Chris J. Koerner

Chris J. Koerner is an American entrepreneur, investor, and business content creator based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.^[1][2] Described by MSN as "the entrepreneur turning every life experience into a business,"^[2] Koerner has launched numerous ventures across e-commerce, real estate, services, healthcare technology, and logistics. He describes his approach as prioritizing rapid experimentation over fear of failure.^[2][3][4] Among his ventures, he is best known as the founder of LCDcycle, a smartphone screen recycling company that was named to Entrepreneur magazine's "Top 30 Startups to Watch" in 2015,^[5] and Texas Snax, an online reseller of Buc-ee's branded products that has been covered by Texas Monthly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and other publications.^[6][7] An earlier venture, Twice Used, which upcycled broken iPhone screens into art and furniture, received coverage from CNET, VentureBeat, and international technology publications.^[8][9][10] He hosts The Koerner Office, a business and entrepreneurship podcast, and has more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram.^[11][12]

Koerner was born in Logan, Utah, and moved to Florida at age eleven when his father began working at the Kennedy Space Center.^[3] He grew up in what he describes as a "lower middle class" household.^[12][2]

From 2006 to 2008, Koerner served a two-year mission in Hungary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an experience he has said taught him to handle adversity.^{[3][13][2][14]} After returning, he attended Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa on a public speaking scholarship.^[15] He then transferred to the University of Alabama, graduating cum laude with a degree in business management and entrepreneurship in 2011.^[7][16][17] He later earned an Executive MBA from Texas Christian University.^[18]

Koerner has spoken publicly about lifelong struggles with undiagnosed ADHD and has stated that receiving a formal diagnosis as an adult was a major turning point for his productivity and ability to manage multiple companies.^[3]

Koerner's approach to entrepreneurship emphasizes testing ideas quickly and learning from failures, running real-world experiments before committing significant resources.^[2][12][19] This methodology has led him to launch what he describes as more than 80 businesses across multiple industries.^[11][4] In 2025, Emmy-nominated journalist Jamie Jackson profiled Koerner for American Urban Radio Networks, noting his growing audience among people seeking practical business advice.^[2]

While a student at the University of Alabama, Koerner founded Phone Restore, a regional chain of wireless repair shops.^[16][20] He opened the first location in Tuscaloosa after reading about entrepreneurs who repaired iPhones in their dorm rooms, eventually expanding to six locations (five in Alabama and one in California) within two years.^[21][20] In 2012, the University of Alabama named him Young Entrepreneur of the Year.^[20] In January 2013, Phone Restore merged with Trussville-based competitor PowerOn Repairs.^[21]

In 2013, Koerner launched LCDcycle, a Huntsville-based B2B wholesaler that bought and sold used smartphone screens and components.^[7][21] The company recycled broken smartphone screens and supplied wholesale parts to wireless repair shops, employing 10 workers at its Leeman Ferry Road facility in Huntsville.^[5][21] In 2014, LCDcycle was selected for the Empact Showcase, a national program recognizing top young entrepreneurs, with honorees celebrated at the United Nations headquarters in partnership with Entrepreneur media.^[22][23] In 2015, Entrepreneur magazine named LCDcycle one of the nation's "Top 30 Startups to Watch," noting that the company had recycled more than 140,000 iPhone screens and contributed to the repair or refurbishment of more than 150,000 devices.^[5] In a 2015 podcast interview, Koerner reported the company generated $8.8 million in sales that year.^[24] Lifehack featured LCDcycle as one of "10 Highly Successful Online Startups To Inspire Your Business."^[25] Turkish business magazine Start Up also profiled the company as a case study in digital entrepreneurship.^[26] The company was sold in 2019.^[7]

Later in 2013, Koerner launched Twice Used, a Kickstarter project that used broken iPhone screens—similar to those LCDcycle was recycling—to create upcycled furniture, clocks, and jewelry.^[21] The project attracted coverage from major American tech publications: CNET described the venture as turning "one man's broken iPhone" into "another man's art,"^[8] while VentureBeat, Gizmodo, and Mashable also featured the project.^[27] The project also received international attention from Chinese technology publications ifanr and MyDrivers,^[9][28] Vietnamese retailer Thế Giới Di Động,^[29] and Russian Apple publication Yablyk.^[10]

