Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
In 2012, Eric Bandholz quit his job as a financial adviser at a major bank. Not because he had a business plan – primarily because he had a beard. No joke.
The unspoken dress code in finance wanted clean-shaven conformity, but Eric disagreed: “If you do nothing, you grow facial hair,” he thought. “Why pretend otherwise?”
He let the beard grow, entered a beard competition in Oregon, and met others who didn’t fit the “lumberjack” stereotype.
They were thoughtful, stylish, urban, and underserved. There was no brand speaking to them and that was the spark.
Over a decade later and Beardbrand has achieved:
💰 7-figure annual revenue, built without external investment
📹 2M+ YouTube subscribers across grooming and lifestyle content
🧑🤝🧑 Built a thriving customer community for product feedback and early access
📰 Featured in The New York Times, Shark Tank, GQ, and Men’s Health
Each month, we’ll sit down with a founder who’s built something remarkable.
No two stories – or growth playbooks – are the same. These conversations go beyond the buzzwords, unpacking the specific tactics, channel choices, and mindset shifts that helped ecommerce brands break through.
Watch the full video here or read our overview below! 👇
Top three quotes from the session
“In the early days, 99% of your time should be spent getting in front of people. Stop overthinking. Stop planning. Just start talking to customers, messaging influencers, or sharing content. You’ll learn faster by doing than by researching.”
“If nothing you’re doing is working, and it’s all hard – chances are, you don’t have product-market fit yet. Great products should feel like they’re pulling you along.”
“Business is just a series of problems to solve. Your job is to figure out which one is most urgent and fix that. Everything else can wait.”
How it started: Beardbrand went content first, not commerce
Beardbrand didn’t launch with products – it launched with purpose. Eric created a YouTube channel and Tumblr blog that spoke directly to men who embraced beards but rejected tired stereotypes.
His early videos were scrappy, with self-admitted “poor lighting” and a basic webcam setup but this made the early days deeply relatable.
He didn’t try to be an expert, he just shared what he was learning, and that openness made the brand human, to which the audience responded.
Milestone #1: Stop pitching your friends. Find people similar to you
For years, Eric had tried (and failed) to get friends to start a business with him but nothing clicked.
The shift came when he stopped convincing and started connecting with other entrepreneurs.
He joined a collective called Startup Weekend and that’s where he met Jeremy and Lindsay, his future co-founders. They didn’t need persuading – they saw the same opportunity.
Their partnership became the foundation of Beardbrand: a values-led company with a clear point of view, and no outside investment.
Milestone #2: When content found its format, YouTube became the engine
The first videos were rough. Just Eric talking to his laptop and explaining how to care for a beard. No proper script and most definitely no studio.
But it resonated. His audience grew because the advice was real, and it came from someone going through it himself.
Then came the barbershop videos which brought about some viral successes. So the team doubled down.
Over time, they spun off their educational content into its own YouTube channel and used the main one for more entertainment-driven content.
Key insight: content should start wide, then follow the data. Let your audience show you what matters.
Milestone #3: The New York Times, Shark Tank, and the moment they had to scale
At one point, Beardbrand got featured in The New York Times (without any PR money behind it, by the way.) Then came Eric’s appearance Shark Tank. The brand was everywhere.
Suddenly, the side project had to operate like a real company so they began to scale up operations, added team members, and expanded product lines.
But they didn’t abandon their roots. No matter how big the audience got, Eric stayed close to the customers, and to the educational content.
Tactic Tip #1: YouTube wasn’t just top of the funnel – it was the brand
Beardbrand’s use of YouTube offers a clear playbook for building brand affinity and driving long-term revenue.
His early videos weren’t polished; they were honest and helpful. He leaned into education and shared what he was learning about beard care in real time. The key here is consistency over perfection.
Eric found that content showing haircut transformations in barbershops massively outperformed others in engagement, so they doubled down on that niche and spun off additional content to serve it.
The subscriber count skyrocketed – but it didn’t convert nearly as well.
That prompted a rethink: high views don’t equal high-value customers. Instead of chasing virality, he recommends focusing on the types of content that create meaningful, loyal relationships with viewers.
Based on these insights, Beardbrand separated channels to maintain clarity between “entertainment-first” and “solution-first” content, building an effective content machine.
Tactic Tip #2: Influencers said yes because Eric asked, not a brand
When Beardbrand does influencer outreach, it’s Eric doing it. He watches creators in relevant niches (like EDC) and reaches out as a fan – not a sponsor.
There’s no bulk email. No template brief. Just something simple like: “Hey, I love what you’re doing. Want to try our stuff?”
This approach still works today because it’s real and because the founder’s energy isn’t something that can be faked.
Tactic Tip #3: Gated communities turns buyers into believers
Most brands have email lists. Beardbrand has a gated community. The Beardbrand Alliance is invite-only: you qualify after three purchases or spending $150.
Inside? Early product drops, behind-the-scenes content, events, and one-on-one access to the brand.
It’s not about driving more revenue. It’s about deepening connection—and turning customers into co-creators.
Tactic Tip #4: Paid ads didn’t scale – and that’s okay
Beardbrand tried paid ads early but they never became a core channel for the business. Why? Because they didn’t align with how the team worked.
“I’m not a data guy,” Eric admitted. Their strength was story, not spreadsheets.
Instead, they used paid ads tactically: to retarget organic traffic, boost successful content, and test messaging from reviews.
Tactic Tip #5: Email does the long-term work
While YouTube built reach, email built revenue. Beardbrand used email to:
Share grooming tips and lifestyle content
Promote launches and bundle offers
Highlight customer stories and reviews
Because their email audience already trusted them, conversion rates were strong, and they didn’t depend on chasing algorithms.
How Beardbrand uses reviews
Every review Beardbrand collects via Judge.me flows into a dedicated Slack channel.
The entire team sees them, and they use them proactively:
For product insight: spotting patterns in praise or complaints
For marketing copy: mining great lines from real customers
For ads: one review where a woman admitted that “I kiss my husband just to smell his beard” became their best-performing campaign
For transparency: they leave negative reviews live and reply directly, showing customers that real feedback matters
This is a great example how reviews become more than social proof. Use your reviews to create content, culture, and customer insight in one.
Final thoughts: Grow slow, serve deep, and build for people like you
Eric didn’t build Beardbrand to chase a trend. He built it because it didn’t exist and because he believed other people like him were being overlooked.
That clarity shaped every growth choice. Content over ads. Community over reach. Consistency over hype.
If you’re building a brand today, here’s the number one takeaway: Start with the smallest viable audience. Serve them better than anyone else and then let the growth come to you.
Because if you build something that truly resonates, your customers won’t just buy, they’ll stay.
They’ll tell others and, if done really well, they’ll build the brand with you.
