Build With Rob

It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of only bouncing your ideas off of people you know will either agree with you, or be supportive no matter what. This is great for short-term confidence, but potentially detrimental to achieving long term success by building a sustainable business. The more feedback you get from all types of people, the better you can hone in on the true value proposition of your product, and thus understand who your customer will eventually be. Rob implores you to get as much feedback as possible in the IDEA stage, before you spend a dime, micro-failing over and over until your idea is undeniable. And then never stop getting feedback through every subsequent stage. This doesn’t mean that you need to please everyone, but commonalities will emerge that will give you crucial insight into how to evolve next.

On this episode, we once again welcome two fantastic entrepreneurs from the UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator program:

John Dalsey started working in a brewery in New Jersey, earning his keep from the bottom on up through hard work and dedication. Through that process, he learned the alcohol business. It was later that he and his best friend became bored with the limited flavor selection in the hard seltzer craze and decided to create the first Asian-inspired flavors in the category. Thus, Nectar was born, with a focus on not only taste, but content creation. https://nectarhardseltzer.com/

Emily Smith put TASTE over everything for her pea-based protein powder, nuFYX. Launched during the pandemic, nuFYX became the #1 selling plant-based protein at Erewhon market in Los Angeles (which if you don’t live there, is a VERY fancy health-focused grocery store with six locations around the city). Besides tasting great, it incorporates aminogen, an enzyme to help break down protein, making it easily digestible. https://nufyx.com/

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Rob didn’t go to college. In fact, he dropped out of high school and became a professional skateboarder. While his journey to entrepreneurship is a unique one, so is yours. The simple fact is, the more knowledge you have, the less mistakes you make, and the clearer your path to success. While there is no substitute for experience, education can bridge gaps and accelerate proactive learnings. Without formal schooling, it’s on you to educate yourself in all facets of business -- seek out answers, ask the right questions, and learn what you don’t know as fast as possible. No matter your level of education when you begin your first company, it’s still going to be trial by fire to some extent.

And joining us on this episode from deep within the burning fires of entrepreneurship are two very impressive founders from the UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator Program:

Jeff Gum is a former Navy SEAL who drew inspiration for his company, Sunga Life, from his travels to Brazil and military workout gear. He’s currently on track to top $1million in swimwear sales in 2021. https://www.sungalife.com/

Tori Brodsky is a nutritionist by education who takes hydration very seriously, especially when you drink alcohol. She created DrinkLyte, which delivers medical grade hydration in two delicious flavors, one for the end of the night and one for the next morning, to stave off those nasty hangovers. https://drinklyte.co/

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The best CEO’s are obsessed with building a holistic vision of their company. While many can alleviate pain points by hiring the right people and empowering them, there is no substitute for understanding every aspect of your business. When something goes wrong and you are forced to learn something from a mistake, that is valuable, but it is also reactive. If you put in the energy to identify your weaknesses and learn those parts of the business proactively, you have a better chance of avoiding those missteps to begin with and accelerating your path toward success.

Rob speaks with a couple of impressive entrepreneurs on this episode:

Jacob McLaughlin is a young real estate broker with an idea to revolutionize qualified leads, but Rob, who has a sister in the business and has bought and sold many properties, spins him toward a higher end market.

Parker Alexander founded a hat company called Tahoe Heartbeat in his home of Lake Tahoe, and has big plans for expansion, but Rob tells him why he already has the special sauce he needs for wild success. https://tahoeheartbeat.com

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Rob views building a company through the Machine Method much like starting a new relationship. Going through the Discovery phase, doing your Diligence on the person to see if the effort is worthwhile, Building a meaningful foundation before Launching into exclusivity, then… time to Scale. It’s so tempting to get overly excited by that first prototype, seeing your product on the shelf, positive initial customer feedback, and really any other part of the journey of building a business. Each step is so taxing, and each step feels like a journey unto itself. However, Rob would implore you to wait until finding the all important Product Market Fit before popping the Champagne. Only then do you have a real business. Rob talks to two entrepreneurs on this episode about their businesses and answers their questions about business and life. Travis Chappell built Guestio as a marketplace for podcasters to book prominent guests for a fee. He calls it Cameo for podcasting. But a secondary feature, hiring talent for endorsements, catches Rob’s eye. https://guestio.com Korey Klein is a relentless serial entrepreneur. He gives her the advice to do as much failing as possible in the research and development of a product before she spends a dime.

