Full transcript
0:00So, Nootropic just raised $6 million at
0:02a $60 million valuation. You're probably
0:04thinking, why would they do that? What
0:05does that mean? And why should I care?
0:07Let me explain. First of all, who's got
0:09that $6 million cuz I don't. And in this
0:11video, I'm going to explain to you why a
0:12business like Nootropic would borrow
0:14money from investors to grow and expand
0:16into other territories. I'm literally
0:18going to show you behind the scenes of
0:19exactly what we're doing and why we're
0:20doing it. So, let's get into it. Let's
0:21go into some economics of selling a
0:2212-pack. So, for the first 2 years,
0:24we've sold something called DTC, which
0:25is direct to customer. When we
0:26originally created Nootropic, we
0:28actually thought it would just be a
0:29product that we sold. Maybe a couple
0:30hundred thousand units of a year, made
0:32enough money to pay the mortgage and
0:34maybe then some. And with our first year
0:35sales data, we knew that just wasn't the
0:37case. So, let's say that a 12-pack cost
0:39$17 to produce, and you then sell it for
0:4125. Most people would go, "Oh my god,
0:43that's great. You're making $8 a case.
0:45You sell a thousand cases, you made
0:46$8,000 profit." But one of the issues
0:48that we have to that is that we
0:49bootstrapped this business, which means
0:50we started without investment, and we
0:52all chipped in money to create it. And
0:54although this profit looks nice, because
0:55we only started with a finite amount of
0:57cans, we need to use the profit to
0:59expand. So, if we sell two cases, that's
1:02not even enough profit to create another
1:04case. So, we would have to sell three
1:06cases to make $24, which we could then
1:08use the money to create more 12-packs.
1:10But one of the biggest issues that we
1:12had in our first year is that we were
1:13constantly sold out. Because as we were
1:15selling product to manufacture more,
1:17there would sometimes be a 12-week wait
1:19just to get more cans. Because if you
1:20think about some of the big players,
1:22like Ghost, like C4, they're booked out
1:24on production lines for months in
1:25advance. They know the exact amount of
1:27products that they're selling and the
1:28exact same amount of places. We were
1:30just a newcomer that came along on the
1:31scene like, "Hey, can we print more
1:33cans?" They were like, "Cool, back of
1:34the queue." So, even in our first year,
1:36we made a few million, sure. So, you
1:37sell a million dollars in sales, you now
1:39got $320,000 to produce more cases to go
1:42into more territories to get into more
1:44markets. It's quite a lot of work to
1:45expand. Not to mention, if you're going
1:47to put together new products and move
1:48into new territories, you're going to
1:49need tens or hundreds of thousands of
1:51dollars just to allocate into stock
1:53that's going to be produced in 12 weeks
1:54before it's even sent anywhere. And
1:56quickly, it's worth mentioning these
1:57aren't actually our true can economics.
1:59I'm just making it simple maths for
2:01people to understand. And this isn't the
2:03only cost that we have. We've got staff,
2:06which now cost a fortune. I'll talk
2:07about the new hires we made in a second.
2:09And then there's even little things like
2:10travel. So, some of you guys might have
2:11seen some of the cool creatives in which
2:13we've done. Went to Las Vegas to sponsor
2:15a jiu-jitsu tournament. Went to LA to
2:17sign off some new products last year
2:18when we did the Breaking Bad shoot. You
2:20then think about all the camera men, the
2:21equipment, the shoots, the studios, even
2:24things like hotels for myself, for
2:26Chris, for my videographer. All of these
2:28costs add up. But to keep it simple,
2:29we'll just use these false can
2:31economics. Now, one of the other really
2:33incredible cool places that we've
2:35allocated our resources is we've hired
2:37some exceptional talent. I'll show you.
2:39The way you can tell also that I'm the
2:40biggest fan of this brand, you know
2:42is I've got stickers on absolutely
2:43everything. One of which being my car.
