“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