Going Deep with Aaron Watson

Jon Shanahan is the cofounder and Chief Marketing Officer for Stryx, a cosmetics and skincare company focused on serving men.

 

Jon has helped the company earn over 120 million organic views on TikTok, scale to millions in revenue, and launch in major retailers including Target, Nordstrom, and CVS.

 

Prior to founding the company, Jon built a brand and YouTube channel called The Kavalier focused on men’s fashion where he reviews menswear and helps his viewers look great.

 

In this episode, Jon and Aaron discuss the vision of Stryx, how he’s blended skills to market & sell, and how he pitched on Shark Tank.

 

Jon’s Challenge; Try something new that makes you uncomfortable.

 

Connect with Jon Shanahan

TikTok

Instagram

Linkedin

Twitter

Website

 

If you liked this interview, check out episode 386 with Jon where we discuss his first breakthrough on tastes, trends and style through his website The Kavalier.

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Jake Thomas is an expert at writing YouTube video titles. He has parlayed his experience writing more than 4,000 titles into his company, Creator Hooks.

 

Prior to founding Creator Hooks, Jake helped build a channel from 70 to 200k subscribers

 

After leaving to start his firm, he landed clients that include Hubspot cofounder Dharmesh Shah's personal channel and The Infographics Show.

 

In this episode, Jake and Aaron discuss his framework for writing a title, how to create more curiosity, and the power of owning a niche.

 

Jake Thomas’ Challenge; Develop your Model 100. Create a spreadsheet of the hundred channels with a similar style to yours.

 

Connect with Jake Thomas

Twitter

Website

 

If you liked this interview, check out episode 386 with Jon Shanahan where we discuss YouTube strategy and men’s fashion.

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Listen to Adam Haritan, founder of Learn your Land, discuss getting lost in a bog and hearing your calling.

Adam Haritan is the founder of Learn Your Land, as well as a wild food enthusiast, researcher, and forager. He is launching a new course, Trees in All Seasons.

 

He learned the value of wild food foraging while studying nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh, where he discovered just how beneficial wild foods could be in optimizing human health.  

 

Wild plants, on average, are more nutritious than their cultivated counterparts (i.e. wild blueberries vs. domesticated blueberries, wild lettuce vs. iceberg lettuce). The wild food diet is the diet that we, as Homo sapiens, have been consuming for the majority of our time on this planet, and it is the diet that we are most adapted to consume.  

 

Today, very few Americans consume any wild foods, and instead subsist on nutrient-deficient products that scarcely resemble anything real or natural. It’s no wonder that degenerative diseases like cancer, diabetes, and chronic inflammation are so prevalent.  We have abandoned our natural diet and are suffering as a result.

 

In this episode, Adam and Aaron discuss trees, his new course, and commitment to quality.

Adam Haritan’s Challenge; Find a tree growing close to your home and identify it.

 

Connect with Adam Haritan

Twitter

Youtube

Website

 

Trees in All Seasons

 

If you liked this interview, check out when Adam visited Piper Creative to talk about business strategy.

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Matt Blocki is the founder and CEO of Equilibrium Wealth Advisors. Matt is also a co-founder of Wealth Advisor Training, which was founded in 2022 to help provide resources to the top wealth advisors around the country. Wealth Advisor Training gives advisors a comprehensive education platform to give better proactive advice and develop systems to scale their business.

 

Matt regularly speaks in the financial planning industry, including to top firms Thrivent and Mass Mutual.

 

In this interview, Matt and Aaron discuss Matt’s career trajectory, how to attract great clients, and their plans for WealthAdvisorTraining.com.

Matt Blocki’s Challenge; Rate all facets of your life and do the requisite work to improve the lowest rated pieces.

 

Connect with Matt Blocki

Linkedin

Facebook

WAT Website

 

If you liked this interview, check out our conversation with Brent Johnson where we discuss Dollar Milkshake Theory and his early career at Credit Suisse. 

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Mark Nelson is the managing director of the Radiant Energy Fund, which advises governments, nonprofits, and industry about nuclear energy. 

 

Mark works tirelessly to prevent early closures of nuclear plants around the world a nd has attended the UN climate conference in Glasgow as a delegate from the American Nuclear Society. His efforts span the globe, working to save nuclear plants from Germany to California. 

 

Mark holds an MPhil in Nuclear Engineering from Cambridge University and degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Russian Language and Literature from Oklahoma State University.

