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The Advantage with Mike Wystrach

WiseTrack Co.

The Advantage is a weekly show for founders and operators. The people building DTC, CPG, and e-commerce companies. Hosted by Mike Wystrach, who built Freshly to $550M+ in revenue and its 2020 sale to Nestlé in a deal valued at up to $1.5 billion, and now invests in and builds consumer businesses.

Every episode is a candid, tactical conversation with a founder or operator about how they actually did it: the fundraises that nearly died, the pivots that worked and the ones that didn't, the channels that scaled, the hires that mattered, and the numbers behind them.

New episodes every week. Follow the show so you never miss one.

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  • 5 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 53 min
  • English

Episodes 5

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  • S1 · E5
    Wednesday · 56 min

    How to hire fast in a startup | Leandro Cabrini

    We turned the six moves from this episode into one free PDF, The Cabrini Playbook → https://mikewystrach.com/get/leandro-playbook Presented by Proppel. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage Follow Mike on Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikewystrach In this episode Mike and Leandro cover the task list that has to exist before the job description, the purpose every interview stage needs, the test project, the onboarding almost nobody builds, and the time zone trick for founders with no process yet. The rule underneath all of it is the one Mike has hired by for a decade: go get the person you technically cannot afford. Full disclosure, and Mike says it in the first minute: Proppel is the presenting sponsor of this show. He found them through Google and ChatGPT, hired through them, and went to them about sponsoring afterwards. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:38 He Started A Recruitment Agency Without Ever Running One 00:06:41 Freshly Had 2,500 Employees And 700 Were International 00:09:01 Cheaper Talent Lets You Hire Three Months Earlier 00:14:40 Everyone Can Hire. Onboarding Is Where It Breaks 00:17:35 Write The Task List Before You Write The Job Description 00:21:50 Time Zone Is The Cheat Code When You Have No Process 00:23:29 Hire The Person You Technically Can't Afford 00:34:55 A US Creative Strategist Costs $150K. In LATAM, $6 To $8K A Month 00:45:44 The Real Cost Of Hiring Is Not Having To Hire 🔗 LEANDRO CABRINI Proppel: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leacabrini The Talent Standard: https://www.youtube.com/@Proppel 🎙️ THE ADVANTAGE Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-advantage-with-mike-wystrach/id6783458081 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033DuFkyBRu3qvgp8ozPz1 All episodes: https://mikewystrach.com/podcast Free playbook: https://mikewystrach.com/get/leandro-playbook ⚡ PRESENTED BY PROPPEL Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage #howtohire #Proppel #TheAdvantage #MikeWystrach #Hiring

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  • S1 · E4
    August 26 · 46 min

    Your time is worth more than your wealth | Kenny Santucci

    Kenny Santucci did nine seasons of MTV's The Challenge. Today he trains Bon Jovi, guys from the Knicks, and whichever WWE wrestlers are in town, out of two New York gyms he owns. Presented by Proppel — hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage Follow Mike on Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikewystrach CHAPTERS 00:00:00 The Month He Lost Under Armour And HYROX 00:01:45 Nine Seasons On MTV's The Challenge 00:04:02 Start Before You Know What You're Doing 00:08:09 What A Two-Year Lawsuit Teaches You About Partners 00:16:38 Why Community Is The Only Moat A Gym Has 00:19:17 Rebuilding From A Push Cart In A Public Park 00:26:55 Bon Jovi, The Knicks, And Who Else Walks In 00:27:44 $500K Used To Be Rich. Now $5M Makes You A Loser 00:29:28 Admit You Don't Know Business, Then Ask For Help 00:37:02 Own Your Distribution Or Rent Someone Else's Audience Everything between those two sentences is the part nobody puts on a highlight reel. He came off television and took the New Jersey civil service test his father wanted him to take, and got hired onto a fire department — he describes standing in the line-up thinking this was going to be the rest of his life. He partnered into a gym in Jersey with no idea how business worked and nobody to ask, and it ended in a two-year lawsuit. He built a 5:30am class at Solace that packed out for years while the equity he was promised never arrived. Then in January 2020 he signed Under Armour and HYROX in the same month, and weeks later both deals were gone and New York was shut. He pushed a cart of kettlebells to the park at 28th and 10th because it was the only way left to work, and the wheel came off on the way. People walking past asked to join. That is The Strength Club, now in Flatiron and Caldwell NJ, and Strong New York — the festival Forbes named one of the best in the country, taking over the Glasshouse on September 26. He is sharp on what the money noise does to people. Growing up he didn't know anyone earning $500,000 a year, and now the going line is that $5 million a year makes you a loser. Ask him the ten-year plan and there is no exit in it. His merch says bury me in the gym. KENNY SANTUCCI Instagram: https://instagram.com/kennysantucci Website: https://kenny-santucci.com Strong New York: https://www.strongnewyork.com The Strength Club: https://thestrengthclub.com PRESENTED BY PROPPEL Proppel places A-player marketing and operations talent from the US, LATAM and beyond — video editors, designers and media buyers through to managers, directors and VPs. It's performance-based: a one-off fee only once you actually hire someone, no retainers, no ongoing costs, and every hire comes with a three-month guarantee. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage THE ADVANTAGE All episodes: https://mikewystrach.com/podcast

