Curiosity, Lobsters, and Building a Brand That Lasts | Mark Murrell from Get Maine Lobster

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience – "Curiosity, Lobsters, and Building a Brand That Lasts" with Mark Murrell

Release Date: December 3, 2024

In this engaging episode of The GaryVee Audio Experience, host Gary Vaynerchuk sits down with Mark Murrell, the founder of Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood. The conversation delves deep into Mark's entrepreneurial journey, the intricacies of the lobster business, the importance of curiosity, and building a sustainable brand. Below is a detailed summary of their discussion, highlighting key points, insightful exchanges, and notable quotes with timestamps.

---

1. Introduction

Mike from Team Gary Vee kicks off the episode by introducing Gary and Mark, emphasizing their discussion on starting a business in the late '90s and early 2000s, overcoming challenges, creativity, and customer experience.

Mike [00:03]:

"Gary and Mark really dive into what it was like starting a business back in the late '90s, early 2000s, and some of the challenges they had to overcome."

Gary begins with a message on gratitude, urging listeners to focus on the positive aspects of their lives before introducing Mark.

2. Mark’s Background and Early Life

Mark Murrell shares his upbringing, moving from Tampa, Florida, to Auburn, Maine, at the age of six due to his mother's discomfort with Florida's climate and culture.

Mark [01:07]:

"I was born in Tampa, Florida... moved to Maine when I was six."

They discuss Auburn's rural setting in 1978, contrasting it with the present-day growth, including malls and restaurants.

Mark [03:05]:

"Football, basketball, baseball... learned my grit from there."

3. Early Entrepreneurial Ventures

Mark reflects on his high school days, wanting to become a writer, and his early forays into entrepreneurship, including selling T-shirts with his father.

Mark [05:35]:

"I love telling stories."

Despite initial failures, such as the T-shirt business, Mark emphasizes the importance of timing in entrepreneurship.

4. Transition to the Internet and Web Design

In 1995, Mark explores the burgeoning internet landscape. He recounts his attempts to build websites using tools like Dreamweaver and Adobe, positioning himself as an early adopter in Maine where few others had web presence.

Mark [10:18]:

"I could build websites... no one else knew nothing."

Gary underscores Mark's insight:

Gary [11:25]:

"When you know something, even if you don't know a lot of it, but nobody else knows, then you're the smartest person in the room."

5. Starting Get Maine Lobster

Mark discusses the inception of Get Maine Lobster in 2009, leveraging platforms like Groupon and LivingSocial to initiate demand. Emphasizing direct-to-consumer sales, Mark highlights the significance of customer experience in establishing a loyal customer base.

Mark [30:19]:

"We only did that for two years."

6. Growth and Scaling of the Business

The conversation shifts to the exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, where Mark's company experienced a 600% surge in 2020. He attributes this growth to strategic ad buying and scaling infrastructure to meet increased demand.

Mark [32:00]:

"We grew 600% in 2020."

Gary connects this to broader market trends:

Gary [25:13]:

"People want healthier, cleaner, better products and they're willing to pay a premium for it."

7. Challenges and Industry Insights

Mark provides an insider's view of the lobster industry, discussing sustainable practices, regulatory challenges, and the dynamics of supply and demand. He explains the concept of "boat price" and how major buyers like grocery chains influence pricing.

Mark [19:40]:

"Consumer demand... it's called boat price."

They also touch upon the logistical challenges of shipping live lobsters, ensuring product quality upon arrival.

Mark [24:57]:

"If anybody comes to the wharf... he's super duper spry."

8. Expansion to Black Point Seafood

Expanding beyond lobsters, Mark introduces Black Point Seafood, a subscription-based service offering a variety of seafood, including salmon, cod, scallops, and oysters. This diversification aims to cater to a broader market while maintaining high-quality standards.

Mark [34:00]:

"Blackpointseafood.com... great seafood."

9. Importance of Curiosity and Execution

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the role of curiosity in entrepreneurship. Mark asserts that curiosity is the most important ingredient for success, while Gary emphasizes the necessity of executing ideas effectively.

Mark [37:34]:

"Curiosity is the number one most important ingredient of all things."

Gary [11:07]:

"Don't be like Alex in Scapegate and do the wrong thing."

10. Conclusion and Final Remarks

As the episode wraps up, Gary encourages listeners to explore Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood's websites and engage with them on social media. Mark reiterates the importance of customer experience and maintaining high standards in their offerings.

Mark [42:09]:

"Blackpointseafood.com... great seafood."

Gary closes with a heartfelt appreciation of Mark's commitment to quality and customer service.

---

Notable Quotes

• Mark [05:35]: "I love telling stories."
• Gary [11:25]: "When you know something, even if you don't know a lot of it, but nobody else knows, then you're the smartest person in the room."
• Mark [32:00]: "We grew 600% in 2020."
• Mark [37:34]: "Curiosity is the number one most important ingredient of all things."

---

Key Takeaways

1. Entrepreneurial Spirit: Mark's journey illustrates the importance of resilience, adaptability, and continuous learning in building a successful business.

2. Direct-to-Consumer Model: Leveraging platforms like Groupon was pivotal in establishing early demand for Get Maine Lobster, showcasing the effectiveness of innovative marketing strategies.

3. Customer Experience: Emphasizing exceptional customer service fosters loyalty and drives sustainable growth, a principle both Gary and Mark advocate strongly.

4. Sustainability and Quality: In the seafood industry, maintaining high standards and sustainable practices ensures product quality and customer trust.

5. Curiosity and Execution: A blend of innate curiosity and disciplined execution is essential for turning ideas into successful ventures.

