All Episodes

March 18, 2025 42 mins

Billy Thompson & Randy Choi share Shark Tank insights, eCommerce growth strategies, and how Thompson Tee turned sweat-proof innovation into success.

About This Episode

Do embarrassing sweat stains ruin your day or limit your confidence at work and social events? 

In this episode of eCommerce Masters, Billy and Randy from Thompson Tee share their journey creating an innovative undershirt that prevents underarm sweat. They reveal how they identified a widespread, often hidden issue, and used their own experiences to develop a patented technology that keeps customers dry and confident.

Billy and Randy offer practical insights into how they successfully scaled Thompson Tee, from appearing on Shark Tank—and how they leveraged that opportunity without giving away equity—to overcoming today's major eCommerce hurdles like rising ad costs and inflation. You'll learn why managing cash flow and tightly monitoring analytics are critical to surviving challenging times, along with the importance of product innovation to stay competitive.  

Ready to discover how solving a personal pain point can lead to eCommerce success? Listen now and learn actionable strategies from Billy and Randy to grow your brand in today's competitive online market.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to Thompson Tee 03:40 - From Idea to Product: Solving Sweaty Situations 10:16 - Navigating Business Challenges & Shark Tank 15:32 - Behind the Scenes of Shark Tank 22:08 - Business Growth After Shark Tank 24:09 - Biggest Challenges Facing eCommerce Brands Today 31:28 - New Products & Innovation 36:07 - Practical Advice for Growing Brands 38:57 - Reality Check on Entrepreneurship and Influencers 40:31 - Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts

Resources

Groove Commerce - https://www.groovecommerce.com

Thompson Tee - https://thompsontee.com

Shark Tank - https://abc.com/shows/shark-tank

Shopify - https://www.shopify.com

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com

ChatGPT - https://chat.openai.com

QVC - https://www.qvc.com

William Morris Agency (WME) - https://www.wmeagency.com

Target - https://www.target.com

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com

About our Guest, Billy Thompson

Billy Thompson is the co-founder and co-inventor of Thompson Tee, a patented undershirt that blocks underarm sweat. Billy primarily leads the sales, marketing, customer service, and product development. Prior to Thompson Tee, Billy was a top-producing awarded sales professional in diversified environments, most recently private jets. Billy graduated with a BSBA in Marketing.

Connect With Billy on LinkedIn

About our Guest, Randy Choi

Randy Choi is the co-founder and co-inventor of Thompson Tee, a patented undershirt that blocks underarm sweat. Randy primarily leads the operations, global supply chain, and finance. Randy has over 30 years of successful entrepreneurial experience in diversified backgrounds including the dot-com era and the apparel industry with large projects for brands such as Lucky Brand Jeans, No Fear, and Guess Jeans. Randy graduated with a BSBA in International Business and Marketing.

Connect With Randy on LinkedIn

About Our Host, Ethan Giffin

Ethan Giffin is the Founder and CEO of Baltimore-based Groove Commerce, a premier eCommerce agency that helps mid-market brands design, build and grow their eCommerce sites.

Ethan is an industry expert in eCommerce, e-marketing, and the dynamic technologies behind them. For years, Ethan has lived and breathed conversion rates, search engine visibility, and web analytics.

When Ethan isn’t obsessing over SEO, conversion rates and eCommerce architecture at Groove Commerce, he can be found speaking as an industry authority, both nationally and internationally. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, traveling, DJing, and the pursuit of rare pocket squares.

Connect With Ethan on LinkedIn

Connect With Us:

Website: www.groovecommerce.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/groove-commerce/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iGotGroove X: https://x.com/groovecommerce Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groovecommerce/

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.