HVMN’s Michael Brandt: Barefoot Running, Synesthesia in Branding, Finding More Mentors, Favorite Books, and More

In this episode, we deconstruct Michael Brandt's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of HVMN and Ketone-IQ. We cover barefoot running, creating brand synesthesia, and the magic of walking. “Do not reinvent the wheel for 80% of what you're doing. Because the 20% of what you're doing that's really special and interesting, that's going to take a 100% of your time. It could and should.” – Michael Brandt EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/michael-brandt-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/michael-brandt-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Michael Brandt’s peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:02) – HVMN and ketones (00:04:17) – Barefoot running and improving running form (00:06:50) – Speaking multiple languages across the business as a founder (00:09:37) – Continuous glucose monitoring and heart rate monitoring for peak performance (00:13:27) – Embedding Ketone-IQ into daily life (00:15:58) – Creating brand synesthesia with design (00:22:22) – Recommended books, from Shoe Dog to Born to Run (00:26:43) – The importance of daily activity and the magic of walking (00:31:19) – Find more mentors and don’t reinvent the wheel for 80% of your business ABOUT MICHAEL BRANDT Michael Brandt is the co-founder and CEO of HVMN and Ketone-IQ, which makes the world's first drinkable ketones. HVMN stands for Health Via Modern Nutrition. And in 2017, they launched version 1.0 of their drinkable ketone product after landing a six million dollar contract with the US Department of Defense to study how ketones could improve the performance of our special forces warriors. HVMM launched version 2.0 called KetoneIQ last year in November 2021. Michael is also an avid marathoner, long distance runner, and biohacker which we talk about a lot in this episode. In this episode, Michael shares his product design and branding principles, including his theory of synesthesia or why every part of your aesthetic and brand has to relate to every other part. He talks about how he's gotten better at running over the years, including running for as fast as he can, and for as long as he can, while keeping his pulse below 140 beats per minute. He talks about how he uses drinkable ketones and Ketone-IQ in his daily life, including what products he stacks it with. We discuss his favorite books on running, and the design and engineering thought that went into HVMN. 💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices