192. How to Build a Brand So Premium Customers Chase You ft. Marcus Milione

Jan 29, 2026

Marcus Milione, founder of Minted New York, a bootstrapped fashion brand built in public. He discusses documenting the creative process, building with integrity and product-first design. He shares bootstrapping realities, supply chain lessons, and why authentic, run-and-gun content wins. He also talks about customer respect, long timelines, and ambitions like making a full running shoe.

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ANECDOTE

Quitting After A Fast Early Win

Marcus hit his revenue goal two months in and quit his corporate job after one release sold three months of revenue in ten minutes.
His bosses were supportive and told him to try it, which eased the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Nearly Blew Up During A Supply Chain Crisis

Marcus once drained the bank account to under $1,000 during a Christmas season release while goods were stuck at sea.
Community support and luck saved the launch, and he learned to plan for everything to go wrong.

insights

INSIGHT

Respect As A Brand Strategy

Marcus centers Minted on obsessive quality and respect for customers' time and money.
That focus lets customers try new categories and drives word-of-mouth growth.

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Why Marcus started sharing fashion publicly

01:26 • 2min

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Cancer diagnosis reshaped his risk tolerance

03:13 • 3min

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Documenting the process, not marketing

05:58 • 2min

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Quitting a job after early traction

07:49 • 3min

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Failure as part of winning

11:00 • 5min

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Valley of despair and supply chain lessons

16:04 • 4min

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Combining fitness, running, and high quality goods

20:30 • 3min

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How Minted tests new product ideas

23:40 • 2min

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Benefits of building in public

25:20 • 2min

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Raw 'run-and-gun' content strategy

27:28 • 60sec

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Dealing with unsupportive friends or family

28:28 • 4min

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Running as a business metaphor

32:57 • 2min

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Mentors, long-term lens, and learning from others

35:12 • 2min

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Personal influences: a teacher’s lesson

37:21 • 5min

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Pop-ups, community, and customer respect

42:20 • 4min

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How the Saucony collaboration started

46:30 • 3min

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Design process with a major brand

49:53 • 3min

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Flexible content playbook for launches

52:50 • 58sec

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Creative inspiration and moodboard approach

53:49 • 4min

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Paid ads vs. earned media

57:19 • 1min

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Misconceptions about fashion entrepreneurship

58:40 • 2min

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Negotiating in the Diamond District

01:01:03 • 7min

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Creators turning attention into product revenue

01:07:48 • 2min

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Why Minted stayed bootstrapped (so far)

01:09:26 • 2min

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Cashflow realities and avoiding high-interest debt

01:11:12 • 3min

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Scaling requires delegation

01:14:38 • 3min

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Advice to younger self: focus and discipline

01:17:11 • 1min

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Physical retail as experiential ambition

01:18:32 • 2min

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Is New York necessary for apparel?

01:20:39 • 1min

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Tariffs, margins, and maintaining prices

01:22:00 • 5min

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Finding and testing manufacturers

01:26:36 • 2min

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Nike collaborations and learning

01:28:08 • 2min

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Dream collabs and athlete sponsorships

01:29:57 • 3min

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Aspiration to make a full running shoe

01:32:40 • 32sec

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Origin of the Minted name

01:33:12 • 38sec

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Final reflections on product and integrity

• Mentioned in 153 episodes

Shoe Dog

Phil Knight

Shoe Dog is a memoir that chronicles the journey of Phil Knight as he builds Nike from its humble beginnings as Blue Ribbon Sports. The book is a personal and detailed account of Knight's experiences, from his early days selling Japanese running shoes out of the trunk of his car to the global brand Nike is today. It highlights his relentless work ethic, the challenges he faced, and the key relationships with his partners and employees that were crucial to the company's success. The memoir also touches on Knight's personal life, including his family and the emotional struggles he encountered along the way.

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What's up Rock Nation! Today we're joined by Marcus, founder of Minted New York, a brand that went from side project to full-blown fashion business built entirely in public. Zero investors, no shortcuts. Just documenting the journey and betting on himself before he felt ready. Marcus has built his brand on one core principle: respect for the time and effort people put into earning the money they spend on your product.

In this episode, we break down why documenting beats perfection, why entrepreneurship is never easy even when you're winning, how integrity builds a brand people actually care about, and what it takes to build something real without waiting for permission. Let's get into it.

Check out Marcus here:

https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@marcusmilione1⁩

https://www.instagram.com/marcusmilione/

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Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro

1:12 – Paid Offer Playbook

1:26 – Getting started before the money makes sense

3:13 – Early belief vs external validation

5:26 – Running a brand with no safety net

7:48 – Cash flow stress and staying in the game

10:43 – Bootstrapping realities and investor pressure

14:01 – Artlist

15:10 – Content as leverage not just creativity

16:49 – Talking to camera vs polished production

20:30 – Finding formats that don’t burn you out

23:35 – Consistency beats novelty

25:20 – When content finally compounds

27:17 – Endurance over overnight success

28:21 – Running as a metaphor for business

30:53 – Long timelines nobody talks about

32:02 – Training patience and discipline

34:50 – Reflecting on growth without losing momentum

36:41 – Luck vs work and acknowledging both

39:51 – Increasing surface area for luck

42:13 – Posting volume and probability

44:55 – Creating opportunities before they appear

46:32 – Saucony Collab

49:38 – Brand alignment over quick wins

52:32 – Saying no to the wrong partnerships

53:22 – Capital isn’t evil but terms matter

56:55 – Why bad money kills good businesses

58:32 – Credit cards cash flow traps

1:01:09 – Paying everything off and staying liquid

1:04:29 – Negotiating manufacturer terms

1:06:22 – Relationships as leverage

1:07:38 – Stress nobody sees

1:09:10 – Running accounts down to survive

1:14:04 – Why most people quit too early

1:18:26 – Momentum comes after commitment

1:20:17 – Playing the long game on purpose

1:21:55 – Building something you can live with

1:29:29 – Looking back at what’s been built

1:33:53 – The After Party

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