How They Built It: Founding Stories from Category Defining Companies

“Trust is not what makes successful co-founding relationships. Having the world-class skillset that you need to succeed is what will then form that trust that will allow you to succeed.” – Delian Asparahouv  We explore space manufacturing, microgravity, and building factories in outer space. We’re joined by Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries. We cover leaning into your superpowers when investing, common mistakes in venture capital, and problem solving with space manufacturing. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/71. Chapters (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:43) – Delian’s background in robotics and path to entrepreneurship (00:07:32) – Mentorship from Jack Dorsey and Keith Rabois (00:21:43) – Leaning into your superpowers when investing (00:25:01) – Cultivating optimism in investing (00:29:29) – Common mistakes in venture capital (00:33:48) – Incubating a company (00:38:59) – Getting started in the space industry (00:42:09) – What is a space factory? (00:45:38) – Problem solving with space manufacturing (00:51:35) – Exciting changes in the space industry (00:55:43) – Recommended resources in the space industry About Varda. Varda Space Industries is building the world's first space factories. You heard that right, literally factories in outer space, all for earthbound products. What Varda is building, literally wouldn't have been possible even two, three, maybe five years ago, but as launch costs to get mass up to low earth orbit have come down at an incredible pace, it's unlocked the next wave of innovation, including new players and possibilities like what Varda is building with their space factories.  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 Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. 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. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I’m in the camp that is super passionate about space as a tool for transformation. So what energizes me is getting humans into space.” — Dylan Taylor We explore building the Berkshire Hathaway of outer space. We’re joined by Dylan Taylor, Founder and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings. We cover the evolution of space technology, private space companies vs. government contracts, and what's next for commercial outer space. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/5. Chapters (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:55) – How Dylan’s work in space began after reading The Last Lecture (00:09:22) – Dylan’s early investments in and the evolution of space technology (00:17:25) – How re-usability and privatization has expanded space technology (00:39:05) – Why Dylan founded Voyager Space Holdings (00:49:52) – Space industry standards and the creation of the Voyager Space IP Exchange (00:54:35) – Private space companies and their relationship with government agencies (01:09:58) – Exciting innovations in the space industry (01:16:06) – How anyone can become involved in space industry and exploration   About Dylan Taylor and Voyager Space Holdings. In 2019, PitchBook named Dylan Taylor one of the top 10 investors in space and space technology. While SpaceX, Virgin, Galactic, and Blue Origin have taken off in recent years, Dylan's been investing in outer space for over a decade. First, as an angel, and now as CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, where he's building the Berkshire Hathaway of space holding companies. Dylan has also served as the CEO of a public company, he's been on numerous boards, and he runs his own space-focused nonprofit called Space for Humanity. Dylan is a wealth of wisdom, and this episode is a masterclass on the past, present and future of outer space. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 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. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/144. 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 Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. 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. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 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. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/144. 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 Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto, and Surely Wine. 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. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr We explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/127. Chapters (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:42) – Human performance and biotech strategy in the military (00:08:37) – The limits of military power for achieving political goals (00:15:22) – Navy SEALs and performance modalities (00:19:29) – Novelty and social judgment are the two great human stressors (00:21:55) – The premise of Fount and its future goals (00:31:07) – The 10 top goals for users of Fount, and the experiments they run (00:37:58) – The Fount user journey (00:42:28) – Coaching, both human and AI (00:46:36) – Using experimental methodology as a founder About Andrew Herr and Fount. Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three month program that's born out of Andrew's work enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the US Military, including the Navy Seals. To start, Fount gathers more than 100 data points about their customers using in-depth blood and urine analysis to explore their metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, nutrient levels, liver and kidney function, and even cardiovascular markers. Customers are then paired with an ex-special forces coach who gets to know their goals, day-to-day schedule, and even their family history all before kicking off a series of experiments that run for the remaining 15 weeks of the program. Experimentation is a huge component of how Fount approaches their work. And it's part of their goal of helping each customer find what works for them. As part of the program, customers receive their own custom supplement packs with exactly what they need to take each morning, afternoon, and evening all sent from Fount's own custom supplement manufacturing facility. At the end of the program, Fount then offers a support program to make it easy to keep the gains you've made and continue building on them. This includes less frequent blood and urine tests, as well as a continuous supply of your daily supplements. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr We explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/127. Chapters (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:42) – Human performance and biotech strategy in the military (00:08:37) – The limits of military power for achieving political goals (00:15:22) – Navy SEALs and performance modalities (00:19:29) – Novelty and social judgment are the two great human stressors (00:21:55) – The premise of Fount and its future goals (00:31:07) – The 10 top goals for users of Fount, and the experiments they run (00:37:58) – The Fount user journey (00:42:28) – Coaching, both human and AI (00:46:36) – Using experimental methodology as a founder About Andrew Herr and Fount. Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three month program that's born out of Andrew's work enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the US Military, including the Navy Seals. To start, Fount gathers more than 100 data points about their customers using in-depth blood and urine analysis to explore their metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, nutrient levels, liver and kidney function, and even cardiovascular markers. Customers are then paired with an ex-special forces coach who gets to know their goals, day-to-day schedule, and even their family history all before kicking off a series of experiments that run for the remaining 15 weeks of the program. Experimentation is a huge component of how Fount approaches their work. And it's part of their goal of helping each customer find what works for them. As part of the program, customers receive their own custom supplement packs with exactly what they need to take each morning, afternoon, and evening all sent from Fount's own custom supplement manufacturing facility. At the end of the program, Fount then offers a support program to make it easy to keep the gains you've made and continue building on them. This includes less frequent blood and urine tests, as well as a continuous supply of your daily supplements. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Ultimately, transparency to your customers is extremely important, no matter how difficult it is to display.” — Jivko Bojinov We explore building and scaling a fulfillment business with Jivko Bojinov, ShipBob’s Co-Founder. We cover the challenges of a fulfillment business, ShipBob’s custom warehouse algorithms, and the importance of transparency with staff and customers alike. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/138. Chapters (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – The origin and scaling of ShipBob (00:06:38) – Meeting customers at their pain points (00:10:56) – The challenges of a fulfillment business (00:15:04) – Expanding from ShipBob warehouses to partner locations (00:24:28) – Custom software for scaling ShipBob (00:33:18) – ShipBob’s algorithms for stowing, picking, and packaging (00:43:06) – Strategic projects within the fulfillment space (00:51:53) – The importance of transparency with staff customers alike About Jivko Bojinov and ShipBob. Jivko Bojinov played professional tennis before co-founding ShipBob with Dhruv Saxena and Divey Gulati in 2014. Jivko is currently the Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects at ShipBob. And over the last eight years, he's led the development and launch of almost every major strategic initiative at ShipBob, from their transition from owning their own fulfillment centers, to developing an asset like partner network of fulfillment centers, to the launch of affordable two day shipping for all of ShipBob's customers. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Ultimately, transparency to your customers is extremely important, no matter how difficult it is to display.” — Jivko Bojinov We explore building and scaling a fulfillment business with Jivko Bojinov, ShipBob’s Co-Founder. We cover the challenges of a fulfillment business, ShipBob’s custom warehouse algorithms, and the importance of transparency with staff and customers alike. Explore the episode notes. Search and down a transcript and find links to related books, interviews, lectures, and more: outlieracademy.com/138. Chapters (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – The origin and scaling of ShipBob (00:06:38) – Meeting customers at their pain points (00:10:56) – The challenges of a fulfillment business (00:15:04) – Expanding from ShipBob warehouses to partner locations (00:24:28) – Custom software for scaling ShipBob (00:33:18) – ShipBob’s algorithms for stowing, picking, and packaging (00:43:06) – Strategic projects within the fulfillment space (00:51:53) – The importance of transparency with staff customers alike About Jivko Bojinov and ShipBob. Jivko Bojinov played professional tennis before co-founding ShipBob with Dhruv Saxena and Divey Gulati in 2014. Jivko is currently the Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects at ShipBob. And over the last eight years, he's led the development and launch of almost every major strategic initiative at ShipBob, from their transition from owning their own fulfillment centers, to developing an asset like partner network of fulfillment centers, to the launch of affordable two day shipping for all of ShipBob's customers. Watch and listen. Watch this episode on YouTube Find this episode in your favorite podcast app Get new episodes delivered via email Brought to you by HVMN. With Ketone-IQ, fuel your best anytime with a boost of awesome-feeling energy and clarity. Unlock the power of nature's superfuel—no fasting or keto diet required. Advertise with Outliers and reach our global community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we sit down with iconic design studio Clearleft’s founder Andy Budd to learn the approach to designing and building products that he’s honed over decades. We go deep on everything from the design process to what makes a product great, and how Andy approaches managing and building design teams. It’s a masterclass in product design from one of the world’s best at it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we profile Kevita and Flying Embers—two innovative beverage companies that have built big businesses focused on fermentation. Kevita created an entirely new category with their sparkling probiotic drinks with live cultures, and it was sold for $200M. Flying Embers is picking up where Kevita left off and applying novel fermentation technologies to create an entirely new class of fermented alcoholic beverages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Elo Health has created an entirely new Smart Nutrition category. Elo’s Smart Supplements and Smart Protein improve your energy, focus, and more with vitamins and supplements made just for you. Elo finds and fills your nutrient gaps with a mix of blood testing, your wearable activity data, and one-on-one dietitian support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders we sit down with Michael Sheetz, CNBC’s Space Reporter, to explore the Cambrian explosion that’s taking place in space. We break down the landscape of companies, from launch providers to imaging and communication satellite companies, to understand the future of space. We explore the intertwined web of science, technology, and defense focuses that’s powering the next phase of space companies, and we dive into how space will shape all of our lives and careers in the decades to come. Originally recorded on October 25, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the latest episode of Outlier Founders, we decode how Public is building the investment platform of the future — from their initial focus on fractional shares, to adding alternative assets, how they’ve built social features and community into their platform, and more. Learn Public’s playbook for finding product market fit, achieving viral growth, building a multi-sided product, as well as their unique approach for driving accountability and ownership across their team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #118, 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.