In November 2020, Koerner co-founded TexasSnax.com after Buc-ee's did not respond to his proposals to develop an e-commerce platform for the convenience store chain.^{[6][1][30][31]} He purchased approximately 600 items from a Buc-ee's location in Melissa, Texas, spending roughly $1,500, and began reselling them online under the first-sale doctrine.^[1][7] The site was initially called "BeaverSnax" but was renamed at Buc-ee's request, though the company otherwise approved of the venture as long as customers understood it was a third-party reseller.^{[6][1][32][33]}

According to Fort Worth Magazine, the business generated nearly $200,000 in sales within its first two months.^[1] The Hustle reported that by 2024, Texas Snax was generating $250,000 to $300,000 per month in revenue, listing approximately 1,200 Buc-ee's items on its website.^[7] The business ships products to all 50 states and internationally.^[32] Koerner operates the business with his cousin and co-founder Kirk Salisbury.^[6]

Koerner has launched numerous other ventures. These have included CoFounders.com, a startup incubator he co-founded with Nik Hulewsky, for which they paid $65,000 to acquire the domain name;^[34][35] Send Eats, a Plano-based third-party logistics company that fulfilled orders for food brands;^[1][17] Fast Tree Care, a Dallas–Fort Worth tree-trimming company founded in 2023;^[2] and investments in RV and mobile home parks through Blue Metric Group, a real estate private equity firm.^[36] Koerner has said that many of his ventures have not succeeded, but that he views this as part of his approach of rapid experimentation and learning.^[4][19]

The Koerner Office is a business and entrepreneurship podcast hosted by Koerner.^[19] The show primarily features interviews with everyday small business owners running replicable businesses, rather than celebrity entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on practical advice.^[12][37] Guests have included owners of businesses such as garage shelf installation, on-demand gas delivery, and vending machine operations.^[37]

In October 2024, a video Koerner posted on X about Texas entrepreneur Heather Torres garnered over 5 million views, leading Torres to appear on the podcast and generating coverage in People, the Houston Chronicle, and International Business Times.^[38][39][40]

Koerner has appeared as a guest on several major business podcasts. In June 2025, he was featured on My First Million, a top-ranked business podcast produced by HubSpot, where hosts Shaan Puri and Sam Parr interviewed him about side hustle strategies; he returned for a second appearance in September 2025.^[41][42] In December 2025, he appeared on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, which described him as the "King of Side Hustles" with "over 1 million followers."^[11]

Koerner produces daily short-form business content under the brand The Koerner Office and has millions of followers across several platforms, including more than 1.4 million on Instagram, over 600,000 on TikTok, and over 400,000 YouTube subscribers.^[11][12][3] His content receives tens of millions of views per month, according to Niche Pursuits, and his YouTube channel has accumulated over 37 million total views.^[12][43]

Koerner runs a newsletter that the Beehiiv company blog profiled as a seven-figure business, noting a high open rate and growth of 10,000 to 20,000 new subscribers per month.^[4] His work has been cited by Inc. magazine as a resource on hiring and sales strategies,^[19] and The Hollywood Reporter has featured him as a prominent creator in its coverage of the newsletter industry.^[44]

Koerner also runs TKOwners, a paid membership community for entrepreneurs.^[45]

Koerner lives in the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas with his wife and four children.^[3] In 2015, his daughter received a double-lung transplant at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.^[13] Following her recovery, Koerner and his wife each donated a kidney to strangers as a way to give back to the organ donation community.^[13] Koerner has since become an advocate for living organ donation.^[13]

After struggling with obesity in his twenties, Koerner took up ultramarathon running and has completed multiple races, including a 100K and a 24-hour event.^[46][47][48]

• Entrepreneurship
• Creator economy
• Small business