DTC Podcast: Ep 537 – How Dugout Mugs Scaled to $55M with Authentic Branding and Smart Partnerships
Date: August 25, 2025
Host: Eric Dick (DTC Newsletter and Podcast)
Guest: Chris Dennard, Founder & CEO, Dugout Mugs
Overview
In this episode, Eric Dick sits down with Chris Dennard, the entrepreneurial force behind Dugout Mugs—a brand that turned hollowed baseball bat barrels into collectible mugs and scaled to over $55M in sales. Chris shares his journey from sales and social media innovations to how authentic branding, business acumen, and tactical partnerships fueled remarkable growth. The episode offers not only Chris’ narrative and hard-won wisdom, but also actionable insights for ecommerce operators striving to build resilient, memorable DTC brands.
Hero’s Journey – Chris Dennard’s Path to Dugout Mugs
[01:02 – 06:11]
- Early Entrepreneurship:
- Chris describes himself as “pretty unemployable” and always looking for unconventional paths.
- Started in high school, excelled in sales and people skills: “I was really good at sales, really good at people.”
- Early adopter of Facebook: “I was leveraging... being one to many. Communication really worked well for me.”
- Digital + Physical World:
- Unique generational perspective: “We grew up belly to belly, shaking hands... but also could do it digitally.”
- Print-on-Demand:
- Ran huge Facebook pages for cultural icons, leveraging them for apparel sales: “We did over $20 million in sales of T-shirts.”
- Leaned into business processes early (design meetings, customer service, infrastructure).
- Transition to Brand Building:
- Realized the importance of infrastructure for long-term growth: “It’s more of like a bottle rocket than... the grand finale... infrastructure that is more stable and self-sustaining.”
- Investment Disasters & Turning Point:
- Burned significant money on failed ventures (cannabis, restaurants): “The worst? Cannabis... restaurant lit money on fire.” [06:13]
- Health crisis (ruptured appendix) prompted life reassessment: “I had a six-month-old little kid at home that I had barely met, honestly...”
- Prayed for a new opportunity aligned with his skills—Randall (Dugout’s inventor) reached out with the bat mug concept: “It was divine intervention. I’ll never deny that.”
- Partnership began in 2017; Dugout now surpasses $55M in sales.
Competitive Hustle: Differentiation and the Lumberland Rivalry
[08:27 – 13:27]
- Learning from Competitors:
- Early split with original partner led to market rivalry.
- Chris’s philosophy: “Ready, fire, aim. You don’t have to get it right. You have to get it going. And then you measure and you pivot.” [00:00, 08:47]
- Rival firm Lumberland focused more on social following than conversion.
- “What matters is not your top line sales, it’s your bottom line profit. I’d rather have 5,000 people that follow us... and 2,500 are buying than 3 million and you got 500 that are buying.” [11:15, 00:46]
- Outcome:
- Dugout outcompeted Lumberland, ultimately purchasing the brand’s business: “We probably recouped 60 to 80% of what we paid for the business by that end, by the end of that year.” [13:20]
Content & Community: Authentic Brand Building
[13:27 – 17:52]
- Transparency & Authenticity:
- “You gotta be somebody that somebody wants to do business with if you’re the face of the brand.” [13:45]
- Brand-building through memorable content, player/celeb partnerships, and public-facing leadership.
- “One of my core beliefs with networking is it’s not somebody’s job to remember you—it's your job to be unforgettable.”
- Content as Brand Connection:
- Leveraging key sports moments, UGC, and influencer testimonials without overt sales pitches.
- “Today I posted me with Justin Verlander and Pete Alonso with our mug and a video testimonial.” [15:25]
- Brand Consistency:
- Acknowledges the ongoing struggle: “We had a lot of disconnect early on and we still struggle with it a bit today.”
- Sports as an Evergreen Platform:
- Sports offer authenticity, scalability, and passionate communities: “We’re becoming somebody that other people... are proud to be associated with.” [15:45]
- Memorable Moments:
- “Authenticity, man, that’s a magic word. I don’t think enough people use it, understand it, integrate it in everything they’re doing.” [17:17]
Growth Through Partnerships: Philosophy and Practice
[17:52 – 22:46]
- Complementary Partnerships:
- “If two people are in the same lane, one’s not needed.” [18:03]
- Recognizing and leveraging complementary strengths—Chris outward-facing, Randall introverted and analytical.
- Importance of shared grit and work ethic.
- Dealmaking Mindset:
- “Do you want to be right or do you want to be rich?” [08:47, 20:10]
- Focus on understanding and aligning core motivations, not just the numbers.
