Mid-Day Squares - UNCENSORED!: Recent Episodes
Nick, Lez & Jake
The Mid-Day Squares story: how we're trying to build the next biggest Chocolate Company, family business, and our unfiltered thoughts on entrepreneurship. Nothing is off topic, no subject is off limits. Entrepreneurship the way it should be told with no fucks given.
With both a creamy and crunchy texture, our new Crunchy Peanut bar is the best of both worlds!
Achieve your highest potential with this Mid-Day Squares podcast episode featuring Jake, Nick, and Lez.
Discover the secret to maintaining the right mindset during challenging times, leverage the principle of consistency to achieve forward momentum and learn the key to unlocking your brains reward system for optimal performance.
This is an opportunity to gain valuable insights that can help you reach peak performance, tune in now.
We share key takeaways on:
- How to focus on feeling good
- Hacking your body’s reward system
- Focusing on the small wins
- Using momentum to fire up your brain
- Saying “No” to societal pressures
Show notes:
Stay up to date with Mid-Day Squares on Instagram and LinkedIn
0:57 - Jake in Forbes 30 under 30
1:57 - Negative response to Forbes
3:29 - It’s all about the mind set
4:34 - Look Good, Feel Good
6:39 - Understanding your body’s reward system
8:41 - The myth of the “All or Nothing” attitude
15:45 - The power of Momentum
19:10 - We wouldn’t have survived 2022 without Momentum
21:40 - THERAPY
22:22 - Using movement to get away from negativity
24:12 - Let yourself get lost when going on walks
25:10 - How Jake turned around the energy at the office
26:46 - Cutting negativity out of your life
26:24 - What does your body need to achieve peak performance?
29:00 - Nick & Jake cutting out alcohol
32:17 - Stop caring about what others do to achieve peak performance
33:00 - Kobe and Micheal Jordan VS Dennis Rodman / Hacks for peak performance
35:00 - The people that inspire us
For more tips on how you can win in entrepreneurship, subscribe to Mid-Day Squares: Uncensored on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
In this episode, Jake, Nick and Lez answer questions from the audience on our upcoming flavor and tips they would give to new founders building in the CPG space
We discuss Jake taking over R&D without permission, how we pump ourselves up when stress gets too high, how mentorship is a cheat code for founders and so much more.
We share key takeaways on:
- Why flavor development is challenging
- How failure can lead to success
- How finding World Class mentors changes the game
- Helping people without an agenda
- The struggles in finance for early CPG companies
Show notes:
Stay up to date with Mid-Day Squares on Instagram and LinkedIn
1:21 What’s going on with Cookie Dough?
2:52 Why Cookie Dough is so complex to make
4:40 Cookie Dough’s origin story
6:03 Jake brings the momentum up
6:45 Jake hijacked R&D to make his own flavor
9:52 Go-to motivational techniques when stress becomes too high
16:10 Who’s bought into the concept of sleep?
17:53 Jake’s PTSD
19:10 How important trust is with mentorship
21:45 Lez’s trust issues with mentors
25:34 Have no agenda when helping people
27:13 Mentorship is a cheat code
29:55 Tips for starting a new CPG company
32:13 Be at stores as often as possible
37:00 How difficult finances are as an early CPG company
For more tips on how you can win in entrepreneurship, subscribe to Mid-Day Squares: Uncensored on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
In an impromptu podcast recording, Nick and Lez choose to no longer be miserable.
We discuss the issues that have arisen in the last few weeks and the mindset we’ve adopted on misery and how even though things are tough at Mid-Day Squares, we’re choosing to no longer be miserable.
We share key takeaways on:
- What it means to be a World Class organization
- How important mindset is in tough times;
- The “secret” to our relationship as married co-CEO’s;
- The importance of working on your ability to have hard conversations;
- What you should expect out of a relationship
Stay up to date with Mid-Day Squares on Instagram and LinkedIn
Show notes:
1:00 Why we’re working till 11pm tonight
2:57 Is Mid-Day Squares a sh*tshow?
