November 16, 2020

How Levels CEO Sam Corcos Did 1000s Of Customer Development Calls To Create A Killer Community (And Why Health Optimization Is The Next Big Thing)

32 minutes

Although it is easy to get caught up in the latest health fads, like green juices or bullet coffees, they may not be the best for your body. Levels, a real-time dashboard for your body’s metabolism, gives customers personalized insights into how food affects their body and overall health. The company’s Co-Founder, Sam Corcos, joins us today for a behind-the-scenes look into this fast-growing health optimization platform. We kick off by hearing about their incredible approach to customer development, where Sam has had a super hands-on role. Here, he unpacks the importance of truly understanding your customers’ needs. Sam shares some of the client personas they have uncovered and how this has shaped their approach to problem-solving. We also get into how Levels' hard and software works and the contextualization layer that they add to the information provided by the CGM, the glucose levels monitor typically used by diabetes patients. Our discussion also covers the content creation strategy the company utilizes, some of the key information they have uncovered through their extensive customer development calls, and the importance of pursuing product to market fit through iteration and incorporating customer feedback. This is a great conversation about one of the most exciting health care optimization platforms we have seen in ages, so be sure to tune in today!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:21] An overview of Levels and how Eric found out about the dashboard.
[01:46] Levels’ decision to make thousands of customer development calls and the outcomes.
[03:36] What Sam means by ‘jobs to be done’ and how it relates to problem-solving.
[05:00] Understanding success criteria and the relationship it has to greatest results.
[06:14] The results that high performers and founders typically hope for from Levels.
[08:07] How Peloton users and intermittent fasting practitioners became typical Levels users.
[09:16] Why customer development has to be adaptable and flexible.
[09:47] Insights into the CGM and why it is important to monitor glucose levels.
[11:59] Why Sam believes that metabolic dysfunction is the biggest health crisis of our time.
[13:03] Lifestyle factors that affect health, like sleep and activity post meal-times.
[13:51] Hear about the difference between Levels and an ordinary CGM.
[14:51] How the Levels hardware works and the filament that goes under your skin.
[15:39] Levels’ business model, how the company generates profits, and pricing.
[17:15] SEO strategies and content creation; Levels’ unique approach.
[20:04] Levels’ current content creation targets and budget.
[21:30] How Levels has been able to grow despite not having a marketing team.
[22:50] The rationale behind having an application process before getting to use Levels.
[24:47] Key questions that Sam and the Levels team have in their customer development stack.
[26:19] Some company numbers: Capital raised, revenue, and team size.
[27:58] How Sam manages to read two books per week!
[29:43] Other apps and tools (besides Levels) that are in Sam’s health stack.
[30:46] Sam’s must read books and finding him online.

Resources From The Interview:

Sam Corcos on Twitter

Sam Corcos

Levels

The Mom Test
Peloton

Kevin Rose

Peter Attia

Casey Means

They Ask You Answer

Levels Blog
Notion
Reed Hastings
Eight Sleep
Zero Fasting
‘How to know if you've got product-market fit'
Lenny's Newsletter

Must read books: The Lean Startup, High Growth Handbook, The 4-Hour Workweek

Leave Some Feedback:

What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here

Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes

Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed

Connect with Eric Siu:

Growth Everywhere

Single Grain

Eric Siu on Twitter

...more

View all episodes

By Eric Siu

4.8

298298 ratings

November 16, 2020

How Levels CEO Sam Corcos Did 1000s Of Customer Development Calls To Create A Killer Community (And Why Health Optimization Is The Next Big Thing)

32 minutes

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[00:41] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[00:21] An overview of Levels and how Eric found out about the dashboard.
[01:46] Levels’ decision to make thousands of customer development calls and the outcomes.
[03:36] What Sam means by ‘jobs to be done’ and how it relates to problem-solving.
[05:00] Understanding success criteria and the relationship it has to greatest results.
[06:14] The results that high performers and founders typically hope for from Levels.
[08:07] How Peloton users and intermittent fasting practitioners became typical Levels users.
[09:16] Why customer development has to be adaptable and flexible.
[09:47] Insights into the CGM and why it is important to monitor glucose levels.
[11:59] Why Sam believes that metabolic dysfunction is the biggest health crisis of our time.
[13:03] Lifestyle factors that affect health, like sleep and activity post meal-times.
[13:51] Hear about the difference between Levels and an ordinary CGM.
[14:51] How the Levels hardware works and the filament that goes under your skin.
[15:39] Levels’ business model, how the company generates profits, and pricing.
[17:15] SEO strategies and content creation; Levels’ unique approach.
[20:04] Levels’ current content creation targets and budget.
[21:30] How Levels has been able to grow despite not having a marketing team.
[22:50] The rationale behind having an application process before getting to use Levels.
[24:47] Key questions that Sam and the Levels team have in their customer development stack.
[26:19] Some company numbers: Capital raised, revenue, and team size.
[27:58] How Sam manages to read two books per week!
[29:43] Other apps and tools (besides Levels) that are in Sam’s health stack.
[30:46] Sam’s must read books and finding him online.