- “To create a win-win situation, you don’t have to use the same currency.” [20:26]
Negotiation, Reflection, and ‘Shut Up and Listen’
[22:46 – 27:20]
- Listening as a Superpower:
- “Too many times, people won’t shut up and listen. If you do that, you’re gonna learn a lot about what the other person... what lights them up, what they want, what scares them.” [23:09]
- Ask better questions upfront to avoid future friction: “What do I stand for? What do I not stand for? ...Just really deep reflection.”
- Deal Example – Dugout Mugs:
- Structured deal for equity earn-out based on new revenue—aligning with partner’s needs: “I got 8% equity for every hundred thousand dollars... because he wanted an investment... I can take this thing for a ride.” [25:08]
- “So what he owned got significantly more momentum, and in the scheme of things, that spike in the early days might have been what catapulted us past our competition.” [27:22]
Seasonality and Revenue Smoothing
[28:31 – 32:10]
- Seasonality in DTC:
- Chris discusses how Dugout’s spikes cluster around sports and holidays (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Opening Day, Q4), but through B2B, corporate gifting, retail, and new use cases (wedding/groomsmen gifts), they balance out slow quarters.
- “We kind of leveled it by segmenting the business into B2B, B2C... Also understanding different use cases... groomsmen gifts, corporate gifting... These things are evergreen.” [29:55-31:32]
Tech & AI in Operations
[32:10 – 33:45]
- AI for Customer Service:
- AI provides consistency, scalability in customer service: “No feelings involved. And I think that’s important because people can have a bad day and then they take it out on a customer.” [32:15]
- Over 60,000 positive reviews—protecting reputation is key.
- AI for Content & Operations:
- Used for A/B-testing ads, image creation, and drafting contracts: “It’s like Google on crack, man. You know, ask it anything.” [33:18]
- Frees founder’s time for higher-value activities.
Authenticity, Fluidity & Time
[34:12 – End]
- Adaptability:
- Chris underscores the need to stay fluid, adapt to trends, and act relentlessly: “You have to be fluid... ask Blockbuster or Circuit City or Kmart... how it’s going when you’re not fluid.” [34:12]
- “Fluid, but unrelenting also. That’s why the water wears away the rocks.” [34:34]
- Personal Principles:
- “Life is so short. Stop wasting it doing stuff that truly doesn’t matter. If anybody heard anything, hear that.” [34:51]
- “That’s the difference between rich people and poor people. Rich people buy time, poor people buy things. When you realize that asset is the time, you’re going to quickly start building a business and a lifestyle by design that aggressively protects your time.” [37:37]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Building an Enduring Business:
“It’s not your top line sales, it’s your bottom line profit. I’d rather have 5,000 people that follow us on social media and 2,500 are buying than 3 million and you got 500 that are buying.”
— Chris Dennard [00:46, 11:15] -
On Brand and Content:
“It’s not somebody’s job to remember you, it’s your job to be unforgettable.”
— Chris Dennard [14:11] -
On Partnerships:
“If two people are in the same lane, one’s not needed.”
— Chris Dennard [18:03] -
On Negotiations:
“To create a win-win situation, you don’t have to use the same currency.”
— Chris Dennard [20:26] -
On Authentic Leadership:
“Unapologetically authentic—that’s me and I sleep very well.”
— Chris Dennard [17:32] -
On Work-Life Balance:
“Life is so short. Stop wasting it doing stuff that truly doesn’t matter.”
— Chris Dennard [34:51] -
On the Value of Time:
“That’s the difference between rich people and poor people. Rich people buy time, poor people buy things.”
— Chris Dennard [37:37]
Timestamps of Key Segments
- [01:02] Chris’s origins in sales, early tech, and social media
- [06:11] Big investment losses & existential turning point
- [08:47] Lumberland rivalry and lesson on business acumen
- [13:45] Content, networking, and being memorable vs. chasing attention
- [17:17] Authenticity & transparency as core brand values
- [18:03] Partnership framework: complementary lanes
- [22:46] “Shut up and listen”—negotiation superpower
- [25:08] Dugout’s early-days equity-for-revenue deal structure
- [28:49] Smoothing out ecommerce seasonality with B2B/retail/corporate
- [32:15] Using AI for scalable service and marketing innovation
- [34:12] Fluid business philosophy, adapting to change
- [34:51] Personal philosophy: time, living “off-screen,” what really matters
Where to Find Chris
- LinkedIn: Main place for business and consulting inquiries—Dugout Mugs, sales, branding, and marketing.
- Dugout Mugs: dugoutmugs.com
- Golf Company: Big Golf (custom logo golf gear)
- Life Philosophy: “You'll find me in my happy place: beer, baseball, golf, cigars.”
Final Takeaway
Chris Dennard’s story is a compelling blueprint for DTC founders: stay authentic, listen deeply, build real partnerships, relentlessly protect your time, and make your brand and content truly unforgettable. Scaling smart isn’t about vanity metrics—it’s about meaningful engagement, smart business mechanics, and ultimately, living life on your terms.