Honest Ecommerce

Ravi Kurani has dedicated his career to water safety. From his early days as a pool boy for his father's pool and spa business to the founder of Sutro, Ravi has always wondered why everyone can’t have clean water. 

This feeling solidified when he was in India with First Light Ventures Fund and Village Capital. 

He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Riverside, MBA in International Finance from Middlebury College, and a Certificate from Stanford University in Renewable Energy Systems. 

He believes that being an entrepreneur is an honor he must earn daily since it gives him the ability to solve problems that not only make money but help society.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:01] What are Sutro’s products?
• [01:59] Where the idea of Sutro came from
• [03:22] The gap in the market and the first prototype
• [05:35] The next step after building the prototype
• [07:52] Finding the first customers to test the product
• [09:31] Removing the “human element”
• [11:38] Changing the business model due to the pandemic
• [13:09] Getting the product into customers’ eyes
• [14:35] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [15:32] Sponsor: Shopify shopify.com/honest
• [17:14] Sponsor: Sendlane sendlane.com/honest
• [18:54] Find the right people
• [20:10] Understand that the world is always changing
• [21:36] Strategy vs Tactics
• [22:32] Where to find Sutro

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• The world's leading water testing device mysutro.com
• A podcast about water through the lens of business, technology, and policy liquidassets.cc
• Connect with Ravi linkedin.com/in/kuraniravi
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Take your retail business to the next level today shopify.com/honest
  Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

T is for Tot was founded by Meghan, a passionate kindergarten teacher, with the goal of making learning enjoyable for children ages 3-6. 

T is for Tot’s carefully crafted subscription kits provide parents with a stress-free way to support their child's academic growth through fun, play-based activities.

Each T is for Tot Kit is designed to nurture a love for learning and ensure that your child is not only prepared for kindergarten but also set up for a lifetime of learning success.

Meghan Foster is a mom of 2 boys, taught kindergarten for close to a decade before starting T is for Tot, I have my master's degree in elementary education as well as a business degree. 

T is for Tot kits are all-encompassing and delivered each month with everything included for play-based learning fun. 

The goal of T is for Tot l is to make it easy for parents to give their child Pinterest-like activities, while teaching them in a developmentally appropriate way at the same time. 

T is for Tot includes essential fundamentals in every kit, taught in a way that is fun and developmentally appropriate. 

There's ample early childhood research that states the importance of starting learning early, and it needs to be a play-based approach that engages the child and leads the child to eventually be motivated in his/her own learning.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [00:50] What are Learn and Play Kits?
• [01:27] Where the idea of T is for Tot come from
• [02:37] What comes with a typical kit?
• [03:25] From a creative outlet to a business
• [04:04] Developing the brand and subscriptions
• [05:22] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [06:16] Sponsor: Shopify shopify.com/honest
• [08:01] Sponsor: Sendlane sendlane.com/honest
• [09:28] Getting the product in front of customers’ hands
• [10:13] From friends and family to real customers
• [11:06] Did T is for Tot experience growing pains?
• [12:00] Manufacturing and fulfillment still in-house
• [12:10] Meghan’s advice for people who want to start
• [12:59] Where to support T is for Tot

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Play-based activities to inspire a lifelong love of learning, delivered every month tisfortot.shop
• Connect with Meghan linkedin.com/in/meghan-foster-78589840
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Take your retail business to the next level today shopify.com/honest
  Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Kristin Schoenstein has been a Program Director with Worldwide Business Research since 2010 and has been producing events since 2004. 

She currently specializes in the retail and eCommerce sector where she heads up the eTail US portfolio. 

She also successfully launched and grew WBR’s customer experience portfolio. In her role, she is responsible for market research, content creation and speaker faculty management for each event. 

Prior to WBR, she produced events in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector, and got her start organizing educational programming for physicians. 

Kristin lives on the North Fork of Long Island with her husband and three daughters.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:12] What are eTail conferences?
• [01:47] Other conferences from WBR
• [02:25] What you will experience at eTail
• [04:36] Does brand size matter to benefit from eTail?
• [05:36] eTail is also for apps, specialists, and vendors
• [06:22] Networking is a huge benefit to conferences
• [06:49] Why next year is a special year for eTail
• [07:51] Tips for first-timers at eTail
• [09:07] Don’t overwhelm yourself, take breaks and plan
• [09:35] eTail discount code for Honest Ecommerce listeners

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Pre-register for eTail Boston 2023

etaileast.wbresearch.com/srspricing
Use HONESTECOMMERCE20 to get a 20% discount

• Pre-register for eTail Palm Springs 2024 etailwest.wbresearch.com/downloads/pre-register
  Use HONESTECOMMERCE20 to get a 20% discount
• Connect with Kristin linkedin.com/in/kristin-paulick-schoenstein-0a7aa95

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Andrei Rebrov has worked in the technology field for more than 15 years. 