---

About Mark Murrell

Mark Murrell is the founder of Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood. With a passion for seafood and a keen entrepreneurial mindset, Mark has successfully navigated the challenges of the direct-to-consumer market, emphasizing sustainability, quality, and exceptional customer service. His ventures continue to grow, adapting to market dynamics and expanding product offerings to meet diverse consumer needs.

Connect with Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood

• Get Maine Lobster: getmainlobster.com
• Black Point Seafood: blackpointseafood.com
• Instagram: @getmainlobster

---

This episode serves as an inspiring testament to the power of curiosity, the importance of adapting to market trends, and the enduring value of exceptional customer service in building a brand that stands the test of time.

Transcript

[A]

This is the GaryVee audio experience.

[B]

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the GaryVee audio experience. I'm Mike from Team Gary Vee. On today's episode of the podcast, Gary sits down with Mark Murrell, founder of Get Main Lobster and Black Point Seafood. Gary and Mark really dive into what it was like starting a business back in the late 90s, early 2000s, and some of the challenges they had to overcome. They talk about creativity, the importance of customer experience, and much more. I hope you all enjoyed today's episode.

[A]

Vayner Nation, it is great to see you again. Well, I don't know if I seen you, but it's great to be heard again. Hope everybody's well. Actually, before we get into this incredible podcast with another great entrepreneur and a motivational story and some insights and entertainment, just take a quick second and let's lean into some gratitude. Feel like. Feel like people are just too heavy these days, are just deciding to, like, focus on negativity. So take a deep breath if you're on a treadmill and just be thankful for what you have instead of envying what you don't. Anyway, my friend, with your incredible beard here, why don't you tell take the next minute or two and tell the vaynernation who you are, what you do, and let's get into the show.

[C]

Yes. So I am Mark Murrell, founder of Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood. Direct to consumer lobster business. Been around since 2009. We're right on 48 Union war from Portland, Maine. So it's a ton of fun. We're right there in the middle of it. You know, salty lobstermen come in. We picked the best, put it in a box and ship to any doorstep in the US and yeah, it's pretty cool, actually.

[A]

I took it off ironically to put the fly fish hat on, but I shouldn't. This is the. For anybody who's watching, this is the loyal lobster.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

This is the loyal lobster hat. And we did a collaboration. One of the reasons I wanted Mark here is we did a collaboration for all the loyal lobster NFT holders who have been just blown away by your service. And I do think direct to consumer and I think live shopping is a big trend. And I think, you know, again, everybody's infatuated with the bitcoin of it all, the Snapchat of it all, but 99.9% of businesses are analog or different. Like, you know, just something that I think will resonate with a lot of people here. And so I want to dig into this journey because direct to consumer seafood.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

That's a minimally a only a two decade new phenomenon. It's just not how. I mean, there was some cataloging stuff, but like the Internet changed the variables. The way things are done takes the variables. Let's go back to the beginning of it. How did that even start?

[C]

Yeah. So I grew up in Maine, born and raised. Not born but raised.

[A]

Born.

[C]

I was born in Tampa, Florida.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah. So my mom's from the west coast. My dad's from Florida.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

My mom didn't like the south, even though Florida's not really south. My dad got a job in Maine, moved to Maine when I was six.

[A]

Yeah, what did he do?

[C]

He's done a lot of things. He's got like five masters. But he ended up being a speech language pathologist.

[A]

Good for him.

[C]

And my mom ran medical offices and.

[A]

So wait, your mom, your mom was born and raised where?

[C]

Seattle.

[A]

And so Florida's weather was just too nice for her.

[C]

She didn't like. She didn't like the culture. Yeah, it was different and the weather was hot. I was born in July in Tampa.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Right. So she was like, you know what, let's get out of here.

[A]

And so you guys went to the, like at the. I mean, what year was this?

[C]

Yeah. 1978.

[A]

Right. So I'm gonna. Today we can agree that Maine is not New York City.

[C]

No.

[A]

1978 is even more rural.

[C]

So when I moved there to Auburn, which is inland 30 miles from where.

[A]

I live now, how close is that to Wayne, Maine?

[C]

You know Wayne?

[A]

I know Wayne, Maine because I have.

[C]

A lake, I have a house, I have a small little thing on Wayne on the lake. Yeah.

[A]

So a friend of mine in college, Pete, who was actually the kid who had the computer that went on the Internet for the first time. And my famous. For my hardcore fans, my famous. I saw the Internet and I saw the future. It was on Pete from Wayne Maine's computer. He was a crafty little white boy basketball player. Big shout out, Pete, if you know the old Mount Ida days. So I know Wayne, Maine. So I'm curious, where's Auburn to Wayne, Maine?

[C]

Very close. 20 minutes, love.

[A]

So I know the area. Go ahead. Yeah, so you, when you moved there.

[C]

In 78, it was like rural farm, everything. Now there's like a mall, there's an Applebee's. Is. Yeah, everything. Right. But Auburn, like how many kids were.

[A]

In Your high school?

[C]

250.

[A]

For the whole high school or your class?

[C]

My class.

[A]

Got it. So it was a regional high school.

[C]

Yeah. We had like five towns.

[A]

Right. You had a friend that was like 26 minutes away.

[C]

Exactly. Yeah.

[A]

So I know the game and not.

[C]

A lot going on. It's really grown a lot because we have two hospitals and lots of lawyers, so doctors and lawyers.

[A]

So that's where you grew up. What kind of child did you have? Like sports books, nerd. The usual stuff outside 80s life.

[C]

Yeah. Football, basketball, baseball, you know, and learned my grit, you know, from there. And 100% and how to take a beating.

[A]

When you were in high school, what did you think you wanted to be?

[C]

A writer.

[A]

Interesting. You were good at writing.

