We turned this conversation into a playbook — every retail formula, hiring question, and brand strategy in one PDF. Download free: https://openresidency.com/ross-mackay-playbook?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=ross_mackay_playbook

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⚡️ BTS & more https://openresidency.com/ross-mackay

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Trailer
00:00:51 How Do You Make a $2 Product Luxury?
00:04:01 Why Did You Rebrand 3 Times in 1 Year?
00:12:48 How Do You Actually Approach Retailers?
00:18:36 Going Into Retail
00:23:41 The Mafia That Controls Distribution
00:27:32 Biggest Learning From Scaling Retail
00:34:05 How Many SKUs Have You Launched?
00:39:54 The One Rule To Approaching Manufacturers
00:42:32 Being Sold Out For 200+ Days
00:45:30 The Biggest Mistake A Brand Can Make
00:49:38 How To Make Your Own Custom Product
00:51:31 Testing Optimal Ratios As A Runner
00:55:22 Content In Your Positioning Strategy
01:01:21 Collabs With Bandit and RAW
01:05:24 Why World Class Athletes Might Damage Your Brand
01:08:21 Ad Strategy For Cadence
01:11:18 Hiring Philosophy At Cadence
01:22:32 QuickFire Questions

In this episode, we sit down with Ross Mackay, founder and CEO of Cadence — the brand redefining what "premium" means in a $200B beverage category. Ross breaks down how you turn a $2 drink into luxury through positioning, packaging, retail strategy, and relentless attention to detail. From obsessing over shelf velocity to rebranding three times in under a year, this is a masterclass in how modern CPG brands actually win.

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Cadence (10% off with code "OR"): https://us.usecadence.com/openresidency

🎙 GUEST
Ross Mackay, Founder & CEO of Cadence
Website: https://us.usecadence.com

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Website: https://openresidency.com/

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Trailer
00:00:49 Why Did You Kill A $6 Million Product Overnight?
00:05:07 The Biggest Lie In The Supplement Industry
00:06:36 Why Is Sourcing So Important?
00:07:51 What Do 3rd Party Certifications Actually Mean?
00:15:27 Product Development
00:20:45 Biggest Misconceptions About Creatine
00:29:15 How Did You Get Your First Partnership?
00:32:37 How Did The Partnership With Andrew Huberman Start?
00:39:16 Partnering With All 32 NFL Teams
00:40:55 Big Learnings From Your Partners
00:44:26 The Partnership With Arnold
00:51:20 Fundraising and Raising Money
01:01:46 What Did You Learn From Pete Carroll?
01:10:30 What Do You Look For In Hiring?
01:18:03 Quickstrike Questions

In this episode, we sit down with Jeff Byers, CEO of Momentous, to unpack what it really means to build a high-trust brand in a low-trust industry. Jeff shares why he killed a $6M product overnight to protect the company's standards, how Momentous became trusted by all 32 NFL teams, and why most supplement companies cut corners on sourcing, certification, and dosing.

Get 35% off Momentous: https://crrnt.app/MOME/x3v_PO0nShareable (use code MarkMastrandrea)

🎙 GUEST
Jeff Byers, CEO of Momentous
Website: https://www.livemomentous.com

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Website: https://openresidency.com/

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⚡️ BTS & more https://openresidency.com/kallaway

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Trailer
00:01:08 Biggest Lessons As A Full-Time Creator
00:03:19 What Goes Into A Great Hook?
00:13:46 The Most Important Framework For Content
00:15:39 The Hidden Cheat Code For Instagram Thumbnails
00:19:46 The Five Content Games Framework
00:33:34 The Seven Lego Bricks For Short Form
00:50:48 Most Common Editing Mistakes For Short Form
00:53:42 What Metrics Actually Matter For Shorts?
01:01:33 Kallaway's Insane Team Structure
01:10:57 Why Are You So Bullish On YouTube?
01:19:21 Is YouTube More A Packaging Game?
01:22:12 Title/Thumbnail Mistakes
01:28:08 Key Metrics To Evaluate With YouTube
01:34:28 What People Misunderstand About YouTube
01:38:22 The Biggest Myth About Virality
01:48:51 Content Mix Perspective
01:55:14 Building A Community From Your Audience
02:02:13 The Biggest Growth Hack for 2026
02:07:04 AI Tools
02:16:51 Stories That Convert
02:20:46 Quickfire Questions

In this episode, we sit down with Kallaway, the operator quietly building some of the most efficient content machines on the internet. Kallaway breaks down how modern businesses should think about content as infrastructure, not art. We go deep on the content mechanics most never see, how to engineer "desire loops" that earn clicks, and why YouTube should be treated like a professional sport.

