Orion Melehan's guest appearances

Orion Melehan

The Active Life Podcast

Todd Nief's Show

Alpha Hippie Podcast

Mike Mcgoldrick

Juliet Starrett

Jason Leydon

Angelo Sisco

Michael Cazayoux

Mike Bledsoe

Brad Stulberg

Bobby Maximus

Stephan Guyenet

Joshua Becker

Ryan Sprague

Ronnie Landis

Chris Mills

Jen Esquer

Mark Crandall

OwlTail

Orion Melehan is the co-founder and CEO of LIFEAID - known throughout the CrossFit community for the bubbly delights stored in gym fridges across the land. Orion and I discuss the trade-offs of rapidly scaling a growing business, how to understand proper sequencing in terms of when it’s appropriate to take certain actions in business, and how LIFEAID plans to stay true to their mission as they expand outside of the fitness subculture into more mainstream markets in grocery stores. Orion also has a background as a house DJ, which allows for a bit of digging deep into musical details (always a great time).If you're enjoying the show, the best way to support it is by sharing with your friends. If you don't have any friends, why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.You can also subscribe to receive my e-mail newsletter at www.toddnief.com. Most of my writing never makes it to the blog, so get on that list.Show Notes  [01:43] Orion’s seemingly contradictory background as both a certified financial planner and a DJ, as well as his early entrepreneurial ventures (including a record store). [08:30] The process of crafting a DJ set – and balancing your own desires with the desires of the audience. The differences between being a “technical” DJ and going off the feel of the crowd, and developing DJ skills in a time before comprehensive DJ software. [15:25] Starting LIFEAID with multiple different SKUs, and figuring out how to prioritize the many different options. The benefits of understanding direct response marketing and split testing offers with different markets. [24:33] How to manage ultra-fast growth – and how to figure out what you’re going to let break and what you’re going to stay on top of. And why being starved of capital during a growth phase is better than being flush with capital. [33:18] Breaking into the very high barrier to entry beverage space through direct response marketing, understanding the long tail and subcultures, and hiring during rapid expansion. [40:47] How LIFEAID plans to manage its expansion from a niche community (CrossFit) into mainstream areas like grocery and convenience stores while maintaining the vision for the company. Just continuing to create products for already healthy people doesn’t serve the mission of getting the population off of sketchy energy drinks. [52:45] How to find the optimal balance between optimizing things that are already working while still being innovative and expanding into new markets. LIFEAID’s goal of solving different problems for their customers throughout the day – the goal is to have products for all the different “jobs” customers buy beverages to accomplish. [01:00:32] How to think about the sequencing of growth in a company and do things in the correct order. Crafting new quarterly vision statements and creating alignment across the team based upon objectives and key results – as well as creating an environment in which the best ideas can percolate throughout the organization from the bottom up.  Links and Resources Mentioned  Frankie Knuckles Robert Owens Model 500 Juan Atkins Acid house DJ Dan Donald Glaude Aaron Hinde Phil Knight “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight Topgrading OKRs (Objectives &amp; Key Results) RXBAR Peter Rahal Kellogg’s Andreessen Horowitz “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel 