He is the CTO and Co-Founder of Scentbird, a subscription service for perfumes and colognes, and has helped it grow to more than 500,000 active subscribers. 

At Scentbird, Andrei was responsible for building early versions of the platform, growing a remote engineering team and making sure that the company has technology advantages in every department, from marketing to operations. 

He is also a startup adviser in various industries, from aerospace to video games. 

Prior to Scentbird Andrei worked as an agile engineering coach, helping various companies with their technology. 

Prior to that he worked as a software engineer for UBS Investment Bank and Avis UK.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [00:59] What is Scentbird?
• [01:41] Where the idea of Scentbird came from
• [02:54] Implementing a trial run of a subscription
• [03:47] The initial batch of shipments
• [04:35] Andrei’s background before being a startup founder
• [05:55] Learning agile late in the career
• [06:21] When you should focus on agile
• [07:38] Knowing when you are onto something
• [08:37] The growing pains that Scentbird experienced
• [09:56] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [10:53] Sponsor: Sendlane sendlane.com/honest
• [12:27] Build vs buy: Where Andrei draws the line
• [13:51] What is composable commerce?
• [14:55] Only go headless when you really need it
• [16:20] Start small and don’t make unnecessary changes
• [17:10] Traditional Ecom vs Subscriptions
• [19:30] Where to support Scentbird
• [19:57] Working with 2 different tech stacks
• [20:53] Look for things to complement your business
• [21:55] The advantages of acquiring an additional business

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Date perfumes before marrying them. Explore over 600 designer fragrances. scentbird.com
• Connect with linkedin.com/in/andrebrov
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Alex McIntosh is the Co-Founder and CEO of Thrive Natural Care, a skincare company that helps regenerate your skin, our planet, and farmer communities.

To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [00:53] What are Thrive Natural Care products?
• [01:22] Which came first, passion or product?
• [03:43] Business as an engine to make the world better
• [04:00] The starting point of Thrive Natural Care
• [05:10] Figuring out the idea to put your energy in
• [06:45] The Mini Piloto model
• [09:19] Getting featured in the New York Times
• [10:11] Regenerative farming to improve farmers’ lives
• [10:50] Sponsor: Electric Eye https://electriceye.io/connect
• [11:47] Sponsor: Shopify https://shopify.com/honest
• [11:47] Sponsor: Sendlane https://sendlane.com/honest
• [15:12] Is it a good idea? Vs Should I not do this?
• [16:11] Launching a novel model bootstrapped
• [17:37] How the Mini Piloto was applied to Thrive
• [20:30] Celebrate the learning & racing to own “mistakes”
• [21:22] Where Thrive launched to market first
• [23:57] Struggles are not a period, but a cycle
• [24:45] Have a big vision & pay attention to your values
• [25:20] Culture amplifies your value
• [26:35] The best MBA is starting a business
• [26:50] The best way to support Thrive

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Connect with Alex linkedin.com/in/alex-mcintosh-4372888
• Regenerative, effective, plant-based skincare for every body thrivecare.co
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Take your retail business to the next level today shopify.com/honest
  Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Adam Robinson is the CEO and founder of Retention.com, an industry-leading Shopify Ecommerce solution for increasing cart abandonment revenue.

Adam bootstrapped Retention.com to 14M ARR with 6 people in 2.5 years, and is on the road to reaching 50M ARR by 2024. 

Retention.com delivers innovative customer growth solutions for e-commerce brands to monetize their first-party audience, successfully generating over $1bn in retail sales for Shopify stores since its inception in early 2020. 

Before starting Retention.com, Adam founded, bootstrapped and sold Robly Email Marketing, a marketing automation SaaS, for 8 figures to private equity in 2021. 

Adam is on a mission to support startup founders by sharing lessons learned from his entrepreneurial journey through his weekly podcast “10 years in the Making”, and posts content twice-daily on LinkedIn. 

When he’s not busy building a unicorn startup in public, he’s spending time with his wife, Helen, newborn daughter, Emma, and dog Bonnie in Austin, TX.

To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Watch the video episode to see what Adam is sharing on his screen
• Connect with Adam linkedin.com/in/retentionadam
• Shoot Adam an email if you have questions [email protected]
• Follow Adam on Twitter @retentionadam
• Quickly and easily grow your email list and boost your shopping cart abandonment revenue with retention marketing solutions retention.com

Annamarie von Firley is the President of Adventuretown Toy Emporium, the beloved educational Ecommerce toy store that cultivates children's curiosity by learning through play.

To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Cultivating children's curiosity by learning through play with innovative educational toys adventuretowntoys.com
• Helping parents meet the developmental needs of their children under 3 years of age fledglingsflight.com
• Connect with Annamarie linkedin.com/in/annamarie-von-firley-b7650ab
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts https://electriceye.io/connect
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert https://sendlane.com/honest

Paul Voge is the co-founder and CEO of Aura Bora, a national beverage company from San Francisco. 