4:30 We aren’t World Class. Yet.
5:37 Surprise appearance from Alba Saltarelli
7:25 Accepting that we aren’t World Class
9:53 How we evolving our leadership to be World Class
12:40 How accepting misery makes you more miserable
15:13 Acknowledge the misery but don’t let it consume you
18:48 Getting juicy with Nick and Lez
19:55 How therapy helps our relationship
21:33 Hard conversations
24:35 How we have more capacity for hard talks.
27:20 You need to constantly be working on your relationships
28:15 In a partnership you need the output of 3x
29:44 What our relationship means
31:04 What World Class is to us
For more tips on how you can win in entrepreneurship, subscribe to Mid-Day Squares: Uncensored on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Description:
This episode is about how it's sometimes necessary to take 3 steps backwards to take 10 steps forward.
We discuss the transition we're going through at Mid-Day Squares moving from a 2 square per package to a 1 square per package product and how it's slowly eating away at our spirits and the realizations we have had as we go through it.
We share key takeaways on:
- How to convert your energy into something that propels you and doesn’t eat away at you;
- Why the negative person in the room always feels the loudest;
- Why survival is painful;
- How your true measure of success is thriving in bad times;
- The suffering in our world and how this has made people project their emotions rather than deal with them.
We leave you with our biggest learning:
“No one has achieved anything significant without a course of critics standing on the sidelines explaining why you shouldn't do it or why it can not be done and you should go for it anyways.”
Show notes:
We share our unorthodox approach to building a chocolate empire & how to win at raising capital, the importance of “just starting” and demanding what you want at all costs.
Stay up to date with Mid-Day Squares on Instagram and LinkedIn
1:00 The difficulty of transitioning from 2 squares to 1 square
2:27 Jake’s notes on negativity and his personal breakdown
3:30 Emergency therapy session pre-recording
4:34 How to use energy to your advantage
5:23 Why we changed from 2 square format to 1 square format
6:42 How the change is keeping our business alive
8:05 The fine line of figuring it out: does the world want a good product? Or a low price point?
9:25 Why the fringe minority is the loudest in the room
14:15 Why change is hard and what we are going through
16:30 The difference between making a decision for change and living through it
18:48 Milestone: we opened our 3000th store
20:15 Jakes demoralization
23:30 Why founder conflict happens
25:10 How putting in the work pays off in communication
26:29 Were under attack: Who is attacking Mid-Day Squares right now
27:56 Why do people police us?
30:41 Be okay with going 3 steps backwards to go 10 steps forward
31:15 A powerful note on critics
For more tips on how you can win in entrepreneurship, subscribe to Mid-Day Squares: Uncensored on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
EP 35: After 11 months- we’re back.
We dive into where the fck we’ve been and scratch the surface on what the fck has happened since our hiatus.
But first, we focus on the power of “just starting” as a key component of winning.
We discuss how important it is to stick to a plan and touch on the uncertainty and difficulty of pulling back when you are on a roll in order to balance the see-saw of momentum in a business.
Learnings from our last $10 Million dollar raise are shared with key takeaways on:
-how to keep investors and key relationships looped in when you aren’t ready for them,
-why our fundraising process is successful: the power of content and building out loud,
-the importance of demanding what you want and staying true to who you are, and worrying not about your competition- but only about your customers.
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Show Notes:
We share our unorthodox approach to building a chocolate empire & how to win at raising capital, the importance of “just starting” and demanding what you want at all costs.
Stay up to date with Mid-Day Squares on Instagram and LinkedIn
- Watch our raise video
1:48 The power of just starting
3:29 Denying demand
4:25 The importance of your game plan
8:09 Watch the raise video here
8:35 The difficulty of pulling back and thoughts on momentum
10:41 How to keep investors and key relationships looped in when you aren’t ready for them
13:30 Shoutout to our sponsor caffeine
15:25 a fact check on Jake’s caffeine hiatus
16:38 pulling off a $10 Million Dollar fundraise
18:13 Watch the raise video here (same as above)
18:47 Advice to anyone fundraising
19:18 Why our fundraising process is successful: The power of content and building out loud
22:16 Staying true to who you are and demanding what you want
24:00 How to keep investors in touch with your business, before they invest.
