Blog Archives

Fabian sits down with Charles Antis, a founder who has been at it for 30 years. His is not a new brand, nor one that is shockingly innovative or disruptive at all as it relates to the services it provides, but Charles Antis, founder and CEO of Antis Roofing and Waterproofing, has built a brand on the power of good a long time before it became a mainstream business etiquette and to an extent most can only aspire to.

This episode dives into how being empathetic, being adaptive, having high emotional intelligence and being a critical thinker can create a strong culture, a better planet, and an admired brand – even in commodity-type service categories where true brand thinking is rarely even being considered.

Fabian talks with Devon Townsend who co-founded Cameo, a platform that lets you book personalized video shoutouts from your favorite celebrities. Devon is 28, received 15.8 million in funding, and runs a 60+ employee company that both Howard Stern and Ellen love, and Snoop Dogg fully embodies. As you may imagine, Devon knows a thing or two about creating a brand that people will love, and he is sharing all of it with you on this episode. Dive right in!

Fabian chats with Sam Mazzeo who runs a law office in San Diego together with his partner that they built into a brand that goes against the grain. His firm’s brand is built on boldness in an industry that is known for blandness. Wilkmazz’s client area is subtly titled ‘Lawyer’s Shit.’ Sam talks about the pros and cons of creating a bold brand and why one needs to keep re-branding over and over again in order to remain authentic.

Fabian talks with Chris Kerr, Chief Investment Officer at New Crop Capital, as we go Beyond Meat (yes, that was a brand hint). This show was recorded on May 3rd, 2019, which happens to have been the day after Beyond Meat’s stunning and widely publicized IPO. This marked a first for a brand making meat-like products from plants. Chris has been involved with Beyond Meat from the very beginning and we learn what role positioning and branding played in this incredible success story that any brand, may that be food and beverage or not, can learn from.

Fabian is on the line with Ben Kneppers in São Paulo for what must be one of the most inspiring episodes to date. Ben is a co-founder of Bureo, an emerging B Corp focused on creating innovative solutions to ocean plastic pollution. The company is now collaborating with brands such as Trek, Humanscale and Jenga. We talk about how to create real, sustainable change, learn about forming a B Corp, how they secured Patagonia as ‘a mentor,’ and how to get a community involved in your cause. And so much more.

Fabian talks with Frank Demmler, who Inc Magazine dubbed Pittsburgh’s ‘startup whisperer.’ We discuss how branding can set the direction for a B2B brand and how vintage inspired clothing brand Modcloth used crowdsourcing on many innovative levels to turn into a brand that was worth between $51 million to $75 million to Walmart.