Ecomm Cowboy Talks AI and Underdogs

Chris Hall is an ecommerce entrepreneur turned media operator. His new “Ecomm Cowboy” show broadcasts live Monday through Friday on X and YouTube. The mission, he says, is twofold: deliver daily news to sellers and offer companionship to those working alone.

Chris first appeared on the podcast in 2023 as the marketing head of a D2C brand. In this our latest conversation, he addresses his goals for Ecomm Cowboy, production challenges, and, yes, the power of AI tools for one-person brands.

Our entire audio is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.

Eric Bandholz: Who are you and what do you do?

Chris Hall: I’m the founder of Ecomm Cowboy, a startup media company broadcasting live Monday through Friday on X and YouTube. We talk about the current and future state of ecommerce so operators can survive and thrive. I launched the show about a month ago.

I stumbled into ecommerce in 2014. I created one of the first subscription coffee brands on the internet.

After that, I worked for a marketing agency and then with Bruce Bolt, the D2C athletic glove company.

Bandholz: What are your goals for Ecomm Cowboy?

Hall: I’ve contemplated the concept for years, with two missions.

First, ecommerce owners are on the bleeding edge of the ever-changing internet. We cover the top news stories, retail developments, direct-to-consumer topics, artificial intelligence — anything related to selling online.

Second, working from a laptop at home is common in the ecommerce industry, but it’s intensely lonely. For many, it’s a dreadful experience. So I hope Ecomm Cowboy is also a place where people can have a companion of sorts and interact.

Bandholz: A daily show with guests is a lot of work.

Hall: Yes, it is. We usually have one guest, but sometimes it’s two. Each show runs an hour. I hope to extend it eventually to two hours.

I prepare for three to four hours each day, covering everything that’s happened, who’s appearing, and what to discuss. Plus events occur in real time that alter the plan.

After each show,  there’s editing, cutting, and posting to make the most of the content. So it’s a lot of energy and time, but I love it.

I thrive on the pressure. There’s much to do every day before noon Central time, when the show goes live.

It brings me back to my time playing football at the University of Texas, where every practice I had to be ready to battle,  mentally and physically. A part of me still welcomes the challenge. I wake up excited every day because of it.

Bandholz: What’s the state of ecommerce?

Hall: AI tools are jaw-dropping. Six months ago, we were laughing at them, but no more. AI can now perform tasks such as ad creation, empowering what I call a one-person brand.

Sean Frank of Ridge, the wallet maker, calls it Ecommerce 4.0. It’s an opportunity for underdogs. One person, harnessing today’s tools, can do what took an entire team five years ago.

A good example is Kive, an AI tool that generates product specs directly within the image. A recent guest, Bart Szaniewski from Dad Gang, a D2C hat seller, described the tool. He uses the images on his Instagram feed.

Bandholz: If you can’t communicate in today’s world, you will be left behind.

Hall: That’s fair. The most adept operators are communicating (in ways I have yet to take advantage of) using AI tools that produce a voice, a video, a copywriting style.

I see two routes going forward. There’s the anti-AI bet. The best way to be anti-AI and build trust is to be live and in person. Be an actual human who’s making mistakes and producing something good enough that people will come back.

The second route is to stay at the forefront of AI technology and become expert on the tools and methods. If you can win visitors in a way that doesn’t deceive them, there’s a way to enrich yourself.

On a recent show, we touched on an app called DramaBox. It produces AI-generated TikTok-style mini dramas. Each episode is literally one minute long. I’m told the business is booming from selling access to the shows. Viewers download the app, pay, and then consume the content.

To me, it’s horrible for humanity, although I use an AI-powered video maker from ByteDance called Seedance 2.0. A number of popular videos use Seedance, such as Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible.

Many observers say Hollywood is obsolete, a step behind. I don’t know about that. But what I do know is that the capabilities are better than ever.

And now it’s up to us. How can we use the tools to improve what we talk about or solve a problem for them?

Bandholz: Where can listeners watch your show, follow you, or get in touch?

