John Fidi - Founder of Go Live Design Co - eCommerce Expert Tampa FL

John Fidi · Founder & COO

About Go Live Design Co.

I’m John. I Build Websites, Fix Broken Stores, and Make Businesses A BOAT LOAD of Money Online.

I’m not going to give you the corporate pitch. Here’s the truth: Go Live Design is a 3-person operation. I personally oversee every project, lead every strategy, and talk to every client. When you hire us, you get me — not a project manager, not a junior dev, not an account rep reading from a script.

I’ve been building websites since before Google existed. I run multiple eCommerce stores doing hundreds of orders a day. I fix the same problems you’re dealing with — because I deal with them too. Every single day.

25+ Years
$100M+ Sales
100s Daily Orders
3 Person Team
The Real Story

How a Failed Candle Maker Built a $100M eCommerce Career

I’ve had a crazy wild ride.

I dropped out of college because I realized my “business” professor was wrong about most of what he was teaching. I was already selling alarm systems and making ridiculous money for an 18 year old. I couldn’t spend it fast enough. This professor was a failed business owner teaching me how to run a business. As a type-A extrovert, I debated him constantly. Even at 18, I knew he was wrong.

So I simply stopped going to college. I didn’t tell my parents. My father eventually figured it out. That was an interesting day.

“Sales guys can’t code and coders can’t sell. Sounds so simple but almost no business actually gets this right. That’s what Go Live Design was built to fix.”

By 23, I’d worked my way up to VP of Residential Sales at Sonitrol Security in Hartford, CT. Got bored. Cashed out my entire retirement — $2,000 — and opened Rocky Hill Candle Company. Taught myself to build websites to sell candles online.

The candle business failed spectacularly.

Two cars repossessed. Evicted from my house on Oak Hill Rd. Moved back in with my parents. Started driving my dad’s 1991 Caprice Classic. Rock bottom.

But I’d learned something during that failure that would change everything: I could build websites.

The $50,000 Contract That Started Everything

A headhunter landed me a sales manager gig at the Hartford Business Journal, working for one of the best sales managers I’ve ever met — Bill “The Boat” Lambot.

Being a cocky 23 year old, I expected hand-picked leads. That didn’t happen. So on day one, I started reading old issues and noticed a ton of previous advertisers who’d stopped advertising. I called my first prospect — Fox Integrity Graphics in Bloomfield, CT — and set up my first appointment.

In training, I’d heard “The Boat” mention a 15% discount for media buys from ad agencies.

Let’s just say Fox Integrity signed a $52,000 advertising contract that included a website (during the infancy of the internet), monthly back cover ads, and a small sponsorship to the 40 Under 40 event.

“Who the hell is Go Live Design Co?”

— Bill “The Boat” Lambot, when I walked into his office with a $50K contract from a company he’d never heard of. That was my company. That was day one.

That was 1996. Go Live Design Co was born.

The Journey — 30+ Years in 60 Seconds

1991

Graduated Southington High School, CT. Started selling alarm systems and making more money than my professors.

1993

VP of Residential Sales at Sonitrol Security, Hartford, CT. Youngest VP in company history.

1994–1995

Cashed out retirement ($2,000). Started Rocky Hill Candle Company. Built my first website. Business failed. Two cars repossessed. Evicted. Moved back home. Drove dad’s ’91 Caprice Classic. But I learned to build websites.

1996

Go Live Design Co is born. Landed a $52K contract on day one at Hartford Business Journal. “Who the hell is Go Live Design Co?” — The Boat.

1996–2020

Built websites through the AOL era, the dot-com boom, the crash, the recovery. Launched and operated multiple eCommerce brands. Learned SEO before it had a name. Survived every Google algorithm update since the beginning.

2020

Covid hits. Shifted focus to Customer Experience Analysis & eCommerce consulting. Every click mattered. Every mistake cost money. This became our superpower.

Today

$100M+ in eCommerce sales generated. Running CondomDepot, SpicyGear, GetBigPills, Yabaillc. Fixing broken stores. Building new ones. Still answering every call personally. Still based in Tampa, FL.

How We Work

Small Team. No BS. Every Client Talks to Me.

We’re a 3-person operation. That’s intentional. I’m not trying to build an agency with 50 employees and account managers who don’t know your business. I oversee every project. I’m the creative lead. I’m the quarterback. When you have a question, you call me — not a receptionist.

🎯

You Talk to Me

Not a junior dev. Not an account manager. Not a chatbot. Me. John. The guy who built this company and runs the same kind of stores you do.

🏪

I Use What I Build

Every strategy, every fix, every piece of advice I give you — I use on my own stores first. If it doesn’t work for me, I’m not selling it to you.

📞

7am–1am · 7 Days

eCommerce doesn’t take weekends off and neither do I. Your store goes down at midnight? I’ve been there. I answer.

🛒 Stores I Personally Run & Operate

These aren’t client sites. These are MY stores. I deal with the same problems you do — every day.

🛒 CondomDepot.com Live · WooCommerce
🛒 SpicyGear.com Live · WooCommerce
🛒 GetBigPills.com Live · WooCommerce
🛒 Yabaillc.com Live · WooCommerce

A Few Things I Believe

💡

Sales guys can’t code and coders can’t sell. That’s why most agencies produce beautiful sites that don’t sell anything, or ugly sites that rank but embarrass your brand. You need someone who understands both. That’s me.

🔥

If I wouldn’t use it on my own stores, I won’t sell it to you. I’m not going to recommend something I haven’t tested with my own money. Every service I offer is something I use on CondomDepot, SpicyGear, and GetBigPills.

🤝

Small is a feature, not a limitation. You’re not getting lost in a 50-person agency. You’re getting direct access to someone with 25+ years of experience who knows your project inside and out because he’s running it himself.

⚡

Failure is the best teacher. The candle company. The Caprice Classic. Moving back home. Those failures taught me more than any MBA ever could. I build businesses that survive because I’ve lived through what kills them.

Want to Work Together?

Whether your store is down right now, you need better SEO, or you’re building something new — I’d like to hear about it. Call, text, or fill out the form. You’ll hear back from me personally.

Go Live Design Co. · Land O’ Lakes, FL 34639 · 7 Days a Week