Show overview
High Stakes Growth launched in 2025 and has put out 54 episodes, alongside 1 trailer or bonus episode in the time since. That works out to roughly 40 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 39 min and 47 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Business show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 26 episodes already out so far this year. Published by Jetset.
From the publisher
High Stakes Growth™ takes you inside the boldest decisions behind today’s most exciting consumer brands. We bring you candid conversations with the founders and CMOs who built them—unpacking the high-stakes moments, tough calls, and game-changing strategies that made these brands what they are today. No fluff. No surface-level insights. Just real stories from the leaders who made it happen. Hosted by Forest Bronzan and Leah Lloyd, they bring a combined four decades of consumer brand expertise to these conversations.
Latest Episodes
View all 54 episodesArin Schultz: How He Tripled Naturepedic's Revenue With No Marketing Background
Meenakshi Lala: Winning in One of DTC's Most Operationally Difficult Categories
Lauren Wang: Selling 185M Menstrual Discs and Reaching 30,000+ Stores
Katie Sturino: From Starting in a Garage to Running an 8-Figure Body Care Brand
Shizu Okusa: Exiting Her First CPG Brand and Raising $35M for the Next
Andrei Negrau: Why Empathic AI Agents Now Outperform Human Support
Scott Dancy: How He Built Azuna From 10 Orders a Day to Nine Figures
Ari Murray: Getting Brand-Agency Partnerships Right, From Someone Who's Done Both
Hari Ranganathan: Why Growth Is a Machine, Not a Single Star Hire or Lever
Jess Hauff: Scaling PrettyLitter From Its DTC Roots Into a Household Name
Daniel Brady: The Neuroscientist Building AI Segmentation for DTC Brands
Will Nitze: Building IQBAR to $125M+ in Sales With a 15-Person Team
Marnie Rabinovitch: Building Thigh Society from Side Hustle to 3M Pairs Sold
Shawn LaRowe: Modernizing Pelican While Protecting the Values That Built It
Melissa Mash: Building a Global Bag Brand and How They Achieved 50% Organic Site Traffic
Ep 37Isaac Mertens: Building a $40M+ Footwear Brand Without Debt or Raising Capital
Isaac Mertens is the co-founder and CEO of Flux Footwear, a minimalist shoe brand that focuses on style and performance doing mid-8-figure annual revenue. Expect to hear about: – Etsy to Ecom: How Isaac scaled a furniture brand to 7 figures on Etsy, and why not owning demand pushed him to start Flux. – Financial Discipline: How his accounting background shaped a zero-debt, no-VC business with a focus on contribution margin and cash flow. – Amazon Breakout: The playbook behind going from $0 to $10M on Amazon in 2025. – Finding Hidden Growth: How niche personas (from Disney-goers to truck drivers) unlocked new Meta scale in a crowded ad landscape. – The Mission Behind Flux: Why Isaac cares more about creating genuine value for customers than selling the next trendy item. Find Isaac on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaac-mertens-5b107964/
Ep 36Hector Hughes: How His Tech-Free Cabins Test (and Sometimes End) Relationships
Hector Hughes is the co-founder and CEO of Unplugged, a company offering tech-free cabin stays that help people disconnect from their phones and reset in nature. Expect to hear about: – Origin Moment: How a 10-day silent retreat in the Himalayas in 2019 pushed Hector to quit his job and start Unplugged just weeks later. – The Hard Part: Why it took 5 years to truly figure out the unit economics and revenue model, and his lessons from asset-heavy scaling. – Who It’s Really For: Why 80% of guests are couples, and how three days offline can reshape (or end) relationships. – Betting on Brand: How betting on brand marketing in 2025 created "brand heat" and cut CAC by 30-40% in a matter of months. – Founder Evolution: Hector’s shift from fear-driven hustle to a more sustainable, long-term approach to leadership and life. Find Hector on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-hughes-10082195/
Ep 35Lomit Patel: Why Retention, Community, and Brand Win in 2026
Lomit Patel is the CMO of Try Your Best (TYB), a commnunity rewards platform that helps brands reward its biggest fans and build community. He previously held senior roles at Tynker, IMVU, Texture, TrustedID, and Roku.Expect to hear about:– From Operator to Leader: How your way of work evolves as you transition from growth operator to strategic leader.– Community as Growth Engine: Why he believes efficient growth starts with retention, and how community drives LTV, referrals, and trust.– Being Early to AI: How Lomit used AI at IMVU circa 2018 to scale growth and compete with companies with much bigger budgets.– The Human Edge: Why he sees AI as a tool for marketers, not a replacement, and why the element of human trust will matter even more in the future.– Brand Beyond Last Click: Why he changed his view on brand, and how brand-building creates demand that performance marketing captures.Find Lomit on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lomitpatel/ Find Lomit's newsletter "Lean 360" here:https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/lean-360-7153201357359927296/
Ep 34Ramon Vela: 1,000+ Founder Interviews & the 5 Lessons That Matter Most
Ramon Vela is the host of The Story of a Brand podcast, where he’s interviewed 1,000+ brand founders and operators across the consumer and ecommerce landscape. We break down 5 of the most important brand-building lessons he’s learned from those conversations.Expect to hear about:– The Power of Saying No: Why Chomps focused on one channel to build operational strength before scaling.– Building for Generations: How Hammitt’s long-term thinking turns durability into trust and repeat customers.– Surviving the Avalanche: How the Kuli Kuli founder's near-death experience shaped her ability to stay calm under pressure.– Planning for Downside: Why modeling worst-case scenarios helps brands survive unexpected drops.– Hiring Failed Founders: The surprising upside of hiring operators who’ve already learned hard lessons the hard way.Find Ramon on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramonvela/
Ep 33Jesse Eisenberg & Josh Suggs: Building the World's Biggest Street Interview Ad Agency
Josh Suggs and Jesse Eisenberg are co-founders of StreetTalk, a fast-growing agency producing street interview ads for brands like Dr. Squatch, Grüns, and Ridge Wallet.Expect to hear about:– Dropping Out to Go All-In: How Josh left college, moved to NYC, and bet on street interview ads, and why Jesse told his mom to let him drop out.– Corporate to Scrappy: Why Jesse left a large agency to bet on StreetTalk, trading big teams and boardrooms for startup build mode.– The Rise of Unscripted Creative: Why influencer fatigue and AI-heavy ads are pushing brands toward raw, unscripted reactions.– Scaling Operations: What it takes to produce 10,000+ interviews for 150+ brands, and turn capturing spontaneous moments into a repeatable system.– Beyond the Street: Their push into B2B events, conferences, and building a content engine around Josh’s personal brand.Find Josh on:Twitter/X – https://x.com/joshsuggss LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-suggs-street-interview-ads-9912a3251/ Find Jesse on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-eisenberg-streettalk/