Hall: The show “Ecomm Cowboy” on X and YouTube. I’m also on X or LinkedIn.

DIY Approach Fuels Craft Cocktail Brand

Chris Harrison says it all started with a single pot on a stove. He and two high school buddies launched Liber & Co., a manufacturer of premium cocktail syrups, with that tiny test batch in 2011 in Austin, Texas.

Fast forward to 2026, and batches are now in 1,500-gallon tanks and sold worldwide to restaurants, bars, and consumers. But the culture remains hands-on, do-it-yourself, and learn-by-doing.

Chris first appeared on the podcast in 2022. In our recent conversation, he shared the company’s origins, sourcing tactics, growth plans, and more. Our entire audio is embedded below. The transcript is edited for clarity and length.

Eric Bandholz: Who are you, and what do you do?

Chris Harrison: I’m a co-founder of Liber & Co. We make premium non-alcoholic cocktail syrups for bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and home consumers. We’re based in Georgetown, Texas, near Austin, and handle almost everything in-house: manufacturing, warehousing, marketing, ecommerce, wholesale, and even international sales.

Our founding team grew up together in the same small Texas town. We’re the same age, went to the same high school, and came from similar blue-collar backgrounds. We didn’t have a big professional network or capital to outsource everything, so if something needed to be done, we learned to do it ourselves.

We’re also food people. You can’t outsource being a foodie or understanding flavor. Even the best chefs are hands-on in the kitchen, tasting, adjusting, and refining. That mindset shaped Liber & Co. from the beginning. We wanted to be close to the product to understand the ingredients, sourcing, and flavor development firsthand. That do-it-yourself culture became part of our identity.

Bandholz: How did you learn production, moving from a kitchen to a manufacturing facility?

Harrison: It’s a long, incremental journey. We relied on research and trial and error. We started with a small stock pot on a stove, then moved to a 25-gallon pan, then a 200-gallon tank, and now we operate multiple 1,500-gallon tanks.

That gradual progression was critical. You can’t attempt too much without putting the business at risk. If we had jumped straight from a kitchen setup to our current scale, we would have made far more expensive mistakes. Iterating step by step gave us time to understand what worked and what didn’t. There aren’t many shortcuts when you’re building something physical.

Our product category also made things harder. Unlike breweries, which often follow well-established scaling paths, there wasn’t a clear blueprint for cocktail syrups. That meant a lot of independent study, testing equipment, ordering samples, and experimenting with processes. We made mistakes along the way, which were part of the learning curve.

Manufacturing your own product limits capacity. You can’t sell more than you can physically make. There’s no co-manufacturer to absorb demand — you are the bottleneck. That was especially true in the early days.

Early on, we did whatever it took to fulfill orders. I spent 18 hours straight in the kitchen more than once to fill large orders for H-E-B, the grocery chain. It was manual work: long days, minimal breaks, and just pushing through. Thirteen years later, we’re grateful we no longer have to operate that way.

Bandholz: How do you find ingredient suppliers?

Harrison: Most of our sourcing has come from research. That includes a lot of Googling, using ChatGPT and Gemini, and contacting suppliers directly. We typically send a detailed request for proposal outlining who we are, what we need, and our product specifications. Then we ask if they can meet those requirements, provide documentation, and send samples. From there, we test and evaluate.

We cast a wide net geographically. With ginger, for example, we looked at suppliers across Africa, China, Vietnam, and Hawaii before ultimately choosing a Peruvian source. Some leads come from word of mouth. Someone might say, “I saw great ginger in Peru.” I’ll track down the producer through Google or LinkedIn. That actually happened.

It takes persistence. My background is in biology, so I enjoy getting into the weeds, so to speak. We also try to maintain backup suppliers. Fresh produce is unpredictable; pineapple crops suffered globally this year, driving up prices. A frozen backup supply helped smooth costs, but sourcing is never easy or guaranteed.

Bandholz: Is frozen produce better than fresh?

