From Navy SEAL to $100M Founder: The Craziest Double Life in Business | Bear Handlon (Founder, Born Primitive)

The Playbook Behind Original Grain’s 8-Figure Growth: Kickstarter, Facebook Ads, and Brand Storytelling | Ryan Beltran

Ryan Beltran moved to China to learn how products get made, immersing himself in the manufacturing world long before he had a clear business idea. That experience became the foundation for Original Grain, the watch brand he co-founded that went on to become one of Kickstarter’s largest fashion campaigns at the time. In this episode of What to Do Next, host David Segal talks with Ryan Beltran about his decision to move to China and learn manufacturing from the ground up, the moment he discovered the idea that became Original Grain, and the lessons he’s learned building the business. They discuss early pricing and marketing decisions, what Ryan would do differently if he were starting today, how he approaches supplier and licensing relationships, and how he is thinking about testing new categories and influencer partnerships. — Brought to you by: Highbeam—Grow your brand with Highbeam’s cash management platform: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/] — Where to find Ryan Beltran: • X: https://x.com/ryanbeltran [https://x.com/ryanbeltran] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-beltran [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-beltran] • Website: https://www.originalgrain.com [https://www.originalgrain.com] Where to find David Segal:  • Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/]  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast]  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079] — Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:52) An overview of Original Grain (01:55) Why Ryan moved to China to learn manufacturing (05:47) Meeting “China Mike” and building connections in China (08:18) Ryan’s early ideation process (10:58) Discovering the sample that sparked Original Grain (13:12) Selling at the Canton Fair and launching on Kickstarter (16:55) Why Original Grain initially sold product bundles (18:38) Early pricing and marketing strategies (20:36) What Ryan would do differently today, and what held him back early on (24:46) Building relationships with suppliers (26:20) Original Grain’s brand partnerships and how licensing works (32:02) How Original Grain got into reclaimed materials  (35:20) The challenges of licensing the Golden State Warriors (37:50) How licensing deals work (38:53) An early mistake with leather watch bands (40:11) Balancing expansion into new categories with doubling down on the core business (42:00) The typical sales cycle of a generational watch brand (43:42) Ryan’s new approach to influencer partnerships using Trybe (46:25) Lightning round — Referenced: • Original Grain: https://www.originalgrain.com [https://www.originalgrain.com] • The Portland Trail Blazers: https://www.nba.com/blazers [https://www.nba.com/blazers] • The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich: https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357 [https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357] • Alibaba: https://www.alibaba.com [https://www.alibaba.com] • Canton Fair: https://www.cantonfair.org.cn [https://www.cantonfair.org.cn] • CES: https://www.ces.tech [https://www.ces.tech] • Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com [https://www.kickstarter.com] • Andrew Beltran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-beltran-15344597 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-beltran-15344597] • Original Grain Kickstarter Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-qOuU40dc [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-qOuU40dc] • Fossil: https://www.fossil.com [https://www.fossil.com] • Seiko: https://www.seikowatches.com [https://www.seikowatches.com] • Casio: https://www.casio.com [https://www.casio.com] • Timex: https://timex.com [https://timex.com] • Swatch: https://www.swatch.com [https://www.swatch.com] • Shopify: https://www.shopify.com [https://www.shopify.com] • Jelly Roll’s website: https://jellyroll615.com [https://jellyroll615.com] • Jelly Roll joins OG: https://www.tiktok.com/@original_grain/video/7484373355844652334 [https://www.tiktok.com/@original_grain/video/7484373355844652334] • Bob Marley Exodus watch: https://www.originalgrain.com/products/bob-marley-exodus [https://www.originalgrain.com/products/bob-marley-exodus] • Rolex on Acquired: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/rolex [https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/rolex] • Trybe: https://jointrybe.com [https://jointrybe.com] • Lukas Pakter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-pakter-402117204 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-pakter-402117204] • Ridge Wallet: https://ridge.com [https://ridge.com] • Real Tree: https://realtree.com [https://realtree.com] • Seth Godin’s website: https://www.sethgodin.com [https://www.sethgodin.com]

I Quit a $500K Salary to Sell Supplements — Here's What No One Tells You About Starting Over