2:45It's been wrapped twice. Even
2:48you can say what you want, but we did
2:49very well with that Nutral guy. Okay, so
2:51it's worth mentioning I haven't had the
2:52opportunity of meeting all of these
2:54hires just yet. Then there's far more
2:55some of the talent we got. Nicholas
2:57McLaughlin, he's from Poppy. We had him
2:58in the beverage forum. Keep looking at
2:59his impeccable hairline. Big chance of
3:00that. James Cox, absolute weapon. Been
3:02absolutely key for expansion so far. I
3:03like to WhatsApp him from time to time
3:04keep him sweet. I'm worried that
3:05someone's going to poach him. Joe, who's
3:06formerly with Refined THC, another
3:07weapon. Yet to have any beers with him.
3:09Plan to do so soon. Patsy, recently
3:10worked on Dr. Dre and Snoop's gin. Yet
3:12to meet her. Another weapon. Harry,
3:13ex-Trip. Only heard good things. And Tom
3:15Barrett, former group CFO from JDI, one
3:16of our main investors. Met him briefly.
3:18Not sure we've done biz yet. Just
3:19another weapon as part of the hiring
3:20strategy. So, you may have seen recently
3:22that Danone just acquired Huel, which is
3:24the annoying drink that is on Gary Vee's
3:26show. And one thing that I hate is that
3:28they call it a meal replacement shake.
3:29And there are many reasons I could have
3:31a problem with that. But if you live in
3:32a world where you don't have time to,
3:33you know, eat food, there's probably an
3:35underlying issue in your life. But
3:36anyway, you sold for a billion, so who
3:37am I to say anything? You guys might
3:39have remembered this. So, Huel made 3
3:42million pounds its first year, then 9
3:43million, then 26, then 50, then 72. And
3:46when you're looking at the scale of this
3:48growth, we're looking at something that
3:49we like to call velocity. How quickly
3:51you are growing. And when people look at
3:53your business from a venture capital
3:54investment standpoint, they don't care
3:55if you're making money. In fact, we made
3:57money in our first year and investors
3:59were like, "Are you stupid?" We're like,
4:01"We're profitable." They go, "In year
4:02one of a business, why would you want
4:04profit when you could have allocated
4:05that into growing the business?" I think
4:06we had 100,000 pounds left over year one
4:08thinking, you know, we bootstrapped a
4:10100k profitable business. We were
4:12literally called stupid. "You should
4:13have printed 100,000 cans and given them
4:15out for free. People only care at your
4:16trajectory and the way you're moving as
4:18a business, not how much money you're
4:19making." Also, the more aggressively in
4:21which you can grow, the more you're
4:22doing your investors a favor. So, we
4:24raised at a $20 million valuation less
4:27than a year ago, and we went out to
4:29friends and family and people we're
4:30close to in the industry, they've now
4:32already tripled their money. So, they
4:33could have put it into the S&P 500 and
4:35maybe made 9% in a year, they put it
4:37into New Energy Sonic and they tripled
4:38it. So, if we can continue that
4:40velocity, we keep our investors
4:41incredibly happy, too. Although it can
4:43sound really ridiculous, initially when
4:44we were having calls with investors, we
4:46were thinking it'd be great to exit it
4:47for a couple hundred million. But
4:48considering we've got to a $60 million
4:50valuation, that number has changed. That
4:52number is now 1 billion. And we think we
4:54can do it. If you want to know the scale
4:55of energy drinks in Australia for a
4:57territory, this is all just Red Bull.
4:59Eye level is buy level. Cold can is a
5:01sold can. Uh Red Bull now branching out
5:03into other flavor iterations to try and
5:05get more market share. V is very
5:07popular, but a lot of people uh outside
5:09of Australia won't know what that is.
5:10Nothing better than picking one of those
5:11up on the way to work. Not had a
5:13Rockstar before, but the one of the
5:14drinks here that we're going to talk
5:15about is Ghost. So, Ghost Energy
5:17recently have sold for over a billion
5:18dollars. Well, their deal was around one
5:21and I think they've got another exit
5:22clause that takes it to about 1.6
5:24billion, which is insane for an energy
5:26drink. So, Ghost uh
5:27one of the main businesses. Let me just
5:28have a quick look there. Oh, look what
5:30I've been shopping at, Declan.