🔗 KALLAWAY RESOURCES
YouTube Academy: https://kallaway.co/youtubeacademy/r/openresidency
Sandcastles: https://sandcastles.ai/?ref=openresidency

🎙 GUEST
Kallaway
Website: https://kallaway.co

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Website: https://openresidency.com/

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⚡️ BTS & more https://openresidency.com/samir-chaudry

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Trailer
00:01:16 The 3 Rules of YouTube
00:12:27 How to Properly Think About Your Audience
00:24:14 How To Get Good At Title and Thumbnail
00:37:00 How To Research A Vertical
00:42:57 How To Avoid Burnout
00:47:11 The Hidden Problems With Podcasts Today
00:55:21 Respecting the Viewer's Time
01:01:04 How Do You Look at Retention?
01:05:11 Most Important Metrics for YouTube
01:16:16 The Business of Colin and Samir
01:18:20 Working With Sponsors and Big Brands
01:34:28 Small Deals vs. Big Deals
01:37:36 The Education Business
01:45:20 Learnings From Press Publish NYC
01:50:09 What Are You Excited About?
01:54:49 The Palisades Fire
02:13:42 The Future of the Media Landscape
02:28:15 Working With Colin For Over 10 Years
02:29:42 Quickstrike Questions

In this episode, we sit down with Samir Chaudry, co-host of Colin and Samir, for a deep conversation about relevance, creative longevity, and what it actually takes to build a career in the modern media landscape. Samir breaks down how creators stay relevant as platforms, formats, and audience expectations constantly shift — and what metrics actually matter in building a lasting media business.

🎙 GUEST
Samir Chaudry
Website: https://colinandsamir.com

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Website: https://openresidency.com/

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In this episode, we sit down with Dan Koe for a deep conversation about building a Future Proof Skill Stack, navigating AI, and designing a life that isn't dictated by someone else's goals. Dan breaks down why the most important skills today aren't technical, but meta — learning how to learn, how to think, and how to earn. We explore how AI is accelerating the need for adaptability, why taste, narrative, and trust are becoming the real moats, and how creators can stop chasing niches and instead become the niche.

In this episode, we sit down with Mark Manson, bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, for a wide-ranging conversation about pain, purpose, momentum, and what it actually takes to build a meaningful life. Mark explains why you can’t want the reward without wanting the cost, how suffering is often self-created through the stories we tell ourselves, and why momentum—not motivation—is the real driver of progress.

We go deep on relationships and dating — romance vs compatibility, conditional love, commitment, self-sabotage, and how to know if you’re actually ready for a serious partnership. Mark shares the biggest dating mistakes people make today, and how alignment beats excitement. We also explore creativity, writing, money, building and scaling a new AI company, and why Mark believes AI will fundamentally reshape personal growth, therapy, and the future of self-help.

In this episode, I sit down with Sean Frank, CEO of Ridge, for a deep dive into the systems behind one of the most profitable e-commerce brands operating today. Sean breaks down how Ridge confidently spends $100K/day on ads, why simplicity beats cleverness in performance creative, and the disciplined frameworks that allow Ridge to scale without outside capital. He also shares something he rarely talks about publicly: Ridge's biggest weakness — and why it's actually the one unfair advantage smaller brands still have in 2026.

We unpack Ridge's entire performance machine: producing 200+ ad variations every month, hiring creators with editing instincts, building agency-less teams, and treating ad economics with ruthless clarity. Sean explains why most brands fail before they even have a product worth selling, what founders still misunderstand about Meta, and how operational discipline is becoming the new moat in e-commerce. This conversation is a masterclass in scaling, creative iteration, and building lean teams that win — even as the landscape gets harder.

In this episode, I sit down with George Heaton to unpack how a two-year trademark battle nearly ended Represent and how surviving it ignited the creative fire that pushed the brand into its biggest years ever. He breaks down the personal brand flywheel, product discipline, and offline community strategy that helped turn Represent into one of the most influential modern apparel labels today.

In this episode, I sit down with Simon Molnar, founder of Flagship.ai, to break down why 83% of shopping still happens in-store — yet most stores run with almost no data. Simon explains how visual merchandising became the most overlooked lever in retail, why brands misjudge store performance, and how Flagship built the square-foot-level “money map” that finally gives brick-and-mortar the same funnel e-commerce has.We also dive into Simon’s leadership philosophy shaped by Afterpay’s $29B rise — hiring for humility, building A-players, and making every store matter through objective data. This conversation is a masterclass in retail reinvention, operational clarity, and building teams that raise the standard.

In this episode, I sit down with Joel Kocher, the 70-year-old CEO & Co-Founder of Humann, a $200M company redefining cardiovascular health. We unpack how Joel went from early retirement and burnout to discovering the "miracle molecule" nitric oxide — the foundation behind Humann's science-backed approach to longevity.

He explains why most people misunderstand heart health, how clinical trials became his edge, and what it takes to build a lasting company.We also dive deep into leadership — from his years as the #2 at Dell to lessons learned from Michael Dell and Steve Jobs.

Joel shares the mindset that's kept him young, the frameworks that landed Humann on the Inc. 5000 list ten times, and why focus, conviction, and adaptability matter more than ever in business and life.This conversation is a deep dive into longevity, leadership, and what it really takes to stay young — in business and in life. Enjoy!