[C]

Ever since I was a little kid, I loved entertaining and being funny to the crowd and my parents tell me stories about that. And I still write. I write a lot of mean. I still do some writing for, you know, the lobster business. I do most of the writing for it, so.

[A]

So the copy storytelling.

[C]

I love telling stories.

[A]

Good for you. All right, so you're thinking about being a writer. Then what happens? Did you go to college? Did you not?

[C]

I went to college. Did not want to go to college. But you're preaching. Yeah. I was like, all right, I'll go. So I went to two year school, hospitality, got a degree, and then moved around for five years doing this, that and the other. I went right to Nantucket after college.

[A]

That's cool.

[C]

And I lived there for six months.

[A]

Had you ever been there before?

[C]

I hadn't.

[A]

So that must have been in culture.

[C]

That was 1992. Went there by myself.

[A]

You got to see wealth.

[C]

Yes, yes. And I got to serve the wealth.

[A]

I get it. Me too. My whole life, growing up in my daddy's liquor store, I would take out boxes to these Mercedes and BMWs and get a $1 tip, occasionally a 5, which would make me lose my mind. And, you know, it was like I thought if you owned a Mercedes, that you were the richest person on earth.

[C]

Oh, yeah, exactly. You know, and yeah, it's Nantucket. Crazy, crazy wealth, you know, but whenever I go, it's one of my favorite places in the world. My shoulders drop, my blood pressure goes down.

[A]

Good for you.

[C]

Just like.

[A]

That's a great. It's a chill place. It's a little different than a vineyard.

[C]

Totally.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So anyway, so you went there after college? Went there after college. And then I caught the hospitality bug or.

[C]

No, I did that for like four or five years.

[A]

Yeah, you like it? It's a great thing to do at that age.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Then I went to Florida, worked At.

[C]

A hotel and then went back to Nantucket and ended up working at the Chicken Box. And the muse got a bartending gig at a young age, which just changed everything for me.

[A]

Yeah, right. Why?

[C]

Just because I had a ton of cash at a very young age and a bartender in nuts. You know, it's.

[A]

That's. Yeah, a little bit of fun.

[C]

Byproduct. Yeah. So. And then I moved to Colorado. Did a season there in Aspen. Or Telluride.

[A]

Telluride, sure.

[C]

Love Telluride. So I did that four or five years until finally I started to gig with my dad. We made T shirts. Try to sell them, yada yada together.

[A]

Were you or dad entrepreneurial?

[C]

My dad was.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You were less so you would say.

[C]

No, I had. I. You had a. I was doing stuff or. At a young age. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Selling lollipops or doing some random.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

Okay, so you got it. So that's what led to the T shirt thing. Go ahead, keep going.

[C]

And so how did that go?

[A]

Disaster.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, totally. Yeah.

[C]

I think we still have inventory. This was 1993. Know, my mom keeps yelling at us.

[A]

Well, that was when, you know, like, the T shirt thing was very hot in that era. I was a junior in high school at that point, and I was doing a lot of my businesses and, you know, the life is good and like, don't worry, be happy and like, put a slogan, a tie, dyed. And like, you know, there was just T shirts were flying.

[C]

Yeah. We were talking to peace frogs. Right. So close, you know, and then just I was like, hey, I gotta, you know, season's over, I gotta get out of here. And blah, blah, blah. We just let go of it, tried to sell them, you know, concerts, things like that. It was a southwestern motif. My dad was the artist. It was super cool.

[A]

That's rad.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And so you have a creative family. Dad's an artist. You're a writer?

[C]

Photographer. Dad's photographer.

[A]

It's got a whole agency.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, not. Not right now.

[A]

Fair enough. Go ahead.

[C]

And so then it was 1995, where I got a couple buddies in my town that I'm still really good friends with, and we had a couple concepts, and one of them was my buddy's like, hey, I can get this gig for us, but I need you to run it. You lock it down and then move to Florida. And we're going to do this thing. He was a day trader and it was building, you know, a platform for this guy to manage his day trading. This is 1995.

[A]

Tech.

[C]

Yeah, tech.

[A]

Early tech.

[C]

Yeah. So I go down and do that. I got no money. My buddies, he's established there. And I drive from Maine and my little Nissan Sentra. And I get there and I'm not feeling it, not feeling it. And I have it and I'm like, I want to start. Like, I want to go. I want to like.

[A]

How old are you at this point?

[C]

25, 6.

[A]

Go ahead.

[C]

And. And then. So I took off in the middle of the night. Two days later, drove back to Maine.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

Said to my dad, hey, I can do this. So when you're talking about Wayne Maine, the Internet. I was on the Internet in like 1988. 87, cuz.

[A]

Dad.

[C]

Because dad, right. I had like five, six computers.

[A]

Prodigy.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

The early Apple computers.

[C]

Commodore 64. Yeah.

[A]

Remember Oregon Trail?

[C]

Yeah. Yep. Used to put in a little disc, go.

[A]

Wheel of Fortune, everything.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Huh.

[C]

So then I go to my.

[A]

Prodigy was big.

[C]

What? Prodigy.

[A]

Remember that? And then AOL obviously took it up to the moon. Okay.

[C]

Netscape. So I go to my dad and say, hey, could you code I just enough to, you know, get by, do a little bit. But I do.

[A]

When you say you got. You had it when you went. When you bailed in the middle night, what was it? The concept?

[C]

Yeah. So I went to my dad, I could build websites, I could build.

[A]

Got it. That's what I thought you were gonna say.

[C]

And I knew people.

[A]

That's huge.

[C]

Yeah. We're using Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver. And then Adobe.

[A]

Getting very nervous. I'm getting nerdy on you kids right now. This I'm getting. We're going to our youth right now.