Novisa Petrusich, CFO and co-founder of Graymatter, left a high-paying career in finance to help build Graymatter, a plant-based cognitive supplement company offering a natural alternative to traditional stimulants for improved focus and mental clarity. In this episode of What to Do Next, Novisa joins host David Segal to talk about the operational realities of building a modern consumer brand. He shares how Graymatter navigated a manufacturer's bankruptcy shortly after the founders went all in on the business, how the company approaches forecasting and inventory risk, and why customer segmentation became central to its growth strategy. Novisa also reflects on applying his finance background to the realities of operating a consumer business, what he has learned while scaling Graymatter, and how the company thinks about brand, positioning, and long-term growth. — Brought to you by: Highbeam—Grow your brand with Highbeam’s cash management platform: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/] — Where to find Novisa Petrusich: • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/novi_p [https://www.instagram.com/novi_p]  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/novisa-m-petrusich-ba5358118 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/novisa-m-petrusich-ba5358118] Where to find David Segal:  • Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/]  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast]  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079] — Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:15) An overview of Graymatter (02:25) Novisa’s background (03:30) How Novisa met Jim and cofounded Graymatter (07:58) Quitting their jobs to go all in on Graymatter (14:38) Saving their manufacturer after a bankruptcy crisis (18:54) Graymatter’s contingency plans (20:47) How Graymatter’s forecasting limits inventory risk (23:20) Maintaining safety stock with the supplier (25:20) How Novisa and Jim complement each other across product, finance, and go-to-market (27:15) How Graymatter identified its three ICPs (34:49) Turning customer data into insights  (35:38) How Novisa learned to think like a CFO (39:24) The value of a beginner’s mindset (41:19) What’s next for Graymatter (43:00) Graymatter’s backup plans if channels fail (45:02) Leveraging AI to scale  (47:04) Novisa’s strengths, and what he’s still learning (50:56) Lightning round — Referenced: • Graymatter: https://trygraymatter.com [https://trygraymatter.com] • PwC: https://www.pwc.com [https://www.pwc.com] • Shopify: https://www.shopify.com [https://www.shopify.com] • Klaviyo: https://www.klaviyo.com [https://www.klaviyo.com] • Jim Phillips on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-phillips-5978827 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-phillips-5978827] • Charm: https://info.charm.io [https://info.charm.io] • Jimmy Hugill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hugill [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hugill] • Driver: https://www.driver.ai [https://www.driver.ai] • The Way: https://www.thewayapp.com [https://www.thewayapp.com] • Athletic Greens: https://drinkag1.com [https://drinkag1.com] • Nik Sharma’s website: https://www.nik.co [https://www.nik.co]

From Navy SEAL to $100M Founder: The Craziest Double Life in Business | Bear Handlon (Founder, Born Primitive)

For eight years, Bear Handlon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bear-handlon-699688152/] was running a fast-growing apparel company while serving as an active-duty Navy SEAL, taking supplier calls at 2 a.m. and wiring seven-figure payments between missions. In this episode of What to Do Next, I sit down with Bear, cofounder and CEO of Born Primitive [https://bornprimitive.com], to talk about what it actually took to build the business in those early years, from going six years without paying himself to nearly breaking the company with a single inventory mistake. We get into how he learned to hire and delegate after early missteps, why brand identity became a forcing function as the company scaled, and how Born Primitive expanded from a single product into multiple categories across fitness, tactical, and outdoor. — Brought to you by: Highbeam—Grow your brand with Highbeam’s cash management platform: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/] — Where to find Bear Handlon: • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearhandlon [https://www.instagram.com/bearhandlon] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bear-handlon-699688152 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bear-handlon-699688152] • Website: https://bornprimitive.com [https://bornprimitive.com] Where to find David Segal:  • Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/]  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast]  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079] — Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:00) What Born Primitive is and how it started (02:53) How Bear balanced building a company with serving as an active duty Navy SEAL (09:13) Bear’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs (11:53) Difficult points in the journey of Born Primitive (16:08) How they turned things around after a major inventory mistake (20:10) What Bear learned about hiring, delegating, and scaling (22:44) Born Primitive’s hiring philosophy: hire slow, fire fast (24:04) From sports bras to expanding into new categories (36:11) How Bear adjusted to civilian life (38:00) Brand identity and culture at Born Primitive (40:39) What Bear learned at Red Bull about building a brand identity (42:39) What Bear learned about sticking to an identity, even when it means losing customers (45:53) Born Primitive’s philanthropy (50:15) How Bear and Mallory’s personalities shaped Born Primitive’s brand (52:18) Applying principles of land warfare to business (56:37) Which SEAL habits Bear had to let go of (58:26) Lightning round — Referenced: • CrossFit: https://www.crossfit.com [https://www.crossfit.com] • Mallory Riley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallory-riley-a02832105 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallory-riley-a02832105] • American Eagle: https://www.ae.com [https://www.ae.com] • Red Bull: https://www.redbull.com [https://www.redbull.com] • Thin Blue Line apparel: https://bornprimitive.com/collections/first-responder-blue [https://bornprimitive.com/collections/first-responder-blue] • Black Rifle Coffee Company: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com [https://www.blackriflecoffee.com] • Leadership and Decision-Making Under Pressure: https://www.masterclass.com/certificates/leadership-and-decision-making-under-pressure [https://www.masterclass.com/certificates/leadership-and-decision-making-under-pressure]