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:37 – From Google to Forward 00:09:01 – Why founders should be problem-oriented 00:12:31 – Advising the President on the future of technology 00:17:22 – The root problem of the healthcare industry 00:25:24 – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service 00:30:01 – The imminent fall of health insurance 00:35:06 – Does the healthcare system really matter? 00:45:47 – Why medical specialties don’t make sense 00:55:02 – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it ABOUT FORWARD Adrian Aoun is 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, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration. Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths. 💌 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 featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning to make MRIs an order of magnitude more efficient. As well as how they’ve built an asset light business in healthcare and what it takes to be a software-centric business within a heavily regulated industry. “I realized that the main reason why people die of cancer is because they found it too late. And the main reason we still find cancer late for people is because there’s no easy way to screen for cancer in the body that’s fast, accurate, and affordable. And so, I decided to focus on that problem.” — Emi Gal EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders-transcript/  CHAPTERS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:21) - Origin Story of Ezra (00:03:22) - How Ezra Tried 12 Different Ideas Around Cancer Screening (00:08:22) - Screening for Cancer with Ezra vs Best Practices Today (00:11:01) - MRI 101: A Simple Explanation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (00:14:45) - The Dawn of Proactive Healthcare and The Patient Will See You Now (00:19:58) - The Hippocratic Oath, Doing No Harm, and Early Screening (00:25:09) - How Often Should We All Be Screening for Cancer? (00:28:54) - What It’s Like to Get an MRI Scan (00:33:41) - Ezra’s Approach to AI and FDA Approval of AI Updates (00:41:06) - Breaking Down Ezra’s Asset Light Business Model (00:46:02) - Why the Future of Healthcare is Proactive and Holistic (00:50:36) - The Highs and Lows of Building Ezra (00:54:05) - Lessons Learned Building a Mission Centric Company ABOUT EZRA Ezra was founded in 2018 to build the world’s first fast, accurate, and affordable way to screen for cancer everywhere in the body. To do this, they’ve harnessed the power of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, often called an MRI, and dramatically improved the efficiency of imaging and analyses using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. To date, they’ve decreased the cost of getting a full body MRI scan by 80% and the time required to get scanned by 66%. Every year, more than 20,000,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancer. Without a fast, accurate, and affordable way to proactively screen the entire body for cancer, many of these diagnoses come too late. For some types of cancer, including colon cancer, once it reaches Stage 4 your chances of survival are just 4%. Ezra’s goal is to bring down the cost and time required to get screened for cancer by an order of magnitude—reducing both by 90%+. Ezra is an incredible example of using AI and ML to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an existing technology in order to bring down costs within a critical segment of healthcare. You can save $150 off an Ezra screening by using promo code Outlier150 when checking out on Ezra.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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Ezra with Emi Gal. Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #127, we explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. “The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:03:42 – Human performance and biotech strategy in the military 00:08:37 – The limits of military power for achieving political goals 00:15:22 – Navy SEALs and performance modalities 00:19:29 – Novelty and social judgment are the two great human stressors 00:21:55 – The premise of Fount and its future goals 00:31:07 – The 10 top goals for users of Fount, and the experiments they run 00:37:58 – The Fount user journey 00:42:28 – Coaching, both human and AI 00:46:36 – Using experimental methodology as a founder ABOUT FOUNT Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three month program that's born out of Andrew's work enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the US Military, including the Navy Seals. To start, Fount gathers more than 100 data points about their customers using in-depth blood and urine analysis to explore their metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, nutrient levels, liver and kidney function, and even cardiovascular markers. Customers are then paired with an ex-special forces coach who gets to know their goals, day-to-day schedule, and even their family history all before kicking off a series of experiments that run for the remaining 15 weeks of the program. Experimentation is a huge component of how Fount approaches their work. And it's part of their goal of helping each customer find what works for them. As part of the program, customers receive their own custom supplement packs with exactly what they need to take each morning, afternoon, and evening all sent from Fount's own custom supplement manufacturing facility. At the end of the program, Fount then offers a support program to make it easy to keep the gains you've made and continue building on them. This includes less frequent blood and urine tests, as well as a continuous supply of your daily supplements. 💌 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 featuring Fount with Andrew Herr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #125, we explore testosterone replacement therapy and building a telehealth company. We’re joined by Saad Alam, Hone Health’s Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of testosterone, the future of health management, and learnings from building a telehealth company. “When people say a good CEO basically works himself out of a job and spends 30 for 40% of his time recruiting, I thought that was a cute kitchen magnet that really probably wasn't real. And the reality is, it actually couldn't be more true.” – Saad Alam  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building and scaling a testosterone replacement telehealth company. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:39 – Saad’s background and the genesis of Hone 00:10:12 – Making life whatever you want it to be 00:15:12 – Helping men have confidence as they age 00:18:25 – What is testosterone, and how does it work? 00:24:22 – Non-pharmaceutical treatments for low testosterone 00:27:23 – The risks of high and low testosterone levels 00:32:28 – The patient journey at Hone 00:44:12 – The future of health management 00:50:29 – Learnings from building a telehealth company 00:54:48 – The importance of hiring people who are better than you ABOUT HONE HEALTH Saad Alam is Founder and CEO of Hone, which is creating an entirely new type of healthcare company initially focused on helping men with low testosterone. Saad describes it as “helping men age with confidence.” Low testosterone is an alarming and growing trend, which is why testosterone treatments like Hone are on the rise. Scientific research has shown that for decades now the level of testosterone in men has been declining. The most alarming statistic is that our generation has around 50% less testosterone than our father's generation, who in turn has less testosterone than their father's generation. And the reasons behind this are very complicated, but a large part of it seems to be due to growing environmental and plastic pollution, which have caused the level of heavy metals in our bodies to rise while micro plastics in our blood disrupt the production of testosterone and actually spur the production of estrogen. With this context, you would imagine that it's becoming easier to find out if you have low testosterone and get testosterone treatments if needed, but you would be very wrong, which is why Saad Alam founded Hone and set out to revolutionize the way that men are treated for low testosterone. 