Claim OwnershipSpecks of Light
Subscribed: 6Played: 275
Subscribe
© Or Azulay | אור אזולאי
Description
Hi Everybody! My name is Or and I do live X (Twitter) Spaces with interesting entrepreneurs and investors.
Would you like to learn more about me or reach out? https://linktr.ee/orslimy
היי כולם! קוראים לי אור אזולאי, יועץ מוצר למחייתי, ואני עושים ספייסים בטויטר עם אנשים שמעניינים אותי
רוצים לפנות אלי? https://linktr.ee/orslimy
Would you like to learn more about me or reach out? https://linktr.ee/orslimy
היי כולם! קוראים לי אור אזולאי, יועץ מוצר למחייתי, ואני עושים ספייסים בטויטר עם אנשים שמעניינים אותי
רוצים לפנות אלי? https://linktr.ee/orslimy
232 Episodes
Reverse
Chad and I talked about:- His early years in Operations, how they perfected their own fulfillment and how that led to them starting 3PL and offering fulfillment services for other brands?- How did they get customers for Good Company in the beginning and what type of customers wanted to work with them? - Why they decided to focus on 'hard' brands, i.e. fulfillment of packages that needed custom solutions, and how that was a very good thing for them business wise? - What exactly do they do for customers? where does their responsibilities start and end and how do they onboard new customers?- Why do they only accept 5% of new leads coming to them? and how do they keep their quality standards so high? - What are his key challenges today and what does he do all week?I was really inspired by Chad and Good Company's story, they are a perfect example of 'Less is More'.
I spoke with Michael about:- His start in eCom as head of growth for a company that focused on selling products for caregivers. - The founding story of Rotten, why he felt that there is a potential for candy that are good for you with much less sugar, and why they decided to start with gummy worms and not other types of candy- The story behind their unique brand filled drawings of monsters and what is the origin of the name 'Rotten'?- Who are their main customer profiles today and why do they choose Rotten over the competition? - What were their main challenges in the beginning and what are his biggest challenges today?If you're into CPG, especially the 'good for you' category, you should def listen to this conversation :)
שוחחתי עם יחיאל:- השנים הראשונות שלו בתור דור שלישי למשפחת קצבים, ומתי החליט שמיצה שם ועבר להיות קונה מדיה בחברת פרסום?- סיפור ההקמה של Hexa, כששני חברים שלו באו אליו עם טכנולוגיה מגניבה להראות קבצים בתלת מימד על הדפדפן, ומה היו הצעדים הראשונים שלהם בשוק?- כל התלאות והתהפוכות בעשור שמאז, מעזיבת השותפים המקוריים, משקיעים שמשכו טרמשיטים בדקה ה90, משברים גלובליים, פיטורים מאסיביים, מלחמה עם שירות מילואים אקטיבי וכל הדרכים שבהם הם התמודדו איתם ביצירתיות רבה (למשל - הוא מכר את הדירה שלו כדי לממן אותם!!!)- המוצר שהם פיתחו, הלקוחות הענקיים שהם שירתו, איך הם התחילו כחברת שירותים שעברה אוטומציה מלאה לחברת SaaS, ואיך POCs מוצלחים לאו דווקא אומרים לקוח משלם?- איפה הם היום? במה הם מתמקדים? ומה האתגר הכי גדול שלהם היום?אני מראיין הרבה זמן יזמים, וזה אחד הסיפורים היותר מרגשים ששמעתי. שאפו ליחיאל ולשותפיו, לוחמים אמיתיים בכל רמ׳ח אבריהם.
