight and operational control. While David zeroed in on demand trends, Roman created financial and logistical models that allowed them to expand quickly across North America, Europe, and Asia. From the outset, they weren’t just selling but redefining how their products moved and delivered value.
Solving Overlooked Issues: How Minor Product Fixes Create Major Efficiency
Q3. What early challenges shaped your product strategy?
“We couldn’t win on price. We had to win by solving what others ignored.”
Their flagship product—a tripod projector screen—was re-engineered from the ground up. After combing through thousands of reviews, they identified recurring complaints: flimsy legs, unstable transport, and poor packaging.
Common complaints across the market centered on transport issues, poor grip, and inefficient packaging. After reviewing thousands of customer reviews, Roman and his team implemented targeted, low-cost changes—such as stabilizing straps and more compact protective materials—that directly addressed these pain points without significantly raising costs.
“That bag cost 10% more to produce, but we planned, ordered in bulk, and only raised prices by 1%. The perceived value jumped instantly.”
These enhancements weren’t flashy—they were grounded in customer needs. Competitors soon followed their lead.
Packaging for Precision: Cost-Saving by Design
Q4. What fueled PropVue’s global momentum?
“Each market has its own rules. We built systems to anticipate, not just react.”
Sellers expanding into multiple marketplaces often face operational delays caused by fragmented data and siloed logistics. To navigate this complexity, Roman focused on streamlining region-specific forecasting and inventory planning using a unified view of key business inputs. These systems supported scalable growth even amid global supply chain disruptions.
With a consistent 4.5–4.6 star rating across over 5,400 reviews, the brand holds significant market share on Amazon in the U.S., Canada, Japan, the UK, and the EU.
Design That Responds to the Market, Not Trends
Q5. What made PropVue’s products stand out in such a saturated space?
“Small improvements add up. We noticed recurring usability issues that others ignored—and used those insights to make practical upgrades.”
Instead of relying on trends, Roman and his team took an iterative, feedback-driven approach to product design. Their focus on overlooked details helped shape features that later became standard across the category.
“Customer feedback is our research lab. We don’t guess—we adapt quickly and launch.”
Propamp.ai Wasn’t Just Built—It Was Modeled
Q6. How did Propamp.ai come about, and what problem does it solve?
“We were juggling data from ten marketplaces. Our spreadsheets couldn’t keep up.”
Many e-commerce teams reach a point where manual tracking can’t keep up with the business pace. Yet most available software overlooks the specific needs of marketplace sellers. Propamp.ai emerged in response to that gap, automating restocks, syncing data across channels, and providing visibility into sales and inventory performance.
“We didn’t find what we needed, so we built it ourselves.”
Q7. How has your finance background shaped Propamp.ai?
“Finance taught me how to track everything that matters. That thinking powers our forecasting, margin analysis, and unit economics.”
Roman’s experience building reporting automation in banking shaped Propamp’s foundations. Instead of creating a simple analytics dashboard, he approached it like a decision-support system, integrating cost modeling, cash flow tracking, and SKU-level granularity into the architecture.
Why Efficiency Beats Hustle in the Next Phase of E-Commerce
Q8. Where is e-commerce heading, and how does Propamp.ai fit in?
“The sellers who grow aren’t just hustling harder. They know their numbers and act on them.”
Propamp.ai helps merchants forecast inventory, analyze margins, and adjust in real-time. Its next wave of upgrades includes tax automation, predictive analytics, and integrations to streamline international operations.
“We’re building tools that make it easier to run smart, not just fast.”
As e-commerce becomes more data-driven, independent sellers increasingly require the kind of structured, real-time visibility that was once only available to large enterprises. Tools like Propamp.ai aim to reduce guesswork and help smaller teams make faster, more confident operational decisions.
What Growth Looks Like on the Inside
Q9. How do you manage distributed global teams effectively?
“Clear frameworks beat micromanagement. Everyone knows their metrics, scope, and lane to innovate.”
With a lean, fully remote team spread across five time zones, Roman ensures alignment through shared KPIs and structured documentation. This clarity allows the team to stay nimble without sacrificing quality.
Q10. What’s next for Propamp.ai?
“We’re not building features to impress—we’re creating infrastructure that works.”
Propamp.ai is expanding its platform to major global marketplaces like Walmart, eBay, Mercado Libre, and Tokopedia, applying its proven Amazon-based logic to empower seamless operations for online sellers across all e-commerce ecosystems.
With that roadmap, Roman shifts focus to what many first-time sellers overlook.
Advice for Entrepreneurs
Q11. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to those entering e-commerce?
“Know your margins. Know your cost per order. Know your customer’s lifetime value. Without that, growth is just expensive guessing.”
Roman believes precision, not marketing noise, separates sustainable brands from short-lived ones. The ability to measure, model, and act on the correct data builds resilience into every decision.
“The sellers who succeed aren’t louder. They’re clearer. And that clarity starts with structure.”
Structure Enables Sustainable Growth
Roman’s path from finance to product and systems design reflects a broader shift in e-commerce, where scalable thinking and operational clarity are becoming critical for long-term success. Once viewed as a limitation, structure is now an essential part of sustainable innovation.
“For me, e-commerce isn’t about chasing momentum. It’s about building systems that keep working—even as everything else changes.”
