My guest today is John Fiorentino. John is a product inventor and entrepreneur who, in the space of a few years, has bootstrapped four products; Gravity Blanket, Moon Pod, Moon Pals, and Birthdate Candles which have collectively sold hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. Our conversation is quite different than normal. Alongside his successful brands, John has had a range of life experiences – from starting as a Jazz musician to working for Justin Bieber - that give him an original worldview. I was especially interested in his points around product positioning, creating magic for consumers, not letting yourself become the product, and how to build enduring brands. Please enjoy this great conversation with John Fiorentino.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus streamlines the investment research process so you can get up to speed and find answers to critical questions on companies faster and more efficiently. The Tegus platform surfaces the hard-to-get qualitative insights, gives instant access to critical public financial data through BamSEC, and helps you set up customized expert calls. It’s all done on a single, modern SaaS platform that offers 360-degree insight into any public or private company. I’ve been so impressed by the platform that my firm, Positive Sum, recently made an investment in Tegus. We did so because we feel that Tegus will be the gold standard platform for investing research for decades to come. As a listener, you can take Tegus for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:25] - [First question] - The amazing story behind Gravity Blanket [00:08:51] - What he’s learned about positioning relative to product [00:13:17] - How fundamental truths drive creativity in commerce [00:16:17] - Real-world examples of magic as he defines it [00:19:50] - The investability of consumer businesses from his perspective [00:25:25] - His contrarian thoughts on venture-backed startups [00:28:00] - How unique personalities create compelling IP and monetize it [00:38:28] - The fine line between creative power and self-destruction for brand founders [00:45:13] - The importance of consumer business goals being larger than oneself [00:48:45] - The story of the Moon Pals weighted stuffed animals [00:53:15] - How investors undervalue IP and mythology [00:57:20] - Leveraging uniqueness as a founder to boost your brand power [01:00:53] - His eye-opening experience working on Justin Bieber’s team [01:05:20] - How he identifies potential magic-makers and enables them [01:09:16] - An odd commonality between high-level successful people [01:12:14] - Whether or not one could map out their own archetype framework [01:15:23] - The dangers of focusing on one’s own persona and image as the product [01:18:19] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

John Fio (Gravity Blanket, Moon Pals) joins Brent Beshore & David Cover to talk about what it was like to work with Justin Bieber, the importance of finding truth in what you create, why worldbuilding is more important storytelling, and why so many products won’t stand the test of time.   LINKS & MENTIONS FROM THIS EPISODE Gravity Blanket https://gravityblankets.com/ Moon Pals https://www.moonpals.com/ Birthdate Co https://birthdate.co/  Unqualified Opinions Newsletter https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletters    CONNECT John on twitter https://twitter.com/johnhfio  John on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fiorentino-a1b26439/  Brent on twitter https:/https://twitter.com/BrentBeshore Brent on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentbeshore  David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cover-318752230/  Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter  Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions    TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro & Who Is John Fio? 4:38 Maybe the World DOES Need One More Podcast 5:44 John the Artist vs John the Warlord 8:22 Working for Justin Bieber & Almost Dying 10:27 Being Homeless for Over a Year 12:35 Inventing Gravity Blanket After Spending the Night on the Subway 20:00 Worldbuilding > Storytelling 24:20 Fearlessly Pursuing Your Customer 29:29 Sign Up for the Unqualified Opinions Newsletter 30:57 Red Bull Built a Real World 37:07 Is Uber a Real Company? 41:43 A Plague of Cynicism  49:02 You Are More Than Yourself 1:04:21 Finding the Truth Is Profitable 1:07:13 Is Moon Pals the Next Disney? 1:13:30 Creating From Truth 1:16:10 Building Fio Creations: Finding Artists & Warlords 1:23:09 Send This Podcast to Someone   EPISODE CREDITS Produced by David Cover Intro music by David Cover, Andy Freeman, Rhett Johnson, & Andrew Luley Interlude music by Sam Barsh Outro music by Jees Guy   WE STEWARD COMPANIES THAT CARE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT  Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter  Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions  Check out our other podcast episodes here: hhttps://pod.link/1480383949    LEGAL DISCLAIMER This podcast is made available solely for educational purposes, and the information presented here does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be construed as an offering of advisory services, or as a solicitation to buy, an offer to sell, or a recommendation of any securities or other financial instruments. The thoughts and opinions expressed by or through this podcast are those of the individual guests and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Permanent Equity. The discussion on this podcast of any entity, product or service does not imply an endorsement thereof, and the guests may have a financial interest, whether through investment or otherwise, in one or more of any such entities, products or services. This podcast is presented by Permanent Equity and may not be copied, reproduced, republished or posted, in any form, without its express written consent.  

Sabrina Carpenter joins the fun, discussing her new album, Short n' Sweet, amidst rumors of a love triangle with Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Hailey and Justin Bieber share heartfelt news about their new baby, named Jack Blue, while Martin Short and Meryl Streep's hand-holding at an event sparks curiosity. Lily Allen faces criticism for her puppy comments, adding to the celebrity gossip. The conversation dives into how personal stories shape the music industry and celebrity culture, wrapped in humor and relatable anecdotes.

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