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Articles by: Eric Bandholz

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Eric Bandholz

Eric Bandholz is the host of "Ecommerce Conversations," Practical Ecommerce's weekly podcast, and co-founder of Beardbrand, a leading men’s grooming company that focuses on beard care. With the help of his co-founders, he’s bootstrapped Beardbrand from zero sales to a multi-million dollar business.

Eric is an ecommerce authority, having spoken at dozens of industry conferences and meetups.

Management & Finance
Vitaman.com Seeks Real Men for Hair, Skin Care

June 25, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

On his website, Antonio Centeno lists the businesses he owns. They include Real Men Real Style, a blog and YouTube channel with millions of readers and subscribers. Menfluential Media is an influencer ad network. And there's Vitaman, a direct-to-consumer online seller of organic skin and hair products for men.
Management & Finance
Girlfriend’s Eyelashes Spur DTC Entrepreneur

June 18, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

What prompts an entrepreneur to enter the eyelash industry? For Jason Wong, it was watching his girlfriend apply makeup. Just 23, Wong is a Los Angeles-based serial entrepreneur and consultant. His latest company, Doe Lashes, launched two years ago as a direct-to-consumer seller of comfortable, lightweight eyelashes.
Management & Finance
Berlin Brands’ Exec on Ecommerce Acquisitions, Technology, More

June 11, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Berlin Brands Group started on eBay 15 years ago. It is now a global ecommerce powerhouse, with over $300 million in annual revenue across a dozen or more brands. Managing Director Christian Salza addresses the company's acquisition process, its focus on technology, and more.
Management & Finance
Form Nutrition Finds Opportunity in a Crowded Market

June 4, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Is there a more competitive consumer market than nutritional supplements? I asked that question to Damian Soong, the co-founder of Form Nutrition, a maker and seller of plant-based proteins and food products, which launched in 2017. "Certainly it was a crowded space," he told me. "But the sellers were all doing the same thing."
Management & Finance
BOOM! Founder: Spend 30% of Revenue on Ads

May 28, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Ezra Firestone launched his first ecommerce business in 2007. It sold wigs. He has since owned multiple brands. BOOM!, which sells cosmetics, he co-founded in 2010. He focuses on key management metrics, such as spending 30% of ecommerce revenue on advertising.
Design & Development
Drupal Commerce Founder on Collaborative Code, Software Freedom, More

May 21, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

The viability of open-source ecommerce platforms may seem limited given the rise of SaaS providers such as Shopify and many others. Not so, says Ryan Szrama. He's the founder of Drupal Commerce. He wrote the code in 2005 as an addition to the open-source Drupal content management system.
Management & Finance
Chord.co Founders: Future of DTC Platforms Is Headless

May 14, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Henry Davis and Bryan Mahoney anticipated in 2018 an avalanche of direct-to-consumer companies that served smaller, niche audiences. Chord, a DTC-first ecommerce platform, is their answer to bringing sophisticated, "headless" technology to smaller firms. "We like to call Chord the first headless platform with a brain," Davis told me.
Management & Finance
The Magic of Fringe Sport? Improving Lives

May 7, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Peter Keller launched Fringe Sport in 2010 to help folks assemble home-based gyms. He also wanted to make a lot of money. "I was very financially motivated," he told me. Then he attended a seminar a few years ago that focused on a company's purpose, its mission.
Management & Finance
Quality and Craft Drive Chisos Boots Founder

April 30, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

The idea for Chisos boots started with back pain. Will Roman, the founder, owner, and lifetime cowboy-boot buyer, injured his back in a motorcycle accident. Wearing boots became painful. He launched Chisos.com, a custom, handcrafted bootmaker, in 2019. Quality and craft drive Roman and his outlook on life.
Management & Finance
Personal-care Founder: No More Petrochemicals

April 23, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

I've interviewed entrepreneurs for this podcast who developed organic consumer-care goods. But none did it before Eric Malka. He and his wife, Myriam, devised shaving oils from their kitchen in 1996 and then launched The Art of Shaving. Their new company, Ingredients, focuses on wellness and sustainability.
Management & Finance
Home Gym Provider Overcomes Supply Disruptions, Thrives

April 16, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Imagine selling home gym equipment online at the onset of the pandemic. Athletic clubs were closed. Consumers were stuck in their houses. According to Kaevon Khoozani, the founder of Canada-based Bells of Steel, the demand for weight-training equipment was “obscene.” “We ran into two giant hiccups,” Khoozani told me.
Management & Finance
Online Onion Seller Rises from Domain Auction

April 9, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Most entrepreneurs start with a business idea and then secure the domain name. Peter Askew does the opposite. He purchases domain names and then builds the business. Take VidaliaOnions.com, for example.
Shipping & Fulfillment
3PL Founder: ‘I’m in the Exceptions Management Business’

April 2, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Jay Sauceda launched his ecommerce fulfillment company, Sauceda Industries, in 2013 in Austin, Texas. He says packing and shipping products is easy. What's difficult, he stated, is managing unforeseen events. "The shipping business is, essentially, the exceptions management business," he told me.
Management & Finance
Lessons from Vine Elevate Feat Clothing

March 26, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Having co-founded Feat Socks in 2015, Taylor Offer hired Aly Raisman, the gymnast, to design and promote a custom sock. It generated $500,000 in revenue. Influencer marketing was clearly effective, and Offer wanted more. "I started looking at the kids that got famous from Vine, the short-video app."
Management & Finance
Drop Party Thrives with Turnkey Product Design, Testing