25:20 Not worrying about your competition, but only about your customers
26:16 Remarks on consistency and just starting
EP 34 : When scaling a business, every growth point brings the same struggles with higher stakes, and for MDS the stakes have never been higher! Just months away from closing a 10 million dollar raise, it's time to distil what blitz scaling actually means and why once you hop on the train, there's no getting off.
**We Also Talk ...
- Embracing chaos**
- Crushing vs Crashing
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**Why Slowing Down isn't An Option
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Mental Preparation
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Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable**
- No Going Back
Ep 33: MDS founders Lez, Nick and Jake share their strategies on how to make money in the ROARING 20's! A data driven, roundtable with tons of takeaway, as the entrepreneurial minds of MDS use what they've learned to identify what's next in the world of CPG.
We Also Talk ...- Trends
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Data Makes The Difference
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How MDS Used Data To Create A Winning Product
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3 Ways To Win Big In The Roaring 20's
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Turning The Page On The Pandemic
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Innovation vs The Machine
www.ahrefs.com
trends.google.com
EP. 32 :The great debate! Is it better to build a company that's self-funded or start one that raises money to scale? Spoiler alert: It doesn't matter! We discuss why conviction is the only thing you should care about.
We Also Talk ...- Mentors
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Money Is Fictitious
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What Side Are You On?
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Choosing Your Lane and Staying There
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Scarcity
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Value vs. Profitability
Ep 31 :
It's all jokes as we unpack our recent trip to the US and discuss the importance of face to face meetings, being kind, and the legends we look to as we blaze our way to the top.
Special Shout Out to …
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Mark Smith, President, Pandion Investments Ltd.
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Barry Turner, Founder, Lenny & Larry
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Sam Blumenthal, Partner, Circleup Growth Partners
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Wade Yenny, Director of Grocery, Jimbo's Natural
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Blake Mitchell, Principal, Interact Boulder
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Lauren Rinkey, Ex-Global Brand Director, Nike
Ep. 30 :
The US launch is in full swing and our boldness is paying off! It’s time to update listeners on our brand growth, international presence, and the marketing strategies we’re using to do it.
We also talk …
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The Influencer Game is Alive and Well … in fact, it’s THRIVING!
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When it’s time to trigger influencer marketing
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Why Strong Content and Brand Identity Attracts Influencers
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Trial and Error is Key But Brands Have To Put In The Work
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How to look for influencer’s today and measure their value
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Finding the 5000 people who reach 368 million others
Ep. 29 : In a very special episode, the founders of Mid-day Squares honour the man, the myth and the legend that is Jim Gavin as he joins the team to discuss the business benefits of healthy communication.
We also talk …
- The importance of therapy for a successful start up
- Resistance to therapy as a tool to navigate a company
- Hard conversations... and why they’re hard to have
- How therapy feeds an individual, a company, it's team and partnering relationships
- Verbalization vs Communication
- Going through the Pressure Cooker
- Sharing the MDS Love
Ep.28:
In a world of constant noise we discuss who to listen to, where to share your story and how to satisfy a glutinous audience.
We also talk ...
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When to block out Social Noise
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Another Platform, Another Way Of Telling The Story
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Piloting Product Release
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Keep It Fucking Simple; Quality Over Quantity
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It's Not Doing More, It's Focusing On Less
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Building A Brand By Building An Army
Ep 27 : Hold on tight as we talk blitz-scaling through first principles thinking, non-traditional hires and how identifying your superpower will blow up your business.
We also talk …
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Verbalizing vs Communicating, Stop talking AT each other
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Revenue solves everything - Do management levels really work?
