In between getting repeatedly kicked in the teeth, we get notes that refill the rocket fuel tank. Need those.
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You can't ever fully control your destiny.
Entrepreneurship gets you pretty close, though.
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Billion dollar idea: IQDOG
Million dollar idea: IQCAT
Thousand dollar idea: IQPIG
Hundred dollar idea: IQHEN
Pet owners have ~15 years younger predicted brain age than non-pet owners
Pet ownership, especially dogs, is robustly associated with better cognitive and structural brain health, especially in older adults.
Study: PMID: 36337704
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CPG businesses are just as much *services* businesses as they are physical product businesses.
(at least they should be; the good ones are)
Customer service, innovation partnership, etc. - most of what sets entities apart is how well they SERVE.
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Never been more motivated to avoid burnout...
Tired of rejection and the pressure to get everything right, a new generation is discovering the cathartic release of clowning. Big shoes not required. on.wsj.com/4ivWM68
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Better to be lucky than good.*†‡
*Footnote 1: you must be good to get lucky.
†Footnote 2: being "lucky" mostly just = being good.
‡Footnote 3: it takes a decade of "luck" to win.
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Pumpkin Spice at Sprouts does scary big numbers for us every year.
Not sure why, but Pumpkin Spice consistently blows every other seasonal LTO out of the water.
People just…love pumpkin?
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Andy is a smart man…very smart.
Fueling up on @eatiqbar @willnitze.
Between this and the samples at Costco i will hit my daily macros.
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We're in a profitability "over-correction" in early stage CPG.
I'll talk to a brand doing, say, $500K and the founder will proclaim "...and we're PROFITABLE!"
My immediate reaction is "That's awesome, but could you be doing $1M if you were losing a few hundred K? And then $3/4/5M next year while also losing a few hundred K? Cuz I'd definitely do that instead!"
Whether we like it or not, CPG startups are a growth / scale economies proposition. Profitability matters A LOT, but only once you're moving tens of millions of units.
So prioritize moving tens of millions of units first.
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There's an epidemic of half-lies in startups.
Citing lifetime rev as if it's annual rev. Or retail sales as if they're net sales. Or highlighting partnerships that are tenuous at best. Or framing exits as good when they're fire sales. Or whatever.
Obviously don't lie. But if you feel the need to (which lots of people do), maybe just go full hog on the lie.
Cuz when people figure out the truth, they're gonna view the half-liar and full-liar in the same light.
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Got around to watching the Rafa doc.
This line of his goes so hard:
“People think I was a winner. I’m not a winner. I’m a competitor. What has always motivated me is the desire to continue fighting.”
Makes you wanna run through a wall.
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I used to think I'd focus more on strategy as IQBAR scaled.
Which categories to enter. How to best position around new trends. What sort of team I need to build for the future. Stuff like that.
And I *do* spend time on these areas.
But - even eight years in - 90% of my day is a tactical knife fight.
Putting out fires, negotiating contracts, ensuring the trains run on time.
The "thinking big thoughts" period never really came.
I suppose the lesson is: don't expect it to.
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Other than grit, creativity is king.
To prevail, you have to cut crafty deals. Spin grandiose tales. Unlock efficiencies that appear impossible to the naked eye. Weasel out of bad situations with minimal blood loss.
There's *always* a clever solution. You're the guy or gal who has to find it, and find it fast. Over and over again. For 10 years.
"But isn't creativity innate?"
Partially, perhaps. But like any muscle, you can exercise it.
Start by throwing out "playbooks" and un-learning "best practices."
Then surround yourself with unconventional people who sit at the intersection of whacky and winning. People who've achieved great things in weird ways.
Then consistently carve out time to let the mind wander through all possible scenarios (the more the better) to solve any given problem or achieve any given milestone.
Then simply add time and let compounding do its thing.
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🫡
@willnitze iqbar protein bars are the most gut friendly bars I've been able to find.
Stevia is such an underrates sweetener.
All other bars with their sugar alcohols wreck the gut, but these allow for days where I need to eat 2+ through the day and no impact.
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