Harrison: In many cases, yes, frozen can be better. Farmers can wait until fruit reaches peak ripeness before harvesting. For something like raspberries, they’ll test sugar content the day of harvest using a refractometer. They literally crush the fruit and measure Brix, the dissolved-sugar level. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration even publishes approved Brix ranges for various fruits, such as peaches, pomegranates, and raspberries.

Farmers aim to hit those targets because that’s where flavor, aroma, and sweetness are best. But it comes from ripening on the vine. Once harvested, the fruit must be used immediately or preserved. Freezing is one of the best ways to lock in that peak quality.

Frozen storage requires capital. Cold storage and refrigerated transportation are expensive, but the tradeoff is consistency and quality. The frozen supply chain has expanded significantly. We’re seeing more investment in large-scale frozen facilities across the country. Even in central Texas, companies are building new frozen warehouses. We use one in North Austin.

If you’re serious about sourcing high-quality food ingredients, the frozen cold chain is often the best option.

Plus, we typically purchase small portions. Large companies such as Smucker’s buy in massive bulk. We like buying from cooperatives of many smaller, independent farms. Certain regions grow crops naturally well. For raspberries, that’s the U.S. Pacific Northwest, parts of Washington and Oregon.

Those regions have family-run farms, often third-generation operations, managing anywhere from 20 to 200 acres. Around them are many similar farms, all growing the same crop in the same climate. That creates a strong network effect: consistent weather, shared knowledge, and reliable quality across the region.

Because these farms remain independent, you avoid some of the downsides of large, consolidated operations. There’s less pressure to cut corners, harvest early, or sacrifice quality to maximize margins. In our experience, the cooperative model prioritizes long-term quality and sustainability.

We might buy one or two truckloads of fruit per year — roughly 40,000 to 80,000 pounds. A cooperative, by contrast, may handle 400 or 500 truckloads in a single harvest. Being a small buyer reduces risk. If we relied on a single farm for everything, we’d be far more vulnerable to supply disruptions.

Bandholz: How do you plan to evolve the brand?

Harrison: We don’t feel limited. We’ve explored packaging formats beyond bottles, which we currently use for syrups. Cans are a natural extension for cocktails, mocktails, or even cannabis beverages. From a formulation, sourcing, and food safety perspective, we could make those products. Packaging is often the most expensive part of goods. It can feel like a constraint, but it’s more about investment and logistics than capability.

At our scale, outsourcing packaging formats is possible. Specialized manufacturers can handle canning at scale. The primary considerations are unit economics and lack of control. That’s a philosophical question as much as a business one.

Overall, we see opportunities to grow both vertically and horizontally. We can deepen what we already do with syrups or expand into new formats, product types, and channels. Brand evolution is more about strategy, resources, and willingness to experiment while maintaining quality and authenticity.

Bandholz: Where can people buy your syrups and get in touch?

Harrison: Our site is LiberAndCompany.com. I’m on LinkedIn.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of 2025

I talk a lot on the podcast about business, growth, and solving problems, but at some point it’s worth stepping back to ask why we’re doing any of this in the first place.

This recap is about Beardbrand (my company) and our 2025 performance: What worked, what didn’t, what was painful, and what made it all worth it.

It’s also a reminder to take stock of your own priorities — how you’re allocating your time, energy, and attention — and whether they align with the life you’re trying to build.

The Good

Longtime listeners know that 2023 and 2024 were extremely challenging for me personally and for Beardbrand. We lost a lot of money in 2023 and less, but still meaningful, in 2024. The good news is that in 2025, we became profitable again.

Looking back, our conservative financial strategy before things turned bad helped us survive. It allowed us to withstand rapid market changes and support our staff for as long as possible. That discipline helped us weather the storm.

From a growth standpoint, subscriptions have been a major win. At our lowest point, we had roughly 1,500 subscriptions. We made a focused effort to rebuild, and recently we surpassed 11,000 active subscriptions. Hitting 10,000-plus gives us predictable revenue and long-term stability. Churn has remained low, and we’re still adding members weekly, which is encouraging.