💌 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 featuring Hone Health with Saad Alam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #108, we explore building a global blockchain that’s high-speed, climate neutral, and low-fee. We’re joined by Illia Polosukhin, NEAR Protocol’s Co-Founder. We cover why proof of stake beats proof of work, how NEAR approached scaling, and how Illia raised more than $10M to help fund aid in war-torn Ukraine.  “For me, web3 is not about decentralization. I think decentralization is just a tool. What it is about is low switching costs.” – Illia Polosukhin EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/near-protocol-illia-polosukhin-spotlight-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:35) – How NEAR Protocol is imagining your world (00:04:46) – Why decentralization is just a tool (00:09:14) – Dethroning monopolies and leveling the playing field (00:14:02) – NEAR Protocol’s origin with scaling crowdsourcing (00:20:18) – Lack of intellectual honesty in crypto (00:24:19) – NEAR’s approach to sharding (00:31:03) – The importance of bringing the community into decision making (00:37:47) – How the co-founder’s role can evolve from centralized to decentralized (00:43:17) – Illia’s Web3 mindmap and staying decentralized while preserving privacy (00:46:36) – NEAR’s approach to sustainability in blockchain (00:49:46) – Founders: Build credibility and ship fast (00:54:19) – Handling fear and anxiety when building in crypto: Keep calm and build on (00:58:52) – The Unchained Fund and helping Ukraine ABOUT NEAR PROTOCOL Illia Polosukhin is Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol. NEAR is a layer-one blockchain that’s incredibly fast, has very low transaction fees, and is climate neutral—in part because of its Proof of Stake model. It’s traded on crypto exchanges under the ticker symbol NEAR and has a market cap of just under $5B today. From 2020 through 2021, the developers working in NEAR’s ecosystem—building applications on top of their blockchain—quadrupled, making NEAR the second-fastest growing chain behind Solana.  Illia is an incredibly impressive founder, but more importantly, he’s an incredibly thoughtful engineer, leader, and community builder who has built something incredible slowly and methodically, one step at a time. 💌 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 featuring NEAR Protocol with Illia Polosukhin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore the world’s least sexy $500M business. We’re joined by Carey Smith, Founder of Big Ass Fans. We cover the importance of humor in business, receiving and listening to feedback, and Carey’s investment philosophy with Unorthodox Ventures. “I think in some ways it's trite, but you really do learn an awful lot from failures. And the other thing you get from a failure—or certainly I did—was the fear of completely wasting my life. That was a much greater fear—to imagine that you wouldn't accomplish much of anything was just more than I could bear and what it moved me to was looking for other opportunities.” – J. Carey Smith EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/carey-smith-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/carey-smith-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building the world's least sexy $500M business. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:17 – Carey’s childhood and first forays into business 00:06:24 – What Carey learned from the failure of his first company 00:11:42 – How Carey started Big Ass Fans 00:21:00 – Why humor is so important in business and customer service 00:32:46 – Focusing on excellent quality when selling a higher-priced product 00:36:51 – Receiving and listening to feedback to constantly improve a company 00:45:40 – Carey’s investment philosophy with Unorthodox Ventures 01:01:41 – Inspiration from one of Carey’s first supervisors ABOUT BIG ASS FANS AND CAREY SMITH Carey Smith is the Founder of Big Ass Fans, a business that he built from the ground up and scaled for nearly 20 years before selling for $500 million in 2017. Since then, he's founded Unorthodox Ventures, where he backs extraordinary founders and helps them scale their companies faster, using all of what he learned building Big Ass Fans. We go deep on a bunch of interesting topics, including lessons learned scaling Big Ass Fans, why it's important to deeply understand the people purchasing your product, not just those enjoying it, and building lucrative businesses in unsexy markets. 💌 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

We explore building the Apple Design Award-winning apps Halide and Spectre with Sebastiaan de With, Co-Founder and designer at Lux. We cover bridging the gap between visual design and product design, growing from one camera app to a photography company, and advice for those interested in creating and selling an app. “We will see the landscape littered with the burnt out husks of people that love their passions, but burn so bright that they burn out. And it is so, so valuable to give yourself time, to take a break, to reflect and to realize, ‘these are my passions—how can I healthily pursue them?’” – Sebastiaan de With EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/sebastiaan-de-with-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/sebastiaan-de-with-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building Apple Design Award-winning apps. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:03) – Sebastiaan’s early introduction to designing icons with HP, Apple, and doubleTwist (00:09:23) – Apple as a workplace of incredible learning, punishingly hard work, and in depth design processes (00:17:35) – Bridging the gap between visual design and product design (00:19:53) – The making and success of Sebastiaan’s first camera app, Halide (00:29:28) – How passion relates to success (00:31:36) – Growing from one camera app to a photography company (00:33:34) – Physicality and attention to detail in digital design (00:45:04) – Advice for those interested in creating and selling an app (00:48:08) – Whether we should follow our passions in business, and how to nurture them (00:54:48) – Sebastiaan’s favorite failures and the definition of success  ABOUT SEBASTIAAN DE WITH AND LUX Aside from being an incredible designer, Sebastiaan has built one of the world's most successful, independent iOS app businesses with Lux. And it all started in 2017 when Ben Sandofsky and Sebastiaan launched their first app Halide, which went on to top the charts in the App Store and win Apple's App of the Year Award. Halide makes it incredibly easy to capture and edit beautiful, raw photos, right on your iPhone and now your iPad. They followed that up with the release of Spectre, which makes it easy to take long, exposure photos, which also topped the App Store and won them a second App of the Year Award. All of Lux's apps are centered around photography, and they're building a next-generation camera company.  💌 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