 

In this episode, Mark and Aaron discuss the differences between France & Germany, the complexity of the US electric grid, and reasons for hope.

 

Mark Nelson’s Challenge; Find out where you get your power from, what nuclear plants are nearby, and communicate to politicans that you don’t want them shut down.

 

Connect with Mark Nelson

Linkedin

Twitter

Website

If you liked this interview, check out our past episodes w/ Dr. Rita Baranwal about nuclear energy and the government and Doomberg about coming shortages of food and energy.

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Eric Jorgenson is the author of the Almanac of Naval Ravikant, a GP in the seed investment-focused Rolling Fun, and the creator of the course Building a Mountain of Levers.

 

Eric also has a podcast called Jorgenson’s Soundbox and was part of the founding team of Zaarly, proximity-based, real-time, buyer-powered market platform.

 

Eric has condensed the wisdom of Naval, a prolific entrepreneur and investor, into a concise and poignant book. That book has opened doors for him and represents a clever method of accelerating one’s career.

 

In this conversation, Eric and Aaron discuss Naval’s advice for creating wealth, how to build the skill of being happy, and how to get started creating leverage for yourself.

 

Eric Jorgenson’s Challenge; Find and implement one new automation to create more leverage in your life.

 

Connect with Eric Jorgenson

Twitter

Website

 

If you liked this interview, check out episode 46 with Taylor Pearson where we discuss writing the End of Jobs and creating better career opportunities.

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Christopher Nguyen is the CEO and cofounder of Aitomatic, where he aims to redefine how companies approach AI in the context of life-critical, industrial applications.

 

As a multiple-time tech founder, Christopher has played key roles across a wide range of technology startups. He has also operated in large corporations where he has built the first flash memory transistors at Intel and spearheaded the development of Google Apps as its first Engineering Director. 

 

Today, he’s become an outspoken proponent of the emerging field of “AI Engineering” and a thought leader in the space of ethical, human-centric AI. 

 

In this episode, Christopher and Aaron discuss AI’s shortcomings, the mission of Aitomatic, and how diverse experiences keep life engaging.

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​​Christopher Nguyen’s Challenge; Separate the what and the why when problem solving.

 

Connect with ​​Christopher Nguyen

Linknedin

Aitomatic Website

If you liked this interview, check out our interview with Tom Galluzzo where we discuss GPT-3, robotics, and entrepreneurship. 

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Brandon Grbach is the CEO and cofounder of Steel City. Steel City is a family-owned boutique offering Pittsburgh-inspired, vintage tees, sweatshirts & accessories.

 

Grbach started designing t-shirts for his friend’s skate shop, but when the shop shut down, he continued on his own.

 

Now, he and his wife own a thriving business with over 20 employees, a distinct brand, and a habit of growing ~50% every year.

 

In this interview, Brandon and Aaron discuss how he has learned to drive towards simplicity for customers, opening a second location, and how the brand got big in Japan.

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Brandon Grbach’s Challenge; Ask, “what's one decision you're putting off?” Then, stop putting it off.

 

Connect with Brandon Grbach

Linkedin

Instagram

Website

 

If you liked this interview, check out our interview with TJ Fairchild where we discuss how to scale a coffee shop, designing soulful spaces, and how a philosophy degree prepares you for business.

 

Book Recommendation

Raving Fans : Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service by Ken Blanchard 

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Rob Walling is an investor, writer, podcaster, and serial entrepreneur. His last startup, Drip, was an email marketing software company that was bought by Leadpages for millions in 2016.

 

He also has been helping bootstrapped startup founders since 2005 and now runs the first startup accelerator for SaaS bootstrappers, TinySeed.

 

Rob also hosts the podcast “Startups for the Rest of Us”, which has over 10 million downloads 

 

Rob and Aaron discuss how to level up in entrepreneurship, the personal growth required to take bigger swings, and the balancing act of parenthood & entrepreneurship in this interview.

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Rob Walling’s Challenge; Consume your audiobooks and podcasts at over 1x speed. Add the video speed controller to your browser.

 

Connect with Rob Walling

Linkedin

Twitter

Personal Website

TinySeed

MicroConf

 

If you liked this interview, check out our interview with Andrew Gazdecki about MicroAcquire, building Saas companies, and the fun of business.

Underwritten by Piper Creative

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We work with Fortune 500s, medium-sized companies, and entrepreneurs.

 

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