Today I'm joined by Mike Cessario, the founder and CEO of Liquid Death, a water brand worth $1.4b. With the use of creative brand marketing and punk aesthetic, Mike was able to break into the biggest beverage category in the US and disrupt market dominated by huge brands such as Coke and Pepsi. This is a truly inspirational story on how you can defy the odds, break convention, disrupt a category and do it all on a shoestring budget. If you're a challenger brand, this is a must listen.
Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:10 - Mike’s background
00:06:24 - Mike’s brandy startup
00:10:33 - Navigating regulation
00:12:46 - The benefits of being an outsider distrupting an industry
00:14:57 - Coming up with the idea for Liquid Death
00:19:30 - How to create an innovative brand
00:23:48 - Selling the Liquid Death concept
00:27:08 - Raising money for Liquid Death
00:29:50 - Launching on Amazon
00:30:52 - Generating demand in the early days
00:31:46 - Figuring out distribution networks for the drinks industry
00:35:45 - Why limited budgets helped Liquid Death grow
00:44:11 - Why D2C was pivotal for Liquid Death
00:46:12 - Liquid Death’s unique Super Bowl campaign
00:49:54 - The power of the Liquid Death merch
00:53:00 - Innovation for the future of Liquid Death
00:54:15 - Scaling and exit
00:56:02 - Having famous investors
00:57:29 - Maintaining the challenger spirit
01:01:58 - Mike’s advice to aspiring founders
