Andrew Erickson · June 28, 2026
Hire your 24/7 Amazon employee.
Hermes: the open-source AI agent that runs your FBA business while you sleep.
InventoryHero
© 2026 Andrew Erickson · InventoryHero. All rights reserved.
Not financial or legal advice · No reproduction without written consent.
Not financial or legal advice · No reproduction without written consent.
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About me
Andrew Erickson.
- 2010Graduated with an applied math & engineering degree.
- 2015Started selling on Etsy and Amazon.
- 2021First 7-figure Amazon exit.
- 2021Titan Head Coach.
- 2023AI Grand Prize winner · 7-Figure Seller Summit.
- 2025Titan AI Workparty Host.
- 2026AI Grand Prize winner · Kevin King's Billion Dollar Seller Summit.
- 100+Custom-designed products launched.
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Big news
I just had my… second successful exit.
Montessori & Me. Sold Q4 2025.
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What I'm building now
InventoryHero.ai + the community around it.
Hosting
AI Agent Hackathon
FREE Biweekly. Next one is Thursday, July 2: come build your first agent with us.
SCAN TO REGISTER
Free community
AI for Ecom
WhatsApp group for sellers building with agents day-to-day.
SCAN TO JOIN
Now shipping
InventoryHero.ai
The agentic demand forecasting and supply chain tool for Amazon sellers. Amazon API in plain English: AI runs your entire supply chain.
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The thesis
Soon every seller will run a team of AIs.
AI that remembers your business.
AI that does the work, not just chats.
AI you run by sending a text.
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Agenda
What you'll learn.
- 01What Hermes actually is, in plain English.
- 02The brain behind it, and what it really costs.
- 03How it can work alongside Claude and OpenAI.
- 04Its job description for your Amazon business.
- 05How to get one running this week.
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Part 1 of 4
Meet your new hire
What is Hermes?
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The big idea
Your AI, finally off the laptop and in the cloud.
ChatGPT talks. Hermes works, 24/7.
Free and open-source. It runs on a server, so it keeps working after you close your laptop.
Always connected to your tools, always a text away. Claude Code only runs while you are at your computer.
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How it works
You text it. It runs the business.
You · Telegram · iMessage · Slack · email
↓ just send a message
Hermes harness
memory + skills
cron + sub-agents
↓ plugs into any brain
Claude · ChatGPT · Grok · local model
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Not a chatbot
Four things make it an employee.
It remembers
Persistent memory.
Plain-text files it keeps current, plus searchable history of every chat.
It gets better
Self-improving skills.
Solve something once, it saves the steps as a reusable skill.
It joins your team
Lives in Slack.
Anyone on your team can talk to it and hand off work, right in Slack.
It's always on
You just text it.
Runs on a schedule and messages you. No dashboard to babysit.
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Part 2 of 4
Pick the brain, control the cost
The brain, and the bill.
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Choose the brain
Same agent. Swap the model anytime.
| Brain | How you pay | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Claude (Anthropic) | API key, pay per token | Strategy and planning |
| ChatGPT 5.5 | Your ChatGPT subscription | Best value, coding |
| OpenRouter | One API key, set a limit | 200+ models, flexibility |
| Local (Qwen, Gemma) | Free, your own hardware | Frequent jobs, $0 per run |
| Grok (xAI) | Your Grok subscription | Near-Opus, low cost |
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Read this before you budget
Can you use your Claude subscription?
No. Not yet.
Claude / Anthropic
API key only.
Subscription login is cut off. You pay per token, a few hundred a month under heavy use.
ChatGPT and Grok
Your subscription works.
Sign in with the plan you already pay for. This is the cheap path to near-top quality.
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The $1,000 a month myth
Three rules keep it cheap.
Rule 1
One session per topic.
A mono-thread resends everything every message. That is the runaway bill.
Rule 2
Cheap model for frequent jobs.
A free local model for anything on a tight schedule. Save the pricey brain for big thinking.
Rule 3
Planner plus cheap helpers.
One smart planner, cheap sub-agents do the legwork. Roughly 5x cheaper for the same job.
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Part 3 of 4
What it actually does for an Amazon seller
Your hire's job description.
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Week one on the job
Six jobs it can start tomorrow.
Every morning
The daily brief.
Inbox
Manage email.
Daily check
Top sellers up and running.
Daily
PPC report + actions.