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Knowing when to put out a fire and when to let it burn
- Assume no one knows anything, it's common sense!
- Reasoning up from your own ideas
Episode 26 : Building a brand begins with giving zero fucks. Listen up as we share how upping your boldness, scaling grass roots and making people feel something leads to massive returns.
We also talk ...
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Why we wear hoodies
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The pay off of atypical partnerships
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When PR comes into play
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The importance of methodical thinking when building a brand
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Maximizing your YOC by building tribalism into your brand
Episode 25 - We’re kicking off 2021 with EMPATHY! Why? Because it’s the only way to build a billion dollar business. We discuss how leading your team with empathy is the key to building revenue.
We also talk …
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Filling the tank to go the distance; the importance of recharging your mind and spirit
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Re-directing your energy! Anger is an emotion that pays zero dividends
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Shifting your mindset to focus on understanding others rather than being understood
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Why brut force management doesn’t work
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Using customer complaints to learn from in lieu of lashing out
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Respectfully looking to crush our entrepreneurial OG’s
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Asking WHY and actively listening
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How curiosity leads to financial success
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Heading to the USA!
Episode 24 – In our final podcast of the year we share our strategies on launching in the US and reveal the unaverage decisions that lead to BIG money!
We also talk …
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Nailing the customer experience – they are the center of everything!
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Hammering down your network to build the HYPE
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Winning over local markets to gain countrywide success
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Negotiating with celebrity attention on social media
- Be different! That's the marketing game plan. Simple.
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Company transparency is key to building partnerships
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Building a community that focuses on people, not product
Episode 23 we are unpacking the emotional roller coaster of 2020 and what obstacles each one of us has had to overcome.
We also talk
-Jake gets into "The Year of the Failing Extrovert"
-The pic of the Starbucks cold brew we were talking about:
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/df16b7f3-31d3-46d4-9c25-9cdca656474f_1.a903e729255c0e2fba258b8ad2258652.jpeg
-Has covid been a subject matter people are hiding behind.
-What does the human interaction of work look like.
-Why you need to always be ON-STAGE in your mind.
-Make 2021 the year you f*cking own it.
Episode 22 we wanted to distill the importance of playing offense during times where everyone is playing defense. We use our experience navigating the Pandemic to make our point on the importance of offence.
We also talk
-Not naming the first price when someone asks you how much are you willing to pay or what is your budget.
-Jake is Reading
"All In: How Obsessive Leaders Achieve the Extraordinary"
https://www.amazon.com/All-Obsessive-Leaders-Achieve-Extraordinary/dp/1400212200/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QBL4TIRNMNJV&dchild=1&keywords=all+in+robert+bruce+shaw&qid=1606680376&sprefix=all+in+robert%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-1
-Grit continues to be the number one trait we think is the best indicator of success.
-Lez reveals she may have been an "Olympic" contender in swimming. Not sure we believe this.
-The importance of feeling pain and set back but coming back strong.
-Comfort is a perfect gage for the line between defence and offence.
Episode 21. This episode is all about finding that inner perseverance. Blocking the negativity and tripling down on good vibes only.
-We talk about our preparation to get a deal down with the Ellen Show.
-We discuss the books were reading:
Hug your Customers
https://www.amazon.com/Hug-Your-Customers-Personalize-Astounding/dp/1401300340/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RHAJVXTYK5Q9&dchild=1&keywords=hug+your+customers&qid=1605455983&sprefix=hug+your+cu%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1
Never Split the Difference
https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1605456028&sr=8-1
Zag
https://www.amazon.com/Zag-Number-Strategy-High-Performance-Brands/dp/0321426770/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=zag+book&qid=1605456104&sr=8-1
-We get into one of the greatest opportunities that exist as a brand: Turning angry customers into your most loyal customers.
-We discuss the true measurement for Success in life.
And finally we distill the key to perseverance, which is to block out the noise and negativity and continue forging your own path.
