Ecommerce Conversations

Nate Lagos is vice president of marketing for Original Grain, a direct-to-consumer seller of luxury watches. He relies on Facebook advertising, but not for immediate customer acquisition.

“Platforms such as Facebook are megaphones, not salespeople,” he says.

In this episode, Nate shares his marketing origins, advertising tactics, influencer management, and more.

For an edited and condensed transcript with...

Ray Reddy is a two-time mobile commerce entrepreneur, a Google veteran, and, now, the head of Shopify POS, the company's in-store platform. He says the future of retail is location-agnostic, where shoppers can easily move from online to brick-and-mortar without losing account details, order history, and shipping info.

That, he says, is the path of Shopify POS.

In this episode, he addresses Shopify's phys...

This year host Eric Bandholz has sprinkled occasional episodes with real-life master classes from Beardbrand, his company. To date he's addressed hiring, branding, profit-building, priority-setting, and exiting.

For this installment, he shares Beardbrand’s experience of losing nearly $1 million across 2023 and 2024. It got bad. Cash levels dropped to where they were in year one, 2014. The business was hemorrhaging mon...

Next-gen health and wellness is an apt description of MNLY. Luke Hartelust launched the platform in 2021, pronouncing it “Manly,” and then pivoted twice while remaining focused on modern care for men.

The current version combines AI with home-based testing, diagnoses, and nutrition. Customers pay an upfront fee and a monthly subscription afterward.

In this episode, Luke shared the company’s origins, growth, mistak...

Shakil Prasla once owned 12 ecommerce consumer brands generating $50 million in combined annual revenue with 50 employees. But he grew wary of the fluctuating revenue and non-stop marketing, so he pivoted during Covid to wholesale personal protective equipment.

That's when he and I last spoke. The PPE business, Gloves.com, had misgauged demand and lost, initially, a whopping $6 million. He has since recovered and pivo...

Michael Simpson is a New Mexico-based father of seven and a National Guard veteran. Returning from a 2021 deployment, he sought a business to acquire, hoping to avoid his previous job. A listing from a brokerage caught his attention.

Discount Catholic Products had launched in 2003 and was for sale. The company's mission appealed to Michael. Plus it was not reliant on Amazon or a single product or imports from China — ...

Host Eric Bandholz, a seasoned entrepreneur, evaluates good and bad reasons to sell a business.

He says that ideally, founders build a business they love, one that enhances their lives. To Eric, business is one of life's greatest gifts, offering freedom, wealth, connection, and the ability to serve, create, and leave a lasting mark on the world.

He reminds us that our possessions — the headphones we use, the...

For years Jack Oswald was a touring tennis professional. He aimed for top worldwide rankings, the key to serious earnings. The rankings never came, but constant travel exposed a nagging problem: his tennis bags kept breaking.

Thus began his passion for designing a better bag for athletes on the go. And that led to Cancha, a direct-to-consumer seller of sport and travel bags, which he launched in 2019 from his base in the U...

Sally Wilson is a lawyer turned craft entrepreneur. She's also an involved mother who shares her business and passions with two kids. She says being a great mom doesn't mean sacrificing who you are.

Sally launched Caterpillar Cross Stitch a decade ago from her home in England. Fast forward to 2025, and her company has 12 employees, selling cross-stitch supplies, courses, and events to customers worldwide.

As a kid, Brett Curry was fascinated by TV commercials. Now the owner of OMG Commerce, a leading ecommerce marketing agency, he says YouTube ads are similar. "A good TV ad often makes a good YouTube ad," he stated.

Host Eric Bandholz asked for details. What's a good YouTube ad strategy for ecommerce? How much should an advertiser spend? Which products work the best?

Brett addressed those questions a...

To host Eric Bandholz, the best companies have a purpose, and the happiest owners set priorities for business and life. 

In this episode, Eric offers another master class on entrepreneurship. It’s his fourth this year, following installments on hiring, branding, and profit-building.

He aims to help existing and future entrepreneurs based on operating Beardbrand, his direct-to-consumer company, for a decade now. H...

Raphael Schneider launched Gentleman's Gazette in 2010 as a blog for men's style and apparel. He added his own product line in 2013, selling menswear and accessories.

He emphasizes quality in apparel and content. His YouTube channel, launched in 2015, remains essential for traffic and conversions, owing, he says, to the quality of the videos. "Ten years from now, someone can still benefit from a video we pro...

For $60, Bob DeMars’s company, Blind Barrel, will ship a package of four craft-distilled whiskey samples, unmarked, with a tasting glass. Recipients can then try them and guess the whiskey type, age, and proof.

It’s a game using Blind Barrel’s app, preferably with friends. Participants can purchase entire bottles at discounted prices.

Bob launched the business in 2021 from his base in California. In this conversat...

Weston Jon Bouchér is a California-based menswear brand and the name of its founder. He launched the company in 2019 after a decade as a full-time apparel and lifestyle model.

He initially sought a white-label supplier with like-minded quality standards. Unsuccessful, he opted instead for “cut-and-sew manufacturing.” The result is a network of global manufacturers, all producing apparel to Jon’s designs and specifications,...

Mehtab Bhogal is the co-founder of Karta Ventures, a Canada-based acquirer of troubled ecommerce businesses. The firm seeks companies with "issues," such as unpaid taxes, regulatory problems, and founder disputes.

He says buying distressed companies is like salvaging a crashed car. "What are the parts worth?" he asks.

In this episode, he addresses identifying hidden value, turnaround tactics, s...

Josh Durham launched Aligned Growth Management, an influencer marketing agency, in 2020. He says the influencer industry has evolved from the halcyon days a decade ago when affiliate-based creators could generate 5x returns.

Influencer marketing circa 2025, according to Josh, is a long-term play. Success depends on quality products, engaged creator audiences, and content that supports multiple channels.

In this ep...

This episode continues my masterclass series on ecommerce entrepreneurship. Thus far in 2025 I've addressed branding and profitability.

For this installment, I'll focus on hiring, specifically for marketing, operations, and product personnel. I launched Beadbrand over a decade ago and have hired plenty of employees. Mistakes can be hugely expensive.

I now apply eight steps to ensure the right employee at...

Ryan Rouse has a formula for scaling physical retail sales. First penetrate niche markets, he says, then leverage that success into mainstream chains.

He does that with MALK Organics, an Austin, Texas-based plant milk provider. Ryan is MALK's president, having launched and exited a meal-delivery business and served in executive roles of other consumer brands.

He speaks with host Eric Bandholz in this episode ...

Host Eric Bandholz continues his masterclass series on entrepreneurship. Last week he addressed tactics to increase ecommerce profits amid a slump for many businesses.

This week he focuses on branding. He says most people think of branding as logos or design elements. But those items are components, not the essence. A brand is synonymous with a company — its mission, values, and purpose.

Eric shares his own missio...