As entrepreneurs, we often have busy and packed lives—and as a result, friendships often get pushed to the side. Cultivating friendships is something that I think is really important, especially as we go into the new year and start to think about how we’re going to invest our time in 2022. That’s why I’m bringing back one of my favorite episodes all about friendships and entrepreneurship, where I talked about the importance of friendship not only on our mental health, but also on our physical we...
Dec 31, 2021•25 min
One of my favorite episodes from the past year is one I did with my accountant, Mario Lucibello, and I’m excited to share it with you again as we head into the ever-so-fun tax season. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: accounting doesn’t sound very festive. But what if I told you that Mario has some tips for how to give yourself a last-minute bonus before we get to the end of the year? Not only does he give insights into entrepreneurship, taxes, and finances in this episode, but he also ...
Dec 24, 2021•45 min
Josh Cauley is the owner of ShipHaven.com and a long-time ECF member who I just recently had the opportunity to meet in person. Josh currently resides in Puerto Rico, and he joins me today to talk about how living there benefits him financially, how he has built a true adventure business, and how he utilizes headhunters to help him grow and scale. Listen in as we talk about the difference between a headhunter and a recruiter, how Josh has used both to earn a 95% staff retention rate, and the que...
Dec 17, 2021•48 min
Thanks to the pandemic, the last two years have seen incredible growth and change for the eCommerce space. Some of which we predicted, and some things seem to have come completely out of nowhere. As we near the end of the year, it's always fun to look back at the predictions we made, as well as what we believe we can expect to see in the coming year. To help us reflect on these predictions is Bill D’Alessandro, CEO of ElementsBrands.com. Will Facebook advertising be fixed by the end of next year...
Dec 10, 2021•1 hr
I’m excited to have my good friend and returning guest Mr. Eric Bandholz joining me on the show today. Eric is the man behind Beardbrand.com, an eCommerce store that is dedicated to building a community of like-minded beardsmen. We caught up to talk about so many things, including his new project, the reason behind it, why he is choosing to stay away from Facebook and Google tracking, and what he is doing instead to create brand awareness and buzz. Listen in to hear Eric’s philosophy around free...
Dec 03, 2021•35 min
Darnell Jackson is the Chief Operations Officer at VIPHaircare.com , a 100% black-owned luxury beauty brand that focuses on the growth and maintenance of strong, healthy hair. Darnell has a really interesting story, having grown up without access to a lot of resources and overcoming all of that to build a successful beauty brand with his wife. Listen in as Darnell shares his journey as a young entrepreneur, how he pivoted from illicit pursuits to business pursuits, and what it’s like bootstrappi...
Nov 26, 2021•34 min
Sean Frank is the COO at Ridge Wallets, an everyday essentials brand that started on Kickstarter in 2013 and blew well past its goals in the first and second campaigns. Since then, they have bootstrapped their way to $100 million in sales without any investors or credit (until recently!). In this episode, we’re diving into how Ridge Wallets grew to the size they are today in an industry that is notorious for sucking up cash, as well as the unique influencer strategy that helps Sean get the most ...
Nov 19, 2021•57 min
A lot has changed over the last year when it comes to online marketing, with increased competition, changing dynamics, and major platform changes. If you feel like your head is spinning, you are definitely not alone. Steve Chou joins me today to dive into the current state of eCommerce, including what we’re ignoring and where we’re really doubling down in our marketing efforts. Listen in as we talk about all the changes that have happened over the past few years that are informing strategy in St...
Nov 12, 2021•59 min
Usually when I invite a guest on the show, it’s to learn all the trade secrets of what they do really well, but today’s guest joins me because he’s an incredible human being that also happens to be really good at running an eCommerce store. Meet Josh Willard, the founder of Josh’s Frogs, an 8-figure business and the largest producer of captive-bred poison dart frogs in the United States—and possibly the world! Listen in as we dive into Josh’s interesting approach to building a values-based busin...
Nov 05, 2021•46 min
I could probably count on one hand the number of people who have landed on the website through a cold pitch email, but today’s guest is one of those people. Jason Lee is the founder of TheFBAFlipper.com, and he joins me today to talk about the ins and outs of the Chinese FBA market. Listen in as we dive into what the FBA market is like in China, who is typically building FBA businesses, and how these businesses differ from those found in the West. We also dive into some of the fraud tactics you’...
