How An Appetite for Risk Helped MeUndies Ship More than 3 Million Pairs of Underwear, with MeUndies CEO Bryan Lalezarian

Sometimes being the company that VCs just don’t “get” can actually work to your advantage. Take MeUndies, the wildly successful direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand on a mission to produce the world’s most comfortable and sustainable underwear. After a seed round in 2011, they found that convincing investors to pour money into their subscription-based underwear business was more challenging than they anticipated. Compared to some of their startup peers, they often felt a little underfunded.   But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Being largely bootstrapped taught them an important lesson that they would have never learned any other way - the importance of taking calculated risks. When you’re underfunded, you have to be savvy enough to see an opportunity when it arises, nimble enough to mobilize and take advantage of it, and brave enough to actually pull the trigger. That’s all according to this week’s guest, MeUndies CEO Bryan Lalezarian. Bryan is a Wharton educated, former hedge fund analyst who decided to take a leap of faith and get in the underwear game. In this conversation with co-host Sean Spear, Bryan shares his top leadership tips, explains why he believes their focus on brand is a major key to MeUndies' success, and tells us an amazing story about what taking calculated risks really means - and how it can really pay off. Recommended Reading True Alignment by Edgar Papke ESPN - “Joseph Randle to endorse MeUndies” by Adam Schefter CBS Sports - “MeUndies.com to sponsor Marshawn Lynch's crotch-grab celebration” by Igor Mello Links www.MeUndies.com Bryan on LinkedIn @MeUndies on Instagram @MeUndies on Twitter Special Offer for AO Listeners - Try SnackNation Market for FREE Introducing SnackNation Market.   For the past few years SnackNation has only been available to businesses, but now it’s available for homes and awesome individuals too. SnackNation Market brings health- and taste-conscious folks expertly curated boxes of the most delicious, innovative and healthier snacks right to your doorstep.  With SnackNation there is no more worrying about having a weak, unhealthy and tasteless snack game. We’ve secured a special offer for the listeners of this show: you can try SnackNation for FREE. Just visit SnackNation.com/AO right now, and get your first box free (just cover shipping and handling). That’s SnackNation.com/AO.