So this is it...
I would like this newsletter to serve a multitude of purposes. The main one is an outlet for myself to document what we are working on and a way for me to talk about things I find interesting. Outside of that, I find the opportunities to be rather endless.
Q&A
Weekly workout recap
Articles/books I have been enjoying.
etc… (suggestions from the community)
Before I get into much writing, I'd like to thank you for being a part of this first post, and I hope to improve as much as possible.
Week ending December 18th, 2021
I want to walk us back to this date because it gives me a good foundation for discussing many things we are currently experiencing in the business. Leading up to the release on December 18th, we were not much of a player in the "global" supply chain. All releases leading up to that date had used air freight. Airfreight is lightyears faster than the ocean and generally experiences far fewer delays. There are roughly 30-45 days from when your shipment boards a boat to when it arrives in its port. After that, the product is generally shipped to you via truck.
At this time, we had product moving into the port of Los Angeles (something I thought nothing of... I figured as long as it got into a port, it would be okay), but I was wrong. There was a labor shortage, and the port was experiencing crazy delays.
I'll save you all the boredom of the rest of the story, but the main takeaway is that this was my first time experiencing delays outside of my control, and it was eye-opening.
During that time, I read tons of writings from other entrepreneurs trying to figure out the best course of action. I never found the answer, but I did find a phrase that would stick with me:
"In business, anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
Fast forward to the most recent release on March 16th, 2022, and it's 8 pm the night before the release. My Instagram inbox and the Minted New York email addresses are flooded with people inquiring about the size charts and the pricing.
The studio I used for the pictures hadn't sent them over, and now we are scrambling. Finally, around 9 pm, I look over at Shawn and say, "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong," Now, it's a steadfast phrase we utter to each other anytime something goes wrong that "theoretically" shouldn't.
Growth at any speed for any business is painful. It is exactly what you want but oftentimes you are continually presented with things that you have never dealt with before. You move in a quick and calculated manner to maintain a level of normalcy but eventually, things happen that cannot be fixed by you or your team.
Workboard week of April 2nd, 2022
We enjoyed fitting Wisdm in our first runway piece (that feels weird typing for many reasons). The main reason is that I remember dreaming of putting on a whole production show for a couple of years now... going back to A Mother's Love (my first foray into fashion and a story for another time)
Shawn and I have started implementing Gorgias, which seems like an entire program. I know that we are not even scratching the surface of what it can do right now. Still, as the team continues to expand, there will need to be more and more systems in place to streamline processes, and it looks like Gorgias will be best for Customer Service / Experience.
The first sample of the canned pre-workout drink arrived from the factory. It was "peach tea" that had such a distinct taste. Shawn and I agreed we liked the flavor but not because it was outright "good," but instead because it was not great at first but grew on us over time. Back to the drawing board with that, as it's not acceptable for a commercial product.
The "peanut-butter chocolate chip" protein bar sampling came in. This time we reduced the calories from 270 --> 220. I don't think it's the end of the 270 calorie bar.
I find the macronutrients of both bars to be good and think that there is a demographic that could use both depending on fitness goals.
We managed to provide 4 initial mockups for Oakley in a potential collaboration. The turnaround was crazy tight (7 days) with a full release in between, but I am happy with the first iteration. I imagine (if they want to move forward) they will have some feedback, and things will need to be changed.
The tote bag is proving rather difficult to bring costs down. Currently figuring out costing in both Los Angeles as well as China. The main factor is quality. Whichever manufacturer can produce the better quality is likely the one we will go with. Both deconstruct the existing bags and smooth out (design) flaws that work in prototyping but not in full-scale production runs.
We are working on our first sample of sunglasses out of Japan. They are handmade, which I find incredible, and I hope to get out and visit in person someday. This week, the wire core was completed with our pattern and is headed off to polishing.
Training
This week was a bit of a wash as far as lifting in the gym goes. Two days of lifts, both upper body, but that is usually how I like to go into it a week before a race. I try and focus as much as I can on being recovered but not too loose.
We raced the Cherry Blossom 10 miler on Sunday (April 3rd, 2022). Overall the race went well, finishing at 59:33. The start was concerning as I was in my full corral and had the 8:00/mile pace standing next to me. It took about 3/4ths of a mile to finally get myself some breathing room and not have to speed up to pass people. I always find myself in awe of the human body and what it can accomplish when given the proper tools to perform (training, sleep, nutrition, recovery).
Articles I found interesting this week:
Association between chronic low back pain and regional brain atrophy in a Japanese older population: the Hisayama Study
Rice lab turns trash into valuable graphene in a flash
Why You're Not Doing Creative Work
That wraps up our first edition of The Minted Minutes. I want this to be a living and breathing project that adds and subtracts where needed.
I have a section in Discord for suggestions regarding The Minted Minutes and would love to hear from you all!
Cheers
Marcus
Marcus - Thanks for building this forum, enjoyed the first edition. Quick note, the third link at the bottom of the page "Why you are not doing creative work, leads to the Hisayama Study. Looks like a paste error. Looking forward to the next one.
Really enjoy this, excited to see where it goes. Thank you as always.