5:32Look, but don't touch. You're naughty,
5:33naughty. How much did Ghost Energy sell
5:35for? They sold to Dr. Pepper for $990
5:37million,
5:38but the remaining 40% is to be purchased
5:40in 2028. Wow, so that was a big one. And
5:43we're going to get into why these
5:44businesses are purchased. I've never had
5:45a can of Mother before, have you?
5:47>> Uh, no. Is that Australia?
5:48>> Uh, I don't actually know. Then, C4
5:51neutral bolt, uh, big business in the
5:53game. Uh, we know the guys that run
5:55this. Very, very good company,
5:56incredible distribution. We'll grab one
5:58of these as well. But, when you think
5:59the majority of drinks on offer here are
6:02energy drinks, it's absolutely insane.
6:03And as we're going to explain this
6:04video, one of the reasons that it's
6:06important we move into retail is when
6:07you're thirsty, you don't go to Amazon.
6:09When you're thirsty, you don't buy 12 of
6:10these online. I am a fiend for getting
6:12snacks and a little pick-me-up energy
6:14drink when I'm on the move. I find
6:16myself putting petrol in the car when
6:17it's not even half empty, just so I have
6:19an excuse to grab a good old energy
6:20drink. So, moving forward for our
6:21business to scale at the pace we need
6:23to, we will have to be into retail
6:24locations. Now, any of you, if you're
6:26from Porsche, could you help me
6:27understand something? With a manual, why
6:29would you put a cup holder here?
6:32Ergonomic flaw. Then, the only other
6:34place I've got it is over here.
6:39Which, when you're driving,
6:43you know, eyes on the road, crash, dead,
6:45burn, dead bodies everywhere.
6:47>> All right, should be careful with that,
6:48right? Cuz if you knock that with your
6:49knee, you're going to break it. When do
6:51you What What's your little go-to,
6:52Declan? And you're allowed to say it
6:54because we're not in the sale in
6:55Australia yet.
6:56>> I like the ice long black from Boss
6:58Coffee's. Plain and simple.
6:59>> You're not much of an energy drink fan?
7:01>> Not really, to be honest.
7:02>> How come?
7:02>> I don't really go into them. The only
7:04drink I would have is tonic. I wouldn't
7:04really go for a Monster or a V or
7:07any of that.
7:08>> See, I've always loved a nice cold and
7:10fizzy.
7:10>> I just I don't trust some of the
7:12ingredients in there. It's just too much
7:14>> I agree with your sentiment that there's
7:16a lot of, quote unquote, you know,
7:18unhealthy things. But, I come from
7:20growing up drinking cans of Dr. Pepper
7:22and Coke at school.
7:23>> Yeah.
7:24>> So, I know the carbonation isn't great
7:25for your teeth, but
7:27You know where your bloody seatbelt,
7:28mate?
7:29>> mate.
7:29>> It's me that's going to get the points
7:31for that, you know.
7:32Bloody reckless. I do love grabbing a
7:34snack on the move. I'm not even hungry.
7:37I like, uh, some of the reasons I'm
7:38grabbing an energy drink on the move is
7:39just for the comfort, just for the
7:41happiness. Do I need the 150 mg
7:44caffeine? No. Do I need the 600
7:45calories? Absolutely not. But I'll take
7:48it. Calories or caffeine, key to my
7:49heart. Put that on a t-shirt. Right, we
7:52need to talk about something very
7:53important. Some of you watching this may
7:54not have even heard of Ghost. And in my
7:56honest personal opinion,
7:58annoying that does taste quite good. I
8:00wish I could sit here and go, "Ooh,
8:01tastes rubbish." Delicious. Probably one
8:02of the nicest flavors I've had. I think
8:04we have a better product. I think we
8:05have a better brand. And I think we have
8:06a better mission. The majority of energy
8:07drink companies are just pulling on the
8:09lever of caffeine, and they just have
8:10minimal amounts of caffeine, lots of
8:12caffeine, huge amounts of caffeine.
8:13That's the main thing that they're
8:14playing with. With NEUTONIC, we do it a
8:15little bit different. When it comes to
8:16the product, again, Ghost has sold for a
8:18billion. So, what am I going to say
8:19about them? We think a smaller can is
8:22more advantageous. You are having a long
8:24drive, you're going somewhere, you're
8:25sitting at your desk, you don't want to
8:26be pissing all the time. And as an avid
8:27energy drink fan and drinker, there have
8:29been times in my life where I've got 2/3
8:31through an energy drink can, and I'm
8:32thinking, "Oh, I can't really stomach
8:33the rest." And I've got to chuck it
8:34down. We've also gone with
8:35evidence-based dosages of nootropics,
8:37which are supplements for your brain.
8:39But one of our key players inside is
8:40theanine. We put 400 mg of theanine in,
8:42which gives you a little bit of a
8:43calming effect. If you were going to do
8:45one rep max deadlift today, I might even
8:47think that the C4 and Ghost would be
8:48better for you. But if you've got to sit
8:49at your desk, got a long drive, lock-in,
8:51you've got a job interview, or you want
8:52to lie on your CV, I think NEUTONIC
8:53could be better. And when we talk about
8:55the mission of the product, it's not
8:56just about giving you energy. It's about
8:58enabling you to not only get focused,
9:00but sustain it. And for you to have
9:01something at your desk in the afternoon
9:03that's not going to be a crash, where
9:04you feel like you need a nap at 3:00
9:05p.m. And we're not just limiting
9:06ourselves to energy drinks, which I'll
9:08explain. And I'll be honest, this
9:09business did start as a bit of an
9:11influencer drop, which makes me shudder
9:13to the spine to even insinuate that
9:14Chris and I could be influencers, but
9:16we're now a fully-fledged beverage
9:18business. And last weekend, we had to
9:19fly to LA to go to a beverage forum to
9:22make the relationships and connections
9:23necessary for retail. So, let me show
9:25you a little bit from Beverage Forum.
9:26Here we are at Beverage Forum day one.
9:28Some spicy cars out here, Bacon. Uh,
9:30we've got Cybertrucks. Uh, looks like a
9:32Ferrari 812. Uh, the Rolls in front of
9:34it doesn't interest me too much. All
9:36right, fair enough. Oh, there's some
9:37interesting brands though. But there's
9:38no one working the fridges. So they've
9:40just got stock here. But all day every
9:42day Chris and I selling, promoting,
9:45convincing, educating. And it's pretty
9:47cool. I've had some very interesting
9:48conversations. Consumers, buyers,
9:51distribution, retail, logistics.
9:54>> Here's a question for you.
9:55Do you reckon in 5 years you'd have a
9:56course on how to operate a successful
9:58drinks brand?
9:59>> 5 years. The The Bev The Bev course. And
10:02I don't know. It's a difficult one to go
10:03into because
10:05I think unfortunately the majority of
10:06these brands won't be here next year.
10:08>> Yeah. Cuz they think all you really need
10:09is a good drink.
10:11>> And they won't learn that.
10:13>> You need a
10:14You need a machine to power it. A good
10:16drink won't get you there alone. And
10:17what Chris and I are doing is winding up
10:19the last 5 10 years of work.
10:21>> Why is it important we go to retail?
10:22>> This right here Declan, your chicken
10:24schnitzel sam, $9. Have you started
10:26that? I was going to say it's like at
10:27$9, £4.50. Pretty tasty. Is it good?
10:31>> Just healthier than a sausage roll.
10:32>> Healthier than a sausage roll. Like
10:33that. When you're hungry, you go to a
10:35server. You go to a shop. You stop. Was
10:37this on the way here?
10:38This is the reason we need to leverage
10:40retail. This is why it's the most
10:41important next thing because when you're
10:43a hungry, you do not go to Amazon. You
10:45might go to Uber Eats. But a lot of the
10:46times you'd rather have a worse snack in
10:48a short period of time. Cuz you could
10:49have got here and ordered something on
10:50Uber Eats, but then you'd have to take
10:52time. You'd have to go out and meet the
10:53Uber driver. Sometimes convenience is
10:54king. And one of our investors, Alan
10:56Barratt, changed my mind with this
10:57completely when he goes, "When you're
10:58hungry, you go to a petrol station. You
11:00don't go to Amazon." The whole way I
11:01thought about the business
11:03Who's Alan Barratt? Let me show you. I'm
11:04pretty sure I've hidden a Grenade bar at
11:06the bottom of the fridge.
11:09Let's talk about Grenade. Grenade is the
11:11world's best protein bar. And if you're
11:13from America or Australia, you may not
11:15understand just the levels that Grenade
11:16went to with this. And it may seem that
11:18I'm just obsessed with how much
11:19businesses sell for, but this is about
11:20making the point as to why this mission
11:22is so important for us. So Mondelez
11:24acquired Grenade at a 40 times multiple.
11:26So Grenade was bought for £200 million.
11:29That's a 40 times multiple on the
11:31company's 2019 profits of 5 million
11:33pounds. 5 million pound profit bought
11:34for 200 million. Now, Alan Barratt,
11:36great guy, but sometimes you'll be at
11:37dinner with him and he'll go, "James,
11:39you know when you get your helicopter
11:40and you get" I'll be like, "No, Alan, I
11:41don't know what it's like to have a
11:42helicopter or fly somewhere. I haven't
11:44got a helicopter, not yet." So, rumors
11:46have it that, I believe it was around
11:48when they exited the business that
11:49Grenade sold more chocolate bars than
11:50Cadbury's and Mondelez came in and said,
11:52"We'll buy you." And one of the main
11:53lessons I've come to understand from
11:55being in the beverage business is that
11:56companies won't buy you cuz they like
11:58you, they'll buy you cuz they hate you
12:00and that you're a disruptor and that you
12:01are cropping up in conversation.
12:03Someone's just going to come along and
12:03say, "We're buying you cuz we hate you."
12:05And at Newtonic, we want to be hated by
12:07everyone, except our customers. We want
12:08to be loved by them. Do you know about
12:09that? 200 million. Still lets me pay for
12:11dinner, doesn't he? That's a joke. So,
12:13Declan Sann, Poppy, 1.95 billion. Now,
12:16Poppy is a prebiotic soda, which is very
12:19popular in America. So, in essence,
12:20getting a fizzy water that's got benefit
12:23to your gut microbiome. Let's just go on
12:25a quick tangent here. For the record,
12:27guys, if I was to drink a can of Ghost
12:30and eat an apple, I would be getting so
12:32much more beneficial fiber than a
12:34probiotic soda. So, what protein has
12:36done to chocolate bars, oh, we'll put
12:38some protein in the chocolate bar to
12:39make you feel better about it, probiotic
12:41industry have done to probiotic sodas by
12:44putting fiber in the product, relieving
12:46a little bit of guilt and making people
12:47feel better about the fact that they're
12:49just having a fizzy soda. It's good for
12:51my gut. So is having an apple. So, if
12:53any of you were wondering where the
12:54money is coming from, we have got
12:56Newtonic investors. Alan Barratt, the
12:58one we just spoke about there. Got Dan
12:59Marshall. Got Kayla Itsines and Jay, Ali
13:02Marchon, Ross Edgley, these are new to
13:03it. Patrick Kidd, Cody Sanchez. We've
13:05got a real who's who. Mike Thurston.
13:07You're probably wondering, why would
13:08these people give you money in the first
13:10place? Well, one of the most interesting
13:11things is, when we invest money into the
13:13S&P 500, we are betting with that these
13:16companies can perform and keep growing
13:17to a certain amount, but we can't really
13:19influence that business that much. But,
13:22these guys can. These guys get to invest
13:24and then they're able to manipulate
13:26legally the share price with their
13:28involvement of promotion of the product.
13:30Let's use a case in point. Ed Lawrence,
13:32my YouTube sensei, if we go to one of
13:34his most recent videos
13:35>> Frame rate's a bit weird these days.
13:36>> Yeah, I did think that. Ed Lawrence, if
13:38you're watching, what have you done to
13:39your frame rate? There we go. So, Ed
13:41Lawrence here, well, looks like he's
13:42guarding a glass, though, can now put a
13:44can of Neutonic in his shot. I don't
13:45even think he's opened that, the hater.
13:48But, by putting the eye here, he gets to
13:50subtly promote and associate with the
13:52brand, where someone else might not even
13:53realize they've seen that. But,
13:55subliminally, the next time they go to
13:56Sainsbury's in the UK, they see the eye
13:58and go, "Ooh, I might try that." This is
14:00one of the many tactics we'll utilize as
14:02a business. Not only that, the cash that
14:04Ed gave us was tantamount to us being
14:06able to purchase stock to go into
14:08inventory, whether it be retail, whether
14:10it be other areas. Another thing that'll
14:12be interesting for you to think about is
14:13if you go to our store locator, which
14:15I'll put a link to in the description,
14:17every single place you see an eye is a
14:19store that's stocking Neutonic. So,
14:21considering we started the business with
14:23only our own cash, every profit we've
14:25made so far has been reinvested into
14:27producing more stock that we can send to
14:29more retail locations, so more people
14:31can buy it on the move. When you look at
14:32the scale of this, it's quite scary. And
14:34that's just the United Kingdom. Now, if
14:35I put in the USA Texas, obviously big
14:38for us, because Chris has got red-hot
14:39audience there. California second, and
14:41we're now expanding into these coast.
14:42But, there are areas that I've never
14:44even been to before that are now
14:46stocking Neutonic, which is crazy.
14:47That's just Dallas. I can go to Dallas
14:49and grab a can of my own drink off the
14:51shelf. You know how crazy that is? Then,
14:52one of our most exciting new products
14:54has to be the Neutonic focus pouches.
14:56The sales for these were pretty
14:57incredible. So, we sold out all of our
14:59UK stock in the first day. We've got
15:01tens of thousands of orders coming
15:02again. And I thought these would be a
15:04bit of a gimmick, like our nootropic
15:06toothpicks that you might have seen.
15:07But, especially early morning and late
15:08afternoon, there's sometimes a part of
15:10the day where I'd much rather
15:13stick one of these in the cheek than I
15:14would have a fizzy drink. These don't
15:16surprise me, and the velocity in which
15:17we're selling them is continuing to
15:19surprise me. These be back in stock very
15:21soon, hopefully by the time we put this
15:22video up. The reason this excites me is
15:24a bit strange. Alan Barratt, when he
15:25started Grenade, I remember back in the
15:26day, was actually a pre-workout. It was
15:28called 50 Caliber. Tasted awful. He
15:30won't remember me saying that. Yet, they
15:31ended up selling for hundreds of
15:32millions as a protein bar. We can
15:34remember Gymshark. Declan back in the
15:36day would have worn a Gold's Gym style
15:38stringer beater from Gymshark. However,
15:40they made a huge amount of their money
15:41from leggings. We aren't tied to being
15:43an energy drink business. We're tied to
15:45being a nootropics, brain health
15:46business that really has a mission
15:47around getting people focused. So, you
15:49never know, we could sit here in a
15:50year's time where actually we're going
15:51to look to raise a $100 million
15:53valuation at the end of the year, and
15:5460-70% of our sales could come from the
15:56pouches. You never know. The NPD, the
15:58new product development, has to be a way
16:00that you can pivot and understand what
16:01your audience wants. The Gymshark went
16:03from vest to leggings. So, Grenade went
16:04from pre-workout to protein bars. In the
16:06same way that as the vessels in which
16:08people will take nootropics changes, we
16:10have to adapt to that. These are
16:11currently sold out, but they will be
16:12back in stock soon. With the demand that
16:14we got from the first orders, we've just
16:15purchased tens of thousands of new ones
16:17of these. Now, an interesting thing to
16:19make clear here is, although we've sold
16:21nearly 10 million cans, and we're aiming
16:23to be at a $100 million valuation as
16:24soon as possible, I'm yet to take a
16:26penny from the business. Neither has
16:27anyone. If anything, I've just continued
16:29to put money back into the business in
16:31each round. So, my net position for
16:32Neatonic on paper puts my shareholder
16:34price at eight figures. I am seven
16:36figures in debt into this investment.