Since the company’s founding in 2019, Paul has expanded the brand’s whimsical sparkling waters into more than 8,000 stores including Sprouts, Whole Foods, Target, Publix, and Wegmans. 

Aura Bora’s best-selling retail varieties include  Lavender Cucumber, Ginger Meyer Lemon, and Cactus Rose. 

Plus, every month Paul and his team formulate and release online-exclusive flavors for sparkling water aficionados like Guava Eucalyptus, Mango Chili, and the infamous Green Bean Casserole. 

Aura Bora prides itself on being sugar-free, calorie-free, non-GMO, Whole30 certified, and made with real herbal extracts. 

Read more in Fortune, Business Insider, Dieline, and AdWeek. Paul’s entrepreneurial journey started with t-shirts, socks, concrete curbs, and even Christmas trees. 

As a Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee and Shark Tank success story, he has turned Aura Bora into one of the fastest growing beverage businesses in the world. 

When not selling sparkling water, you can find Paul somewhere deep in the woods, away from his phone.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:12] What are Aura Bora’s products?
• [01:37] Where the idea of Aura Bora came from
• [02:50] Making sure that the market wants your product
• [05:09] Getting feedback from “serious drinkers”
• [06:41] Launching a food/bev product in Boulder, CO
• [08:10] When the worst case scenario isn’t too bad
• [09:43] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [10:40] Sponsor: Sendlane sendlane.com/honest
• [12:07] Go-to-market strategy at the start of COVID
• [13:30] How Paul got into Whole Foods shelves
• [15:09] Was it the play to go wholesale first?
• [15:53] The pandemic forced Aura Bora to pivot to D2C
• [16:24] How Aura Bora got featured in Shark Tank
• [17:19] Preparing for the “Shark Tank Bump”
• [19:08] Circumventing the risks of fragile packaging
• [20:28] Aura Bora’s new subscription line
• [21:31] Where to buy to support Aura Bora directly

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Connect with Paul linkedin.com/in/paulvoge
• Heavenly sparkling water made from herbs, fruits, and flowers aurabora.com
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Isaac Hyman is the founder of HiFlyer Digital, an email & SMS marketing agency for the fastest-growing e-commerce brands in the world, as well as a featured e-commerce speaker and new author of The Ultimate Ecommerce Email & SMS Playbook. 

Isaac is on a mission to help brands level the playing field with the top e-commerce brands and unlock the true revenue potential of every customer on their email & SMS list.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:07] The smart things that HiFlyer Digital does
• [02:16] Percentage of customers that just buy one time
• [03:49] Books and shows that help with post purchase
• [04:32] Customer relationships doesn’t end with the sale
• [05:58] Don’t just focus on the sale
• [06:53] The smart way to run post purchase strategies
• [08:10] 4 stages of the hourglass mindset
• [09:53] How to get Isaac’s free playbook
• [11:07] Relationships around Isaac helped his perspective
• [11:57] Isaac is gonna go back before Q4 and BFCm
• [12:23] Focus on the person behind the email/phone number

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Award-winning email marketing agency, SMS and CRM for Ecommerce brands that knows how to unlock the revenue from every customer on your list hiflyerdigital.com
• Connect with Isaac linkedin.com/in/isaachyman
• Never Lose a Customer Again book joeycoleman.com/books
• Get The Ultimate Ecommerce Email & SMS Playbook, just pay for shipping and handling. Use coupon code HONEST hiflyerdigital.com/playbook

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Keith Eshelman is the co-founder & CEO of Parks Project. Parks Project, founded in 2014, came from the idea that we can all do more to support America's parklands. 

In the early days, Keith volunteered at trail days in local national parks—through this, he realized that there was a huge lack of participation from the next generation. 

To change that, he created collections of apparel and accessories that would further connect consumers with parks to raise awareness of the projects taking place daily around the country and give folks a story to wear that supports outdoor conservation.

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:01] What are Parks Project’s products?
• [01:33] Where the idea of Parks Project came from
• [03:00] The progression of Parks Project products 
• [04:59] Finding customers through organic influence
• [07:00] Knowing that “We’re onto something”
• [08:17] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io/connect
• [09:13] Sponsor: Sendlane sendlane.com/honest
• [10:39] Insider perspectives for launching a brand
• [12:33] Ecom vs wholesale buyers
• [14:01] The evolution of the brand
• [15:30] Advice for founders finding product-market fit
• [17:30] Manage your relationships with your customers
• [18:39] Getting featured by Fast Company
• [19:18] There’s still much to do and learn
• [19:54] The wellness aspect of Parks Project
• [20:44] Where to find Parks Project
• [21:08] Keith’s tips when going to parks

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Celebrating America's National Parks with a line of apparel, accessories and home decor parksproject.us
• Connect with Keith linkedin.com/in/keith-eshelman-a972473
• Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect
• Schedule your free consultation with a Sendlane expert sendlane.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!