We explore finding, owning, and loving your voice. We’re joined by Jessica Hansen, In-House Voice Coach at NPR. We cover finding and honing the perfect NPR voice, techniques for finding your best voice, and Jessica’s voice coaching practice. “Your voice is your instrument and you are a professional voice user. — Jessica Hansen EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jessica-hansen-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/jessica-hansen-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to finding, owning, and loving your voice. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:30 – How Jessica became interested in voice through theater 00:04:29 – Jessica’s work at NPR 00:09:13 – On finding and honing the perfect NPR voice 00:21:55 – Techniques on controlling your nerves before speaking, including breathwork 00:26:47 – The building blocks of voice 00:30:02 – Jessica’s voice coaching process, from beginner to advanced levels 00:38:47 – Simple but effective tips for finding your best voice 00:51:02 – Recommendations for resources on the voice ABOUT JESSICA HANSEN As an actress, Jessica Hansen has appeared on hit TV shows like Parks and Rec and Veep. And as a vocal coach, she works at NPR, where she helps all of NPR's on-air talent to sound incredible. In the lead-up to launching Outlier Academy, I was lucky enough to work with Jessica, and she helped me finally get comfortable and confident with my own voice. And that's exactly why I wanted to have her on the show. We go deep on how to find and own your voice, overcoming your fear of speaking publicly, why the best voices are often the quirkiest, and how to sound interesting, as well as why that's important. If you've ever struggled with your own voice, this episode is for you. 💌 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

We explore space manufacturing, microgravity, and building factories in outer space. We’re joined by Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries. We cover leaning into your superpowers when investing, common mistakes in venture capital, and problem solving with space manufacturing. “Trust is not what makes successful co-founding relationships. Having the world-class skillset that you need to succeed is what will then form that trust that will allow you to succeed.” – Delian Asparahouv  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/delian-asparouhov1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/delian-asparouhov-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to space manufacturing and building factories in space. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:02:43 – Delian’s background in robotics and path to entrepreneurship 00:07:32 – Mentorship from Jack Dorsey and Keith Rabois 00:21:43 – Leaning into your superpowers when investing 00:25:01 – Cultivating optimism in investing 00:29:29 – Common mistakes in venture capital 00:33:48 – Incubating a company 00:38:59 – Getting started in the space industry 00:42:09 – What is a space factory? 00:45:38 – Problem solving with space manufacturing 00:51:35 – Exciting changes in the space industry 00:55:43 – Recommended resources in the space industry ABOUT VARDA SPACE INDUSTRIES Varda Space Industries is building the world's first space factories. You heard that right, literally factories in outer space, all for earthbound products. What Varda is building, literally wouldn't have been possible even two, three, maybe five years ago, but as launch costs to get mass up to low earth orbit have come down at an incredible pace, it's unlocked the next wave of innovation, including new players and possibilities like what Varda is building with their space factories.  💌 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

We explore building a media brand to cover the business and policy of space. We’re joined by Mo Islam, Payload’s Co-Founder, who talks with us about becoming the number one resource for space industry news. We cover everything from lowering the costs of space travel to why we are in the middle of the next space race. “Very simply, we are living in the next space race, and it's going to have huge implications for the way we built technology, the way we spend dollars in military.” – Mo Islam EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/payload-mo-islam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/payload-mo-islam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building a media brand to cover the business and policy of space. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:36) – How Payload focuses on the business and policy of space (00:10:54) – How Elon Musk has changed the space race (00:15:17) – Aerospace and defense go hand in hand (00:18:11) – Earth imaging illuminates the atrocities of war (00:19:36) – We are living in the next space race (00:22:52) – SPACs and space (00:28:57) – How we’ll move from government to commercial spending in space (00:33:11) – Reusable second stages and lowering the costs of space exploration (00:36:59) – What scaling Starlink could mean for space travel (00:39:40) – Launching a media brand and the importance of voice (00:43:32) – Making Payload the most important voice in the space discussion (00:51:49) – Learning from feedback and embracing boredom ABOUT MO ISLAM Mo Islam is the co-founder of Payload Space, which is building a media empire dedicated to covering the business and policy of space, as in outer space. We discovered Payload and immediately subscribed to their daily newsletter after it was recommended by Delian Asparouhov, co-founder of Varda Space Industries, in episode 71. We asked Delian what newsletters and websites he used to stay on top of everything going on in space, and he had only one answer: Payload Space.  In this episode, we go deep on why we're at an inflection point when it comes to space and how that was unlocked, at least in the U.S., largely by SpaceX, which has brought down the price to get a unit of mass up to low Earth orbit by order of magnitude. We cover the outsized role the military and defense departments play as customers for space companies, ranging from Earth imaging to satellite manufacturing startups. We talk about the space companies that Mo thinks are the most underrated, as well as how Payload is building a media empire, starting with what Mo calls The Modern Homepage, which is their daily newsletter. We discuss how Payload crafted a compelling voice and editorial style in an old school and relatively stodgy industry, making space cool to read and learn about. 