שוחחתי עם שגיא על:- שתי החברות שהקים ומכר - SaferVPN ו-Perimerter 81, המוצר שהם פיתחו, סוגי הלקוחות שהם שירתו, וכל האתגרים השונים שהם חוו לאורך השנים האלה.- הסיפור סביב התסמונת הנוירולוגית הנדירה של בנו רפאל ואיך זה גרם לו לעזוב את המשרה שלו בצ׳קפוינט (החברה שרכשה את Perimeter 81) לפני סיום תקופת הווסטינג, ולהקים מעבדת מחקר מיוחדת שמטרתה למצוא טיפול לתסמונת הזו ולשאר התסמונות שדומות לה.- מה בדיוק הם עשו בשנתיים האחרונות במעבדה הזו? על אילו סוגי תרופות/טיפולים הם עובדים במקביל? ולאיזו פריצת דרך טיפולית הם הגיעו בעזרת טכנולוגיה שאחרי זה עזרה לרפאל לעשות התקדמות מוטורית משמעותית?- מה האתגרים הכי גדולים שלהם היום? ולאן הם מתקדמים על מנת למצוא תרופה אמיתית לתסמונת של רפאל ולתסמונות זהות אליה?שגיא הוא יזם על, ויצאתי עם דמעות מהספייס הזה, בעיקר הודות לנחישות וליצירתיות המופלאה שהוא ואשתו מפגינים בתור הורים אוהבים לילד שלהם.ממש ממליץ לכם להאזין.
I spoke with Izzy about:- His decade as a brand owner called Browze, what it taught him about building efficient supply chains, and why they closed it eventually to open Portless.- The founding story of Portless, a company that fulfills e-commerce orders directly from factories overseas (e.g. China) to brands customer's front door, massively improving lead times, decreasing shipping costs, and lowering import tax fees, and exactly HOW they do that?- Why brands should choose them vs other fulfillment providers and why they can't easily build this infrastructure themselves?- How they got customers to use their services in the early years and they got them to trust them?- What were the different challenges along the way? and how do they use technology to solve them?Super fun conversation. Izzy rocks :)
I spoke with Alex about:- His early years in investment banking, Facebook and running Operations in companies such as Lynks and Pantry.- The founding story of Passport and how they initially helped brands with international shipping- How they got their first customers and how their customers' success helped them get more known in the industry- Their 2nd product offering, Passport Global, which provides an end-to-end internationalization solution that combines their shipping services plus added storefront localization, pricing strategies, and accurate duty & tax calculation tools.- Their key challenges along these past 8 years and how COVID wasn't so great for them even though it was great for eCom in general and why- How they use AI today to be a lot more efficient than before.Alex is a logistics veteran, and I learned a ton :)
I spoke with Joe about:- His early years as an ecom manager and the founding story of Smearcase, the first healthy ice cream based on cottage cheese, with 40g protein per pint, boosted with collagen.- Why cottage cheese? and how is it better than the alternatives?- Where they started selling it, who are their main audiences? and what were the biggest challenges along the way?- What is his vision for this category and what are his biggest challenges right now?- And who are the founders he draws inspiration from?Loved Joe's energy and mission. Wish there were many more CPG entrepreneurs like him.
I spoke with Jimmy about:- The founding story of NoBaked, how he and his girlfriend just started selling cookie dough after college and how it turned into an instant hit around Nashville- Who were their initial customers? what they liked about the product that was different than what was sold commercially back then? and how they expanded beyond their immediate circles with franchised scoop shops and selling their cookie dough in over 1000 retail stores?- What mistakes they've done along the way? and how corrected their ways afterwards?- When did he realize that he's feeling burned out and what changes he did to his life and business because of that?- What is he focused on these days and what are his biggest challenges? Super interesting journey!
I spoke with Joe about:- How growing up in a very health conscious family has led him to leave the finance world and start a company that is focused on creating healthy snacks, starting with a protein packed bar which is soley made from whole foods (and without processed protein powder).- Why many health oriented people can't digest protein powders and are looking for such a solution? and how he came up with the idea?- How are they marketing this bar (which just launched a month ago)? Who are their real competitors? and how do they plan to stand out given that this is a very saturated market?- Why is he also working in parallel on a private investment firm called Holistic Growth Ventures, focused on health and wellness products, and how his background in finance helps him? - What are his biggest challenges right now as a very new CPG brand? and how is he thinking about solving it? Love Joe's mission, energy and hustle :)
I spoke with Jordan about:- How he started in the eCom world selling hoverboards, the children clothing brand that he founded with his wife and the brands that he bought over the years (until he sold all of them last year).- How his long time experience building and marketing consumer goods brands helped him launch his digital marketing agency and why he is much more efficient selling products online than the average brand owner (or social media influencer). - Why simply 'understanding Tiktok' is not enough and how social commerce is not about the platform but about understanding first principles related to consumer psychology and business?- How to keep being motivated when your content game is not getting you where you want it? (and why 'Leads' are a lagging indicator)- What exactly do they do on Social Commerce Club for brands? and what was their biggest failure?- Why is he running for mayor in his home town and how he uses his social media marketing skills to get a leg up in the games without hurting his existing business persona?- What is the difference between A and B players when it comes to online marketing? and how does he distinguish between the two in order to hire the former? - Why is it critical to create white space in your life to create connections and really move the needle instead of just working hard? and why founders should consume a lot of quality information to make better decisions in their day to day?I really enjoyed this. Hope you will too :)
I spoke to Aaron about: - His start in the Operations space, working in companies such as Unilever, Hubble Contacts and Lululemon.- The founding story around Izba, a consulting agency for consumer goods brands, helping them with their end to end operations and supply chain.- What exact services they offer brands in different sizes and challenges and how they expanded their services to a group of companies including Sourcify (sourcing products reliably) and Slotted (fulfillment). - Why they choose to be an agency and not a SaaS product company and how they manage to embed technology in their day to day and help their brands scale faster?- What is his main focus now? and what are his biggest challenges? Operations and Supply chain is such an amazing space to be in right now and Aaron is one of the OGs in the industry, so glad I got a chance to learn from him.
