EPISODE 57

Brent Csutoras has spent nearly two decades inside Reddit, Digg, and the message-board underbelly of the internet - and he joins Kevin and Jason to explain why the human voice is now the most valuable thing in marketing. Brent breaks down why Reddit shows up everywhere in AI answers, the biggest mistakes brands make when they enter online communities, and how his team flipped Asurion from a toxic, "scam"-labeled brand into one that controls its narrative across every LLM. He shares the TikTok campaign that pulled in 300 death threats in 30 minutes (and still won the room), why owning the small negatives gives you control of the big ones, and why the next 12 months are a Reddit-and-AI land grab on the scale of short domains and links 20 years ago. If your brand is afraid to show up in the rooms where customers are actually talking, this episode is for you.

CHAPTERS

00:00 - The next 12 months is the land grab

00:45 - Marketing in a world where attention is harder to earn

04:01 - Welcome Brent: two decades inside the most misunderstood platform

06:39 - The biggest mistake brands make on Reddit

09:18 - How to reverse a toxic community (TikTok and Asurion)

13:15 - Why Reddit shows up everywhere in AI answers

17:40 - Stop selling features, start solving the real problem

21:24 - What every marketer should stop doing immediately

25:10 - The Reddit land grab and the brands sleeping on it

26:18 - The Asurion turnaround: owning the negative

31:02 - How to show up in AI answers beyond Reddit

LINKS

Connect with Brent Csutoras

OGS Media • LinkedIn

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EPISODE 56

Jose Li, founder and CEO of 71lbs, joins Kevin and Jason to break down how he turned a frustration most companies tolerate, opaque and overcharged shipping invoices, into a 14-year-old business that has saved 5,000 customers more than $80 million. After running FedEx's retail and e-commerce practice, Jose left to tackle the two biggest pain points companies face with carriers: saving money and understanding what they're actually paying. He explains the little-known money-back guarantee policy that leaves $2 billion unclaimed every year, how COVID nearly killed the business and forced a pivot into contract negotiations (now 50%+ of revenue), and why trade shows and in-house cold calling still outperform almost everything else. Jose also shares his vision for layering weather and third-party data on top of shipping decisions, the hiring mistakes that taught him perfect FedEx résumés don't translate, and the chip on his shoulder from 800+ investor rejections that still fuels him today.

CHAPTERS

00:00 / Cold Open: $2 Billion in Unclaimed Refunds

03:30 / Meet Jose Li, Founder of 71lbs

03:43 / Spotting the Gap: Two Pain Points Nobody Was Solving

07:14 / From an IP Address to a Real Business

08:30 / The Money-Back Guarantee Most Companies Don't Know About

11:50 / How COVID Almost Killed the Business

12:58 / AI, Weather Data, and the Future of Shipping Decisions

15:10 / Getting the First 10 Customers and Building a Sales Machine

23:52 / Why Trade Shows Are Still the Best Channel

26:47 / The Chip on the Shoulder That Keeps Him Going

30:16 / Founder Mode Top 5 Takeaways

LINKS

Connect with Jose Li

71lbs.com • LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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EPISODE 55

Kevin and Jason tackle the three things every founder pretends they have under control: sleep, the first 90 days of taking over a company, and the say-no muscle. Kevin explains why sleep is the ultimate performance enhancing drug, then unpacks his contrarian take on the first 90 days — by week three you better have an opinion or people start writing you off. He walks through his recent takeover of Search Engine Journal, including the five-question email that stack-ranked his team, the day-zero move to close every credit card and reissue them through Mercury with a named human owner, and the surprise that 15-20% of expenses simply never came back. They close on the say-no muscle, the 14-hour flight test for shutting work off, and how AI tools are creating new leverage to delegate the work you'd otherwise feel obligated to do yourself.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Cold open: Sleep is the ultimate PED

00:51 – Welcome and the three topics

01:00 – The founder sleep crisis

03:52 – Topic two: Taking over a new company

04:00 – Why consultants get more leverage than FTEs

07:09 – Getting acquired and the listening tour

09:02 – The week three framework (not day 90)

12:13 – Search Engine Journal takeover and the five-question email

16:03 – Closing every credit card on day zero

20:17 – Topic three: Building the say-no muscle

24:31 – The 14-hour flight test

26:25 – Five key takeaways

LINKS

Sleep masks Kevin recommends

Alaska Bear • WAOW

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