Another big win was finding the right fulfillment partner. After two moves — including one near our manufacturer that didn’t work out — we landed on a small Austin-based provider. The staff offers white-glove service, takes responsibility when issues arise, and aligns with the customer experience we want to deliver. Plus, being local helps. We can visit, meet the team, and fine-tune packaging and shipping costs.

Manufacturing has also improved. Finding the right manufacturing partner is a Goldilocks problem — not too big, not too small, just right. One of our supplier-partners discovered us through this podcast. They’ve allowed us to keep inventory lean, place smaller, more frequent orders, and maintain quality. That’s reduced customer complaints, lowered stress, and helped us avoid unsellable inventory — a major contributor to losses in prior years.

Engagement with customers has improved as we let them vote on which limited-edition fragrance would become permanent.

Another win — we subleased our oversized office, a costly remnant from when our team size was at its peak, easing a significant financial burden until the lease ends in 2026.

The Bad

The biggest hurdle is that the beard care industry has shifted from a blue to a red ocean. A blue ocean is wide open — lots of opportunity, little competition. Today, beard care feels saturated and stagnant.

I see this in search data. Terms like “how to grow a beard,” “beard oil,” and “beard balm” are flat or declining. Meanwhile, other personal care categories such as shampoo, bar soap, and cologne continue to grow. When I look at Beardbrand and our top competitors, we’re all flat or down.

One way to resume growth is with organic content. We’ve had content hits and misses, but we haven’t reliably delivered the quality and volume I want. If we fix it, we can deepen relationships with our audience and stand out again.

Paid media has also been frustrating. Like many brands, we haven’t cracked Meta at scale. We’ll find an ad that works, get excited, then watch it fall flat days later. We’ve hovered around $30,000 a month in spend without breaking through. We recently started integrating more data-driven decision-making.

I expected revenue to grow in 2025 after fixing problems from 2023 and 2024. That didn’t happen. We likely won’t beat last year’s numbers, which forced us to make painful staffing cuts — letting go of two long-tenured, incredible team members. That was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make.

Amazon sales have also regressed. We’ve worked with the same agency for three years, and while they’ve done good work, it feels like we’ve plateaued. We’re planning to switch partners.

The Ugly

Overall, 2025 was fairly stress-free, which I’ll gladly take. The biggest issue was that we got sued again. This one came from a patent troll.

Patent lawsuits are very different from the Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit, which we chose to fight. We had invested heavily in making our site accessible for people with disabilities, including those with vision impairments, and ultimately, we were able to get that case dismissed.

Patent cases are another story. The financial risk of fighting is much higher. Defending the ADA lawsuit cost roughly the same as a settlement. Given where Beardbrand was after multiple years of losses, I swallowed my pride and settled.

What made the decision easier is that, once settled, a patent holder cannot sue again for the same alleged infringement. Another party would need to hold the same patent, which is unlikely. I feel at peace with the choice. The direct-to-consumer community on X was also incredibly helpful, connecting us with a great attorney, which made the process smoother.

Hopefully, that’s the last lawsuit for a while. We’re doing everything we can to protect ourselves — updated privacy policies, cookie consent for pixel tracking in applicable states, and ongoing ADA audits.

Personal Wins and Losses

One of my goals for 2026 is to return to a “profit first” mindset — building a business that’s profitable while also supporting my personal life. Over the past few years, I’ve pulled from savings to maintain our standard of living. I’m grateful I had that cushion, but I don’t want it to be the norm.

The highlight of 2025 was a trip to Japan with my 12-year-old daughter. Travel is something we both love, and it gave us a shared experience during a fleeting stage of life. This trip felt meaningful for her and me as she grows into her own independence. I’m incredibly pleased we did it.

Health-wise, it’s been a good year. I’m rowing again, lifting consistently, and I avoided major injuries. My wife and kids have been healthy, which I never take for granted.

I’m also profoundly grateful for my friends — in Austin, online, and the broader D2C community — who’ve helped me navigate challenging moments.

There was a personal loss, however. My wife and I transferred our final IVF embryo, and it wasn’t successful. That chapter is now closed after more than a decade of infertility and loss. I share this because many are going through similar struggles. You’re not alone.