[C]

Adobe had a product as well.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And I just knew enough. I knew.

[A]

I knew in a world that no one knew shit, nobody had a website.

[C]

Especially in Maine. Right?

[A]

Bingo.

[C]

So I go, listen, I could do this.

[A]

He puts up, this is a commercial interruption. When you know something, when even if you don't know a lot of it, but nobody else knows nothing, then you're the smartest person in the room.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. This is very important for everybody that's listening right now. There may be something you know and you are insecure and you think, well, I don't really know it, like the experts in the world. But what you didn't calibrate is that you know more than 99%.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

What our friend here is talking about is he knew how to build websites. Let me tell a story. The first winelibrary.com that was built was built by a guy named Alex for a company named Scapegate. And he charged me 25K. And this is inflation. It was a ton of money.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And years later, I realized he built it on Dreamweaver. And it took him two seconds. Yeah, I knew something. He knew more. And that's the moral of the story here. Like, don't be like Alex in Scapegate and do the wrong thing. Cause then he disappeared in the hole. It was terrible. But, like, for example, right now, I think you all know I'm very hot on social live shopping. A lot of you remember six years ago when I was yelling at you to do TikTok if you know a little advantage. And that's what Mark had. He had the advantage of. I knew how to build websites. Let this be very clear. In 1995, forget about Maine. Most of the world did not know about how to build websites. Sure. Silicon Valley, sure. Pockets of New York. But let there be no confusion, it was early, but everybody knew the Internet was coming, and it must have been a hot period. So you went to dad and said, I got this. Give me a couple bucks, or what?

[C]

In an important part of that that you reminded me about. So thank you. I was in a coffee shop. I had so much experience. I was doing this just for myself, and I was designing stuff for my family and da, da, da, da. And so then I read an article about, you know, the Internet. I think it's like 1996 or whatever, 1995, you know, something like that. I was like, man, this is a fucking thing. So I walk out of the coffee shop. Two blocks later, I see a storefront web design shop called Tricycle Media. And I walk in and I go to the founder and said, I will work for free. I want a key and. And I want to know everything. You know, real quick.

[A]

When you read this article in the coffee shop, when you walked out, had you already known about Tricycle? You'd seen it?

[C]

No. The universe just put it there. You swear to God?

[A]

That's why I'm asking.

[C]

Because I was like, it was Congress and state. I was on Congress having coffee, reading the article, and then State is the next one over.

[A]

That's insane. That's out of a fucking movie. You know that?

[C]

Yeah, I just go after it and learn everything that I can. And I go out and sell websites, you know, for her.

[A]

Are you coding in HTML at this point? Is HTML like I'm doing aspects asp?

[C]

Yes. Well, if you need some functionality.

[A]

Yeah, but you're just doing the bait. That's what you needed. Again, brochure. You just took the words out of my fucking mouth.

[C]

Sorry.

[A]

So I won't know. I love you for it. I just wanted all the kids to know, like, literally you would just have a brochure. Like, you couldn't click anything. You just needed something basic.

[C]

Exactly. So then that's where I got a lot of my experience, because I had enough to do some damage. Then I says, all right, I got the coder and an illustrator. I'm going to build three concepts. So I tell my dad, here's the three concepts, right? One is dating site. Two is a wedding concepts planner site, and the third is a portfolio site for artists that can't afford to have an instance online. They can have a piece of real estate here. You know, one page, two page, whatever. They want something, right? And he's like, cool. Forked up 15 grand. Bought some stuff.

[A]

Yeah. Dad came through.

[C]

Dad really came through. Dad is alive.

[A]

What's his name?

[C]

Richard.

[A]

Big shout out, Richard.

[C]

He's gonna love that.

[A]

Big shout out, Richard. Honestly, look, when a parent can do that for a kid. Did you borrow the money and said you were going to pay him back, or did you?

[C]

No, we were partners.

[A]

Oh. Part even better. Yeah, even better.

[C]

But we failed, you know? But failing happens, you know?

[A]

Why did you fail? Let's. Let's teach kids.

[C]

I think. Timing, right. So we were a little bit ahead. So the Wedding Concepts was Wedding concepts dot com. I let go of the domain later became the not. You know?

[A]

Yeah. So it. Really. Fucking kidding me, do I know? I grew up with you in that era. I watched thing after thing be too early. And then the thing. I mean, Tinder was an idea me and my brother had. We called it Booty Call.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And it would only work from midnight.

[C]

Ours was Pickle Jar.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, like, it's Pickle Jar.

[C]

Swear to God.

[A]

It was just what was happening back then. But this speaks to actually at this point, with a successful business now. And you're being very amazing to this audience, talking about failures. How much do you now believe in execution over idea?

[C]

It's everything, Right? Because I've had. I had a brilliant idea when I. So for a minute, when I was in Chicago, I was actually a consultant.

[A]

Oh, boy.

[C]

Right.

[A]

I like how you did the suit. Yeah. If you're watching at home, you can't see this, because if you're listening, he just took both hands and put it down his whole chest. And I knew what he meant. He was wearing a fucking suit for a few seconds in Chicago.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

That clearly didn't last. No, you're way too creative for that.

[C]

For one my. One of my first meetings, you know, after that, she's like, you wear flip flops to all your meetings. Oh, wow.

[A]

You were really bringing that main DNA.

[C]

Well, so my goal in life is to be barefoot.

[A]

I love it.

[C]

So I don't. I try. I hate wearing socks and shoes, by the way.

[A]

You know, that's becoming like, you know, that's the OG and now all these coastal kids want to be grounding and have their feet to the ground. Like the whole nine.

[C]

Totally.

[A]

You're ahead of the trend.

[C]

Yeah. Again.

