Wisdom.MBA

Michael Minter has had a very successful career as a creative marketer working with some of the world’s largest footwear brands.  Michael is currently the CMO of Reef, a 40-year-old legendary sandal brand that has recently seen an expansion in its product catalog and growth in eCommerce sales.  Prior to Reef, Michael was the Global Head of Marketing for DC Shoes, leading many of the company’s iconic collaborations with the likes of the Andy Warhol foundation and the Mandalorian. 

Michael and I discuss how his upbringing in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea allowed him to approach brand marketing from a very unique perspective. We talk about his formal educational training first at SCAD followed by San Diego State University, and Michael provides his advice for anyone looking to become a CMO or creative director.

This podcast was a lot of fun for me, because I also got to geek out on skate, snow, and surf culture, and we debate the topic of keeping aging sponsored pros on the payroll or not. Both of us disagree slightly on the topic, but it makes for some interesting takeaways for brands.

If you are interested in creative, marketing, brand positioning, partnerships and collaborations, then you will enjoy this episode.  

Discussion Topics:

(1:34) Growing up in Papua New Guinea.

(4:35) How an analog youth in a remote village led to a unique cultural perspective.

(8:20) Brands that Michael admires.

(12:19) The role good creative plays in marketing strategies.

(22:48) Creative education.

(26:28) Advice for trying to become a CMO at a major brand.

(31:06) The importance of collaborations for brand growth.

(43:51) Keeping legendary team riders on the payroll.

(51:29) Working with Ken Block.

(55:26) Growth potential for Reef.

(58:40) Rapid fire. 

Bakari Akil is a visiting lecturer at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management teaching students how to buy a business. Bakari is also a successful search fund entrepreneur and independent sponsor. 

Bakari recently sourced the acquisition of a burlap bag manufacturer, secured equity financing, closed the deal, then recruited and hired the CEO to operate the business. Bakari shares his inspirational story about growing up extremely poor and discovering Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition to provide generational wealth. We talk about how ETA is a great path for anyone, particularly if you don’t have an MBA or went to business school.

Bakari is currently traveling around the world as a digital nomad managing his numerous ventures remotely. He provides great advice for anyone looking to use entrepreneurship and a distributed support staff to live a dream lifestyle.

This podcast is for anyone looking at Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition as a career choice or for anyone who loves a great entrepreneur story.

Discussion Topics:

(2:10) World travel and advice for remote entrepreneurs.

(9:40) Not financial advice … the best financial advice.

(18:32) Going into ETA or Private Equity.

(26:05) The New York Times & Bakari’s entrepreneurship journey.

(32:29) Learning ETA without going to business school.

(40:22) Advice for searchers.

(50:00) Bakari’s NYP search deal and investment thesis.

(1:00:45) Rapid Fire.

Ryan Duey is the Co-Founder + Co-CEO of plunge.com. Plunge has seen fantastic growth with increases in demand for cold plunge and contrast therapy coming out of the pandemic. Ryan and I go deep into what caused the company’s parabolic rise and how he and his co-founder Michael Garrett were able to both help create and capitalize on the current cold plunge boom.

We talk about getting free organic exposure from Lebron James. Plunge’s origin story during COVID lockdowns. His appearance on SharkTank, goals for the future and his honest advice for young entrepreneurs. A really fascinating insight is Ryan’s concept of the entourage effect. I had never heard of the concept before, but I think it is a genius and a big reason why the company and cold plunges in general took off so quickly in the United States.

If you like health and wellness or a great founder story that involves taking risks and pivoting during adversity, then I think you will really like this episode.

Discussion Topics:

(1:17) Icebreaker: study abroad.

(3:16) Lebron James, Tony Hawk, Andrew Huberman and more. 

(14:37) Why did cold plunge go parabolic in December 2022?

(21:30) The entourage effect.

(24:09) Which celebrity has the coolest house?

(30:47) Plunge’s origin story - necessity is the mother of invention.

(38:12) Sharktank … was it worthwhile?

(43:00) Sauna launch.

(51:29) Advice for young entrepreneurs.

(53:33) Rapid fire.

Chris McKleroy is the founder and CEO of Nocs Provisions, a company which has reinvented binoculars. Chris is a successful entrepreneur with a proven track record of designing disruptive products and bringing them to market.