💌 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore building the Berkshire Hathaway of outer space. We’re joined by Dylan Taylor, Founder and CEO of Voyager Space Holdings. We cover the evolution of space technology, private space companies vs. the government, and exciting innovations in the space industry. “I’m in the camp that is super passionate about space as a tool for transformation. So what energizes me is getting humans into space.” — Dylan Taylor EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/dylan-taylor-outliers-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/dylan-taylor-outliers-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building the Berkshire Hathaway of outer space. In it we cover: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:55 – How Dylan’s work in space began after reading The Last Lecture 00:09:22 – Dylan’s early investments in and the evolution of space technology 00:17:25 – How re-usability and privatization has expanded space technology 00:39:05 – Why Dylan founded Voyager Space Holdings 00:49:52 – Space industry standards and the creation of the Voyager Space IP Exchange 00:54:35 – Private space companies and their relationship with government agencies 01:09:58 – Exciting innovations in the space industry 01:16:06 – How anyone can become involved in space industry and exploration   ABOUT DYLAN TAYLOR AND VOYAGER SPACE HOLDINGS In 2019, PitchBook named Dylan Taylor one of the top 10 investors in space and space technology. While SpaceX, Virgin, Galactic, and Blue Origin have taken off in recent years, Dylan's been investing in outer space for over a decade. First, as an angel, and now as CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, where he's building the Berkshire Hathaway of space holding companies. Dylan has also served as the CEO of a public company, he's been on numerous boards, and he runs his own space-focused nonprofit called Space for Humanity. Dylan is a wealth of wisdom, and this episode is a masterclass on the past, present and future of outer space. 💌 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

“I realized that the main reason why people die of cancer is because they found it too late. And the main reason we still find cancer late for people is because there’s no easy way to screen for cancer in the body that’s fast, accurate, and affordable. And so, I decided to focus on that problem.” — Emi Gal Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning to make MRIs an order of magnitude more efficient. As well as how they’ve built an asset light business in healthcare and what it takes to be a software-centric business within a heavily regulated industry. Episode Guide with Books, Links, and Ways to Dive Deeper https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders Transcript https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/ezra-fast-affordable-cancer-screening-outlier-founders-transcript Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:01:21) - Origin Story of Ezra (00:03:22) - How Ezra Tried 12 Different Ideas Around Cancer Screening (00:08:22) - Screening for Cancer with Ezra vs Best Practices Today (00:11:01) - MRI 101: A Simple Explanation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (00:14:45) - The Dawn of Proactive Healthcare and The Patient Will See You Now (00:19:58) - The Hippocratic Oath, Doing No Harm, and Early Screening (00:25:09) - How Often Should We All Be Screening for Cancer? (00:28:54) - What It’s Like to Get an MRI Scan (00:33:41) - Ezra’s Approach to AI and FDA Approval of AI Updates (00:41:06) - Breaking Down Ezra’s Asset Light Business Model (00:46:02) - Why the Future of Healthcare is Proactive and Holistic (00:50:36) - The Highs and Lows of Building Ezra (00:54:05) - Lessons Learned Building a Mission Centric Company About Ezra Ezra was founded in 2018 to build the world’s first fast, accurate, and affordable way to screen for cancer everywhere in the body. To do this, they’ve harnessed the power of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, often called an MRI, and dramatically improved the efficiency of imaging and analyses using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. To date, they’ve decreased the cost of getting a full body MRI scan by 80% and the time required to get scanned by 66%. Every year, more than 20,000,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancer. Without a fast, accurate, and affordable way to proactively screen the entire body for cancer, many of these diagnoses come too late. For some types of cancer, including colon cancer, once it reaches Stage 4 your chances of survival are just 4%. Ezra’s goal is to bring down the cost and time required to get screened for cancer by an order of magnitude—reducing both by 90%+. Ezra is an incredible example of using AI and ML to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an existing technology in order to bring down costs within a critical segment of healthcare. You can save $150 off an Ezra screening by using promo code Outlier150 when checking out on Ezra.com. Ezra | How it Works | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to one of our favorite moments from tomorrow’s Spotlight episode featuring Ezra with Emi Gal. Learn how Ezra has brought down the cost of early cancer detection by 80% and the time required to get screened by 66%—all by harnessing the power of AI and Machine Learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Adrian Aoun, who founded Forward into 2017 to turn healthcare from a service into a product and reach 1B+ people globally. Before founding Forward, Adrian served as the Director of Special Projects for Google CEO Larry Page, founded Sidewalk Labs, and served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Principle: Be problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Framework: How to predict the future from first principles. Insight: Why healthcare should be a product—not a service. Read the newsletter companion to this episode: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com/p/problem-obsessions-and-predicting-the-future Listen, watch, or explore more of this week’s episodes: Forward’s Adrian Aoun | My Favorite Books, Tools, Habits and More Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Forward: Bringing Healthcare as a Product to a Billion People | Adrian Aoun, Founder & CEO Listen Now | Watch Now | Episode Guide | Transcript Get the Cheat Sheet newsletter in your inbox: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re profiling Adrian Aoun, who founded Forward into 2017 to turn healthcare from a service into a product and reach 1B+ people globally. Before founding Forward, Adrian served as the Director of Special Projects for Google CEO Larry Page, founded Sidewalk Labs, and served as an advisor to the White House on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Here are the 3 big ideas in this week's Cheat Sheet: Principle: Be problem obsessed, not solution obsessed. Framework: How to predict the future from first principles. Insight: Why healthcare should be a product—not a service. Get the Cheat Sheet newsletter in your inbox: https://www.cheatsheetnewsletter.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:37) – From Google to Forward (00:09:01) – Why founders should be problem-oriented (00:12:31) – Advising the President on the future of technology (00:17:22) – The root problem of the healthcare industry (00:25:24) – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service (00:30:01) – The imminent fall of health insurance (00:35:06) – Does the healthcare system really matter? (00:45:47) – Why medical specialties don’t make sense (00:55:02) – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it ABOUT FORWARD Adrian Aoun is 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, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration. Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths. 💌 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 featuring Forward. 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