[A]

Again. No, by the way, I believe that Maine, Vermont hippie culture. I'm a very big believer that it's ahead of the trends.

[C]

There's.

[A]

It's not super complicated. The data has proven it.

[C]

Yeah, well, the nature. Right. It seeps in 100. Your soul.

[A]

Well, because people forget we're fucking animals.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, we're fucking animals.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And like, no shit, the earth should be part of our equation.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And I'm a good old fashioned city boy. I love this city more. I will never leave this concrete jungle. It is my habitat.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But there's no confusion to me that I could benefit dramatically from some feet in the fucking sand and rubbing my fucking face in the salty ocean and fucking getting some sun in my fucking soul.

[C]

Like, of course, it's the first thing I do wherever I go is take my shoes and socks off and walk.

[A]

The ground outside or just inside.

[C]

Oh, I love grounding. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I do have a habit of.

[A]

By the way, you know what's so funny, Mark? I've been pretty excited to meet you. Like, all the. All the vibes, like, do this interview. Just getting your vibe right now. Makes me want to eat your seafood so bad. I'm not kidding. Actually. In a world of clean eating and all the chemicals and all the trends and gut health and all this, I. I genuinely feel like I'm now gonna sign up personally because it's so clear to me that you're actually picking those fucking lobsters.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And that matters.

[C]

Yeah. That's the whole.

[A]

What is the website? Real quick, just for everybody else who's.

[C]

Inspired as I am, get main lobster.

[A]

Dot com, Getmain lobster dot com.

[C]

That's M A I N E. Yep. Because a lot of people type, how much is.

[A]

How much is the lobster of the month? Like, how much? How much is it, man?

[C]

I think there's one for like 150, 60. We're coming out with some More for the holidays, too.

[A]

Love it.

[C]

It's a mystery box.

[A]

How's the business? Like, how is the main lobster business these days?

[C]

You know, it's. It's tough this year.

[A]

Why not?

[C]

Not enough fishing's down.

[A]

Why?

[C]

You know, the guys. So the price really constitutes effort. Right. So if the guys, during the nice. In girls, during the nice months, get a really good price at the. At the wharf, then they're going to bring in a lot more money than they would have, say, the year previous. So they can work for less amount of time. Right.

[A]

And the price at the warp is based on just consumer demand.

[C]

It's called boat price. Well, so consumer demand, actually, it's like think of major buyers. So think of a large grocery chain that wants live lobster at a number of its locations.

[A]

Albertsons.

[C]

Albertsons. So Albertsons would come in, be like, hey, I want to earmark, you know, £200,000 over the next three months at this price. And they say, we say, hey, you know, seven bucks a pound. Like no. 625, tops.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

Boom. That's the boat price. Right then and there.

[A]

Got it.

[C]

China will come in, say, I want £2 million for Chinese New Year, and I'll pay this. Boom. Price goes up because they want to win. Some people overpay to ensure the catch.

[A]

I get it.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Makes sense.

[C]

So it's also changes every day.

[A]

I might move to Maine and just trade fucking lobster. This is getting me excited.

[C]

Yeah. I have an office space for you.

[B]

Go ahead.

[C]

So.

[A]

And what's the season?

[C]

So the season is really May, June. Right. All the way through December.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Big harvest right about now. October, November, big harvest. Because they want to bring it in at a good price. And then they will convert it into lobster tails, lobster meat hold. And then we got Valentine's Day. Right. So they want to try to have a nice price, you know, until then. And you can actually hold live lobsters, too. Some people have these natural. You know, they'll take a part of the ocean and then keep their lobsters in it a pound. Right. Or some people tube them indoors. They'll have very deep, indoor serviced right from the ocean. Holy. And they'll tube them so they hibernate and the water is really, really cold.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

The problem with that, that lobster, when it gets taken to the market, it actually has less meat on it because, you know, the lobster's got to survive, so eating a little bit of itself, you know. So we like to. We buy direct right at the wharf. And we also have people, trusted partners that we work with where we know that they always have the best catch.

[A]

Yeah. You've been, you know, in the mix forever. Yeah.

[C]

So they pre sorted for us or we have to sort it if we're buying direct. And then boom. Right, so how fat?

[A]

When I ordered this, what am I looking at? Like, best case scenario, when the lobster comes to New York City here.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

When was it in the water living its life?

[C]

You know, the best case scenario, day.

[A]

Before, get the out.

[C]

Yep. That can happen that fast. Me lobsters are coming in like every single morning.

[A]

That makes sense.

[C]

Right. So they wake up at like three, you know, do their thing. They got little shanties right. On the wharf, so they can do their coffee and change and then they go out super duper early. Waters are calmer. Typically in the time, they're probably out by like 4 or 5 o'clock and they get in like 10 to noon. It depends. Those are day boaters. And then you got the guys that go way off and they'll go out for a couple of days, bring back a few thousand pounds, you know, and so they'll have, let's say one guy, commercial guy, has a thousand traps. He'll try to do a quarter of them on Monday. A quarter of them, you know, so he's got a little rhythm.

[A]

Very cool.

[C]

So. But there's a lot of regulations being put on them. Well, maybe not good.

[A]

Or. Well, overbearing. A little.

[C]

Overbearing.

[A]

A little.

[C]

Because the lobster men and women in Maine.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Actually created the sustainability laws. They are the founding fathers. And.

[A]

And now the politicians took it to a further place.

[C]

Yeah. You know, like, hey, we want you to have this tracker on your boat so we can, you know, follow you wherever you go.

[A]

Yeah. Government.

[C]

And then when we buy off the boat, we. We got to report it.

[A]

As if our phones don't track us. I mean, Jesus.

[C]

Right.

[A]

It's ridiculous.

