Home Podcasts The Advantage with Mike Wystrach

The Advantage with Mike Wystrach

WiseTrack Co. 1 Episodes Oct 14, 2026

The Advantage is a weekly podcast for founders and operators in direct-to-consumer, consumer packaged goods, and e-commerce. Host Mike Wystrach shares lessons from building Freshly to $550M+ in revenue and its sale to Nestlé, and now invests in and builds consumer businesses. Each episode features candid, tactical conversations with founders and operators about fundraises, pivots, channels, hires, and the numbers behind them. New episodes are published every week.

Episodes

I built a drink company with Vanessa Hudgens | Oliver Trevena, Caliwater Oct 14, 2026 00:46:14 Oliver Trevena says he was beaten nearly to death at 21, then used the compensation to move from England to Los Angeles. He became an actor and TV host, and when he started taking business meetings between shoots, his reps dropped him for it. Now he co-founds Caliwater with Vanessa Hudgens, backed by Gerard Butler, Glen Powell and Demi Lovato, and it has launched in Walmart nationwide.This episode

The LinkedIn Posting Formula That Took Him From 1,000 to 400K | Tobi Oluwole Oct 7, 2026 00:52:55 Tobi Oluwole applied to Shopify seven times before they hired him. At Shopify, he wrote one LinkedIn post using a storytelling framework from his onboarding and woke up to 200,000 impressions on 1,000 followers. He has posted every weekday since May 2020, now has about 400,000 followers, and works three days a week.This episode is presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from t

I Back Celebrity Brands. Fame Is the Third Thing I Check | Scott Van den Berg, HotStart VC Sep 30, 2026 00:37:25 Scott Van den Berg invests only in brands founded by celebrities and creators, and the celebrity is the third thing he checks. He started with $10,000 checks and no network in Hollywood. Now his portfolio includes brands from Selena Gomez, DJ Khaled, Jake Paul and Katy Perry.This episode is presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM, and get 10% off your fir

I made $200K talking to strangers | Josh Suggs, StreetTalk Sep 23, 2026 01:00:59 Josh Suggs made $200,000 in profit his first summer walking up to strangers in New York parks with a microphone. No website, no personal brand, no connections, no investors. He was sleeping on a friend's couch in an apartment with no Wi-Fi, so every night he carried an SD card to an Apple Store and emailed a public Google Drive link to his one editor in Croatia. He had a 2.1 GPA and spent high sch

She Got 1,000 No's Now Her Company Does $250M A Year | Katerina Schneider Sep 16, 2026 01:00:59 Kat Schneider counted a 1,000 no's before Ritual worked. She was a venture partner running 70 companies for Troy Carter when she got pregnant, went looking for a prenatal vitamin, and could not find one that would tell her where the ingredients came from. She quit 4 months pregnant. One of the best known investors in LA told her to her face she could start a business or a family but there was no w

How to take the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship | Addison LaBonte Sep 9, 2026 00:56:13 Addison LaBonte is the founder of Sweet Addison's, a gluten-free dessert brand she started in her apartment kitchen in January 2024 and still owns outright. She built the customers first and the company second.This episode is presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM, and get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantageFollow Mike on I

How to hire fast in a startup | Leandro Cabrini Sep 2, 2026 00:56:48 We turned the six moves from this episode into one free PDF, The Cabrini Playbook → https://mikewystrach.com/get/leandro-playbookPresented by Proppel. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantageFollow Mike on Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikewystrachIn this episode Mike and Leandro cover the task list that has to exist before the job description, the purpose every in

Your time is worth more than your wealth | Kenny Santucci Aug 26, 2026 00:46:47 Kenny Santucci did nine seasons of MTV's The Challenge. Today he trains Bon Jovi, guys from the Knicks, and whichever WWE wrestlers are in town, out of two New York gyms he owns.Presented by Proppel — hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM. Get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantageFollow Mike on Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikewystrachCHAPTER

$600M Operator: Start in a Niche. Just Don't Plan to Stay There. | Sam McBride Aug 19, 2026 01:03:04 Sam McBride is the CEO of Kettle & Fire and the founder of Colter Ventures, where he writes $40 to $150 million checks into a handful of businesses at a time.This episode is presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM, and get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantageFull show notes and everything mentioned: https://mikewystrach.c

Navigating the Creator Economy | Vitalii Dodonov, Stan Aug 12, 2026 00:49:09 Vitalii Dodonov is the co-founder and CTO of Stan, a creator commerce platform that's generated over $600M for it's creators. Every other platform in the category takes 10 to 20 percent of what a creator sells. Stan takes nothing.Presented by Proppel. Hire A-player marketing and ops talent from the US and LATAM, and get 10% off your first hire: https://www.weareproppel.com/theadvantageMike's IG: h

The Best Hire beehiiv Almost Never Made | Daniel Berk Aug 5, 2026 00:52:00 Daniel Berk is giving you the Owned Audience Playbook · beehiiv's first sales hire on betting on yourself Presented by Proppel · A-player marketing and ops talent, 10% off your first hire → https://www.weareproppel.com/the-advantage-proppelDaniel Berk built a $78,000-a-year podcast working one hour a week. He learned the system as beehiiv's first sales hire, joining at 12 employees and under $1M i

The Advantage with Mike Wystrach

Episodes

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