Final Boss Sour’s James Hicks + River’s Rae Lambert | E1993
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 15 August 2024
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Todays show:
Jason sits down with James Hicks to discuss the unique aspects of Final Boss Sour's products and marketing (3:25), the future of commerce, influencers, and retailers' adaptations (23:12), followed by a discussion with Rae Lambert about River's software platform and community management best practices (46:16), high-end memberships, landing lighthouse customers, and influencer engagement (1:04:35) .
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Jason kicks off today’s show with guests James Hicks and Rae Lambert.
(3:25) Discussing the appeal and unique aspects of Final Boss Sour's products
(7:25) Better-for-you products and social media strategies
(9:40) .Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today at https://jamwithjcal.tech
(10:50) Potential of TikTok for social shopping and influencer monetization
(21:04) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist
(23:12) Future of commerce, influencers, and retailers' adaptations
(30:00) Video game tie-ins and product development logistics
(37:22) Experiential retail and pop-up concepts
(38:36) Washington Post - TWiST listeners can subscribe for just 50 cents per week for your first year at https://www.washingtonpost.com/twist
(40:04) Ray Lambert and community building with River
(46:16) River's software platform and community management best practices
(52:16) Business models, monetization strategies, and paid events
(1:00:00) Community roles, expansion and engaging with fans
(1:03:19) Audience questions, community engagement insights, and hiring attempts
(1:04:35) High-end memberships, landing lighthouse customers, and influencer engagement
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Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com/
Check out the TWIST500: https://twist500.com
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Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp
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Check out Final Boss Sour: https://finalbosssour.com/
Check out Final Boss Sour TikTok Shop: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/tiktok-shop-final-boss
Check out Science: https://www.science-inc.com/
Check out River: https://www.getriver.io/
Check out Rae’s blog: https://www.raelambert.com/
Check our Founder Fridays: https://www.founderfridays.tech/
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Follow James:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hicks-43957512/
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Follow Rae:
X: https://x.com/raechellambert
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raechel-lambert/
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Follow Jason:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis
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Thank you to our partners:
(9:40) .Tech Domains - Apply for the Jam Session with JCal contest today at https://jamwithjcal.tech
(21:04) DevSquad - Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at http://devsquad.com/twist
(38:36) Washington Post - TWiST listeners can subscribe for just 50 cents per week for your first year at https://www.washingtonpost.com/twist
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Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
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Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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Follow TWiST:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups
Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com
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Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So this is a box of our 12 packs. |
| 0:02.2 | These are the level three strawberries. |
| 0:04.5 | On the packaging there's a designed |
| 0:06.1 | a full video game level that we created. |
| 0:08.5 | This is a 12 pack. |
| 0:09.6 | So this is a single serve. |
| 0:10.9 | The idea was like, this is what I stick in my kids lunchbox every |
| 0:14.0 | yeah a lot of investors or customers like well where do I find hosts and I'm like nope the |
| 0:18.2 | other problem is how do you let hosts down nicely who aren't the right fit because I get like hate mail once a week from |
| 0:24.8 | someone who's been rejected. I think that was my insight was you know when you |
| 0:29.7 | were doing the all-in meet-ups I was like I don't want weirdos using meetups as a way to get |
| 0:36.8 | customers or clients for their consulting business totally try to do that I don't |
| 0:41.0 | want my brands hijacked to do their BD. This week in startups is brought to you by |
| 0:48.0 | dot-tech domains. Don't miss our Jam with J-Cal contest. To apply and get more details go to Jam with |
| 0:54.6 | J-Cal dot-tech brought to you by dot-tech domains. Dev Squad. Most |
| 0:59.8 | dev agencies only offer developers. Why? Because product management is hard. |
| 1:05.0 | Get an entire product team for the cost of one US developer plus 10% off at Dev Squad.com slash Twist. |
| 1:12.8 | And Washington Post. |
| 1:15.4 | Stay informed with trusted journalism from the Washington Post. |
| 1:19.2 | Right now, Twist listeners can subscribe for just 50 cents per week for your first year at |
| 1:24.3 | Washington Post dot com slash twist. All right everybody welcome back to this week in |
| 1:29.6 | startups. I'm your host Jason Callicanis. What do I do? I invest in about 100 companies a year with a team of 20 at launch. |
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