Orion Melehan is the co-founder and CEO of LIFEAID - known throughout the CrossFit community for the bubbly delights stored in gym fridges across the land. Orion and I discuss the trade-offs of rapidly scaling a growing business, how to understand proper sequencing in terms of when it’s appropriate to take certain actions in business, and how LIFEAID plans to stay true to their mission as they expand outside of the fitness subculture into more mainstream markets in grocery stores. Orion also has a background as a house DJ, which allows for a bit of digging deep into musical details (always a great time).If you're enjoying the show, the best way to support it is by sharing with your friends. If you don't have any friends, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/todd-niefs-show/id1278759120?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">why not a leave a review</a>? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.You can also subscribe to receive my e-mail newsletter at <a href="http://www.toddnief.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.toddnief.com</a>. Most of my writing never makes it to the blog, so get on that list.Show Notes <ul> <li>[01:43] Orion’s seemingly contradictory background as both a certified financial planner and a DJ, as well as his early entrepreneurial ventures (including a record store).</li> <li>[08:30] The process of crafting a DJ set – and balancing your own desires with the desires of the audience. The differences between being a “technical” DJ and going off the feel of the crowd, and developing DJ skills in a time before comprehensive DJ software.</li> <li>[15:25] Starting LIFEAID with multiple different SKUs, and figuring out how to prioritize the many different options. The benefits of understanding direct response marketing and split testing offers with different markets.</li> <li>[24:33] How to manage ultra-fast growth – and how to figure out what you’re going to let break and what you’re going to stay on top of. And why being starved of capital during a growth phase is better than being flush with capital.</li> <li>[33:18] Breaking into the very high barrier to entry beverage space through direct response marketing, understanding the long tail and subcultures, and hiring during rapid expansion.</li> <li>[40:47] How LIFEAID plans to manage its expansion from a niche community (CrossFit) into mainstream areas like grocery and convenience stores while maintaining the vision for the company. Just continuing to create products for already healthy people doesn’t serve the mission of getting the population off of sketchy energy drinks.</li> <li>[52:45] How to find the optimal balance between optimizing things that are already working while still being innovative and expanding into new markets. LIFEAID’s goal of solving different problems for their customers throughout the day – the goal is to have products for all the different “jobs” customers buy beverages to accomplish.</li> <li>[01:00:32] How to think about the sequencing of growth in a company and do things in the correct order. Crafting new quarterly vision statements and creating alignment across the team based upon objectives and key results – as well as creating an environment in which the best ideas can percolate throughout the organization from the bottom up.</li> </ul> Links and Resources Mentioned <ul> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Knuckles" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Frankie Knuckles</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Owens_(musician)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robert Owens</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_500" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Model 500</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Atkins" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Juan Atkins</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_house" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Acid house</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.djdan.com/#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DJ Dan</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Glaude" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Donald Glaude</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/aaronhinde/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aaron Hinde</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Knight" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Phil Knight</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight/dp/1508211809" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topgrading" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Topgrading</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OKRs (Objectives &amp; Key Results)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.rxbar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RXBAR</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/peterrahal/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peter Rahal</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/home.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kellogg’s</a></li> <li><a href="https://a16z.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Andreessen Horowitz</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Zero to One” by Peter Thiel</a></li> </ul>

Orion Melehan (LIFEAID)

On today’s show, I have my great friend Orion Melehan of LIFEAID. Orion serves as the CEO and Founder of LIFEAID. In this show, he talks about his inspiration for being an entrepreneur, he talks about his side of what it was like to create the LifeAID brand and how house music has shaped his life forever. A really amazing entrepreneurial story. Orion had a lot of insights here from a business and entrepreneur perspective, as well as an artist from being a DJ and a musician in his earlier life. Really love him and I adore his insights, I hope you do as well. Enjoy the show, Angelo   Join the community in our new Facebook Group: Alpha Hippie Tribe Join us on Instagram at @TheAlphaHippie Check out our website at www.alphahippiepodcast.com Get the shirt at www.alphahippiepodcast.com/shirt 

On today’s show, I have my great friend Orion Melehan of LIFEAID. Orion serves as the CEO and Founder of LIFEAID. In this show, he talks about his inspiration for being an entrepreneur, he talks about his side of what it was like to create the LifeAID brand and how house music has shaped his life forever. A really amazing entrepreneurial story. Orion had a lot of insights here from a business and entrepreneur perspective, as well as an artist from being a DJ and a musician in his earlier life. Really love him and I adore his insights, I hope you do as well. Enjoy the show, Angelo <ul> <li> Join the community in our new <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/238434393634262/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook Group: Alpha Hippie Tribe</a></li> <li>Join us on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thealphahippie/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@TheAlphaHippie</a></li> <li>Check out our website at <a href="http://alphahippiepodcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.alphahippiepodcast.com</a></li> <li>Get the shirt at <a href="http://alphahippiepodcast.com/shirt/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.alphahippiepodcast.com/shirt</a></li> </ul>

AH034: Disrupting Industry Standards w/ Orion Melehan