184. How to Build a Premium Brand (without luck) ft. Ross Mackay

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/ SUSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: https://the505podcast.ac-page.com/rock-report Kostas' Lightroom Presets https://www.kostasgarcia.com/store-1/p/kglightroompresetsgreece COP THE BFIGGY "ESSENTIALS" SFX PACK HERE: https://courses.the505podcast.com/BFIGGYSFXPACK 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 If you liked this episode please send it to a friend and take a screenshot for your story! And as always, we'd love to hear from you guys on what you'd like to hear us talk about or potential guests we should have on. DM US ON IG: (Our DM's are always open!) Bfiggy: https://www.instagram.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.instagram.com/kostasg95/ TikTok: Bfiggy: https://www.tiktok.com/bfiggy/ Kostas: https://www.tiktok.com/kostasgarcia/