16:38And that's largely to do with the fact
16:39that I believe in the mission and the
16:41objective, and where we're going, and
16:42what we're doing, and what we're
16:43selling. To be the biggest fan of my own
16:45product is one of the best things I
16:47could ever want from life. And to that,
16:49I'm extremely grateful. Which brings me
16:51on to an important topic of how we got
16:53here. And I hate to say it, but we're
16:54going to have to be nice about Chris.
16:56Now, Chris Williamson, when we started
16:58Neatonic, he was at about 125,000
17:01Instagram followers. And now he's got a
17:03top 10 podcast in the world with 4.2
17:05million subscribers. I've always known
17:07Chris for years. I've been going on his
17:09pod since 5 years ago. So, ever since he
17:12was a Geordie man with a dodgy haircut
17:15and tash recording from his room, I've
17:17kind of known him before he was {quote}
17:19and {quote} big. But, I must admit that
17:21the relationship we have with Chris now
17:22is similar to getting in on Bitcoin
17:24early. The growth that he has made to
17:27his business and his reputation is one
17:29of the reasons the brand's doing well.
17:31Obviously, I play a part in it. But, now
17:33the amount of reach that Chris is
17:35getting with his videos, and the thing I
17:37spoke about, the investors having that
17:38bit of brand awareness. If I open his
17:41most viewed podcast with Jordan
17:43Peterson, 12 million views, two cans of
17:46Ntonic sat on the table. And, although
17:48that doesn't pay the bills, and it
17:49certainly hasn't paid mine yet, the
17:51impressions that this is creating for
17:53the brand into markets for people to go
17:54into retail, we're already seeing that
17:56in the US, in central markets in Texas,
17:58there is a certain run rate that retail
17:59shops expect from you. We are exceeding
18:01it without promotion because of the work
18:03Chris has done with this pod. My
18:04audience isn't that massive in America.
18:06And, the thing I really want to kind of
18:07drill home for people is the way we got
18:09here, I think anyone can emulate and
18:11anyone can copy. So, eight years ago, or
18:13seven years ago here, Chris set out to
18:15do something not that impressive or
18:18inspiring. But, what really was
18:19impressive was how long he was willing
18:21to do it for. Even here, seven years
18:23ago, James Clear, one of the biggest
18:24authors of all time, 2.3 thousand views,
18:26which isn't a crazy amount for a pod.
18:29So, although I give him a lot of
18:30and I bench him all the time, one of the
18:32main reasons we're able to leverage and
18:34grow to such a scale is because of the
18:36work that Chris has been doing for such
18:38a long time. And, whereas some people
18:39get into the beverage business with
18:41investors that have got huge amounts of
18:42unlimited cash, Chris and I are the
18:45perfect demographic for our business,
18:47our mission, our objective. If you look
18:48now, you have two young guys who are
18:51building an online personal brand
18:52through putting out social media
18:53content. Chris has to be locked on, he
18:55has to be ready, he has to research his
18:57guest, he has to be able to hold a
18:58high-level conversation for two hours.
18:59Myself, I have to be able to plan and
19:01strategize a YouTube video. Where are
19:03the scenes going to be done? What are we
19:04going to talk about? What cadence we're
19:05going to speak at? What's the call to
19:06action going to be? It's not often in
19:08business that you get to create
19:09something that is perfect for earlier
19:11version of yourself. So, I would think
19:13that here Chris and I are probably late
19:1520s, early 30s, and we were just two
19:17ambitious guys wanting to make something
19:19of ourselves. And this is the exact
19:21person that we are aiming for with our
19:22products right now. Whether focus
19:24pouches, cans, whatever it is. Whether
19:25you want to buy them online, whether you
19:27want to get them in retail in a store.
19:28And ultimately, we believe that we can
19:30take this business to become a
19:31billion-dollar brand. The only decision
19:33we have to make is how quick and
19:34aggressive we want to get there. And
19:35that's why we think it's better to
19:37partner with people that are beneficial
19:39to our brand that are congruent with our
19:40mission. And even if it means diluting
19:42the amount of the business that we share
19:43and own, we've already been in business
19:45for 2 years. We're about to launch into
19:46Australia. We're eyeing up Canada by the
19:48end of this year. It's about velocity,
19:50impact, stock, locations. Chris is going
19:52to continue to grow his podcast. I
19:53genuinely think he will be the number
19:55one podcast in the world. And I'm going
19:57to continue to keep doing my thing and
19:59riding his coattails and meeting famous
20:00people just by being business partners.
