Podcast Summary: How I Built This with Guy Raz

Episode: Advice Line: What’s Your Value?

Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Guy Raz
Featured Guests:

Miguel McKelvey (co-founder, WeWork)
Alexa Hirschfeld (co-founder, Paperless Post)
Pete Maldonado & Rashid Ali (co-founders, Chomps)

Episode Overview

This mashup episode of the "Advice Line" series centers on the perennial challenge for entrepreneurs: identifying and communicating your value proposition. Guy Raz welcomes back several iconic founders to help three callers at different stages in their businesses. The episode is practical, hands-on, and honest—lifting the curtain on the real struggles and tactics of product clarity, customer education, and strategic team-building.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing and Educating Around a Disruptive Product

With Miguel McKelvey (WeWork) & Megan Downey (Shiki Wrap)
[04:14–14:41]

Caller Background: Megan runs Shiki Wrap, selling reusable, sustainable gift wraps and bags inspired by Japanese furoshiki.
Core Challenge: Whether in-person experiential marketing (pop-ups, wrapping bars) is a distraction or essential for customer education, versus focusing on scale through retail/E-commerce.
Core Insights:
- Tactile Product Education: Both Guy and Miguel emphasize that Shiki Wrap is a tactile product—it needs to be experienced firsthand by consumers for them to understand its value.
- Community Niche Targeting: Miguel suggests focusing on communities, e.g., scrapbookers or sustainability aficionados, for organic growth.
- Strategic Seasonality: Guy proposes concentrating in-person experiences during peak seasons (e.g., the holiday gift-giving window) for maximum impact.
Notable Tactics:
- Film pop-up events (hire local students as videographers) to bank digital content for marketing year-round.
- Long-term aim is mainstream retail, but early-stage success hinges on targeted, high-touch education and storytelling.
- Manufacturing Integration: Megan inquires about moving production to the U.S. post-patent. Miguel is supportive but cautions that small brands must balance the complexities and costs of domestic manufacturing with their current scale.

Memorable Quotes:

“Communities are the best customers rather than fragmented individuals. So try to find those communities that this really appeals to.” — Miguel McKelvey [11:58]
“It would be worthwhile to just throw it all into that [holiday] time frame and then focus on the retail stuff the rest of the year.” — Guy Raz [10:31]
“Managing fabrication can be a lot of time ... For a very small brand, you just have to be careful. As an investor, it would perhaps scare me a little bit.” — Miguel [13:48]

2. Clarifying Product Value and Positioning

With Alexa Hirschfeld (Paperless Post) & Amanda (Woofsie)
[19:14–29:26]

Caller Background: Amanda launched Woofsie, creating decks of “enrichment activities” cards for dogs—each offering a structured game to promote mental stimulation.
Core Challenge: Many potential customers mistake the product for a literal card game for dogs or fail to see the enrichment value; Amanda struggles to convey this online compared to in-person demos.
Core Insights:
- Customer-Led Messaging: Alexa recommends grounding marketing in the outcomes and testimonials of existing happy customers—focus on their words and experiences.
- Problem-Solving Approach: Position the product as an answer to common problems (e.g., boredom, anxiety, destructive behavior) rather than just a set of dog “games.”
- Copy Testing: Online selling makes it easy to A/B test messaging—try “10 minutes a day to reduce your dog’s boredom and anxiety” or “brain games for dogs,” then see what resonates.
Notable Tactics:
- Solicit and share specific video testimonials from users.
- Read April Dunford’s “Obviously Awesome” for a systematic approach to product positioning.

Memorable Quotes:

“The best way I've found to position your product is to really understand what your most beloved fans see in it and use that as the crux of the positioning.” — Alexa Hirschfeld [24:39]
“You're kind of selling using the problem to describe the product.” — Alexa Hirschfeld [27:48]
“10 minutes a day to reduce boredom and change destructive behavior in your dog.” — Guy Raz [26:16]
“Get a few more [testimonials] because... if you go to your website, right, it says mental enrichment dog games. But could you flip the script?” — Guy Raz [25:32]

3. Team Building & Scaling a Gourmet Brand

With Pete Maldonado & Rashid Ali (Chomps) & Mark Goldfarb (In Mark’s Kitchen)
[30:35–41:35]

