How the EcommLetter was born (a true story)

The brutally honest story of an online business collapse, and the systems that turned chaos into cash flow.

2 a.m. on a cold, gray night in late 2008.

The infamous “2008 crash” had torn through my ecommerce business. Just months before, I was still calling it—half-jokingly—my “digital empire”.

Now? It looked more like a half-sunk ship.

There I was, doing inventory like a man possessed, barcode scanner in hand, hoping some spreadsheet miracle would save me. Spoiler: it didn’t.

By that time I was founder, tech support, warehouse guy, programmer, customer service rep… and, honestly, I could’ve used a therapist—but I couldn’t afford one. Everything depended on me. There was no one else to blame in that sinking ship.

The ecommerce playbook at the time—cheap ads, SEO, mass email marketing—had worked. Until the economy punched it in the face.

First the clicks dropped. Then the sales.

I was unable to react. I didn’t know what to do.

By the end of the year, my bank account was empty.

And then the call came:

“We need payment by Friday, or we’re cutting supply.”

I hung up the phone. Looked around at the stock towers I couldn’t sell. The silence was deafening. The ground felt like quicksand under my feet.

Cardboard boxes don’t make good dinner. But my daughter still had to eat.

In just a few weeks, I’d gone from signing invoices with a grin… to counting coins to keep the lights on. I slept with my phone under the pillow—not out of addiction, but because the next alert could be the final nail in the coffin of my sinking empire.

This is the part no one tells you: when the cash dries up, your identity goes into overdraft too. I wasn’t just a founder in trouble. I was a father who couldn’t admit that his “digital empire” had become a house of cards.

How I turned the wreckage into an unsinkable ship

Fast forward to June 2025.

I’ve been selling online for over 20 years now.

Mornings are calm. My sales dashboard greets me with five digits and a wink. A few sales channels show orange warnings, but nothing scary.

The important stuff? Systemized.

• A remote 3PL team that ships faster than I make my first coffee.

• Customer support ninjas who solve issues before I even know they exist. There’s AI. There’s people. There are systems. It works.

• Automations track inventory, pricing, returns—like bloodhounds that don’t sleep. A great team keeps the engine running.

• Multiple product lines. Multiple independent sales channels. If one stumbles, the others pick up the slack.

Is it a fairytale? Hell no. Selling online is still a warzone.

The algorithm changes, competitors race to the bottom, customer demand dips, and logistics still have a twisted sense of humor.

And don’t get me started on regulations.

But now? This issues just make some noise.

And that noise reminds me why I show up every day, sharing stories like this one:

To keep someone else from reliving my 2008 ecommerce nightmare.

That’s Why I Created the EcommLetter

Every Sunday, I open the black box of my ecommerce life—successes and failures alike:

• The strategy that nearly doubled our AOV.

• The mistake that cost a friend his entire Black Friday campaign.

• The idea I thought would dominate a hot new channel… and flopped spectacularly.

Every story has a point. A learning.

They’re raw, honest, and only told by someone who’s been burned.

If you sell online—or you’re thinking about it—your future looks like one of two viral videos:

1/ A behind-the-scenes montage of a resilient, profitable business. No 2 a.m. barcode scanner meltdowns. Just “Eye of the Tiger” playing softly in the background.

2/ Or a reel of sleepless nights. Cobwebs in your inventory. Instagram ads that burn cash and bring zero sales. Desperation.

I created the EcommLetter to help you avoid the second one.

And here’s the truth most gurus won’t tell you: the outcome isn’t about how hard you hustle. In 2008, I gave it everything. And still sank.

The difference between the two scenarios might be this: one timely idea, one right tool, one warning you catch before it’s too late.

That’s exactly what the EcommLetter delivers:

• Proven strategies that work today to sell more and stress less.
  Not some outdated dropshipping gospel.

• Tactics and lessons shared in the backroom of the newsletter—
  stuff you don’t see from the outside. But I can’t wait to show you.

• A community of ecommerce-obsessed folks like you and me. The kind that answers your questions before ChatGPT leads you down the mediocre rabbit hole.

My goal? That you hear “Eye of the Tiger” in your head someday too.

And win like Rocky.

Sound good?

Drop your email. Step inside the EcommLetter:

Let’s make sure your business doesn’t become someone else’s cautionary tale.

Yours truly,
Pablo Renaud