Ecommerce Conversations

In 2009 Rasmus Albrechtsen began offering men's hairstyling tutorials on YouTube. He called his channel "Slikhaar TV," as in "slick hair." The channel scaled to over 2 million subscribers.Then came YouTube's artificial intelligence-driven browse feature, showing viewers the videos that likely interest them. Suddenly, Albrechtsen's 2 million subscribers seemed less impactful. He's now producing videos "for the browse feature more than for the subscribers."Albrecthsen is based in Denmark. In this interview he addresses Slikhaar TV, By Vilain (his line of hair products), and the impact of AI on video marketing.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6oP5For all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Chad Rubin is an ecommerce pioneer and serial entrepreneur. Profasee, an Amazon repricing tool, is his fourth company, having founded Crucial (a seller of vacuum and coffee filters), Prosper Show (an Amazon conference), and Skubana (an order management platform). He's hired a lot of employees, in other words. He's also fired a lot — over 100, he says.His employee screening process now involves an IQ test to evaluate long-term potential. But his key metric on employee success is happiness, believing an unhappy employee is a low performer. "Success with employees stems from happiness," he told me. "When I have a one-on-one employee meeting, I typically start by asking if they're happy."For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6oK9For all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Leave it to a customer to speak truth to an entrepreneur. That's what happened when Lelac Almagor, a Washington, D.C. school teacher, purchased an electric kid-hauler cargo bike from Bunch Bikes, a Texas-based direct-to-consumer manufacturer and seller.Supply-chain disruptions during the pandemic almost shut down Bunch Bikes. Then the founder, Aaron Powell, met Almagor at a bike event. "I learned she is much better at selling the bike than me," he said.Powell shares his story in this episode — from launching the company in 2017 to its near demise a few years later to hiring Almagor. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6oGcFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Patrick Campbell founded ProfitWell, an advisory platform for SaaS companies, in 2012 after stints at the U.S. Department of Defense and Google. He sold the business last year for $200 million.ProfitWell had no outside investors. Campbell paid himself a $74,000 annual salary. He had $20,000 in the bank when the deal closed.How does a founder, or anyone, adjust to $200 million from $20,000? Campbell addressed that question and more in this thoughtful interview.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6oBXFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Harry Joiner launched his ecommerce recruiting firm in 2005. He's witnessed many market fluctuations since. Early 2008 was bad, he says. No companies were hiring. The onset of Covid was equally bad. He calls the state of ecommerce jobs in 2023 "a zoo" with many more candidates than positions and likely permanent structural changes in the overall hiring market.Here's his perspective as an 18-year recruiting veteran.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6oxWFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Ecommerce Conversations host Eric Bandholz is the founder of Beardbrand, a leading direct-to-consumer seller of men's grooming products. 2023 has been challenging for the business — "a perfect storm of calamities" per Eric.This episode is admirably transparent with Eric sharing his view of good and bad decisions, supply chain hurdles, marketing missteps, and much more. It's a story of perseverance and determination. It's an entrepreneur opening up, hoping to help others in similar circumstances. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6otjFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Elizabeth Mercer had her first child four years after launching Sleekform, an online seller of ergonomic office furniture. Returning to work after childbirth was a challenge. "I thought I could just come back and be off to the races," she said. "I knew my body would take time to recover, but I did not expect the mental taxation of childbirth."She persevered. In this episode, she describes adjusting to motherhood while running a company — including priorities, time management, and more.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?P71For all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Steve Chou is a merchant, blogger, podcaster, and trainer. He's now a book author with the release in May of "The Family First Entrepreneur," his HarperCollins title on business, freedom, and priorities.This is Chou's third appearance on the podcast. In 2020 he discussed Bumblebee Linens, his osCommerce store. In 2022 he described his preference for frugal living despite having achieved financial success.In this interview, Chou addresses the process of publishing and promoting his book, now a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He recounted finding a publisher, securing an advance, appearing on hundreds of podcasts, and his hopes for long-term sales.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6odwFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Brad Moss is a former Amazon product manager turned video game developer. He's now chief Amazon officer at Brandless, a direct-to-consumer seller of home, health, and beauty goods and an active acquirer of other companies.Brandless launched in 2017 and famously flamed out in early 2020 after raising close to $300 million in funding. A private equity firm purchased the assets, regrouped, and is now thriving by all accounts.In this interview, Moss discusses Brandless's journey, its acquisition criteria, and his own interests, which include a side AI project. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6o90For all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Athena Severi co-founded Titan Network, an Amazon-seller community, in 2019 with Dan Ashburn, a U.K.-based merchant. Before that, the pair launched China Magic for product sourcing.Titan Network hosts in-person events and offers workshops, mentoring, and collaboration. In this conversation, Severi discusses Titan, selling on Amazon, the benefits of community, and more.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6o3OFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. http://www.practicalecommerce.com