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

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

We explore building and scaling a fulfillment business with handcrafted algorithms. We’re joined by Jivko Bojinov, ShipBob’s Co-Founder. We cover the challenges of a fulfillment business, ShipBob’s custom warehouse algorithms, and the importance of transparency with staff and customers alike. “Ultimately, transparency to your customers is extremely important, no matter how difficult it is to display.” — Jivko Bojinov EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/shipbob-jivko-bojinov  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/shipbob-jivko-bojinov-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building and scaling a fulfillment business with handcrafted algorithms. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – The origin and scaling of ShipBob (00:06:38) – Meeting customers at their pain points (00:10:56) – The challenges of a fulfillment business (00:15:04) – Expanding from ShipBob warehouses to partner locations (00:24:28) – Custom software for scaling ShipBob (00:33:18) – ShipBob’s algorithms for stowing, picking, and packaging (00:43:06) – Strategic projects within the fulfillment space (00:51:53) – The importance of transparency with staff customers alike ABOUT SHIPBOB Jivko Bojinov played professional tennis before co-founding ShipBob with Dhruv Saxena and Divey Gulati in 2014. Jivko is currently the Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects at ShipBob. And over the last eight years, he's led the development and launch of almost every major strategic initiative at ShipBob, from their transition from owning their own fulfillment centers, to developing an asset like partner network of fulfillment centers, to the launch of affordable two day shipping for all of ShipBob's customers. 💌 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 featuring ShipBob with Jivko Bojinov. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. We’re joined by Andrew Herr, Fount’s Founder and CEO. We cover human performance and biotech strategy, the limitations of military power for political goals, and using experiments to improve performance. “The human body is one of the most complex adaptive symptoms out there in the universe.” – Andrew Herr EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/fount-andrew-herr-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to bringing performance secrets from Navy SEALs to the public. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:42) – Human performance and biotech strategy in the military (00:08:37) – The limits of military power for achieving political goals (00:15:22) – Navy SEALs and performance modalities (00:19:29) – Novelty and social judgment are the two great human stressors (00:21:55) – The premise of Fount and its future goals (00:31:07) – The 10 top goals for users of Fount, and the experiments they run (00:37:58) – The Fount user journey (00:42:28) – Coaching, both human and AI (00:46:36) – Using experimental methodology as a founder ABOUT FOUNT Andrew Herr is the founder and CEO of Fount, which is on a mission to help everyone look, feel, and perform at their very best. Fount offers a highly customized three month program that's born out of Andrew's work enhancing the performance of special forces warriors in the US Military, including the Navy Seals. To start, Fount gathers more than 100 data points about their customers using in-depth blood and urine analysis to explore their metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, nutrient levels, liver and kidney function, and even cardiovascular markers. Customers are then paired with an ex-special forces coach who gets to know their goals, day-to-day schedule, and even their family history all before kicking off a series of experiments that run for the remaining 15 weeks of the program. Experimentation is a huge component of how Fount approaches their work. And it's part of their goal of helping each customer find what works for them. As part of the program, customers receive their own custom supplement packs with exactly what they need to take each morning, afternoon, and evening all sent from Fount's own custom supplement manufacturing facility. At the end of the program, Fount then offers a support program to make it easy to keep the gains you've made and continue building on them. This includes less frequent blood and urine tests, as well as a continuous supply of your daily supplements. 💌 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 featuring Fount with Andrew Herr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode #125, we explore testosterone replacement therapy and building a telehealth company. We’re joined by Saad Alam, Hone Health’s Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of testosterone, the future of health management, and learnings from building a telehealth company. “When people say a good CEO basically works himself out of a job and spends 30 for 40% of his time recruiting, I thought that was a cute kitchen magnet that really probably wasn't real. And the reality is, it actually couldn't be more true.” – Saad Alam  EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hone-saad-alam-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to building and scaling a testosterone replacement telehealth company. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:39) – Saad’s background and the genesis of Hone (00:10:12) – Making life whatever you want it to be (00:15:12) – Helping men have confidence as they age (00:18:25) – What is testosterone, and how does it work? (00:24:22) – Non-pharmaceutical treatments for low testosterone (00:27:23) – The risks of high and low testosterone levels (00:32:28) – The patient journey at Hone (00:44:12) – The future of health management (00:50:29) – Learnings from building a telehealth company (00:54:48) – The importance of hiring people who are better than you ABOUT HONE HEALTH Saad Alam is Founder and CEO of Hone, which is creating an entirely new type of healthcare company initially focused on helping men with low testosterone. Saad describes it as “helping men age with confidence.” Low testosterone is an alarming and growing trend, which is why testosterone treatments like Hone are on the rise. Scientific research has shown that for decades now the level of testosterone in men has been declining. The most alarming statistic is that our generation has around 50% less testosterone than our father's generation, who in turn has less testosterone than their father's generation. And the reasons behind this are very complicated, but a large part of it seems to be due to growing environmental and plastic pollution, which have caused the level of heavy metals in our bodies to rise while micro plastics in our blood disrupt the production of testosterone and actually spur the production of estrogen. With this context, you would imagine that it's becoming easier to find out if you have low testosterone and get testosterone treatments if needed, but you would be very wrong, which is why Saad Alam founded Hone and set out to revolutionize the way that men are treated for low testosterone. 