Untold Truth Behind JUUL’s Explosive Growth ft. Alex Cantwell

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He helped scale JUUL from $1M to $1B in just three years. Now, he’s investing in the next generation of consumer brands.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Alex Cantwell, founder of Cartograph Ventures, an early-stage technology and consumer fund built by operators for operators. Alex shares what it was really like to scale one of the most controversial startups in the world—and what he learned about hypergrowth, backlash, regulation, and leadership along the way.

You’ll learn:

✅ How JUUL went from failure to billion-dollar rocket ship

✅ Why vape shops—not gas stations—became JUUL’s secret weapon

✅ What founders get wrong about retail expansion

✅ The dark side of hypergrowth and founder burnout

✅ Why “disruption” always invites controversy

✅ How operator-investors think differently about building vs. funding

✅ The future of vice categories: nicotine, caffeine, and beyond

✅ Why fiber might be the next big consumer trend

👉 If you want to understand how to build a disruptive brand, survive a backlash, and think like an operator-investor—this conversation is packed with hard-won lessons.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:00 From Wharton to JUUL: The Accidental Entry Point

03:00 Why JUUL Failed in Gas Stations

05:00 Finding Early Adopters in Vape Shops

07:00 Rethinking Retail & Route to Market

09:00 The Fallacy of “Instant Scale” with Big Retail

11:00 Lessons from Hypergrowth Inside JUUL

13:00 The Psychological Cost of Scaling Too Fast

15:00 What JUUL Got Right (and Wrong)

17:00 Should JUUL Have Been Banned?

19:00 Why Every Disruptive Brand Becomes a Lightning Rod

21:00 How Operator VCs Think Differently from Traditional Investors

25:00 The Real Difference Between Operators and Financial Investors

30:00 Betting on Regulated Categories (and Knowing When to Walk Away)

33:00 The Nicotine Pouch Boom: Zen vs. JUUL

36:00 Is Nicotine in a Harm Reduction Era?

38:00 Nicotine vs. Caffeine: The Mental Shift

41:00 Why Venture Has Become Hits-Driven

43:00 The “Cowboy Diet”: Protein, Nicotine & Caffeine

45:00 The Future of Consumer: Simplicity, Identity, and Less Friction

48:00 When to Go Deep vs. Broad in Retail

50:00 What Great Founders Do Differently

53:00 Why Operator-Led Funds Push Founders Harder

56:00 The Real Bubble in AI (and What Comes Next)

60:00 Underrated Categories: Why Fiber Might Be the Next Big Thing

63:00 Lightning Round: Lessons, Regrets & Fast Food Favorites

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