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  • S1 · E3
    August 19 · 1 hr 3 min

    $600M Operator: Start in a Niche. Just Don't Plan to Stay There. | Sam McBride

    Sam McBride is the CEO of Kettle & Fire and the founder of Colter Ventures, where he writes $40 to $150 million checks into a handful of businesses at a time. This episode is presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM, and get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage Full show notes and everything mentioned: https://mikewystrach.com/podcast/sam-mcbride A year out of school and working in healthcare M&A, McBride sold a $10 million piece of business to a division he did not work in. He asked his MD what that was worth to him and got a story about how long the man had waited for his yacht club membership. He quit. Then he called a mentor who was buying home security companies and offered to work for $30,000 a year for six months, on one condition: he wanted to be an executive immediately. He was 21. Every decision since has the same shape. He joined RXBAR as roughly its fourth employee and was there when Kellogg bought it for $600 million. He put $44 million into a bone broth company he had sat on the board of for years, and took the CEO seat when its chief executive proposed they swap and run it together. The most portable thing he says is about niches. McBride is blunt that the niche was the training ground rather than the destination. The time in it is what made every later decision obvious, which is why he tells founders to start narrow and plan the way out at the same time. He is unsentimental about the job itself. One problem after another, almost no credit, and getting kicked in the head often enough that you stop expecting otherwise. Once in a while there is an outcome. The other 99% is the part you have to like. Chapters 00:00:00 Operating Is Solving Problems For Almost No Credit 00:02:45 The Yacht Club Story That Ended His Finance Career 00:04:00 He Offered To Work For $30,000 A Year At 21 00:13:12 RXBAR Was Three Grade School Friends And A Warehouse 00:19:51 The CrossFit Business Topped Out At $6 Million 00:32:31 There Were Four Other RXBARs 00:35:30 The Values Interview That Ran The Final Round 00:41:31 Selling To Kellogg For $600 Million 00:50:28 Fewer Bets, Bigger Bets, And Kettle & Fire 00:59:27 Start In A Niche. Just Do Not Plan To Stay There. Sam McBride Colter Ventures: https://www.colterventures.com Kettle & Fire: https://www.kettleandfire.com PRESENTED BY PROPPEL Your business is only as good as the people in it, and finding real A players is one of the hardest things you'll do. Proppel specializes in marketing and operations talent, placing top people from the US, LATAM and beyond. It's all performance-based. You pay a one-off fee only once you actually hire someone, so no retainers and no ongoing costs. Every hire comes with a three-month guarantee. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage All episodes: https://mikewystrach.com/podcast Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikewystrach

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  • S1 · E2
    August 12 · 49 min