Episode 20!
Can't believe we made it to 20. This episode is a continuation of last episode. We try to distill how you can build your entrepreneur muscles.
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We talk about the confidence it took for the Dunkin' Donuts founder to forge through
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Question: Is Entrepreneurship a game that can be taught, and how do you learn it?
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To build the muscle I challenge you to go off the beaten path, cause you’ll start hearing noise.
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We also talk about how to build your first $1 million in revenue.
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Lezlie comes clean about being terrified about some of the decisions she's had to make and not letting us know she was terrified.
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We get into the stages of company growth from Y combinators course Blitzscaling:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFQgHujBBZjsdDeNVcsepyEfuxW53PqaJ
In Episode 19 we try to answer a question asked by one of our listeners "Are entrepreneurs born or made?"
-The show starts with updates on setting up our Automated Production Facility.
-We talk about our consensus that Entrepreneurs are made.
-Some people are born with traits that may make entrepreneurship more natural, but these are traits that can be learned.
-We talk about how you can get inspiration to be an entrepreneur by telling you all what we would do if we weren't at Mid-Day Squares and needed to get inspiration.
-The number one trait that you must train yourself on is the ability to handle risk.
-Nick mentions www.finviz.com to find inspiration by looking at companies and the public presentations.
-Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood to founding thriving economies, it's worth trying at least once in a lifetime.
Episode 18 is all about "Jake The Rover" and what lead him to figure out the key to winning at this game of Entrepreneurship is "Not giving a F*ck".
-We talk about starting our new manufacturing line fore the first time!
-We finally get to talk to Jake solo and focus on his past.
-Jake talks about his learnings from his first attempt at entrepreneurship with his company Chase & Hunter
-Jake gets into his adventures with the NFL, Sophie Turner, and more shenanigans.
-It all comes together at the end when we realize that Jakes gift to Mid-Day Squares was the fact that he taught us to not give a F*CK!
Episode 17 is a great roundtable discussion about what has been on our mind lately as Entrepreneurs trying to grow Mid-Day Squares.
-We talk about good books you could be reading
-The importance for you or any company to have a "cheerleader" on your team
-Lez gets into the pressures of having to be creative on demand
-Conversation regarding the current schooling system and how it's failing to prepare people to help new-age companies execute and win
-We finish off with the importance of being vulnerable and how therapy and vulnerability will set you free as humans and creators
Episode 16 is about how important an IPO may be to actually unlocking the full value of your Brand. We get into the misconceptions of brand value to private market investors.
-Its Lez's 30th Birthday!
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We talk about how the CEO of Dunkin' Donuts proved the true value of brand.
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There's no ONE road to successful outcomes.
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Getting your brand advocates invested in your company is a great way to align your fanbase and help propel and grow your company through word of mouth.
-We talk a little bit about the philosophy of value and how its not black or white.
-We talk about values of public companies and how brand driven companies are way more valuable then non brand driven companies.
In Episode 15 we talk about being married and starting business with your spouse. We also get into some good conversation and answer questions from our audience:
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We talk about the biggest mistakes we've made so far in the Mid-Day Squares Journey.
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Why hiring and firing is something you should get use to early in the business while your building your Allstar team.
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We get into raising money and the mindset you should have when beginning the fundraising process.
In Episode 14 we talk the hard truth about being an entrepreneur.
Nick talks about having a good Cry. We go around the table talking about our own individual experience so far and how it could help you. We talk about the importance of truthfully being fearless in order to build a truthfully dominant Brand.
We also talk about the intersection of being a media company and a Brand at the same time. Staying true to yourself when it comes to content. The truth to life is to always bet on yourself.
In Episode 13 we celebrate our 2 year anniversary.
For Jake's birthday, we ask him what he's learned during his 27 years on the planet. We talk why it's important to be told you're not good enough early in life. We discuss the Mid-Day Squares journey and what you could learn from it so far.
