The Competitive Edge

There has been a plethora of exciting startups who are innovating on painful buying experiences while championing what has been popularly known as the direct to consumer model. Today we're fortunate enough to have one of the most exciting companies in the space Casper. Casper Co-Founder Philip Krim comes on the show to talk about building the company as well as how we can be thinking about this new category of ecommerce. These guys did over a million in revenue in their first month and have only grown since then so there is definitely a thing or two to be learned from their journey so far.

Matt Ellsworth is our guest today. The guy is a total stud and in this interview we're going to start by talking about how using a combination of scraping, vritual assistants, and cold emails he built a massive lead generation machine at his last startup storefront. So much so that his outsourced team was sending out thousands of targeted, personalized emails a week while his interal sales team could focus on responding to warm leads. But this convo isn't just all about startups...despite seemingly being on top of the world as a preeminent Growth guy in Silicon Valley, Matt left his last company to pursue standup comedy and focus on some others. We'll talk about how he thought about pursuing a different type of dream when everyone around him expected him to do more startup stuff. Super inspiring stuff.

John Durant, author of the Paleo Manifesto and MY NEW ROOMMATE is our awesome guest today. John is one of the foremost thought leaders on ancestral health and paleolithic living. In this episode, he shares with us why one way to unlock new levels of peak health and performance is to revert to a lifestyle more similar to one humans have bee living for 10's of thousands of years. Many of the modern diets, exercise trends, and lifestyle habits that get lots of attention in pop culture are actually hurting our ability to thrive in many instances. We'll dive into this and more topics surrounding peak health in this jam packed episode.

Nir Eyal is the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and blogs about the psychology of products at NirAndFar.com. In this episode we chat about the science and psychology behind some of the most addictive internet products and apps. If you're like me and wonder why you constantly feel an urge to check Instagram or even email, this episode brilliantly lays out how these behaviors can be engineered. Awesome episode for anyone interested in startups and building the next big thing. 

This episode dives into the topic of achievement and how we can approach the art of “happily achieving”   Its funny - a lot of us are really quick to ask ourselves what we want without ever asking what we’re willing to give up for that which is a much greater predictor of whether will get those things and enjoy the process along the way.   This episode is a bit all over the place, but Mark shares some mindsets that have helped him in his own entrepreneurial journey in growing one of the largest self-development sites on the internet. Resiliency, values, and overcoming fear are just a few of the topics we’’ll go deep on. Consider this required listening for anyone who wants to be their best selves. Let’s hear from Mark Manson.

Have you ever had an idea for a food product or personal recipe you've wanted to take mainstream? Today I chat with my buddy Ryan Smith, one of the co-founders of Bitchin' Sauce which is my favorite garnish in the world. This stuff is so good that it's now on the shelves in groceries stores everywhere including Whole Foods. We'll talk about all the steps to take what was just a family creation to the shelves of major grocery stores and a whole lot more. Ryan is also hilarious which makes for a Bitchin' episode.

Steve Sisler, the founder of the Behavioral Research Group comes on the show to reveal the power that can be unlocked when people understand AND leverage their natural hardwiring. Steve provides countless examples of how understanding this can help you be a more effective leader and entrepreneur. We also do a live profiling of yours truly which has been excellent for helping me make crucial decisions in my business since having this conversation. A must listen especially if you're familiar with the DISC profile.

Steve Schlafman is a good bud and startup investor for RRE ventures.  He's also someone whose work ethic and hustle I genuinely admire. We’ve had a lot of entrepreneurs on this show, but today I wanted to bring someone on the other side of the table on. Steve sees 100’s if not thousands of companies a year and has to distill amongst all the people building things which ones he things are going to make it.  One of the cool things about this job, is you get to see patterns amongst companies and individuals. What type of company wins? What do the founders look like? We’ll pick Steve’s brain on these types of questions, and unpack what entrepreneurs should know before pitching a venture capitalist. My favorite part of the episode is hearing some stories from the trenches about the lengths some entrepreneurs have taken to make their company successful…

After 3 people asked me about how to be beaming with joy in a 24 hour period, I wanted to share this gratitude practice that has been a big part of creating the deepest and lasting sense of inner joy I've ever had. Everyone can do this and it only takes a few minutes a day. It's even backed by Science!

