John Fio: Building a World One Hug at a Time - Outside Insights Permanent Podcast: Real Talk About Private Equity and Buying, Selling, and Operating Small Businesses

John Fio (Gravity Blanket, Moon Pals) joins Brent Beshore & David Cover to talk about what it was like to work with Justin Bieber, the importance of finding truth in what you create, why worldbuilding is more important storytelling, and why so many products won’t stand the test of time.
 
LINKS & MENTIONS FROM THIS EPISODE
Gravity Blanket https://gravityblankets.com/
Moon Pals https://www.moonpals.com/
Birthdate Co https://birthdate.co/ 
Unqualified Opinions Newsletter https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletters 
 
CONNECT
John on twitter https://twitter.com/johnhfio 
John on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-fiorentino-a1b26439/ 
Brent on twitter https:/https://twitter.com/BrentBeshore
Brent on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentbeshore 
David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover
David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cover-318752230/ 
Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more
Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter 
Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions 
 
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro & Who Is John Fio?
4:38 Maybe the World DOES Need One More Podcast
5:44 John the Artist vs John the Warlord
8:22 Working for Justin Bieber & Almost Dying
10:27 Being Homeless for Over a Year
12:35 Inventing Gravity Blanket After Spending the Night on the Subway
20:00 Worldbuilding > Storytelling
24:20 Fearlessly Pursuing Your Customer
29:29 Sign Up for the Unqualified Opinions Newsletter
30:57 Red Bull Built a Real World
37:07 Is Uber a Real Company?
41:43 A Plague of Cynicism 
49:02 You Are More Than Yourself
1:04:21 Finding the Truth Is Profitable
1:07:13 Is Moon Pals the Next Disney?
1:13:30 Creating From Truth
1:16:10 Building Fio Creations: Finding Artists & Warlords
1:23:09 Send This Podcast to Someone
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Produced by David Cover
Intro music by David Cover, Andy Freeman, Rhett Johnson, & Andrew Luley
Interlude music by Sam Barsh
Outro music by Jees Guy
 
WE STEWARD COMPANIES THAT CARE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT 
Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more
Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter 
Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions 
Check out our other podcast episodes here: hhttps://pod.link/1480383949 
 
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
This podcast is made available solely for educational purposes, and the information presented here does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be construed as an offering of advisory services, or as a solicitation to buy, an offer to sell, or a recommendation of any securities or other financial instruments. The thoughts and opinions expressed by or through this podcast are those of the individual guests and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Permanent Equity. The discussion on this podcast of any entity, product or service does not imply an endorsement thereof, and the guests may have a financial interest, whether through investment or otherwise, in one or more of any such entities, products or services. This podcast is presented by Permanent Equity and may not be copied, reproduced, republished or posted, in any form, without its express written consent.