Caller Background: Mark is a veteran artisan and founder of In Mark’s Kitchen, selling high-end, fresh gourmet pestos in specialty stores and online.
Core Challenge: Alone at the helm, Mark needs to find the right person to help him grow—someone with the right mix of industry experience and brand passion, without sacrificing quality or personal values for scale.
Core Insights:
- Self-awareness & Complementarity: Pete recounts how he and Rashid partnered for Chomps—each balanced the other’s weaknesses (e.g., sales vs. ops/finance). Mark is encouraged to think similarly.
- Brand before Tactics: Nail down your brand’s DNA and story before hiring for operational or tactical support—understand who you serve and what your non-negotiables are.
- Strategic Outsourcing: Rashid notes that Mark already partners with a co-packer (biggest transfer of control); now, focus on further outsourcing low-value tasks to maximize time for strategic growth.
- Sourcing Help: Tips include recruiting from among current customers (for passion alignment), using LinkedIn, seeking recent business school grads, and network referrals.
Notable Tactics:
- Revaluate tasks: stop driving long distances for ingredients if it’s not an efficient use of founder time.
- Challenge cost structure and margin through manufacturing innovation (not ingredient substitution, unless aligned with core values).

Memorable Quotes:

“You need to understand, like, where are you spending your time? What is a transactional tactical task versus a strategic one where it's worth your time to do?” — Rashid Ali [36:32]
“Start with your customer base. If you have somebody that’s already a big fan of the brand... that’s the bare minimum of what you need for someone to be successful in this role.” — Pete Maldonado [41:12]
“If you are after scale and growth, you may want to think about somebody who might be recently retired but has experience doing this kind of work. But there might be trade offs.” — Guy Raz [38:20]

Notable Quotes & Segments by Timestamp

| Timestamp | Quote / Segment | Speaker | |--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------| | 07:42 | “First of all, it seems like a very cool product, but I'm a little confused on the mechanism...” | Miguel McKelvey | | 11:58 | “Communities are the best customers rather than fragmented individuals.” | Miguel McKelvey | | 13:48 | “For a very small brand, you just have to be careful.” | Miguel McKelvey | | 24:39 | “The best way I’ve found to position your product is to really understand what your most beloved fans see in it...” | Alexa Hirschfeld | | 27:48 | “You're kind of selling using the problem to describe the product.” | Alexa Hirschfeld | | 36:32 | “You need to understand, like, where are you spending your time?... what is a transactional tactic versus a strategic one?” | Rashid Ali | | 41:12 | “Start with your customer base. If you have somebody that’s already a big fan... that’s the bare minimum...” | Pete Maldonado |

Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

Educate through Experience: For tactile or novel products, invest proportionally in real-world demos and content that shows the experience.
Source Messaging from Happy Customers: Your strongest pitch is found in your most devoted users’ own words and their specific testimonials.
Be Strategic with Time: Audit founder tasks, and outsource anything not tied to the highest-leverage activities.
Intentionally Scale: Decide not just how big you want to be, but what compromises (if any) you’re willing to make to get there.
Hire for Passion and Complementarity: Seek help from those who love your brand and fill in critical skills gaps, not just bodies.

This mashup episode is filled with actionable, real-world advice—reminding listeners that defining and communicating value is equal parts clarity, storytelling, and knowing what you stand for.

Podcast Summary: How I Built This with Guy Raz

Episode: Advice Line: What’s Your Value?

Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Guy Raz
Featured Guests:

Miguel McKelvey (co-founder, WeWork)
Alexa Hirschfeld (co-founder, Paperless Post)
Pete Maldonado & Rashid Ali (co-founders, Chomps)

Episode Overview

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing and Educating Around a Disruptive Product

With Miguel McKelvey (WeWork) & Megan Downey (Shiki Wrap)
[04:14–14:41]

Caller Background: Megan runs Shiki Wrap, selling reusable, sustainable gift wraps and bags inspired by Japanese furoshiki.
Core Challenge: Whether in-person experiential marketing (pop-ups, wrapping bars) is a distraction or essential for customer education, versus focusing on scale through retail/E-commerce.
Core Insights:
- Tactile Product Education: Both Guy and Miguel emphasize that Shiki Wrap is a tactile product—it needs to be experienced firsthand by consumers for them to understand its value.
- Community Niche Targeting: Miguel suggests focusing on communities, e.g., scrapbookers or sustainability aficionados, for organic growth.
- Strategic Seasonality: Guy proposes concentrating in-person experiences during peak seasons (e.g., the holiday gift-giving window) for maximum impact.
Notable Tactics:
- Film pop-up events (hire local students as videographers) to bank digital content for marketing year-round.
- Long-term aim is mainstream retail, but early-stage success hinges on targeted, high-touch education and storytelling.
- Manufacturing Integration: Megan inquires about moving production to the U.S. post-patent. Miguel is supportive but cautions that small brands must balance the complexities and costs of domestic manufacturing with their current scale.

Memorable Quotes:

“Communities are the best customers rather than fragmented individuals. So try to find those communities that this really appeals to.” — Miguel McKelvey [11:58]
“It would be worthwhile to just throw it all into that [holiday] time frame and then focus on the retail stuff the rest of the year.” — Guy Raz [10:31]
“Managing fabrication can be a lot of time ... For a very small brand, you just have to be careful. As an investor, it would perhaps scare me a little bit.” — Miguel [13:48]

2. Clarifying Product Value and Positioning

With Alexa Hirschfeld (Paperless Post) & Amanda (Woofsie)
[19:14–29:26]

Caller Background: Amanda launched Woofsie, creating decks of “enrichment activities” cards for dogs—each offering a structured game to promote mental stimulation.
Core Challenge: Many potential customers mistake the product for a literal card game for dogs or fail to see the enrichment value; Amanda struggles to convey this online compared to in-person demos.
Core Insights:
- Customer-Led Messaging: Alexa recommends grounding marketing in the outcomes and testimonials of existing happy customers—focus on their words and experiences.
- Problem-Solving Approach: Position the product as an answer to common problems (e.g., boredom, anxiety, destructive behavior) rather than just a set of dog “games.”
- Copy Testing: Online selling makes it easy to A/B test messaging—try “10 minutes a day to reduce your dog’s boredom and anxiety” or “brain games for dogs,” then see what resonates.
Notable Tactics:
- Solicit and share specific video testimonials from users.
- Read April Dunford’s “Obviously Awesome” for a systematic approach to product positioning.

Memorable Quotes:

“The best way I've found to position your product is to really understand what your most beloved fans see in it and use that as the crux of the positioning.” — Alexa Hirschfeld [24:39]
“You're kind of selling using the problem to describe the product.” — Alexa Hirschfeld [27:48]
“10 minutes a day to reduce boredom and change destructive behavior in your dog.” — Guy Raz [26:16]
“Get a few more [testimonials] because... if you go to your website, right, it says mental enrichment dog games. But could you flip the script?” — Guy Raz [25:32]

3. Team Building & Scaling a Gourmet Brand

With Pete Maldonado & Rashid Ali (Chomps) & Mark Goldfarb (In Mark’s Kitchen)
[30:35–41:35]

Caller Background: Mark is a veteran artisan and founder of In Mark’s Kitchen, selling high-end, fresh gourmet pestos in specialty stores and online.
Core Challenge: Alone at the helm, Mark needs to find the right person to help him grow—someone with the right mix of industry experience and brand passion, without sacrificing quality or personal values for scale.
Core Insights:
- Self-awareness & Complementarity: Pete recounts how he and Rashid partnered for Chomps—each balanced the other’s weaknesses (e.g., sales vs. ops/finance). Mark is encouraged to think similarly.
- Brand before Tactics: Nail down your brand’s DNA and story before hiring for operational or tactical support—understand who you serve and what your non-negotiables are.
- Strategic Outsourcing: Rashid notes that Mark already partners with a co-packer (biggest transfer of control); now, focus on further outsourcing low-value tasks to maximize time for strategic growth.
- Sourcing Help: Tips include recruiting from among current customers (for passion alignment), using LinkedIn, seeking recent business school grads, and network referrals.
Notable Tactics:
- Revaluate tasks: stop driving long distances for ingredients if it’s not an efficient use of founder time.
- Challenge cost structure and margin through manufacturing innovation (not ingredient substitution, unless aligned with core values).

Memorable Quotes:

“You need to understand, like, where are you spending your time? What is a transactional tactical task versus a strategic one where it's worth your time to do?” — Rashid Ali [36:32]
“Start with your customer base. If you have somebody that’s already a big fan of the brand... that’s the bare minimum of what you need for someone to be successful in this role.” — Pete Maldonado [41:12]
“If you are after scale and growth, you may want to think about somebody who might be recently retired but has experience doing this kind of work. But there might be trade offs.” — Guy Raz [38:20]

Notable Quotes & Segments by Timestamp

Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

Educate through Experience: For tactile or novel products, invest proportionally in real-world demos and content that shows the experience.
Source Messaging from Happy Customers: Your strongest pitch is found in your most devoted users’ own words and their specific testimonials.
Be Strategic with Time: Audit founder tasks, and outsource anything not tied to the highest-leverage activities.
Intentionally Scale: Decide not just how big you want to be, but what compromises (if any) you’re willing to make to get there.
Hire for Passion and Complementarity: Seek help from those who love your brand and fill in critical skills gaps, not just bodies.

This mashup episode is filled with actionable, real-world advice—reminding listeners that defining and communicating value is equal parts clarity, storytelling, and knowing what you stand for.