[C]

So they're just trying to make it more difficult.

[A]

Why?

[C]

I don't know. I think, you know, political reasons. Well, part of it, hopefully, is sustaining.

[A]

The industry, I think. Look, I think there's validity to that. But like anything, once you get out of balance, it becomes not practical.

[C]

Well, this is the impact.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Right. Is geyser. I mean, if you go to our wharf, you'll see more traps on the dock than you will in the water. And that's never a good thing. Now, Portland's different than northern Maine, and the coast of Maine is huge.

[A]

Yeah. No, it's monstrous.

[C]

Yeah. And so we love those lobsters up there. So those get trucked down, you know, every.

[A]

Even better up there. You think?

[C]

I like deep, deep water. Very, very cold. It creates an environment for them to be super duper healthy. One of the things that I test for when I pull. If anybody comes to the wharf.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Pull a water, a lobster out. And it goes spread eagle like this.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And like that's a good one because he's super duper, spry. Lots of energy. Right. So he's not lethargic or anything.

[A]

That's so cool.

[C]

You know?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And that's how you really should.

[A]

What is. How is the lobster commercial demand these days? Like in the. How long have you been doing this?

[C]

15 years.

[A]

Okay. In the 15 years that you've been in the business and obviously being up there and being in 15 years, you've heard the war stories of the past. Where does lobster sit in people's prestige, interest? Like, where's lobster sitting these days in people's minds?

[C]

You think it's still there? It's considered a special occasion, luxury expenditure. Right. So typically we have some custom. We just sent a survey out the other day and there's a number of people like, hey, I eat it once a month at least. Right. And there's others, like, only special occasions.

[A]

I love it.

[C]

Yeah. I'm happy to has.

[A]

Has the suit. Yeah. I'm gonna be a happy customer one more time on the website because by. Right by now I really want some of you to actually try this out and email me what you think. Because I actually think the perishable item direct to consumer things about to explode.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So my take is that the gig is up for food in America, that consumers are getting quickly and rapidly educated.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

My fiance Mona is like in demanding. Correct.

[C]

Which would be awesome.

[A]

And I mean, back to Nantucket. I was there this summer visiting a friend and they like bought these $8 pears from California. Eight a piece.

[C]

Was it good?

[A]

It was remarkable. Yeah, it really was. It was truly. No bullshit. Not like I'm good at, like, kind of like, because I grew up in wine, I had this detachment theory of like, I don't give a fuck what you're telling me. I'm gonna like blanket my brain and stomach and palate and just analyze it. It was remarkable. What the question is, is it. I don't know how much a regular pear is at the store, but is it eight times more remarkable that gets into, can you afford it? All this. What is very clear to me is that people want healthier, cleaner, better product and they're willing to pay A super premium to do it. Because it's your fucking health. And so I think a lot of shit that we buy at supermarkets now are about to be 12 day overnight. And we're going to pay. If you buy. I'm going to just use a weird one. Raisins. If you can buy a fucking box of raisins in the store for four bucks, I have no idea how much fucking raisins are that. Let's just use three bucks. Cause it's a good number that a lot of people are gonna pay 9.99 a box and shipping.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Because they're starting to realize that paying the extra for the speed, especially if you just pulled it, if you just got it out, if a fucking. Now all I wanna do, like, you fucked me up, brother. Now when I eat lobster, my brain's gonna be like, man, I wonder if this motherfucker was in the deep, deep cold. And when it hit the fucking wharf, did it fucking spread eagle? Cause if it didn't.

[C]

Right.

[A]

It's not going to be as good.

[C]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

So anyway, I'm fascinated by that.

[C]

So when you have it at a restaurant, you say, hey, where, you know, where was this caught? You know? And then when. And how long has it been sitting in your tank or your cooler? Right. Because we supply restaurants.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And they don't have a tank. Right. So they put in the cooler. But lobsters are resilient, which is why.

[A]

It made its way into being such a big product. Right?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

The resilience helps.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But if it's been in the cooler for 11 days, you can't.

[C]

It wouldn't survive 11 days.

[A]

No, it wouldn't.

[C]

Like two, three.

[A]

Oh, not long.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, good. Thank God. I got scared.

[C]

Yeah. And it was like, that was kind of the origin of why I decided to do it. Because I never thought a million years I would do lobster. But I'm in Chicago at this restaurant and they get a lobster tank on.

[A]

Display in these four seconds. When you were wearing the fucking suit in Chicago, the lobster thing started to get there.

[C]

Yeah. It, it. Well, Chicago, right? Yeah.

[A]

They can get everything. That's right.

[C]

And. But I go to this restaurant and they have a lobster tank on display. And I'm looking at the water, I was like, God dang, that water is dirty. I go, I wonder if the senility. Well, no, I didn't say that in my mind. I say it now. Is the senility. Right, Right. The PH has got to be there. Right. Salinity. Senility. Salinity has to Be right.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Right. Ph. For a North Atlantic lobster. And people are like, oh, Maine lobster? I'm like, yeah. I was like, you want. You know, I. I can bring some home next time, you know? And then I'm talking to a guy in Bath Main who owns a seafood joint, and he's like, hey, I want to ship lobsters online. Will you do some research for me? Because that's what I. I was a consultant, I knew the Internet, so I do the research. I say, here you go. There's only a couple players doing a great job, so there's plenty of room because demand is actually pretty high. And I go, however, if you don't commit to customer experience, this is going to be a real pain in your butt. Because if you ship live lobsters to Jane and Des Moines and they arrive at 6:00 and she wants to cook them at 6:30, and you're already got two whiskeys in and you're an hour behind. She's. And she screws it up. She's going to the Internet and saying.

[A]

You'Re a piece of.

