How to Build a $100M+ Brand Without Losing Its Soul | Kent Yoshimura & Ryan Chen

A neuroscience student mixing supplements in his dorm room. A national kendo competitor who became paraplegic at 19 after a snowboarding accident. Best friends. And then, one scuba diving Groupon later — a company.Jon Bier sits down with Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen, co-founders of Neuro, for a conversation ten years in the making. Jon was there early. He gave them his first ever angel check. He watched the whole thing — the grinding first seven years on $1.6 million raised while every other DTC brand was burning through $30 million, the Shark Tank appearance that got them zero deals and exploded their sales, the trademark lawsuit that nearly ended everything, the near-billion dollar brand they built without ever compromising the formula.This isn't a success story. It's a story about what success actually looks like when you build it the right way — slowly, stubbornly, and with your friendship completely intact.Jon has been saying it for a decade. This is the episode where everyone else gets to hear why.In this episode:• How Neuro went from clinical trial side income and Craigslist employees to one of TikTok's top-selling brands and why raising less money than everyone else turned out to be the advantage• The Shark Tank story nobody tells: zero deals, a trademark lawsuit, a cold DM to a billionaire, and the moment everything changed• Why Kent and Ryan have never cut a corner on the formula and what it actually means to be a brand-led company in a world that rewards sales-led thinkingFind Kent, Ryan & Neuro:• Kent on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kentaro/• Ryan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryan.ryc/• Neuro: https://www.getneuro.com• Neuro on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neurogum/