Outliers with Daniel Scrivner: Explore the Greatest Innovators, Founders, and Investors

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun, where we explore healthcare as a product rather than a service. We’re joined by Adrian Aoun, Forward’s CEO and Founder, and we cover why healthcare should be a product, not a service, being problem-oriented as a founder, and why the health insurance industry is destined to fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We deconstruct Adrian Aoun's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. “Care deeply about the problem, not about your idea.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook/  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/adrian-aoun-playbook-transcript/  CHAPTERS In this episode, we deconstruct Adrian Aoun’s peak performance playbook—from their favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on their life. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:21) – Creating companies that change the world (00:06:07) – On being stubborn and persistent (00:09:51) – Why medical wearables aren’t working (00:14:03) – It’s just as easy to work on something big as something that’s small (00:16:19) – Everything should relate to the problem (00:17:39) – On fiction and factfulness (00:19:20) – Cycling as meditation (00:20:23) – The only thing that matters is impact ABOUT ADRIAN AOUN Adrian Aoun is the founder and CEO of Forward, which is building an insurance-free healthcare system focused on preventative healthcare from the ground up. Forward was founded in 2017 to invert the typical model of healthcare. Where most healthcare follows the service model, where one patient sees a single doctor only when they need care, Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care. It's productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere. It's scalable so it's affordable for everyone and always on with help available through Forward's app, as well as a network of doctors' offices around the United States, which might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. In this episode, Adrian shares why he's so fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused and how he runs problem-centric brainstorms at Forward, where the goal is to beat up on other people's ideas in the name of getting to the best ideas. What he learned working with Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt at Google, as well as the other advisors on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, why modern fitness wearables are broken, and why Adrian thinks we need to build tools to tell people what to do with that data, not just share the data with them. 💌 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

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Adrian Aoun of Forward. In it, we deconstruct Adrian's peak performance playbook—from his favorite book to the tiny habit that's had the biggest impact on his life. Adrian Aoun is the CEO and Founder of Forward. We cover why medical wearables don’t work, focusing on impact, and creating companies that can change the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Justin Mares, who has built 3 direct-to-consumer brands in Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine that have all reached tens of millions in revenue. All by finding and owning emerging health and wellness trends. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/spotting-and-owning-trends Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: How to spot trends and build businesses to own them. Concept: Wedge versus ramp shaped businesses. Reminder: Why it pays to bring on a Head of Finance early. Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s episodes: #143 Kettle & Fire's Justin Mares | Identifying Trends, 5-Minute Mini Workouts, 6 To Dos Per Day, Favorite Books, and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript #144 Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine: Spotting Trends and Building D2C Brands to Own Them | Justin Mares, Serial Entrepreneur Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Justin Mares, who has built 3 direct-to-consumer brands in Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine that have all reached tens of millions in revenue. All by finding and owning emerging health and wellness trends. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: How to spot trends and build businesses to own them. Concept: Wedge versus ramp shaped businesses. Reminder: Why it pays to bring on a Head of Finance early. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn how Justin Mares identifies trends and builds direct-to-consumer businesses (and brands) to own them. Including all of the hard lessons that Justin has learned along the way, from why he’s learned to bring on a head of finance early, why consumer business are “cashflow businesses”, to how he competes with generic brands. And so much more. “The Iron Law of Ecommerce across everything I’ve ever started is that I start out thinking I’m selling to people like me and it always turns out that it’s 45-year old women that are buying the product.” — Justin Mares EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kettle-and-fire-perfect-keto-surely-wines-justin-mares  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/kettle-and-fire-perfect-keto-surely-wines-justin-mares-transcript/    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:19) - Getting Fired from 13 Jobs and Discovering Entrepreneurship (00:08:34) - The Origin Story of Kettle & Fire (00:15:39) - Evolution of Kettle & Fire’s Branding and Packaging (00:19:10) - Distribution: Direct-to-Consumer vs Wholesale & Retail (00:22:10) - How to Compete with Generic Store Brands (00:24:27) - The Challenges of Building a Sustainably Profitable Business (00:27:13) - Raising Venture Capital for Consumer Brands (00:33:01) - Painful Lessons: $800k in Unpaid Invoices and Why Finance is Strategic (00:39:24) - Launching Perfect Keto and Surely Non-Alcoholic Wine (00:41:48) - Justin’s Annual Review and Goal Setting Process (00:45:44) - Why Extreme People Have Extreme Outcomes (00:49:32) - How to Become an Extreme Person ABOUT THE COMPANIES Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine all have something in common. They were founded by Justin Mares and built to own an emerging health and wellness trend—from drinking more bone broth, to making the move to a keto diet, or deciding to drink only non-alcoholic wine. Listeners can save 15% off any non-subscription Kettle & Fire order by using promo code Outlier15 when checking out on KettleAndFire.com. 💌 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

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode Justin Mares, Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Mares has a knack for identifying trends and building D2C businesses to own them—including Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn how he identifies trends, why he focuses on just 6 tasks each day, how he gets in 25+ minutes of exercise with tiny 5-minute mini workouts during the day, and more. “I’ve learned to appreciate that people systematically undervalue and write off things that are super weird or that they just don’t understand. So I look for areas where most people think that X has a probability of 10% and I think it’s really closer to 40-50%.” — Justin Mares EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/justin-mares-20-minute-playbook    FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/justin-mares-20-minute-playbook-transcript    CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:06) - Recent Fascination: Environmental Chemicals and Crime (00:04:43) - Justin Mares’ Daily Routine: Focusing on Six To Dos Per Day (00:09:12) - Reflection: Enjoy the Ride & Trust the Process (00:11:45) - Biggest Lessons Learned as an Investor (00:16:59) - Exercise Routine: Three Lifts Per Week, Mobility, Swimming, and Pickleball (00:21:06) - Justin Mares’ Superpower: Identifying Trends (00:23:19) - Tiny Habit: Fitting in 5 Minute Workouts Throughout the Day (00:24:55) - Favorite Books: The Three-Body Problem & The Company (00:27:45) - Advice to Younger Self: Spend More Time Learning From Others ABOUT THE GUEST Justin Mares is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. He’s the Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine and a Venture Partner at Long Journey Ventures. His products are sold in more than 10,000 retail stores, and each of his companies does tens of millions of dollars in annual sales each year. He strives to make a dent in the problems with our food system and improve the trajectory of health in the United States. 💌 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

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s 20 Minute Playbook episode featuring Justin Mares, Founder of Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another edition of Cheat Sheet by Outlier Academy. Where each week we compress 6+ hours of research and interviews into 3 big ideas that you can read in 5 minutes. This week we profiled Worm Capital, who call themselves “value investors focused on the future.” They’re one of our favorite technology and disruption investors in the public markets. Since Worm’s inception in 2012, they’ve outperformed the S&P 500 by over 2X net of fees—generating 26.73% per annum vs the S&P 500’s 12.08%). Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/the-secret-to-eternal-life-in-business Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Markets provide liquidity, businesses generate value. Or why the game of business has nothing to do with the stock market. How to find the best companies in any industry. First observe, then deconstruct inputs and outputs. The secret to eternal life in business. Or why the company that delivers the best customer value proposition consistently always wins. Sign up for the Cheat Sheet newsletter: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s Outlier Academy episodes: 20 Minute Playbook - Eric Markowitz, Worm Capital’s Head of Research | Conviction vs Opinions, Two-Step Research Process, Favorite Books, and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Outlier Investors - Worm Capital: Value Investors Focused on the Future | On Worm Theory, Worm’s Investing Algorithm, and The Game of Business Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices