The Advantage #05: The Best Time Ever to Start, The Hardest Time to Last

Thanks for tuning into the fifth episode of The Advantage. A short, weekly note where I share what I am working on, something worth watching, a lesson from history, and one practical edge you can try right away.

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There has never been a better time to start a consumer brand.

It is easier than ever to go from idea to product. The distance between a concept and something real in a customer’s hands has collapsed in a way that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago. But that does not mean it is easier to build an enduring brand. In fact, it may be the hardest time in history to do so.

Today, a founder with conviction can move from concept to commerce in months, sometimes weeks. Contract manufacturers handle complexity that once required entire teams, millions of dollars, and years of hard-earned capability. Third-party logistics firms turn fulfillment into an API. Shopify makes global storefronts table stakes. Amazon provides instant access to demand at massive scale. The infrastructure that once protected incumbents is now available to anyone willing to learn it.

At the same time……

Quick intro:
Sports and business are far closer than most people are willing to admit. Not as a metaphor, but as a performance system. This week’s Worth Watching is a 12-minute 3-second conversation with Bill Beswick, “Training your mind to win”, one of the world’s leading sports psychologists, and it’s one of the clearest explanations I’ve heard for why some people plateau at “good” while others keep getting better. Skill matters. Intelligence matters. But past a certain point, neither is the constraint.

What I loved about it:
Beswick is very clear about where performance actually breaks down. In sport and in business, plenty of people are capable. What separates outcomes is what happens after failure. Persistence. Coachability. And, critically, whether you actually love the process you’re in.

He makes the point that you can’t build a great career, company, or life if you’re only attached to the destination. Goals matter, but they’re not enough. Wins are fleeting. Losses are guaranteed. If you don’t learn to enjoy the day-to-day work, the practice, the reps, the adjustments, you won’t last long enough for skill to compound. Loving the process isn’t motivational advice. It’s psychological survival.

Another moment that stood out: Beswick says he enjoys sharing these ideas because they serve as reminders for himself. That line carries weight. Mindset and character aren’t traits you unlock once. They fade. Habits erode. Drift is normal. The best performers don’t assume they’re immune. They build systems that pull them back into alignment.

Here is my 20-second recap if you do not have the full 12-minutes-3 seconds:

That last point really resonated with me. Writing these newsletters and blog posts isn’t about claiming mastery. It’s as much a reminder and a form of accountability for myself as it is a way to share ideas with others. I’m far from perfect, and putting these principles into words forces me to live closer to them. In that sense, I’m not just writing for others, I’m one of the readers who needs the reminder too. And that’s why this work has been so personally fulfilling and valuable for me.

Pro Move: You do not need to watch it. Put it on like a podcast and listen while you walk or drive.

What Happened: After World War Two, Procter & Gamble stopped acting like a product company and started acting like an operating system. Industrial chemistry improved formulations and consistency. Modern packaging extended shelf life and lowered breakage. National manufacturing drove costs down. Supermarkets created centralized demand. Television scaled brand trust at speed. Highways moved product reliably across the country. None of these alone made P&G dominant. Together they did. P&G was built to absorb all of them at once.

Insight behind it: Golden ages are created by convergence, not breakthroughs. When multiple constraints collapse together, advantage shifts to operators who can integrate systems end-to-end. New tools do not reward cleverness. They reward discipline, repeatability, and product quality that survives scale.

Modern application: AI plays the same role today that industrial food science did then. It collapses cost, increases consistency, and accelerates iteration. But on its own, it does nothing. The winners will be the companies that pair AI with real manufacturing, durable packaging, Shopify and Amazon distribution, reliable 3PLs, and modern media, just as P&G paired chemistry, packaging, supermarkets, highways, and TV. If your product does not get stronger as each layer comes online, you are not building in a golden age. You are just standing near one.

Why it works: Hydration usually fails for a simple reason. Water is neutral. It does not taste great, it does not feel rewarding, and it competes poorly with drinks engineered for pleasure like soda, juice, or coffee.

Hydration powders solve two problems at once. First, they make water taste good without adding sugar or artificial junk. Second, they upgrade water functionally by adding electrolytes and supportive minerals that improve fluid absorption and utilization. When water becomes both enjoyable and more effective, behavior changes. Intake goes up without effort.

Dr. Mark Hyman often recommends a simple baseline for hydration: roughly half your body weight in ounces of water per day, adjusted upward for exercise, heat, and travel. For many adults, that falls in the 90 to 120-ounce range. The challenge is not knowing the number. It is sustaining the behavior. Hydration powders make that sustainable.

The data supports it:
Even mild dehydration, roughly 1 to 2 percent loss of body water, has been associated with declines in physical performance, the body’s ability to regulate temperature, and attention. Electrolytes matter because water absorption and retention are not driven by fluid alone. Sodium helps retain fluid, potassium supports cellular hydration, and magnesium plays a role in muscle and nerve function. When electrolytes are present, the body uses water more efficiently, especially during exercise or periods of higher sweat loss.

The takeaway is not to chase perfect hydration. It is to remove friction. When hydration feels good and works better, consistency follows. Over time, that consistency compounds into better energy, steadier workouts, and fewer mid-day crashes.

How I use it:
The product that made this automatic for me is Feel Goods hydration powder.

I use the single packets, never the tub. One packet goes into 32 ounces of water. I try to drink three per day, one during my workout and two during the day. I keep them at home, at the office, and always in my backpack, so availability never becomes an excuse.

The taste is the behavioral unlock. It makes me want to drink water. The ingredient quality is why I stay with it. It does not rely on sugar, artificial sweeteners, or the long list of additives found in many popular hydration brands. Instead, it includes electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, along with supportive ingredients that enhance hydration without spiking calories. Each packet is five calories and all-natural.

It turned drinking roughly 100 ounces of water a day from something I had to manage into something that just happens. If you are trying to drink more water and keep falling off, this is worth trying as a habit device, not a supplement. Even though it is also a great supplement.

Full disclosure: I am an investor in Feel Goods through Cutting Horse, but we invested after becoming long-time power users of the category and product.

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