20:02Within the last 2 months, I met Chris
20:04Hemsworth, Jimmy Carr, had a dinner with
20:05the Mark Manson. That's it, actually.
20:07Only those three. There's going to be a
20:08link in the description to this video
20:10where you can buy or try Nootropic. I
20:11just want to make clear that wherever
20:13you are in the world, whatever products
20:14you try, my email address is
20:15james@nootropic.com. If you're not happy
20:17with the flavor, the experience, how it
20:19tastes, how it makes you feel, you let
20:20me know and I'll refund you personally
20:22from my own bank account.
20:23>> And I'll be honest with you, there are a
20:24few brands that I'm obsessed about. For
20:26instance, Lululemon, do the best men's
20:28underwear and the most comfortable
20:29shorts. It's almost like my uniform. I
20:30have no shares or equity in Lululemon,
20:32just love them. Another would be Eight
20:33Sleep, the temperature-controlled
20:35mattress. I get nothing by telling you
20:37that if you are not controlling the
20:38temperature in which you sleep at night.
20:40Mine stopped working at 3:00 a.m. in the
20:41morning last night. I had to reset it.
20:43Could save you from sleep divorce. I
20:44sleep very warm. Taylor is always cold,
20:47my fiance. So, we've always had that
20:49argument going on. So, there are brands
20:51that once I had a few beers, I cannot
20:53stop telling people how amazing they
20:54are. And I think we're one of those
20:56brands. Obviously, there's that delusion
20:58where you think it's my baby, so
20:59therefore, of course you're going to
21:00love it no matter what it looks like.
21:02But even just my obsession with branding
21:04everything that I can with Nootropic,
21:06even the fridge. This was bought for me
21:08because I'm such a Norse but even the
21:11branding on everything. And nothing
21:12makes me happier coming into work and
21:14just seeing cold Nootropics absolutely
21:16everywhere.
21:17And obviously what I'm about to say is
21:18just speculative, but I'm sensing from
21:20friends, from family, from former
21:22colleagues, even from people that I
21:24don't even think like me that much.
21:25They're like, "Hey, you've created
21:26something special." And that is what is
21:28probably the main reason why I'm so all
21:29in on this. In real time, I'm becoming
21:31that crazy founder. I always keep cans
21:33and pouches in the boot of my car. Every
21:35time I'm at the petrol station and
21:36someone stops me to ask what Nootropic
21:37is, I'm giving them stuff and a sales
21:38pitch on it. I've even got stickers
21:40made. This was competitive research, by
21:42the way. Even got bucket hats with
21:43Nootropic on it. If you thought that was
21:45too much, I've even got Nootropic socks.
21:47I'm sure every founder, delusional or
21:49not, has sat here and said to the
21:50camera, "I'm growing this to a billion
21:52dollars." But you know what? The most
21:53exciting thing for me isn't even the
21:55prospect of the exit. It's the amount of
21:57people whose hands I can put a cold can
21:58of Nootropic in. They'll have their
22:00doubts and go, "Oh, yeah, cool." And
22:01then they try it and they go, "Wow, that
22:03actually tastes amazing." They message
22:04you and they're like, "I felt great." I
22:06get a buzz from those interactions and
22:07those experiences more than any pay
22:09slip. Not to mention, the day that
22:11eventually I do earn a penny from
22:12Nootropic is going to feel quite
22:13surreal. I'm 2 and 1/2 years into
22:15growing this business. I've loved every
22:17single second of doing it. And it's cost
22:19me money at every single stage. Massive
22:21thanks to our investors and even bigger
22:22thanks to all of our customers. Uh a big
22:24thanks to all of you that are going to
22:25try it in the near future. And a big
22:26thanks for watching this video because
22:28even just listening to what I have to
22:29say about the brand makes you a part of
22:31the journey. If you have any questions
22:32about it, put it in the comments below.
22:33Bye-bye.