    Navigating the Creator Economy | Vitalii Dodonov, Stan

    Vitalii Dodonov is the co-founder and CTO of Stan, a creator commerce platform that's generated over $600M for it's creators. Every other platform in the category takes 10 to 20 percent of what a creator sells. Stan takes nothing. Presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM, and get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage Mike's IG: https://www.instagram.com/mikewystrach/ In late 2022 Stan was doing roughly $1 million a year, and a slice of that was commission. They had added the cut for the reason everyone adds it: the rest of the category had one. Then Vitalii and his co-founder John Hu built the spreadsheet that killed it. They deleted transaction fees entirely and put the business on a flat $30 a month. Revenue went from $1 million to $15 million to $27 million. Giving up a take rate at $1 million ARR means giving up the fastest-compounding line in the business. Mike walks him back into the room where that call was made, who pushed back, and what settled it. Vitalii is also clear that removing the fee is not what caused the 8.5x. The growth came from building a product people talked about, on no marketing budget. A team of 30 changes the operative question: it stops being what to build and becomes what to refuse to build. And the thesis underneath is strange for a monetization company. Monetization was never the hard part. Attention is easy to accumulate and almost nobody knows what to do with it. Distribution is the bottleneck, and creator churn is structural rather than a product failure. That produced Stanley, the AI head of content Stan built in 14 days. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:07:46 He Turned Down A Mid-Six-Figure Amazon Offer 00:14:01 Time In The Arena Beats Founder Dating 00:17:56 What Do You Do With The Attention? 00:21:50 They Added A Commission Because Everyone Else Had One 00:22:29 The Spreadsheet That Killed The Commission 00:24:26 Removing The Fee Was Not What Drove The Growth 00:27:38 $1M To $15M To $27M 00:29:54 Crossing $30M ARR With Fewer Than 30 People 00:30:14 No Marketing Budget, And Gas In A Tank 00:32:49 What A Personal Head Of Content Actually Does 00:39:31 Every Founder Is About To Need A Digital Identity 00:43:48 At 30, Optimize For The Rooms You Sit In Vitalii Dodonov Stan: https://stan.store LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitddnv/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/vitddnv/ PRESENTED BY PROPPEL Your business is only as good as the people in it, and finding real A players is one of the hardest things you'll do. Proppel specializes in marketing and operations talent, placing top people from the US, LATAM and beyond. Whether you need video editors, graphic designers, or media buyers from LATAM, or managers, directors, heads of department and VPs in the US, they'll help you build the team you actually need to grow. It's all performance-based. You pay a one-off fee only once you actually hire someone, so no retainers and no ongoing costs. Every hire comes with a three-month guarantee. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantage

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  • S1 · E1
    August 5 · 52 min

    The Best Hire beehiiv Almost Never Made | Daniel Berk

    Daniel Berk is giving you the Owned Audience Playbook · beehiiv's first sales hire on betting on yourself Presented by Proppel · A-player marketing and ops talent, 10% off your first hire → https://www.weareproppel.com/the-advantage-proppel Daniel Berk built a $78,000-a-year podcast working one hour a week. He learned the system as beehiiv's first sales hire, joining at 12 employees and under $1M in revenue. The company now reports $30M ARR. This conversation covers the entire playbook: the offshore clipping engine, packaging your personal audience for sponsors, why guests outperform banter, the first-dollar principle, and the AI agents that clip his videos, draft his posts, and watch his bank accounts. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00:00 Trailer 00:00:38 Meet Daniel Berk, beehiiv's First Sales Hire 00:02:06 From Mowing Lawns at 12 to $2.5M of Sneeze Guards 00:05:46 Rejected for Employee #1, Hired 7 Months Later 00:07:32 Building beehiiv's Sales Motion From Zero 00:10:20 A Reported $30M ARR and a Self-Given C-Suite Title 00:13:27 The Podcast That Started With One DM 00:14:15 The Clipping Engine: $78K on One Hour a Week 00:17:53 90% of Podcasts Die Before Episode 20 00:18:51 Turning Down $300K to Bet on Himself 00:21:24 MoneyWise, Local Newsletters and a Micro SaaS Bet 00:23:06 Every Single Person Starts at Zero 00:24:48 Commit to 10 Years or Don't Start 00:26:55 The Threshold Number: When More Money Stops Mattering 00:30:06 Your First Dollar Online Changes Everything 00:31:43 Build the Marketing Machine Before the Product 00:35:26 The Lawn-Mowing YouTuber Making $100K a Video 00:40:00 A Claude Agent That Clips, Writes and Posts for Him 00:43:50 Be an AI Super User or Compete With One 00:47:52 Practical Edges: Claude, Wispr Flow and Building Apps 🔗 DANIEL BERK Website: https://danielberk.com X: https://x.com/danielcberk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielberk MoneyWise: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfszC9-H9y38eA-h77OzJhw ⚡ PRESENTED BY PROPPEL Finding real A players is one of the hardest things you'll do. Proppel places marketing and operations talent from the US, LATAM and beyond: video editors, graphic designers and media buyers from LATAM, or managers, directors, heads of department and VPs in the US. Performance-based, one-off fee only when you hire, no retainers. Every hire comes with a three-month guarantee. Get 10% off your first hire → https://www.weareproppel.com/the-advantage-proppel 🎙️ More of THE ADVANTAGE All episodes: https://mikewystrach.com/podcast Instagram: @mikewystrach — https://instagram.com/mikewystrach Newsletter:https://mikewystrach.com/newsletter

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