Oct 29, 2021•34 min
Have you asked yourself lately what the heck is going on with hiring? It’s a great time to be an employee, but a rough time to be an employer, and unless you’re a business of one, you have likely experienced the pain of finding the right people to join your team over the last year. In this episode, I’m joined by three wonderful ECF community members, Andy Hayes of PlumDeluxe.com, Meredith Erin from BoredwalkTshirts.com, and Mehtab Bhogal from KartaVentures.com, to discuss all things hiring. List...
Oct 22, 2021•33 min
How many of you have considered buying a business, swooping in to fix all the problems, and making a boatload of money from the experience? Sounds great, right? The fantasy is rarely the reality though when it comes to buying a business, and today Mike Jackness of EcomCrew joins me to talk about his transition into buying a business and managing it post-acquisition. Listen in as we dive into what it was like for Mike to purchase a business and become a remote CEO, why he’s looking for somebody t...
Oct 15, 2021•36 min
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 18 months, you are probably aware that container prices are stupidly high right now. Our ECF importing expert, David Bryant of eComCrew, joins me today to discuss what has caused these ridiculously high prices and what you can do to mitigate the pain. Take a listen and get insight into how we got to where we are when it comes to global shipping, what the near-future holds for lead times and pricing, and what you can do now to help lessen the bl...
Oct 08, 2021•45 min
It’s been a rough year for many of us. Shipping rates have gone through the roof, supplier prices are increasing, and margins are getting tighter. My good friend and regular guest Bill D’Alessandro joins me today to discuss one piece of the profitability puzzle: the sad world of supplier price increases. We’re diving into what’s been going on in the world with supplier price increases, if the levels we’re hearing about are in line with what the official numbers say, and whether or not you can ex...
Oct 01, 2021•41 min
The real magic of the ECF community is when you get together in person. It’s where stories are born, memories are made, and friendships are created. For the last 2 years, we have wanted to bring someone into the team who could focus on the magic of bringing people together, and I’m happy to announce that Audrey Smith, event planner extraordinaire, has joined the ECF team to up-level our post-pandemic live event game plan. In this episode, we’re diving into Audrey’s background in event planning, ...
Sep 17, 2021•35 min
Corey Nicholson is the 20-year-old co-founder of Peachy Shapewear, a line of women’s shapewear that leveraged the power of TikTok to scale to 7 figures. Today we’re diving into the details behind their success, as well as Corey’s own personal journey from McDonald’s to eCommerce. Listen in as he shares how Peachy Shapewear has leveraged TikTok influencers to scale, his recommendations for partnering with them, and the details to optimize TikTok ads, content, and workflows. If you’ve been conside...
Sep 10, 2021•37 min
For the first 12 years of my entrepreneurial career, I was the only shareholder in my business, and I didn’t fully appreciate how much that fact really streamlined decision-making, finances, and governance until I brought on shareholders. The truth is that bringing on shareholders opens up a whole new world in terms of possibilities and opportunities, but it also opens up a whole new set of considerations. So, in this episode, I’m jumping into all the things that you should be considering if you...
Sep 03, 2021•34 min
Could you really unplug from your business for an extended period? What would that look like? How could you make it happen? What would happen to your business in your absence? These are all questions we’re answering today with my guest, Greg Howlett. Greg is the CEO of CaringSunshine.com and Cobblestone Trade, and he recently went off-grid, completely unplugged, for five weeks with his family. As business owners, we all struggle with the work-life balance, so I brought Greg on today to discuss h...
Aug 27, 2021•33 min
Today I am joined by Andrew Faris, the CEO and man behind 4×400, a holding company that launches and grows eCommerce brands. He is also the voice behind The eCommerce Playbook podcast, and one of the things I love most about him is his super candid thoughts about the good, the bad, and the ugly of eCommerce businesses. Listen in as Andrew dives into the businesses he has purchased, what went well, what didn’t go well, and some of the hard knocks he experienced along the way. We also talk about t...
Aug 20, 2021•54 min
Oftentimes, a large portion of an entrepreneur’s wealth comes from the exit, and in this episode, I’m sitting down with Joe Valley to get geeky about the highs and lows of selling businesses. Joe is not only the author of The EXITpreneur’s Playbook and a long-time business broker with Quiet Light Brokerage, but he has also helped a lot of ECF members exit their own businesses. Listen in as we dive into the art of buying and selling from Joe’s perspective, having handled hundreds of transactions ...
