He Built a $110 Million Brand in a Market That Didn’t Exist l Michael Brandt

Sponsored By:→ Neuro | Go to ⁠https://getneuro.com⁠ and use code ONEDAY at checkout for 15% OFF your entire order.DescriptionHe licensed technology from Oxford, sold it to Navy SEALs and the US Department of Defense, brought the price from $30 a shot to $5, and is now stocking shelves at Chevron and Equinox. This is what it looks like to create a new category from scratch and refuse to stop.Jon Bier sits down with Michael Brandt — Stanford CS grad, 2:35 marathoner, and co-founder and CEO of Ketone-IQ — for one of the most genuinely nerdy, genuinely exciting conversations about building a brand that didn't exist before. Jon helped launch Ketone-IQ early on and didn't invest. He'll tell you that himself. This is the conversation where he probably fully processes that decision.Ketones aren't a trend. They're a nutritional primitive — a new macronutrient. The kind of thing you can't speed-run. And Michael Brandt is the rare founder who built his entire business philosophy around that truth.The category is coming. They just got here first.In this episode:• Why creating a new category is a decade-long bet — and why that's exactly the right bet if you want to build something fundamental instead of fast• How Ketone-IQ went from a $6M DoD contract and $30-a-shot margins to nationwide grocery stores and a near-half-billion-dollar valuation• What Jon and Michael actually talk about when they talk about celebrity deals, brand equity, and why the brands nobody can name are the real cautionary taleFind Michael & Ketone-IQ:• Michael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldbrandt/• Ketone-IQ: https://ketone.com• Ketone-IQ on IG:https://www.instagram.com/ketone/Timestamps:0:00 - Building a New Category From Scratch: Why It's Harder (and Bigger) Than Anything Else1:18 - How Ketone IQ Started: Oxford, the Military, and $30-a-Shot Pro Athletes4:01 - What Ketones Actually Do and Why Michael Got Obsessed7:08 - The DoD Relationship: Research, Procurement, and On-Base Retail8:02 - The Early Positioning Problem: Ketones ≠ the Keto Diet10:22 - Why Sampling Is Everything for a Product You Actually Feel13:36 - Jon Bier's Regret: Why He Didn't Invest (And Why the Odds Were Against It)15:18 - How Marathon Running Gave Michael the Belief to Do the Impossible21:25 - The First Sign of Real Momentum: People Who Tried It Couldn't Stop23:17 - "We're Not Selling Ketones — We're Selling a Feeling"25:03 - Grün, Element, and How to Win Without a Product People Can Feel29:27 - Trend Proof vs. Trend Dependent: Why Ketones Are a Nutritional Primitive32:43 - How Jon Bier Spots Winners (And Why Most Brands Fail Because They're Too Early)35:26 - How to Cannibalize Yourself Before a Competitor Does39:10 - The Jake Paul and Jeff Wu Connection (and the Antifund Story)41:43 - What the Rogan Partnership Actually Means for a Brand45:40 - Why DTC Alone Is Dead and Retail Is the Startup Within the Startup49:08 - Why the Brands That Won DTC Stopped Innovating53:26 - How Celebrity Ambassadors Unlock Retail Doors56:03 - What Retailers Actually Want to Hear (It's Not About the Product)1:00:07 - Why Big Companies Destroy the Brands They Buy1:02:50 - Where Ketone IQ Is Now and What the Exit Math Looks Like1:05:10 - What Michael Would Actually Do With the Money