[C]

Guys suck and you don't want that. He's like, I don't want to deal with any customers. And I said, you cannot do this business.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Yes.

[C]

You know, and I'm living in Chicago, in Maine with him talking about this, and I'm like, I love customer service. Why don't I do it? You fulfill my orders, we'll see how it goes. That's how we launched.

[A]

No. Yeah.

[C]

So that was 2009. Launched December, and then I was in.

[A]

How did you get the original demand?

[C]

Groupon. Living Social and Guilt.

[A]

That era.

[C]

Right? Yeah, because I was bootstrapping.

[A]

Right. That's where everybody bought everything you were on. You were in Chicago where a Groupon.

[C]

Was down the street.

[A]

I remember it was the one.

[C]

I literally just went down there, said, I have lobster that I can deliver to any doorstep in the US they're.

[A]

Like, let's try it.

[C]

They were like, oh, my God. So I literally kind of built the business with them.

[A]

Of course, a lot of people did.

[C]

So I only did that for two years.

[A]

And Living Social was down in D.C. aaron Battalion, one of the founders. I was very involved with those companies back then. Yeah, Very cool.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, they had such power and juice. And I was like, that's never. It's never going to end. And it ended.

[A]

Yeah, of course. You know, famous last words. Okay, so you. That gave you the jumpstart.

[C]

They gave us the jumpstart. So we. And then we Chose to listen. What do people want? Are we treating them well enough? You know, da, da, da, da. And then we started getting into email marketing.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

So then we started, you know, your.

[A]

Own email or you're buying awareness on emails?

[C]

No, them. We didn't buy any emails. We used infusionsoft.

[A]

Yeah, of course.

[C]

Such a great tool. Still is a great tool.

[A]

Still a good tool.

[C]

Still a good tool.

[A]

I agree.

[C]

We still have it. And then we started, you know, branching out into, you know, other marketplaces, other methods. Then we started doing ad buying, you know, da, da da da. Social, Google social, Google, all that fun stuff, you know.

[A]

And here we are.

[C]

And here we are. And then what's the most challenging thing.

[A]

For you as a small business owner right now?

[C]

Right.

[A]

This nanosecond.

[C]

Right, this nanosecond.

[A]

Or in the last six months, you know, just to share with the other small business owners.

[C]

Yep. So we grew 600% in 2020.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

And so.

[A]

Right.

[C]

That was really hard. And then, you know, we're this new business, and now we're getting ready to scale again. So we increased our physical capacity.

[A]

So Covid exploded it.

[C]

Covid exploded.

[A]

Like, yeah, people. Yeah, of course, like that. People weren't eating lobsters at restaurants.

[C]

And I fueled it.

[A]

You knew them.

[C]

I told our ad buyers. I knew. I. So I knew in early March. My brother's birthday is March 15th. And I always do something, you know, hey, it's my brother's birthday, so special deal. And it was like a little bit. It was like around close to double the orders I expected.

[A]

And you smelled it.

[C]

And I smelled it. And so I contacted our ad buyers and said, no limit. Do whatever you want.

[A]

Go.

[C]

And April was as much revenue as 3/4 of the year. December, it's what they had in three weeks, we did more revenue than the entire year, you know?

[A]

Yeah, of course. Yeah. It was a once in a century event.

[C]

Once in a century, an event. Now, we maintained that level. Right. So. Well, I think that's two things.

[A]

Right? You mean the infrastructure, just like building out the company, that logistics. Yes, of course.

[C]

We're making all these investments.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And then you have market dynamics.

[A]

Things change.

[C]

Sentiment and all these things. And inflation, like, talk to me about.

[A]

The seafood of it all the way you introduce yourself. It's not just lobsters. Talk to me about that.

[C]

We just launched a website called blackpoint seafood.com as well, which is. It's the first generation, generation one seafood subscription.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

So because I'm in Maine. Right. I literally access to anything.

[A]

Right, right. Why stop at lobster?

[C]

Right?

[A]

Yep.

[C]

So, for example, Big Green Egg uses me for their salmon for all their major events. Right.

[A]

Awesome.

[C]

Which is. I'm like, yeah, our salmon's awesome. Like, the guys are freaking out about it. So, salmon, cod, scallops. We sell a lot of scallops.

[A]

I love scallops.

[C]

Scallops are. Maine's got some of the best oysters. We got amazing oysters.

[A]

I'm more of a West coast oyster guy. Yeah, I like the smaller. I mean, Maine has great oysters, but I'm. Yeah, I'm more of a west coast, like Olympia, Kumamoto area. I love that.

[C]

So you like your mom's? Yeah, so my cousin has crab traps. Sorry, random thoughts. She's still in there.

[A]

She's still in Seattle.

[C]

That's awesome. So, yeah, anything and everything, right? So then we try to tell a story and then we have a relationship with Jeffrey Zakarian. Yeah. So we're building some seafood stuff with him. Very cool. His guy was literally texting me earlier because I didn't include the room a lot in the box. And I was like, can you just whip something up? Because we're doing a photo shoot and. But so we're working on that. Me selling seafood or beef because I get really good beef too, is difficult because my name is get main lobster. Right. So people like Mark has great lobster.

[A]

Right.

[C]

I'm just going to buy his lobster. Those that discover that I have really good salmon or something else, you know, they end up buying that, of course, scallops. You know, I don't know if it matters what your brand name is.

[A]

People always tell me about the beef. All grass fed and finished.

