The year 2021 has been a doozy for Ben Smith. In March, he celebrated an investment round for Disco, his direct-to-consumer skincare company. In April, Disco&apos;s customer acquisition cost increased by a whopping 300% with the release of iOS 14.5. In May, he began selling on Amazon, only to see Amazon bid on the exact Google Ad keywords he relied on for traffic to Disco&apos;s website.

The Beauty of Bootstrapping a Business

Ecommerce Conversations is the long-running weekly podcast from Practical Ecommerce, hosted by ecommerce entrepreneur Eric Bandholz.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;•• Listen in as Eric interviews in-the-trenches founders and executives who address the essentials of launching, growing, and sustaining an online business. Hear their successes, mistakes, and plans — addressing customer acquisition, web traffic, marketing tactics, on-site conversion, shipping, favorite tools, funding, obstacles, and much more.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;•• New episodes every Friday. Subscribe to the podcast here, and then read a condensed transcript at https://www.PracticalEcommerce.com/tag/podcasts.