Eric Bandholz is the founder of Beardbrand, a bootstrapped men's grooming company that has leveraged YouTube and community to grow into a thriving business.

In this episode, Eric shares his inspiring journey from corporate America to entrepreneurship, why the core values drive everything they do, how Beardbrand creates loyal beardsmen, what it’s taken to create a loyal YouTube following, advice for creating authentic content, a 2022 recap and 2023 outlook, why he’s investing back in Amazon, and of course a ton of advice to any current or aspiring DTC founders.

Eric is a masterful storyteller and educator and I guarantee you will walk away with at least a few nuggets of wisdom.

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Watch the video format of today's episode here.

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Timestamps

(0:52) - intro

(1:52) - Who is Eric Bandholz? What is Beardbrand?

(3:30) - Eric’s journey from the corporate world to becoming an entrepreneur

(6:55) - What parts of the eCommerce business does Eric enjoy the most?

(7:55) - What parts of the eCommerce business does Eric not enjoy?

(8:45) - The power of setting core values when building a business

(13:58) - How does Beardbrand keep customers coming back to buy again and again?

(17:48) - The origins of building the Beardbrand community and content strategy

(19:30) - What’s the process like for creating Beardbrand YouTube content?

(23:20) - Do you need to go all-in on YouTube content to be successful?

(28:25) - Why chasing YouTube views is a vanity metric in eCommerce + lessons from Mr. Beast

(31:00) - What touch points go into turning a 1-time Beardbrand customer into a loyal customer?

(35:50) - Is the customer always right? Advice on getting feedback and taking action

(42:00) - What was 2022 like for Beardbrand? What’s coming in 2023?

(45:00) - Eric’s Amazon Strategy in 2023

(47:00) - Fear of Amazon cannibalizing the DTC channel?

(52:10) - What’s the thing that Eric is most proud of over the last 10 years of Beardbrand?

(55:30) - Where to buy Beardbrand products and get in touch with Eric