[C]

So a variety. Right. So we have some tips that are grass fed and then finished with grain or pasture. Right? Grain. And then we have grass fed, grass finish, you know, all the. All the way. Now we're talking to an outfit in Colorado that does completely grass fed and they got American Wagyu. And we're talking to a place down in Florida that's got pasture raised, so. Or pasture finished, which is a little bit of grainy but not intentional, which he really is excited about the flavor that he's getting. And he's got Black Angus and he's got American Wagyu. And then I'm talking to a guy in San Diego who wants to do some stuff.

[A]

What's your favorite? You know, it's funny, you're such a multidimensional dude. This is actually a fun question for me. What's your favorite part to do in the business. Go look at the spread eagle lobsters. Go negotiate with vendors like this with beef. Do the social media creative to acquire customers. Do the customer service, email replies, manage the people. What's your fate currently? Maybe it evolves through the years, but currently, what's your favorite part?

[C]

I love the customer journey. I have a file that I yell at everybody about. It's like, it's dated 62322 or something. And I'm like, this is everything that we need. It's all here. This is all the answers. If we answer these, it doesn't matter what's going on in the world. Let's do this. And you know, I love that geeking out and looking at geeking out on.

[A]

Like, Mike doesn't know who you are, discovers you through a Google search, gets to the website, that whole, you know, becomes a customer, buys.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Gets the email confirmation, has a problem solved by us. Like.

[C]

Yeah. So that in like, what story got him there?

[A]

Why?

[C]

And then why? Why the story got him?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. You. What was the headline? What was.

[A]

Do you find yourself. This is actually a fun question that I'm not gonna lead the witness. Do you think you're curious?

[C]

It's funny you use that word. Curiosity is the number one most important ingredient of all things.

[A]

Yeah. It's funny. I. Number one when I tell you that. Hold on. This is gonna be fun.

[C]

That's so fucked up. Team.

[A]

Can you guys find me a curious crane? I need a curious crane. Trading rips. Do you have a curious crane trading card around? I need a curious crane. It was so funny that that moment just happened. It's just listening and listening and listening veefriends. My Pokemon thing, My loyal lobster, the whole thing.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

It's so fun for me because I think everybody has their favorite veefriend because I think every person associates with an attribute. Oh, you guys are on fire. Thank you. It is so clear to me that you need to be a curious crane collector. I'm gonna sign this for you.

[C]

That is wild. This is my friend.

[A]

This is the curious crane that is for.

[C]

You are amazing.

[A]

You are so deeply curious. And it's so obvious to me.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think it is a true superpower.

[C]

So it's fun. Funny you say that because I've been stuck on. So sometimes tell me if this happens to you, something comes into your mind and you want it to just season before you even put it on paper.

[A]

Happens every day in my life.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So I call it marinating.

[C]

And so the last time I had A really awesome one was at your event in Los Angeles when the guy from eleven Madison park was talking.

[A]

Yeah. And Will Gadara.

[C]

Yeah, Will Gadara. He actually messaged me. I was like, that's awesome. Because I was like, dude, you fucking blew my mind.

[A]

He's a great speaker.

[C]

He took what I desire to do for people to, like, such a creative level.

[A]

The. Thank you. Economy.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

The book I wrote.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Is in pocket to what he talks about.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

It is my favorite book I've ever written. It is the least successful and all it did. It was a New York Times bestseller, as you could see. But it's still.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And it's the message. Yeah, it's the message.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

If people understand customer service as an offense, it's game over. Not a. Not a thing you have to do.

[C]

Yeah. Well, I let that one season for. I just took, like, tiny notes. My daughter was with me, and I was, like, freaking out to her, and. And. And then I started putting it down on paper. Right. So. But curiosity. I want to develop an internal presentation for my team to talk about the value of curiosity. So when you said that, I was.

[A]

Like, I'm a very intuitive iguana, my brother.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm a. You know, it's funny. I talk a lot. Even in this format, I interrupt, but I'm always listening.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And, boy, is it curious. Is it. Is it obvious to me the thing.

[C]

I love the most about myself.

[A]

Good for you. Me too. I. And. And with you, it's obvious because of your demeanor. With me, it's completely not obvious. It's actually the reverse everybody. You know, if people don't know me, it feels blabber, mouthy. It's high energy. It's da, da, da, da, chaotic, but it's fucking listening.

[C]

Yeah. Well, you've got left and right.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. That's right. That's right, my brother. A couple minutes left. I want to make sure I give you the floor. We'll make sure we shout out the website because I have a funny feeling a lot of people fell in love with you today and probably want to support and probably love lobster and seafood. But is there anything we didn't touch on that you were hoping we would touch on when you thought about coming down here for this event? Anything we didn't touch on?

[C]

No, this has been. I was hoping that we were just gonna, like, do whatever, because that's where, you know, I love to be.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And this is great.

[A]

Oh, great, brother. So why don't you tell everybody first? Let's tell them the websites. Let's start with that one last time, everybody. I couldn't recommend more when I tell you the emphatic emails I've gotten from the loyal lobster holders. This was a surprise thing we did for. If you own the nft, you would get this subscription for a year with his company. People are blown away. But why don't you tell everybody which of the websites one more time?

[C]

So it's getmainlobster.com all of our socials are it Main lobster.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

And then if you want the inside, sign up for email or sms, they always get the best deals.

[A]

I love that.

[C]

Right.

[A]

That's on the website. And what's.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

And what's the. The broader seafood website?

[C]

Blackpoint seafood.com which, you know, go there, but I have plans Q2, 2020.

[A]

So it's still early over there.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

When they go there.

[C]

Still very early. Yep. But we do have a box there. Great seafood.

[A]

One thing I also know based on everything I heard is if you DM him on Instagram, I have a funny feeling you'll get into very deep, meaningful conversations. So that's at. Get main lobster on Instagram.

[C]

All socials. Yeah.

[A]

My brother, thank you for being on.

[C]

Absolutely.