March 19, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Marco Marandiz is a musician turned software engineer turned product designer. He's worked for Capital One, HomeAway, and a failed startup. But it was consulting for ecommerce companies with unsold inventory that sparked his idea for Drop Party.
Management & Finance
Show-stopper Wedding Rings Drive Manly Bands

March 12, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Shopping in-store for wedding rings does not appeal to all men. That was an insight of Johnathan Ruggiero and his wife Michelle when they founded Manly Bands, a direct-to-consumer online wedding-ring company, in 2016. The second insight was the rings had to be unique — really unique — to compete against established jewelers.
Management & Finance
Hollywood Actor, Director Finds Success on Amazon

March 5, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Judson Morgan is a Los Angeles-based actor and director. He owns an agency that creates films and other visual content. He's also a successful ecommerce entrepreneur — with a purpose.
Management & Finance
Tomlinson’s Feed: Fresh and Relevant after 75 Years

February 26, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Kate Knecht is the fourth-generation owner-operator of Tomlinson's Feed, a family-owned retail business with 16 brick-and-mortar locations in Central Texas. The company is 75 years old. Amid the pandemic and the onslaught of online behemoths, can such a business transition to 2021 consumers? I asked Knecht that question and more.
Management & Finance
DTC Seller of Apple Watch Bands Soars from College Project

February 19, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Braxton Manley was a sophomore at Texas Tech University in 2017 when he attended a workshop on entrepreneurship. The purpose was to conceive a product based on market research. "My idea was cool Apple Watch bands," Manely told me. Fast forward to 2021 and his company, Braxley Bands, is a direct-to-consumer seller of elastic, colorful bands.
Management & Finance
Ridge Wallet Hits $50 Million with Influencer Marketing

February 12, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Ridge wallets launched via a Kickstarter campaign in 2014. Ultra-thin, metal-clad, with RFID protection, the wallets are enormously popular in the U.S., with $50 million in sales in 2020 alone. Influencer marketing has driven much of the growth. Sean Frank is The Ridge's chief operating officer.
Management & Finance
Lessons from a Friendly Bet: Beardbrand vs. Supply.co

February 5, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Patrick Coddou's company, Supply.co, sells razors and shaving accessories. My company, Beardbrand, sells beard products. He wants men to shave. I want them to grow a beard. We're both direct-to-consumer ecommerce merchants selling premium grooming items to males. We're competitors, in other words.
Management & Finance
DecksDirect, a Pure Retailer, Thrives

January 29, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Industry pundits might say the future of retail is brands, manufacturers, and marketplaces. But don't tell that to Blair Budlong. His company, DecksDirect, doesn't own a brand, manufacture a product, or sell on marketplaces. And it thrives.
Management & Finance
Dr. Squatch Scales to $100 Million with Natural Soaps for Men

January 22, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

Dr. Squatch, Jack Haldrup's company, sells its own natural soaps and other grooming products for men. Revenue in 2020 was roughly $100 million, having exploded from $5 million just 18 months earlier. How does a company grow from $5 million to $100 million in 18 months? I asked him that question and many more in our recent conversation.
Management & Finance
Elements Brands Founder on Moving from Doer to Manager

January 15, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

The required skills to launch a business are typically much different from managing it for the long term. Bill D'Alessandro has done both. He launched a single ecommerce business in 2010 and then transformed the company into an operator of multiple online brands. He has evolved from performing most every task to focusing on a few.
Management & Finance
Entrepreneur’s Hair Products Empower Black Women

January 8, 2021 • Eric Bandholz

In 2012 Vivian Kaye was a successful wedding decorator. But she had a problem. The climate in Toronto, Canada, was brutal on her hair. Kaye's solution was hair extensions, which were easy and attractive. Fast forward to 2021, and KinkyCurlyYaki, Kaye's company, sells hair extensions, wigs, and more.
Management & Finance
Entrepreneur’s Page-builder Tools Attract Outside Equity, 100 Employees

December 18, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Finbarr Taylor moved to the U.S. nine years ago with a goal. "I moved from Scotland to Silicon Valley with the express intent of starting a tech company," he told me. Taylor's tech company is Shogun, which provides innovative page-builder tools that enhance ecommerce sites. He is co-founder and CEO.
Management & Finance
Gym Owner Shifts to Online Weight Training (and Thrives)

December 11, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Perhaps no industry has been more disrupted by the internet than education. Online training is booming — from 1-hour courses to college degrees. Take Barbell Logic, for example. It provides one-on-one strength and conditioning training, entirely web-based.
Management & Finance
Agency CEO: Adopt an ‘Abundance Mentality’

December 4, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Online selling is increasingly competitive, forcing merchants to selfish and shortsighted decisions. That's according to Corey Blake, CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency. "When we have a scarcity outlook with short-sightedness," he told me, "We're scraping and clawing to keep it all. A better approach is an abundance mentality."
Management & Finance
Kuru, a DTC Shoe Brand, Solves a Pain

November 27, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

Selling shoes online is notoriously competitive. Zappos, Amazon, big-box retailers — all are vying for a share of the consumer footwear market. Nonetheless, Sean McGinnis's employer, Kuru, an independent shoe company, is thriving.
Management & Finance
Beardbrand’s Technology Stack: Platforms, Apps, Services

November 20, 2020 • Eric Bandholz

An ecommerce company is a collection of platforms, apps, and service providers. That's certainly the case with Beardbrand, the company I launched in 2012. James Wilson is Beardbrand's growth marketing manager. I asked James to describe our technology stack, hoping that the decisions we've made (good and bad) can help other merchants.

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