LifeAID co-founder; sent the $100 Ruth's Chris gift card to the can rep
Shaan notes LifeAID is doing about $35 million in revenue for the year — a rare outcome given that, as the founder adds, the beverage category has a roughly 99% failure rate.
“You guys are doing $35 million in revenue, I think, this year, right about.”
When the broke founders called Rexam, the largest US can supplier at the time, the rep told them the minimum production run was 204,000 units — far more than they could afford, which forced them to chase blank 'silver bullet' overrun cans instead.
“He says, well, the minimum run's 204,000 units. Well, we didn't have that much money.”
Hinde explains the deliberate logic behind the gift-card move: reciprocity, the principle from Robert Cialdini's work, is a powerful and undeniable force, so a handwritten note plus a $100 dinner card makes a stranger feel compelled to help you.
“Well, reciprocity, anyone who's read like Cialdini's work, you know, reciprocity is such a powerful, powerful force. You know, it's undeniable. So we knew that if we were gonna stand out by sending them a handwritten note, and then the $100 Ruth's Chris card, it's like, well, who doesn't like to go to Ruth's Chris?”
Steal thisOpen relationships by giving something of value first; the felt obligation to reciprocate does the persuading for you.
Hinde sold his chiropractic practice on a payment plan to fund LifeAID; the buyer went bankrupt in six months, leaving him with no practice income and no payout. His lesson: take the cash up front rather than seller-financing the sale.
“So any entrepreneurs out there, take the cash up front. Do not finance it. Right. Take care of us. Uh, so we go super thin, like super thin cuz we burned through all our savings starting the company. And I mean, we're eating like mac and cheese and tuna every night”
Steal thisWhen selling a business, demand cash up front instead of seller financing — the buyer's failure shouldn't become your loss.
Running three products (GolfAid, FitAid, PartyAid) each with separate sites, social, and events left the team in chaos. An advisor told Hinde to choose a single target market; they killed the larger GolfAid to go all-in on FitAid because CrossFit showed faster adoption and better sell-through.
“And he's like, you got to choose a single target market or else you're going to burn yourself out, you're gonna run out of all your cash and get nowhere, no traction with any of the community. So even though Golfraid was bringing in about $700 grand at the time, we looked at the trajectory, the sell-in and the sell-through of FitAid in the CrossFit market and said, you know what, they're doing better volumes, we're getting, you know, greater adoption, quicker adoption. So we went all in on the smaller one.”
Steal thisKill the bigger-but-slower product and concentrate everything on the smaller line with faster adoption velocity.
Asked how big LifeAID gets, Hinde predicts it becomes a billion-dollar company, projecting that roughly $250 million in sales would value it at over $1.2 billion.
“About $250 million in sales will put us over a $1.2 billion.”
Hinde's core philosophy: your anticipated exit doesn't matter — IPO, acquisition, merger, or simply cash-flowing the business. As long as you execute on key metrics, every option stays available regardless of the economy.
“Here's the thing, it doesn't matter what your anticipated exit is, or even if you're building a company just to cash flow it. As long as you execute, all doors remain open. I don't care if it's a recession, if the economy's booming, IPO, you're bought out, whatever, merger. Execute. Yeah, you execute on key metrics and all doors remain open.”
Steal thisStop optimizing for a specific exit; execute relentlessly on key metrics and let the best option present itself.
Hinde cites that about 65% of people now read nutrition labels before making a new purchase — a shift he says rewards transparent, clean-ingredient brands and exposes companies that hide sugar, sweeteners, or serving-size tricks.
“It's like 65% of people now read labels prior to making a new purchase, which is great. I love label readers. I love nutritionists. I love doctors. You know, I love people in the know because they're looking at this can and they're going, okay, let me see the sugar content.”
Once you've had a successful exit and built a reputation, Hinde argues the path to real wealth is to fund 10 entrepreneurs in a space you believe in — giving each a half million or a million dollars and acting as their mentor or board member rather than operating yourself.
“now I can take 10 entrepreneurs, 10 different businesses that are all in a space that I truly believe in and that are all showing signs of life and increasing velocities and doing well on the shelf and give them each, you know, a half million bucks or a million bucks and let them run with it and then be, you know, sit back and be more of a mentor, a coach, advisory board, board of directors, that type of thing. And I think that's where real wealth, as I observe it, that's where real wealth is created.”
Steal thisAfter one win, spread capital and mentorship across many founders with traction rather than betting it all on a single operating role.
After taking some chips off the table, Hinde paid off $246,000 in student loans in a single keystroke, calling it the biggest weight lifted from his chest. A vision-board goal to spend a month in Hawaii became a 2-bedroom condo in Poipu, Kauai.
“I was $246,000 in student loans and I paid them all off in stroke of the key, and it was, it was the biggest weight lifted from my chest. Like, I don't know the government anything. It felt so good to be debt-free, right?”