Prior to Nocs, Chris was the Head of Product and Co-Founder of Boombotix, one of the original Bluetooth personal speaker brands to enter the market. Chris helped scale the business from $200k to over $13 million in annual revenue. We discuss the lessons learned from massive growth, raising venture capital and what it was like partnering with Wu-Tang.

Chris and I discuss product development, prototyping and why product market fit is so critical. He shares his insights on how to bootstrap a business idea and talks about the importance of finding your MVB “Minimum Viable Business.” He shares his advice for overseas manufacturing and how to disrupt established markets with innovatively designed products.

If you like product development, direct-to-consumer marketing and design then I am sure you will love this episode.

Discussion Topics:

(1:28) Working with Wu-Tang.

(10:08) Business & design programs for Entrepreneurs.

(17:12) Scaling Boombotix to a $13 million business.

(24:12) Bootstrapping Nocs Provisions.

(30:51) Advice for Entrepreneurs.

(36:45) Product design process.

(44:46) Manufacturing products in China during COVID.

(58:10) Minimum Viable Business.

(59:00) Rapid fire questions.

Bradley Harris is the principal and CEO of A-Frame - a venture studio built for sustainable growth.  Brad and I met on acquire.com, an online marketplace for buying and selling startups. I was looking to purchase the surf and board sports business that he had founded. I loved what he had built and his focus on being a socially minded entrepreneur. Brad ultimately sold the business to someone else, but we have stayed in-contact and have helped each other on our respective entrepreneurial journeys.

Brad is a 3x founder and advisor with a deep understanding of go-to-market strategies, brand management and mobile technology. His super-power, however, is being able to position brands for social impact in ways that are authentic and resonate with consumers.

We talk about how he positioned his surf eCommerce business Good Wave to meet an underserved portion of the market, namely surf parents. We geek out hard on surf culture and board sports and how brands can be better leaders of social impact.

Brad is a great guy with a lot of wisdom to share.  I hope you enjoy.

Discussion Topics:

(1:14) Brand archetypes in action sports.

(6:18) The best winter ever and finding your why post-exit.

(11:42) Building a business for surfing parents and families.

(28:32) Product development process.

(37:40) Advice for selling on acquire.com.

(52:17) Vision for A-Frame ventures.

(54:40) Rapid fire.

Will McGuire is a seasoned entrepreneur with a passion for helping startup founders raise capital. Will and I take a deep dive into the JOBS act and how equity crowdfunding came to be in the United States. We talk about a bill that just passed in the house of representatives that would improve access to capital and how accredited investors are defined.

We also talk about how his business Incolo.io is leading the charge for helping level the playing field for who gets funding. We discuss whether adding influencers to your cap table is a good idea or not and a step-by-step guide for raising money through equity crowdfunding and whether it is the right choice for your business.

Discussion Topics:

(2:40) Icebreaker Multipotentiality

(7:42) The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act

(16:10) The growth of equity crowdfunding.

(17:20) Incolo’s origin story.

(25:29) Traits that make founders investible. 

(28:36) Step-by-step guide to raising investment crowdfunding.

(35:52) To use influencers or not on your cap table.

(42:30) Building the best outdoor music venue in the southeast.

(46:13) Rapid fire questions.

Mike Fata is a true pioneer in the health food sector and a passionate advocate for wellness. Mike's story is as inspiring as it is unconventional. His career began not in the boardroom, but in a personal battle with weight loss and the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. This journey led him to discover the nutritional potential of a plant that was largely overlooked.

In 1998, Mike co-founded Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, transforming it into the world's largest hemp food manufacturer, and in the process, changing our understanding of hemp as a health food ingredient. In 2019, the company sold to Tilray for $419mm. 

Like his passion for the hemp industry, Mike now devotes his time, energy and capital to helping founders in the natural products industry grow and thrive. Mike has a proven track record of success. As the Chairman of the Board for Sol Cuisine, the company was acquired by Plant Plus Foods in January 2022 for $125mm.  Many of Mike’s portfolio brands like Mid-Day Squares and Love Good Fats have experienced incredible growth thanks in part to his mentorship and guidance.

While very busy, Mike still provides wisdom and guidance to entrepreneurs through his podcast Founder to Mentor and his new book GROW 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur.

Mike and I talk about the early stages of launching a startup in a nascent industry, health and wellness and launching consumer products online and in retail.  Mike’s story is a fascinating journey of personal transformation and overcoming adversity with a great deal of wisdom that I think many people can relate to.