💌 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 featuring Hone Health with Saad Alam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore growing the world’s best mushrooms in high-tech mini-farms. We’re joined by Andrew Carter, Smallhold’s Co-Founder & CEO. We cover the science and complexities of mushrooms, distributed farming, and how Smallhold is aiming to revamp the food industry. “Smallhold wants people to eat more mushrooms. We are mainly just trying to get mushrooms on people's plates in any sort of way possible. We want them to be grown locally, so they're fresh and enjoyable.” – Andrew Carter EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/smallhold-andrew-carter   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/smallhold-andrew-carter-transcript   This episode is our definitive guide to growing the world’s best mushrooms in high-tech mini-farms. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:51) – The move from hydroponics to mycology (00:13:34) – How Smallhold is getting people to eat more mushrooms (00:19:02) – The science and complexities of growing mushrooms (00:24:02) – The decomposition cycle and mushroom growth technology (00:32:13) – Revamping the food industry (00:37:47) – The concept of distributed farming (00:41:56) – How branding fresh produce is different from other products (00:45:19) – Smallhold’s presence in local restaurants (00:51:52) – Fantastic Fungi has increased interest in mycology (00:54:33) – The importance of letting go ABOUT SMALLHOLD Andrew Carter is co-founder and CEO of Smallhold, which is upending the food industry by growing their mushrooms in Michelin-star rated restaurants, grocery stores, and through their network of onsite and macro farms. Today, 68% of all mushrooms consumed in the United States come from a single town in Pennsylvania called Kenneth Square. 400 million pounds worth of mushrooms per year, to be exact. This means that most mushrooms are transported across a vast distribution network to reach stores all around the United States. Smallhold knew there was a better way, so they spent years creating a proprietary set of technologies that allows them to grow mushrooms in an incredibly small footprint, about the size of a small standing cabinet. Andrew covers why the modern food industry is broken, from why most apples you eat are nearly a year old, and why most fish sold in the United States, even if it's caught in the States, is sent to China to be processed, and then back to the US to be sold. We cover the technology behind Smallhold and all of the lessons Andrew has learned along the way. 💌 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 featuring Smallhold with Andrew Carter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  “Solutions don't really matter. Problems matter.” – Adrian Aoun EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun   FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/forward-adrian-aoun-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to healthcare as a product rather than a service. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:37) – From Google to Forward (00:09:01) – Why founders should be problem-oriented (00:12:31) – Advising the President on the future of technology (00:17:22) – The root problem of the healthcare industry (00:25:24) – Why healthcare should be a product, not a service (00:30:01) – The imminent fall of health insurance (00:35:06) – Does the healthcare system really matter? (00:45:47) – Why medical specialties don’t make sense (00:55:02) – How Forward is a mission that happens to have a company attached to it ABOUT FORWARD Adrian Aoun is 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, which follows the service model where one patient sees a single doctor whenever they need care. Forward is building healthcare focused on health and preventative care that's 1) productized so you can use it anytime, anywhere, 2) scalable so it's affordable to everyone, and 3) always on with help available through the Forward app and a network of offices around the US. This might sound like, well, how healthcare should have been all along, which is the goal. This episode is a special one. In it we cover why Adrian is fanatical about being problem-focused rather than solution-focused, what he learned leading special projects for Sergey Brin at Google, and why Forward is focused on productizing healthcare to bring down the cost of treatments, make healthcare available 24/7, help customers manage all aspects of their health, and increase the pace of innovation and iteration. Adrian shares his perspective on what happens as the percentage of GDP dedicated to healthcare reaches 30% and even 40%, and he talks through how he uses extreme perspectives to pick apart complex issues and come to ground truths. 💌 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 featuring Forward with Adrian Aoun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We explore metabolic health with ketones. We’re joined by Michael Brandt, HVMN and Ketone IQ’s Co-Founder and CEO. We cover the basics of ketones, iterating on product, and the company’s $6 million contract with Navy SEALs. “Your human body is the most advanced piece of technology you'll ever own.” – Michael Brandt EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hvmn-michael-brandt  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/hvmn-michael-brandt-transcript/  CHAPTERS This episode is our definitive guide to metabolic health with ketones. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:02) – Marathon running and the origin of HVMN (00:08:47) – Health via modern nutrition (00:10:51) – Ketones as a metabolic substrate (00:15:32) – Energy from ketones vs. energy from glucose (00:20:52) – How substrates work in the body (00:29:08) – Operation Metabolic Dominance (00:31:56) – HVMN’s $6 million contract with the Navy Seals (00:36:08) – How ketones can improve performance in endurance sports (00:49:07) – Iterating on the product and moving from petrochemicals to biochemicals (00:59:00) – Ketones as an alcohol replacement in cocktails and more (01:05:17) – Educating consumers is step one for growth As a listener — that’s you — you can try Ketone-iQ and save 10% off today. Simply go to HVMN.me/OutlierAcademy or use code OUTLIER at checkout. ABOUT HVMN Michael Brandt is Co-founder and CEO of HVMN, which makes the world's first drinkable ketones. HVMN stands for Health via Modern Nutrition, and in 2017, they launched version 1.0 of their drinkable ketones product. After landing a $6 million contract with the US Department of Defense to study how ketones could improve the performance of our special forces warriors, they launched version 2.0, called Ketone-IQ, in November 2021. In this episode, we cover ketosis and ketones 101, including what ketones are, how they work, and why they're so helpful for boosting cognitive and physical performance. We compare and contrast ketones with sugar, covering everything from how ketones pass the blood brain barrier to why they provide energy with less oxidative stress. We dive into how drinkable ketones are used by the Navy SEALs and Operation Metabolic Dominance. And we discuss all the work that HVMN has done around bioengineering, manufacturing, and testing to produce their latest product, Ketone-IQ. 💌 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 featuring HVMN and Ketone IQ with Michael Brandt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices