The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Ethercycle LLC

“How's an entrepreneur like me supposed to grow my Shopify store?” That's what The Unofficial Shopify Podcast aims to answer. Discover new opportunities to grow your store from the world’s most successful Shopify entrepreneurs. Hosted by Kurt Elster, a senior ecommerce consultant and Shopify Plus Partner, The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is not authorized, endorsed, or sponsored by Shopify– It's a no holds barred discussion of ecommerce growth strategy & tactics.

49 minutes 57 seconds

Montana Knife Company: American-Made Knife Empire
What if your side hustle turned into an 8-figure brand selling out every week?
Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DxGxZ20rfQI
Montana Knife Company’s Brandon Horoho shares the journey from launching during COVID to building a global brand rooted in American manufacturing. Discover how MKC redefined success with transparency, customer engagement, and relentless marketing.
Episode Highlights:
1. Why MKC chose Shopify as their platform and how it drives their success.
2. The secrets behind MKC’s 120+ consecutive weekly product sellouts.
3. How owning your email list can outshine ad spend.
4. Building a thriving direct-to-consumer brand in a competitive market.
5. The challenges and rewards of investing in local manufacturing.
6. What’s next for MKC: Pocket knives and a 50,000 sq. ft. facility.
About Brandon Horoho:
Brandon Horoho is the co-founder and CMO of Montana Knife Company, an American-made knife brand that has taken the DTC world by storm. With weekly product drops and an obsessive focus on quality, MKC has grown from a garage startup to an 8-figure powerhouse in just four years.
Show Links
Montana Knife Company: https://montanaknifecompany.com
Follow MKC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montanaknifecompany
Work with Kurt: https://ethercycle.com/
Sponsors:
Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
Address Validator: https://www.addressvalidator.com/
Work with Kurt:
Grow your Shopify store with me: https://ethercycle.com/apply
See our recent client successes: https://ethercycle.com/work
21 January 2025, 11:00 am
51 minutes 41 seconds

Growing a Supps Brand to $70M in 2.5 Years
Devyn Merklin, former CMO of Livingood Daily, shares the raw truth behind scaling a supplement brand to $70M in annual revenue. From relentless testing to mastering Shopify funnels, Devyn provides a thoughtful analysis of the strategies that worked, the mistakes that taught valuable lessons, and how brands can apply these insights to their own growth journeys.
Links
People
Brands
Apps
- Printful
- ViralSweep
Tools
- Kajabi
- ClickFunnels
Services
Sponsors
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
14 January 2025, 11:00 am
45 minutes 19 seconds

Avoiding CRO myths
“Look, if you redesign your grocery store and I can’t find the chicken or checkout clerk I like, I’m shopping somewhere else.”
How do you turn clicks into customers without falling for CRO myths? Oliver Kenyon, CEO of ConversionWise, exposes the lazy habits holding Shopify stores back and shares proven strategies to boost sales. It’s all about clarity, problem-solving, and delivering customer value—no gimmicks, just real results. This episode is packed with actionable insights to transform your Shopify store into a revenue machine.
Links
Oliver Kenyon
Oliver's ConversionWise
Kurt Elster (Host)
Sponsors
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
7 January 2025, 11:00 am
43 minutes 22 seconds

How This Athlete Built a $10M Sock Brand
"I wanted to create a product that could be the yoga pant for the foot."
Rob Fraser, former pro cyclist and the founder of Outway, believes socks should do more than cover your feet. Drawing from his background in sport, Fraser has crafted a brand that blends durability with everyday style. In this episode, he shares the unlikely story of how a thousand-dollar loan sparked a $10 million business, tapping into the potential of a $50 billion market. What follows is a lesson in resilience, as Fraser discusses growth, innovation, and the quest to make socks worthy of serious consumer loyalty.
Links:
- Rob Fraser – Founder of Outway, former pro cyclist and Canadian national team member
- Outway – Rob Fraser's sock brand
- Shopify – Platform Outway uses for their e-commerce site
- Shopify Bundles App – Used by Outway for product bundling
Sponsors
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
31 December 2024, 11:00 am
49 minutes 56 seconds

Why Mizzen+Main’s $100M Founder Left to Build a Baby Monitor
Kevin Lavelle’s got a knack for big ideas and starting fresh. First, he took on menswear with Mizzen+Main, bringing performance fabric to dress shirts and making them a hit with pro athletes and office rebels alike. Now he’s back with something new—a baby monitor. Yep, from dress shirts to baby tech. In this episode, he breaks down the whole journey: the wild beginnings, early mistakes, and how he built a brand from scratch, twice. It’s a sharp take on the wins, the losses, and why some ideas just stick around until you finally make them happen.
Episode Highlights:
1. How Kevin’s “aha” moment led to Mizzen+Main’s success.
2. The surprising lessons from scaling a DTC menswear brand.
3. Transitioning from clothing to tech: Why Kevin started Harbor.
4. Kevin’s experience with early product mistakes and customer trust.
5. The power of influencer partnerships and wholesale growth.
6. How a Tim Ferriss podcast ad skyrocketed Mizzen+Main’s sales.
7. What it takes to launch a product parents trust with their kids.
Mentioned in This Episode
Brands & Businesses
People Mentioned
Sponsors
Help the Show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Support the show by leaving a review and subscribing
What’s Kurt Up To?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store
Never Miss an Episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
24 December 2024, 11:00 am
43 minutes 18 seconds