Steve Sims runs The Bluefish which is probably coolest company in the world. They deliver world class experiences to people and in the process make the impossible happen. This episode is chock full of stories of resourcefulness and mindsets that have helped Steve create the premier executive concierge service in the world. If you want to live the high life and access experiences Steve provides, listen to his advice in this episode and you'll be on your way. 

Ben Altman from Charisma On Command comes on the show to chat how you can make an amazing first impression on people. Whether you're walking into the room at a networking event or meeting someone at the bar, we all want to know how to leave that person wanting more....the framework Ben proposes rings true in my life and is definitely something you can apply in any situation. Definitely worth a listen!

Jayson Gaignard, creator of Mastermind Talks, comes on the show to discuss what it takes to throw a world class event. The origin story of Mastermind Talks contains the ultimate hustle move by Jason and it's the one event that every person I've talked to says is by far and away a home run. There's a whole lot more in this episode than just creating a world class experience...we'll dive into some philosophy stuff and business tips that you can use to attract A+ players in your life like Jayson has.

Maren Kate Donovan the CEO of Zirtual comes on the show to talk about how we can massively increase our productivity and happiness by using Virtual Assistants. We'll give specific instances where you can use them as well as the best ways to work with them. We also talk about Zirtual as a business and where its headed which is pretty exciting!

Stephan Aarstol founder of Tower Paddle Boards comes on the show to talk about the origin story of his company Tower Paddle Boards. Stephan's company was named one of the top 10 companies to go on Shark Tank and he provides a ton of insight into what it is actually like before, during, and after the show. We'll touch on a framework you can use to evaluate and disrupt ecommerce verticals as well as some very smart strategies Stephan has used to grow his business. 

Chris Walker comes on the show to chat about how to naturally boost the hormone responsible for energy, aptitude to put on muscle, and positive emotions...testosterone. Seriously, what guy doesn't want more of these things? We'll cover things like diet, exercise, and the many other variables which for the most part can be optimized to make your perform at higher levels. Boom!

John Lee Dumas, host of Entrepreneur on Fire, comes on the show to discuss the mindsets and tactics he's used to quickly skyrocket to the top of itunes. This episode will cover everything from how he has learned to scale himself to the ways you should be approaching a crowded market. We'll also get a behind the scenes look at John's 6 figure a month business. 

Vanessa Van Edwards from The Science Of People comes on the show to talk about body language, alpha traits, the science of first impressions and these crucial things called micro-expressions. Don't think this stuff matters? Well studies say that people who understand these things make more money, have more love, and are happier. If this isn't incentive to tune in, I don't know what is. Oh and we'll also talk about lie detection : )

Justin Mares, Co-Author of Traction Book comes on the show to talk about something everyone in business wants to know...how to get more customers! This episode is a blueprint for how to approach acquiring users and a framework that anyone can use in their business whether we're talking about software or book marketing. Justin is a marketing champ and I gurantee you'll get some amazing ideas and strategies by listening to this episode.

Charisma is something we all want, yet few people have really taken the time to codify it and lay it out in a way that we can develop more of it. One of my best buds and former roommates comes on the show today to decode charisma and teach you how to turn it on in an instant. Charlie used to be incredibly shy and now he's got that "it" factor that makes him a magnet anywhere he goes. Learn how he developed it here!

Have an idea for a product that should be in your favorite retail store and trying to figure out how to make that happen? Brandon Rickman whose products have sold more than 20 million dollars worth of goods in places like Wal-Mart and Home Depot comes on to the show to lay out step by step how to go from idea to retail stores. This is the most comprehensive breakdown I've ever seen!