I spoke with David about:- His early beginning as a human resources director and how he made the decision to become a CEO one day after his MBA.- Why he sent over 10k emails to CEOs of large companies so he can become their number 2 (i.e. Chief of Staff) and how it landed him a position which later led him to become a GM of that company- What were his different motivations changing C level positions from companies such as 1-800-flowers, Everyday Health, Seeking Alpha, Investopedia and Meetup?- What led him to write his book, Decide and Conquer, and what were the key benefits from doing this project?- Why he started the Israel Tech Mission? What do they do? and was was the impact of this non-profit endeavor? - What he's focusing on these days after he made 'aliyah' to Jerusalem? and what he still wishes to accomplish?I really enjoyed this conversation :) David is a force of good.
I spoke with Gardar about:- His early years as a founder of a salt company in Iceland- The purchase of a natural sweetener production factory by his partners after it was legalized in Europe, why that business didn't work out and how it led them to create their own CPG brand using those sweeteners in spreads like jams, chocolate and peanut butter instead of sugar. - How they grew from only selling to local retailers in Iceland and Europe to selling to the US and why Texas became their most active market? - Who buys their products? and why they learned that they should be focusing on spreads and not other categories like bars / syrups?- Why is the spread business a slower growth business in comparison to other categories and how do they think about their growth?- What are their biggest challenges right now and what would he do if he wasn't a CPG founder?Gardar is awesome.
I spoke with Michael about:- His early years as a college athlete turned digital marketer, and climbing the ranks at Nike.- How Covid got him and his younger brother under the same roof and how it led them to think of the idea for a mineral rich beverage that brought Leisure Hydration to life- The problem they are solving for people (who are mostly dehydrated due to bad dietary choices) and why they chose to tackle a category for every day hydration vs athletic hydration drinks like Gatorade? - The 2 years of research before launching their first product and what they did to get to a good enough formulation? - How they got into retail? and what was their biggest break?- And as always, what is their biggest challenge today?Really enjoyed this conversation.