On request
Listings + creative.
On demand
Ask my numbers.
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The gateway drug
The brief waiting before you wake.
One scheduled report in Slack. A brief every morning, a roll-up every Monday, so the whole team sees it and anyone can reply to dig in.
- SalesYesterday's units, revenue, and ad spend.
- PPCSpend, ACoS, and where budget is being wasted.
- StockWhat is low, what is in transit, what arrived.
- RisksAccount health, a hijacker, a budget overspend.
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Inbox on autopilot
It tells you which emails actually need you.
- 01Reads every new email overnight.
- 02Labels and sorts: supplier, customer, PPC, noise.
- 03Flags the few that need a reply.
- 04The shortlist lands in your morning brief.
Inbox
18 new overnight
REPLY
Supplier · Lead time slipped on PO 4471
FYI
Amazon · Listing reinstated
PPC
Ads · Campaign out of budget
REPLY
Buyer · “Where is my order?”
NOISE
Newsletter · Archived
2 need a reply. The rest, handled.
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Chat with your data
Ask your real numbers.
- "Units sold last week?
- "True margin on this SKU after ads?
- "Why did revenue drop Tuesday?
- "How much inventory cash do I need over 90 days?
An agent is only as honest as its numbers. For true margin, true landed cost, and real restock timing, that is exactly where a tool like Inventory Hero plugs in.
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Free for the room
Hand it your market, for free.
A free data connector (MCP) you plug into your agent. Point it at any ASIN, it pulls the market back.
- CompetitorsYour top rivals for any ASIN.
- KeywordsThe top keywords on that listing.
SCAN OR VISIT
inventoryhero.ai/asin-analytics
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Pure found money
It pays for itself in week one.
Reimbursements
Lost and damaged units.
Scans for what Amazon owes you, drafts the cases, tracks them to paid.
Fee audit
Wrong size and weight tiers.
Catches overcharges and flags a SKU one ounce from a cheaper tier.
Storage defense
Before the aged fees hit.
Warns early, then says remove, liquidate, or discount.
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Part 4 of 4
From watching to running, this week
Get one running.
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Three ways to install
Pick how always-on you need it.
Try it today
Desktop app.
Click to install, no terminal. The fastest way to test it out. Sleeps when your laptop is off.
Local
CLI install.
One command on any machine. Also sleeps when your laptop does.
For the long run
Always-on server.
A $10/mo box runs it 24/7, off your laptop. The way to do it for real.
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How I'd set it up
Get your agent running.
Recommended · $10/mo
Hostinger one-click.
A server with Hermes already installed, always on. No terminal, no setup.
SCAN OR
COPY BELOW
COPY BELOW
https://hpanel.hostinger.com/applications/hermes/get-started?REFERRALCODE=FBLITSANDCQF
Your server, or local
One command.
Any server you own, or run it locally to play. It sleeps when your laptop does.
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
Try it today
Desktop app.
Click to install, works really well for a quick test. It just doesn't run when your laptop is off.
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Live demo
Your first agent. In five moves.
- 01Download the desktop app.
- 02Pick a model, sign in with a plan you have.
- 03Set one cron: the 9am morning brief.
- 04Text it your top priority for the day.
- 05Wake up tomorrow to the brief.
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The honest part
Three things to respect.
Cost
Manage your sessions.
The horror-story bills come from one giant thread. Follow the three rules.
Security
Where it runs matters.
The pros split on laptop vs a locked-down server. Lock who can message it.
Power
It does what you say.
Tell it to delete something and it will. Start with one safe task.
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Open floor · no pitches · 100% free
Register for Thursday, get the kit.
AI Agent Hackathon · Thursday, July 2.
8 AM PT · 11 AM ET · 4 PM London.
Register on Zoom and I'll send you:
- ·This full slide deck.
- ·A Hermes getting-started guide.
- ·Every prompt to set up what you saw today.
And check out InventoryHero.ai: connect it to Amazon and let it be your agentic demand forecaster, inventory manager, and supply chain manager.
SCAN TO REGISTER
Free on Zoom · bring a laptop
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Over to you
Q & A.
InventoryHero
© 2026 Andrew Erickson · InventoryHero. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution without written consent.
Educational content only, not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Third-party names and marks belong to their respective owners.
Educational content only, not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Third-party names and marks belong to their respective owners.
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