Turning Scratched Lenses into 8 Figures
“We’re doing about 1,500 pairs a day… we’re gonna hit eight figures this year, probably next year for sure.”
You know that favorite pair of sunglasses you can’t throw away? Brandon Dill turned that frustration into an 8-figure business. He’s the founder of Fuse Lenses, a brand built on bringing those scratched shades back to life.
In this episode, we trace Brandon’s journey from side hustle to scaling a manufacturing business, built on curiosity, ingenuity, and a lot of hustle. But it’s not all smooth sailing—Brandon dives into the realities of cash flow struggles, seasonal peaks, and the surprising challenges of bootstrapping. And as his company grows, he reflects on what success truly means when passion becomes a job.
Links
- Fuse Lenses - Replacement lenses for name-brand sunglasses
- Brandon Dill - Founder, Fuse Lenses
Tech Stack:
- Shopify - E-commerce platform
- Klaviyo - Email marketing and SMS platform
- Attentive - SMS marketing platform
- Okendo - Reviews and ratings app for e-commerce stores
Sponsors
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
17 December 2024, 11:00 am
43 minutes 21 seconds

Shopify’s New Customer Accounts
Tired of logging into five different portals just to make a return? Shopify says enough. Patrick Millegan joins Kurt Elster to talk about the new customer account extensions, designed to simplify logins, reduce support headaches, and make online shopping enjoyable again. It’s a step forward for UX that proves e-commerce should be easy for everyone.
Links
Get all the info on what's new: Shopify Editions Winter ’25
More people & links:
- Patrick Millegan (Senior Product Lead, Shopify)
- Kurt Elster (Host, The Unofficial Shopify Podcast)
- Keap Athletics
- Cleverific
- Shopify Flow
- Sufio
- Upro
- Shop Pay
- Hydrogen
Sponsors
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
11 December 2024, 2:45 pm
43 minutes 58 seconds

Smart Marketer Live Recap
Mindset, AI, and ghost hunting— Smart Marketer Live wasn’t your typical marketing event. We break down the big ideas that got us thinking (and laughing) in Denver. You'll get an inside look at the conference, featuring attendee interviews that explore themes like artificial intelligence in business, strategic reinvestment, and the evolving role of mindset in small business success.
Sponsors
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
10 December 2024, 11:00 am
45 minutes 56 seconds

Building a Successful Shopify App & Community
Harshdeep Singh Hura didn’t just stumble into the Shopify partner community—he helped build it. In this episode, we meet the first-ever recipient of the Shopify Community Award, whose open-source projects now power nearly 8% of the app ecosystem.
Harshdeep shares his 10-year journey, from hacking together iOS apps as a teenager to leading a full-service Shopify agency, and ultimately shifting his focus to empowering developers and merchants alike. We delve into the art of app development—where solving real problems beats engineering perfection—and explore how community, open-source contributions, and a touch of humor shaped Harshdeep’s path. Along the way, we hear tales of triumph, a few bumps in the road, and why one app is designed to show clown emojis to would-be copycats.
Listen in for a conversation that goes beyond code to capture the heart of what it means to thrive in the Shopify ecosystem.
Links
- harshdeephura.com
Sponsors
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
3 December 2024, 11:00 am
48 minutes 18 seconds

10,000 UX Audits Later: How Oddit Boosts Shopify Sales (Without Data or Meetings)
What if you could boost your Shopify sales without relying on data or endless meetings? Oddit's unconventional approach has turned heads—stripping away feedback loops, simplifying designs, and focusing on clarity above all else. Oddit co-founder Shaun Brandt joins to share his experience delivering over 10,000 UX audits, helping brands increase conversions by fixing the basics.
🎯 Episode Highlights:
1. Why Oddit doesn’t rely on data for UX audits and what makes their approach work.
2. The most common mistakes Shopify stores make with navigation and communication.
3. How Shaun’s team has optimized over 10,000 stores using clear, actionable design improvements.
4. Why simplifying the user experience drives more conversions.
5. The anti-agency model Oddit uses and why it’s so effective.
6. How Oddit helps brands increase conversions without endless meetings or feedback loops.
7. The importance of clarity over cleverness in online store design.
👤 About Shaun Brandt:
Shaun Brandt is the co-founder of Oddit, a UX design firm known for its unique approach to conversion optimization. With over 10,000 audits under their belt, Oddit helps Shopify merchants strip away the fluff and focus on what really matters: clarity and user experience. Shaun’s team specializes in delivering high-value audits without the typical meetings and feedback loops, offering merchants clear, actionable improvements that drive results.
Show Links
- Oddit
- Oddit's Free Offer
Sponsors
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
26 November 2024, 11:00 am
45 minutes 20 seconds

From $800K to $26M: Depesh Mandalia’s Facebook Ads Story
“It’s truly magic. That’s the word I use internally to describe what we’re doing here.”
What if you could turn $800K into $26 million in just 18 months—using nothing but Facebook ads? That’s exactly what Depesh Mandalia did. In this episode, he breaks down how he went from figuring out Facebook ads the hard way to running an agency that’s managed over $100 million in client revenue. Depesh doesn’t hold back on the real wins, the messy failures, and the lessons learned from scaling campaigns that most of us can only dream about.
We dig into why creative is king, how to survive the iOS 14 apocalypse, and why scaling ads gets easier once you’ve cracked the code. Plus, there’s a surprising ad campaign involving a 1-star review that somehow… worked.
Links
- SM Commerce – Depesh Mandalia’s digital marketing agency.
- Depesh Mandalia on LinkedIn – Connect with Depesh on LinkedIn.
- Brand-Driven Performance Marketing Method – Learn more about Depesh’s marketing approach.
- Lost My Name – The personalized children’s book company Depesh helped scale.
- Depesh’s Facebook Ads Scaling Guide – Get the inside scoop on scaling with Facebook ads.
Sponsors
Never miss an episode
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
- Join Kurt's newsletter
Help the show
- Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
- Leave a review
- Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
What's Kurt up to?
- See our recent work at Ethercycle
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
- Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
19 November 2024, 11:00 am
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