Aug 13, 2021•41 min
We all know there are two things that are certain in life: death and taxes. I’m excited to have my accountant, Mario Lucibello, join me today to talk about saving on taxes and tax strategies specific for entrepreneurs and business owners. We also chatted about something I wasn’t expecting that really opened my eyes to how we view and think about our money. Listen in as we dive into how to save on your taxes in many different circumstances, including some of the best ways to sell assets without l...
Aug 06, 2021•43 min
You probably spend anywhere from 6 to 10 hours every day sitting in front of your computer screen, and your ability to use that machine well dictates not only how productive you are, but how well your business does. But how often do we really sit and think about how well our computer is set up, how well it’s optimized, and how efficient we are at using it? In this short and sweet episode, I’m sharing my tips for mastering your computer so you can shave time off your work week and get more done i...
Jul 30, 2021•15 min
Cressida Granger is the owner of Mathmos.com, a name you might actually remember as being the original creator and inventor of the famed lava lamp. She is a more recent member of the ECF community, and I wanted to get her on to talk about her story and her business because it is so incredibly interesting. Listen in as Cressida shares how she manufactured a back-of-the-napkin deal for the iconic lava lamp brand, what happened when people found out that her patent on the lava lamp had expired, and...
Jul 23, 2021•39 min
Building an amazing life is just as important as building a thriving e-commerce store, and today we’re talking about something that has made a huge impact in my life: splitting time between two different places. I was hesitant about doing an episode on this topic for a long time, but I decided to share for three reasons: the impact it has had, the questions I get asked about it, and the challenges that sometimes come along with it. So in this episode, I’m joined by two friends who also split the...
Jul 16, 2021•54 min
I have long been a huge advocate for testing your pricing. Why? Because if you have never tested, there is potentially money you are leaving on the table. So in this episode, we’re taking the discussion a step further and talking about split testing your pricing with the founders of IntelliGems, an analytics and optimization platform for mobile developers to run A/B tests and ultimately drive monetization. Adam Kitain and Drew Marconi both have a lot of experience with product pricing and split ...
Jul 09, 2021•43 min
Today we’re picking things back up with Tal Moore, and this time, we're covering all things investments—the good, the bad, and the high-returning. In case you missed the last episode, Tal is a born entrepreneur and founder of Franklin’s Popcorn, Softy Wipes, and Guardline Security. He believes that the key to financial freedom is found in your passive income opportunities. Listen in as we dive into some of the best and worst investments that Tal has made over the years and discuss why he prefers...
Jul 02, 2021•36 min
Tal Moore discovered his knack for business at the ripe young age of 12 years old. Selling gumballs to his friends ultimately led him to launch Gumballs.com, one of the largest online vending machine retailers. Tal is also the founder of many other businesses, including Franklin’s Popcorn, Guardline Security, and Softy Wipes. He has given so much to the ECF community over the years and I’m excited to have him here. Listen in as Tal shares his story through entrepreneurship, including how he mana...
Jun 25, 2021•40 min
If you’re running a business, you undoubtedly have a million and one things vying for your time: family, health, religion, your business, and your friends. What most often gets pushed aside are friendships, which is especially true for entrepreneurs who tend to jam-pack their lives with as much as they can possibly fit in it—and then add some more on top of that for good measure! That’s why in this episode, I'm talking about how to cultivate friendships as an entrepreneur. Friendships are not ju...
Jun 18, 2021•23 min
Josh Zhang is the Founder and CEO of Gainfluence.com, an influencer marketing agency that is home to some of the best-looking and smartest creators and entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. In this episode, we talk about where the influencer market is going (particularly after the pandemic), the best use of a $50,000 marketing spend in 2021, and why it’s more important than ever to look at what is converting customers in real-time when it comes to advertising. We also talk about some of the more under-u...
Jun 11, 2021•33 min
Allen Walton is the CEO and Founder of SpyGuy, an e-commerce store devoted to all sorts of surveillance and counter-surveillance equipment. More recently, he launched FlyGuy, a travel agency and membership that helps business owners unlock the secret of getting tons of travel paid for using credit card rewards. Listen in as Allen shares his knowledge from researching and using credit card rewards to travel, including how to optimize your credit card spend to be able to jet set around the world i...
Jun 04, 2021•47 min