I spoke with Tom about:- His early years as a catalog sales business owner- His unusual decision to start a beauty brand and how they struggled to fund raise until they learned they can just acquire a successful brand using debt financing and how they scaled that business to a 100M dollar revenue (and why they sold that business in 2021 to a private equity firm).- His passion around investment rollups, how it exactly works and why he started two aggregators, one buying 100 brands (FOUNDRY) and the other buying marketing agencies (AVA Acquisitions)- His decision to start teaching entrepreneurs about how to properly do M&As as a growth strategy for their business (DealCon Summit) and what value he derives from it- What is his latest project? and why he chose to live in Tel Aviv when most of his business is conducted in the US? I learned a TON from this conversation. Totally worth a listen :)
I spoke with Drew about:- His early years as an entrepreneur founding several brands in the wine and spirits world, why it's a super hard category to win in and what he learned from those?- The founding story behind Wagging Water, a brand focused on selling water based beverages for dogs and all the challenges that he went through trying to scale this brand (including his early success distributing them in Target)- His eureka moment that pet beverages that mimic popular human drinks is a very lucrative category worth pursuing and how that turned into Yappy Hour, a brand focused on selling fun pet beverages for social events.- How Yappy Hour practically exploded over night, how they marketed it? how are they thinking about each new product line? What were their biggest challenges during that hyper-growth phase?- And what is his biggest focus right now? Drew's story is the perfect example of hard work paying off :)
שוחחתי עם דניאל על:- השנים הראשונות בתור מפתח פרונטאנד ומה גרם לו להתחיל פרויקט צד שעוזר לו ולאחרים לייצר ווידג׳טים בקלות (כמו טבלאות להשוואת מחירים ועוד רבים אחרים)- איך פרויקט הצד זה צמח במשך 10 שנים, לאיזה סוגי לקוחות, לאילו שימושים, ומה גרם לו סוף סוף לעזוב את העבודה המאוד נוחה ומעניינת שלו בOutbrain ולהקים ממנו חברה- למה הוא והשותף שלו הלכו לאקסלרטור של 8200? מה הם למדו שם? ואיך הם פגשו יותר מ180 (!) משקיעים על תקופה של 9 חודשים רק כדי לגייס את המיליון דולר הראשונים לחברה (שכבר היה לה מוצר ולקוחות והכנסות יפות!)- מה השינוי שהם עשו במוצר שבאמת הוביל אותם לצמיחה משמעותית, למה הם החליטו לא לגייס את הסבב הבא, ומתי הם הגיעו סוף סוף לברייק איבן? (רגע סופר מרגש!)- איך התפוצצות הAI השפיעה על העסק שלהם ולמה זה גרם להם להשיק מוצר חדש לגמרי חודש שעבר שעוזר לאנשים לייצר בעזרת פרומפטים ווידג׳ט משל עצמם- וכמו תמיד, מה האתגר הכי גדול שלהם היום?היה ממש מעניין וכיף
I spoke with Aaron about:- His early years as an entrepreneur since the age of 13, selling graphic tees and working in digital marketing and starting several businesses since then, including his introduction to D2C leading marketing at a company called MONQ- The story around founding Lucyd Media, the largest cannabis social advertising firm in the world, and how they cracked the code around advertising cannabis products without breaking the ad platforms strict rules. icrodosed cannabis, adaptogen, & mushroom. What is their mission and how their sales exploded from day one?
שוחחתי עם עידו על:- החברה הראשונה שהקים בעולמות הפרסום הדיגיטלי ולמה הוא רצה לפתוח חברת מוצר- סיפור ההקמה של Tvinci, חברה שאפשרה לחברות כבלים לשדר את התכנים שלהן מעל האינטרנט עוד בתקופה שבה זה לא היה פופולרי כמו היום, כולל סיפור המכירה שלהם לקלטורה והתקופה שבילה שם- סיפור ההקמה של Voyantis, החברה שהקים לאחר תקופת מנוחה של שנתיים, איך הוא מצא את השותף שלו, איך הם הגיעו לרעיון, מה הוביל אותם לתקוף את עולם הבעיה הזה, ואיך נראה המוצר הראשוני שלהם עבור צוותי שיווק / צמיחה?- מה היה הרגע שבו הם ׳התפוצצו׳? איך איך צלחו משברים שונים לאורך הדרך כמו 14 iOS או תקופת השפל של 22, ומתי הם שוב עלו על הגל?- איך הם מוכרים היום ללקוחות? באיזה סוגי לקוחות הם מפוקסים ומה האתגרים הכי גדולים שלהם היום?- ומה הטיפים שלו ליזמים בתחילת דרכם? היה סופר כיף ומעניין :)
I've spoken with Brian about:- His early years as a student from Ghana who immigrated to the US to do a double major in Math and Physics, and his first positions as an Actuarial Analyst, and statistical research analyst- His transition to the investment world after the 2008 crisis, working at a family office, including leading an early stage VC fund which was funded by the family office as an LP.- The thesis he developed during those formative years on Industrial Transformation and Supply Chain and how he got to be obsessed about those worlds?- His decision to start his own fund and why it was so difficult for them to fund raise in the first few years?- What happened after they found their first investors and what did they offer entrepreneurs to balance out their relatively small checks? - What are his biggest challenges today? and how he is tackling them? Brian is as kind as he is smart, and I really enjoyed our conversation.
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States