Kyle Ewing became a full-time entrepreneur in 2014 when he left the corporate world to build his first company, Guerrilla Tags ID Systems. 

After a successful exit in 2015, Kyle is now focused on the growth and development of his company, TerraSlate Paper, which manufactures and prints waterproof paper for the US Military, restaurants, and biotech firms around the world. 

The success of his businesses can be best attributed to a creative marketing approach that nimbly tracks customer needs to fulfillment and leverages just-in-time inventory management. 

His most recent high-profile advertising campaign in partnership with BMW USA is the “Road to Sustainability” in which he seeks to make redundant laminated documents in all applications. 

Kyle enjoys collaborating with fellow entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to develop new systems, metrics and growth strategies for emerging companies in the tech and renewable resources industries. 

The experience Kyle gained in corporate positions provided the underpinnings for his entrepreneurship a position as Supply Chain Manager at Brightstar Corporation on supply chain optimization and demand signal forecasting in which, at an operator-wide level, he successfully carried out multiple initiatives in supply chain management, data-driven analytics, and inventory management using triple exponential smoothing models that he built for the wireless phone industry. 

Kyle also held roles as a Business Operations & Management Consultant, Procurement Manager and Marketing Analyst where he gained much of the valuable experience upon which he relies. 

Kyle received his BSBA in 2008 and his MBA in 2009 with a Chancellor's Scholarship from the Daniel's College of Business at the University of Denver. 

During his time at DU he developed a passion for philanthropic work and founded the Seven Ribbons Foundation supporting cancer research. 

In his personal life Kyle is an avid triathlete, runner, mountaineer, and is active in philanthropic work in the community. 

He won the Mt. Kilimanjaro Marathon in 2009, completed the Ironman Triathlon in Western Australia in 2010, and summited the mountains of the Swiss Holy Trinity: Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and the Eiger in 2011. 

Kyle is an accomplished skydiver and musician winning the state flute championships 3 years in a row. 

Recent accolades include “Entrepreneur of the Year” awarded by the Worldwide Who's Who organization and has become an avid Ukulele and Guitar player. 

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:31] Kyle’s first business
• [02:48] The challenge in a “durable” product
• [03:28] The importance of repurchase
• [04:41] Raising LTV to cover CAC
• [05:15] How quick is it from Guerilla Tags to TerraSlate?
• [06:05] School education vs learning through experience
• [08:03] You should have the willingness to learn
• [09:32] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [09:52] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [10:36] Sponsor: Gorgias gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• [12:02] Sponsor: BeProfit beprofit.co
• [13:33] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [14:20] Where did Kyle get his business ideas?
• [15:37] Don’t be afraid to tell your ideas
• [16:21] NDAs can hinder true feedback
• [17:17] You don’t have to spend money to sell
• [18:48] Why B2B is good
• [22:02] D2C products from TerraSlate
• [23:38] Is B2B marketing different to D2C marketing?
• [25:19] The hardest part of building and growing a brand
• [26:31] Hiring and managing good people is getting harder
• [28:19] Electric Eye needs more Shopify experts
• [28:43] Kyle wants to see more ADA compliance
• [29:44] ADA compliance is a big and complex problem
• [30:43] Be careful of these frivolous lawsuits
• [32:59] Join as many entrepreneur groups as you can

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• The most durable paper on the planet terraslatepaper.com
• Connect with Kyle linkedin.com/in/kyleewing
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Electric Eye is hiring! electriceye.io/page/careers
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• Visit beprofit.co and use code HONEST15 to get an exclusive 15% off any plan for the lifetime of your plan
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/honest

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