Things get a little weird at the 40 min mark :)!
In Episode 12 we dive into everything that went into launching our new flavour "Busta PEANUT"
This is a great show for any of you that are interested in what it takes to develop a food product to sell to consumers.
We talk about experimenting with flavour profiles. Making a recipe that matches the calories, fats, and sugars you want people to see. The complexity of building a recipe that makes financial sense for the business. Lastly, we dive into what you should be thinking about when figuring out your "best before" dates.
One of the number one questions we get asked is: "How do you build a community?". In this episode, we try to answer that question from our unique journey of building Mid-Day Squares.
We also touch on the most impact thing that Mid-Day Squares has taught us over the last 12 months.
This is our first ever episode in "The Interview" Series. We welcome Mike Fata to the show, founder of Manitoba Harvest. We start at the early beginning of the idea all the way through the sale of the company at $419 million dollars.
We talk about the education system. How hemp went from being illegal to being legal. How he got the business started. Starting small and scaling very large. How pivotal universities and governments can be in scaling your business. The difficulties of starting a business where you have to educate the entire category on why they should demand it.
Lastly, why being early can pay you huge!
Episode 9 is all about trying to give you value based on some things we've been through on the Mid-Day Squares journey so far. We talk about the importance of building the right team. We touch on things we believe they don't tell you when becoming a founder. As well, we get into the tension that builds between founders and why therapy is so important.
Is Jake actually allergic to nuts?
Episode 8 is all about that Branding vs Marketing and NEW FLAVOUR ALERT. We talk finding your groove and role in a company as a Founder. Jake gives an epic Braveheart speech. We discuss how you as founders should be seeking therapy and why it's so important. We also talk about why it's hard playing the line of sharing everything to your audience vs not and we finish it off with what fires us up as founders.
We also find out that Lez was in another TV Show growing up!
In Episode 7 we get into Lez, Jake and Nick's minds. We talk about our new automation machinery. We discover which of our own capabilities have surprised us. Why obsessive customer service is a must. Why we think you should start a Brand in your hometown. We revisit getting your products into stores and the importance of great product development. And we finally get a glimpse of Jake channeling his inner Freddie Mercury
Episode 6 is all about that Manufacturing life. We each choose two things we believe will make your Brand rock. We talk why its important for you to balance how fast you grow based on your circumstance. Why creativity is your key and Manufacturing inspires it. How to scale up from micro Manufacturing and why margins are everything. We finish with the downfalls of using a contracted Manufacturer and a glimpse into what Jake, Lez and Nick mean when they say Mid-Day Squares was 10 years in the making.
Episode 5 is fresh and hot out the oven. It's all about how to make Online work for your Retail CPG business. Social is a MUST. It's networking on steroids. "Sneezers" are important to a Brand growing. Building up hype before launching your Brand in a City. Dealing with stress and hitting mini breakdowns along the journey. Do we reveal the new flavour? and is Jake actually allergic to Nuts?
Episode 4 We talk all about how much energy to give to Customer Service and Experience, Jake still not showering, the difference between a Brand and a Food Company. Also, Jake denies being anxious, Lez was a DJ, and Nick was just Nick.
We end it with the most exciting things happening at Mid-Day Squares. It's all in the episode.
For show notes please visit our website:
https://www.middaysquares.com/mid-day-squares-uncensored
This episode is all about our journey raising money for Mid-Day Squares, how to get started without money, the type of investors to choose, making sure your product is great. Oh and we find out more about Lez: She was a cartoon character!
Episode 2 is all about Founder Tension, fact-Checking Jake, how Gym Steam Rooms are epic for Networking, and most importantly "How we believe you can Make Ideas happen!". We also find out Lezlie tried starting a Hotel. Happy Friday!
Our first episode! We talk all things business and how we launched Mid-Day Squares. Saucy Friday.
For show notes and photos please check out our website: https://www.middaysquares.com/mid-day-squares-uncensored