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Episode Description
The 10 Minute Personal Brand Kickstart (FREE): https://the505podcast.courses/personalbrandkickstart
What’s up Rock Nation! Today we’re joined by Ross McKay, second-time founder, brand architect, and the mind behind Cadence, the $2 sports drink built like a luxury brand.
Ross previously built Daring Foods into a nine-figure company, and now he’s moving faster, smarter, and with way more edge. In this episode, he shares how to build a brand that people brag about, why speed beats capital, and what it really takes to scale from startup to shelves in Target, Walmart, and GNC.
We get into why most founders focus on the wrong metrics, how to stand out in crowded categories, and why Ross thinks distribution doesn’t matter, velocity does. You’ll also hear how he hires, how he sets boundaries, and why the secret to Cadence’s success is obsession-level execution.
Check out Ross here:
https://www.youtube.com/ @RossMackay1
https://www.instagram.com/rossmackay/
https://www.instagram.com/cadence/
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Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:14 – What Ross Is Doing Differently This Time
2:50 – The Power of Saying No
3:54 – Raising $150M and Losing Control
4:37 – How He Kept Control at Cadence
6:40 – Why He Only Raises From People He Likes
7:28 – Branding That Breaks Through the Noise
11:00 – Brand or Product: What Comes First?
12:20 – 600 Runners Showed Up for Day One
14:04 – Personal Brand Kickstart
14:29 – How Ross & George Launched With $240K
16:42 – Beverage vs Powder: Why They Went Hard Mode
18:57 – The Exact Moment They Knew It Was Working
21:11 – The Secret to Getting Repeat Customers
22:53 – How Cadence Became a Fridge Trophy
26:13 – Making Money at $2.50 a Can
27:54 – Competing With Gatorade (Not Hipster Brands)
28:44 – Why Store Count Is a Vanity Metric
30:28 – Ross’s Speed Strategy for Beating Big Brands
31:37 – Can You Stay Fast While Scaling?
34:03 – His First Hires & Who He Looks For
35:32 – Where His Relentless Drive Comes From
37:43 – Building a Billion-Dollar Brand With Boundaries
41:06 – Never Too High, Never Too Low
41:56 – How Cadence Is Built to Scale Fast
44:30 – The Real Game Behind Shelf Placement
46:04 – What Happens When You Flop in Retail
47:52 – Using Sales Data to Break Into Big Stores
50:05 – His Pitch to Take Over Retail
51:49 – Why Cadence Isn’t Just a Trendy Brand
52:30 – Going Head-to-Head With Beverage Giants
54:01 – How He Gets Retailers to Say Yes
55:16 – Outselling 50 Brands at GNC
56:22 – Why Every Retailer Gets a Unique Offer
58:55 – The $2 Luxury Philosophy
1:01:55 – What Your Fridge Says About You
1:03:29 – How Ross Obsesses Over the Consumer
1:07:20 – Why Cadence Doesn’t White Label Anything
1:08:43 – This Can Is Their Best Marketing Tool
1:13:28 – The Truth About Distribution Obsession
1:15:51 – The Only KPI That Matters in Retail
1:17:57 – You’ll Never Beat Big Brands on Capital
1:21:41 – How He Makes Million-Dollar Decisions Fast
1:23:52 – Speed vs Scale: Keeping the Culture Intact
1:26:29 – How He Handles Pressure in High Stakes
1:28:24 – Why Ross Is Gunning for a Billion in Revenue
1:30:08 – Leading When Everything’s on Fire
1:32:03 – Real Talk for Founders Building from Scratch
1:33:06 – Post Pod Debrief
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