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Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY

Rob is a creative guy, he’s a passionate guy, and numbers used to make him fall asleep. Presented with a spreadsheet, he would literally nod off. He sought to hire people to “deal” with that part of his businesses, but then realized something crucial: No one is going to care about your business like you are. So he got to work learning the financial side of business, and now financial models make him giddy and he’s been far more successful as a result.

We’ve also got three aspiring Do-Or-Diers that sent in pitch videos. Rob provides some clarity in directing one company to focus their boundless energy. He talks to another about really getting back into the numbers to make his business model work. And works with one to excel in a consumable market.

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Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY

It should be no surprise that investors are putting money into your company in order to realize a return. While your passion and creativity is what got you here, those alone are not going to get you to the next level. You need to tell a clear financial story to your potential investors about how your company will generate them a return. By all means, infuse that story with passion and creativity, but be realistic and concise about the path to liquidity first and foremost. 

In the second part of the episode, Rob talks with three aspiring Do-Or-Diers that sent in pitch videos and gives them advice to bolster their entrepreneurial endeavors. In a surprise twist, he has an offer for one of them.

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Machine Method Phase: BUILD

Rob calls it a “shotgun venture creation wedding,” and that couldn’t be more fitting for his newest Dyrdek Machine venture, Jolie with former Greats founder Ryan Babenzein. Ryan had started and sold companies, and found himself consulting, but he grew tired of giving his energy and ideas to other people and longed to work for himself once again. One day he found his skin was dry and bought a water filter for his shower that changed everything. Research revealed all of the harmful chemicals that are in municipal (tap) water are harmful to your skin and hair, but shower water filters have never been thought of as a crucial part of any beauty routine. Enter Jolie (named after Ryan’s wife, but also means “pretty” in French), a beauty company that will change the way you think of your shower. Rob and Ryan talked only a few times over Zoom before Rob jumped in on the deal, and this podcast is the first time the two newly minted partners have ever met in person.

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Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY

Another group of hungry, relentless entrepreneurs proved their merit by submitting detailed pitch videos with their experience and ideas to https://dyrdekmachine.com/are-you-a-do-or-dier for the chance to Build With Rob. While they may not be exact fits for the Dyrdek Machine’s hyper-specific criteria (see: EP01 Welcome to the Machine) for creating a company, Rob still believes all of these founders have what it takes to be successful and wants to lend his unique point-of-view to help them keep pushing forward to achieve their dreams.

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Machine Method Phase: SCALE It was bestselling author and podcaster Lewis Howes who first introduced Bill Glaser to Rob, catalysing a partnership that would grow into a $100million venture just five years later. It is this focus of being a “super connector” that has Lewis invested in two Dyrdek Machine companies, Outstanding Foods and Mindright. Rob touts Billy G as the best CEO in his portfolio, so when Outstanding Foods’ second truly innovative product, Take Out, caused customer confusion due to its branding, Bill was quick to rebrand and introduce Outstanding Puffs to positive consumer and buyer feedback.

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Machine Method Phase: POST-MORTEM When you invent an innovative new technology in the hottest space, it’s easy to get carried away with the possibilities when you should be focusing on your beachhead. That’s what happened to Dmitry and Rob when Dmitry invented a device capable of capturing 360 video and streaming it live across the world. The camera was lighter, cheaper and more compact than any of the solutions on the market raking in big VC money. The idea came from Dmitry watching racing and wanting to experience the race from inside the car, but knowing multiple GoPro rigs were too heavy and bulky in a sport where every gram counts. Rob, at the time, was looking for an opportunity in the VR space, and knew immediately that this was it. Dubbing the company Ultracast, they sent units all around the world that allowed people to travel to all of these locations in real time with just their phone. But it was too much, too quickly, and they learned the hard way that they should have cornered the racing market and only then expanded to other experiences.

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