Discussion Topics:

(1:48) Icebreakers: How Mike is currently using AI tools and 80s TV.

(6:33) Early days of hemp in Canada.

(14:52) Financing/bootstrapping a hemp business.

(19:56) The health & wellness boom.

(25:56) Investing in founders and natural products startups.

(29:02) Do you launch in eCommerce first then retail?

(30:50) Can the Mid-Day Squares playbook be replicated?

(34:14) Breaking into the US market from Canada.

(35:53) Advice from Mike’s book GROW.

(41:06) How nutrition and health benefit entrepreneurs.

(45:13) Best lessons for entrepreneurs that you will not learn in business school.

(50: 52) Rapid fire questions.

(51:59) Shoutout to The Weakerthans “One Great City”

Jen “JB” Braly is a hands-on transformation executive with a proven track record of driving large-scale change. Most recently, she was the Vice President, Program Office for Moderna during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporting directly to the Chief Digital and Technology Officer, JB helped the company grow from a pre-commercial research start-up with less than 1,000 US employees and no revenue to a $20 Billion global enterprise with over 4,500 employees. There needs to be an operations and logistics business case on Moderna because JB’s stories from behind the scenes are wild.

JB is an absolute force of nature with a very impressive resume. Air Force Captain, project manager, lean guru, Poets & Quants “100 Best & Brightest Executive MBA,” and the 1st and only EMBA to receive MIT’s “Graduate Women of Excellence Award.” In addition to all her success, she is also a really cool and fun person. I loved this conversation.

If you are interested in knowing what it was like managing one of the largest and fastest product rollouts in human history or what it’s like doing an Executive MBA at a top business school, then you’ll want to listen to this episode.

Discussion Topics:

(2:35) AI productivity tools for project managers.

(13:01) Moderna and the COVID-19 response.

(29:39) Working with brilliant classmates in EMBA programs.

(46:35) Advice for people thinking about an EMBA program.

(1:04:05) Rapid fire questions.

Kelly Smith has had an incredibly diverse career and is a true business renaissance man. 5 exits. Investor in companies which were acquired by ESPN, Amazon and Google. Vice President of Digital for Starbucks China when the company was experiencing massive growth opening a store a day. Chief Digital Officer at MGM Resorts International, Hagerty and now Athletic Greens.

Kelly and I talk about what it’s like transitioning from start-up founder to a Fortune 100 corporate role. His successful track record for building companies that get acquired. Digital transformation and the future of the online art space.

We also talk about German cars, Swiss watches and other luxurious spoils awarded to those bold entrepreneurs who are comfortable taking risks. There is a lot of great wisdom in this episode and Kelly is an all-around good guy with great stories to tell.

Discussion Topics:

(1:40) Fast dad cars.

(6:34) Entrepreneur to intrapreneur.

(12:30) 5 exits.  What’s the secret?

(17:50) Venture capital & investing.

(20:18) Saying no to Elon Musk.

(23:49) Digital transformation mindset.

(31:48) Building a new category of product with Athletic Greens.

(38:11) Imagekind and the online art market.

(51:00) Rapid fire questions.

Eddie Cohen is the founder of Walden, a brand that designs, engineers, and manufactures products for meditation. Eddie’s founder journey started after a 10-day meditation retreat. As a product designer who worked at Apple, he discovered that the products at the retreat lacked inspiring aesthetics. With Walden, Eddie wants it to become Nike for the mind, providing customers with beautiful and thoughtfully designed products that promote a mindful lifestyle.

Eddie and I discuss his founder journey, why he decided to manufacture products in the US, the post-COVID health and wellness boom and how he manages to finance inventory for his growing product assortment. He also provides insights for how entrepreneurs can use meditation for dealing with the inevitable stresses of building a company.

If you love a good founder story from someone who is truly living their passion, then I think you will enjoy this episode.

Discussion Topics:

(1:20) Icebreaker: Instagram handles and burning man.

(5:28) Meditation & mental health in a post-COVID world.

(12:12) Designing a better cold plunge.

(17:39) 10 days of silence.

(22:44) Japanese Zen influence.

(29:00) Using meditation to become a better entrepreneur.

(38:50) Inventory financing and launching new products.

(47:59) Giving up a dream job to become an entrepreneur.

(52:43) The future of Walden.

(55:50) Rapid fire questions.