30,000 Stores in 12 Months: The Playbook Behind Wip’s Explosive Growth

Richard Mumby [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpmumby/] is the CEO of Wip [https://wip.com/] and a longtime operator in consumer brands and growth strategy. Before founding the company, he worked across investing and consulting, helping businesses scale and build durable demand. In this episode of What to Do Next, Richard joins host David Segal to share how Wip is approaching category creation in a market dominated by incumbents. Rather than launching broadly, the company started with a tightly controlled pilot, using early signals to validate demand before scaling. As Wip has grown, that discipline has shaped how the company operates. Richard explains why product performance is non-negotiable, how short planning cycles help maintain tight focus, and why they deliberately hold off on certain opportunities. He also shares how Wip thinks about distribution, retail partnerships, and cash management. — Brought to you by: Highbeam—Grow your brand with Highbeam’s cash management platform: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/] — Where to find Richard Mumby: • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rpmumby [https://www.instagram.com/rpmumby]  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpmumby [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpmumby] Where to find David Segal:  • Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/]  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast]  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079] — Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:28) What Wip is and how it started (03:14) The LFGO pilot and early product-market fit (04:50) Betting on a new category in a $190B market (07:31) Why early patterns gave them confidence (10:24) Why product performance matters most (17:58) How Wip uses short planning cycles for tight focus (19:40) The beach test that proved the product (21:05) Why consumers trust Wip’s product (23:01) Hiring challenges  (24:22) Lessons from past companies (28:06) A better way to interview (31:16) How Richard thinks about career growth (34:39) Opportunities Wip is not pursuing yet (35:50) What people get wrong about wholesale distribution (37:38) How Wip partners with retailers (40:55) How Wip thinks about branding (44:15) Lightning round  — Referenced: • Wip: https://wip.com [https://wip.com] • Bain & Company: https://www.bain.com [https://www.bain.com] • Bonobos: https://bonobos.com [https://bonobos.com] • JUUL: https://www.juul.com [https://www.juul.com] • Gilt: https://www.gilt.com [https://www.gilt.com] • Tania Goulart on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniagoulart [https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniagoulart] • Zyn: https://www.zyn.com [https://www.zyn.com] • Slack: https://slack.com [https://slack.com/]

From Joke to Category Killer: Pit Viper’s Playbook for Product-Market Fit | Chris Garcin

Chris Garcin is the co-founder and CEO of Pit Viper, a brand that didn’t start with a traditional plan. It began as a joke, a $500 experiment built on military surplus sunglasses, irreverent graphics, and a willingness to try things most companies wouldn’t. What followed was less a straight path and more a series of bets, mistakes, and adjustments. In this episode of What to Do Next, Chris joins host David Segal to share how Pit Viper found its footing and grew into a durable business. Early on, the team identified a gap in the market for quality sunglasses at a mid-range price, but product alone wasn’t the advantage. They built a brand infused with their personalities and point of view, and over time, Chris came to see it as a living system shaped as much by customers as by the company itself. As Pit Viper expanded, that perspective shaped how they approached new categories, distribution, and unexpected challenges. Chris shares why rigidity can become a liability, how the company navigated a high-profile PR crisis, and what changed as they moved beyond direct-to-consumer into retail and Amazon. — Brought to you by: Highbeam—Grow your brand with Highbeam’s cash management platform: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/] — Where to find Chris Garcin: • X: https://x.com/nocigarcin [https://x.com/nocigarcin] • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garcin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/garcin] • Website: https://chrisgarcin.com [https://chrisgarcin.com] Where to find David Segal:  • Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.highbeam.com/⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.highbeam.com/]  • YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@wtdn.podcast]  • LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-segal-80b6079] — Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:07) How Pit Viper got started (03:09) What product-market fit actually looks like (10:05) The naivety of early founders (13:17) How Pit Viper approaches branding (17:30) Lessons from category expansion (22:26) Adapting from scrappy startup to mature brand (26:17) Direct-to-consumer vs. retail (28:36) Why Pit Viper initially avoided Amazon (31:11) Why DTC is a logical starting point (32:16) Why getting customers shouldn’t be so hard (34:01) The insurrection PR crisis (40:11) Bootstrapping Pit Viper (42:40) Pit Viper’s biggest buying mistake (47:29) Lightning round — Referenced: • Pit Viper: https://www.pitviper.com [https://www.pitviper.com] • Chuck Mumford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-mumford-5299713b [https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-mumford-5299713b] • EssilorLuxottica: https://www.essilorluxottica.com [https://www.essilorluxottica.com] • Rob Gronkowski on X: https://x.com/RobGronkowski [https://x.com/RobGronkowski]  • Travis Pastrana on X: https://x.com/TravisPastrana [https://x.com/TravisPastrana] • Shopify: https://www.shopify.com [https://www.shopify.com] • DavidsTea: https://davidstea.com [https://davidstea.com] • Kilby Court: https://www.kilbycourt.com [https://www.kilbycourt.com] • The Cinnamon Toast Crunch Original 2.0: https://www.pitviper.com/products/the-cinnamon-toast-crunch-original?variant=41727200624734 [https://www.pitviper.com/products/the-cinnamon-toast-crunch-original?variant=41727200624734] • Pit Viper’s response to white supremacists on X: https://x.com/PitViperShades/status/1791232320122630500 [https://x.com/PitViperShades/status/1791232320122630500]