The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Raquel and Adam Bouris, founders of Who Is Elijah, share their journey creating a $20M perfume brand. They discuss innovative marketing strategies, overcoming challenges, influencer partnerships, and the importance of customer feedback. The podcast covers their inspirational entrepreneurial insights, from starting in a garage to finding success in boutique stores.

Former professional football player turned co-founder of AllBirds, Tim Brown, shares his journey of building a billion-dollar sneaker brand. Topics include leveraging his sports career for business, the slow burn of AllBirds, the benefits of doubt, staying grounded in Kiwi culture, tackling the competitive industry, handling setbacks, and the importance of refreshing vision over time.

Renowned life coach Tony Robbins discusses his career and mindset during an intense interview. He shares insights on personal growth, happiness, wealth management, and smart investing. Advice on saving, leadership, and building a successful business are also highlighted.

I love a crazy story, and if you’re building a business, these stories will happen all the time. I’ve had a few myself, and it always makes me feel better when I hear from fellow founders who go through a wild experience and end up learning something. That’s why before we record every episode of the podcast, I always ask our guests to share crazy stories from their journeys. Today, you’re going to hear some of those stories. In this episode, you’ll learn from:  Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist at Canva  Daniel Winer, CEO and co-founder of Hexclad Holly Thaggard, founder of Supergoop! Suneera Madhani, founder and CEO of Stax Payments Michelle Zatlyn, co-founder, president, and COO of Cloudflare  Jessica Rolph, co-founder of Lovevery and Happy Family Organics  Cody Ko and Noel Miller, founders of TMG Studios Alight, it’s time to get crazy…Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd spent their entire careers building an unfair advantage before starting Ultra Violette. The former product development colleagues at Mecca spent two and a half years creating their “skinscreen” formula before launching. In 2019, when they launched, the market was ready. In the first six months, they sold 40,000 units and disrupted the medicinal sunscreen category with their sexy and fun branding. Ultra Violette now sells its skincare-infused SPF products in 28 countries, and it recently raised $15M. In this episode, Nathan Chan chats with Chandler-Matthews and Jefferd about developing a regulated beauty product, standout branding advice, and knowing what good looks like. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why they spent two and a half years in the ideation phase How they accidentally overordered their first product batch The origins of their fictional marketing character “Vi” The marketing challenges around a regulated product Why having a global mindset is critical for beauty brands The pros and cons of owning your formula What you need to pitch mass retailers like Sephora or Mecca How to test formulations with real people Product development and formulation timing tips And much more beauty brand advice… Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

Entrepreneur Gretta van Riel shares her influencer marketing strategies for scaling ecommerce brands, including product-for-post campaigns, negotiating with influencers, and tracking conversions. She discusses the importance of working with influencer co-founders, utilizing the tiered micro influencer approach, and leveraging platforms like Twitch. Van Riel also emphasizes the value of direct-to-camera selling and post-purchase surveys to track influencer impact.

When Kanye calls you on a Sunday night, you pick up. That was Eric Liedtke’s life for years as the head of global brands at Adidas, where he was instrumental in building the Yeezy brand and scaling the Adidas ecommerce platform to a multi-billion dollar business. After a 26-year corporate career, Liedtke gave it up and started from scratch as the CEO and co-founder of UNLESS Collective, a plant-based streetwear brand designed to leave zero plastic waste. Nathan Chan and Liedtke go deep into his war stories from Adidas, working with celebrity talent like Kanye, and why starting UNLESS was a humbling experience. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Liedtke climbed from a sweeper to a board member at Adidas The origins of Yeezy, its growth, and what went wrong That Adidas built Kanye a sample room in Calabasas What Kanye taught him about branding Why UNLESS partnered with skate, surf, and snow influencers The different skills between a corporate leader and an entrepreneur Why he thought starting a business would be easier Why Kanye almost bought UNLESS Why you always need to have a Plan B Supplying t-shirts for Robert Downey Jr. And much more product branding advice… Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

Nick Shackelford wants to get soccer moms buzzed. His brand, BRĒZ, targets consumers who want to relax without a hangover in the morning. The challenge is getting BRĒZ sold online to soccer moms when selling the product isn’t fully legal. Shackelford is a managing partner at Structured Social and is Foundr’s How to Run Facebook Ads course instructor. But in this episode, Nathan Chan talks to a different Nick–a partner of the THC beverage brand BRĒZ. He started the business in 2023 to show his clients that Facebook ads work. What happened next is truly extraordinary. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Shackelford started over with a THC beverage product How BRĒZ earned $2.8M in sales in the first 10 months Why BRĒZ came at the highest price point in the market Why did they target soccer moms trying to get a buzz About Shackelford’s sympathy for his advertising clients Competing against the massive alcohol market How Shackelford structures his ad campaigns The grey area around THC product advertising Why they spend $25K on ad per day And much more CBD and THC product advice… Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

When Alex Elias started Qloo, “artificial intelligence” was a dirty word. A decade later, Qloo is a pioneer in AI. Qloo is an AI decision-making platform that helps corporate clients predict audience tastes and preferences. Elias says that we’re still in “the Napster era of AI” and that the hype will eventually become a subtle integration into our lives. In this episode, Elias shares about being an early adopter of AI and how he’s endured the hype to build a trusted business that Twitter once rejected. In this interview, you’ll learn: Why AI brings more problems for entrepreneurs to solve The advantages and disadvantages of being an early adopter When Qloo landed and lost Twitter as a client How not to lose your identity in your business How to develop long-term stamina as a founder Why Elias biked commuted in NYC for years How to use AI for your business beyond generative tools Why AI will become more subtle in the future And much more AI and founder mindset advice… Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders.If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

Actress, producer, and entrepreneur Shay Mitchell discusses disrupting a $17B industry with her brand BÉIS. She shares her philosophy of learning, BÉIS development, partnering with talent, and Drake's support. Also, she talks about the design process, negative publicity turned viral, and her upcoming travel show Thirst.