{"podcast":{"title":"The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan","slug":"the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008","podcast_index_feed_id":974008,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/YAP2464511803","website_url":"http://www.foundr.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/a05eea46-5a0e-11ed-ad4d-7ba38e01bc89/image/ba743e807d05cc0b025845c0eaf7ee98.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Nathan Chan","episode_count":642,"summary":"Hear the stories, learn the proven methods, and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan. About the show: For over a decade, The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan has been a leading entrepreneurship podcast for open-book conversations with, by, and for founders. Whether you're starting, building, or dreaming about your business, The Foundr Podcast is where you can access experienced founders who've been in your shoes to learn their proven methods, lessons from failure, and inspirational stories. Past guests include Emma Grede, Mark Cuban, Neil Patel, Kendra Scott, Alex Hormozi, Trinny Woodall, Tim Ferriss, Sophia Amoruso, Simon Sinek, Tony Robbins, Amy Porterfield, Ed Mylett, Michelle Zatlyn, Reid Hoffman, Scooter Braun, Dany Garcia, Marc Lore, Ariana Huffington, Pat Flynn, Lewis Howes, Jordan Harbinger, and many more. About the host: Nathan Chan is the CEO of Foundr and the creator of The Foundr Podcast. Chan literally started from knowing nothing. He was just an average guy working in a 9-5 job he utterly hated. He knew nothing about entrepreneurship, nothing about startups, nothing about marketing, and nothing abou…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T02:19:36.248441+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008"},"episode":{"title":"676: Alisha Spent 16 Years In Salons - and Distilled it all Into One $7K/Month Product","slug":"676-alisha-spent-16-years-in-salons-and-distilled-it-all-into-one-7k-month-product","published_at":"2026-06-24T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008/676-alisha-spent-16-years-in-salons-and-distilled-it-all-into-one-7k-month-product","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/5DA136/traffic.megaphone.fm/FMPL1483184420.mp3","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/5DA136/traffic.megaphone.fm/FMPL1483184420.mp3","summary":"Alisha dropped out of year 10 to become a hairdresser, opened her own salon at 20, and ran it for nearly a decade - applying five different products to every client's hair, every single day. By the time she sold the salon, she already knew exactly what was wrong with the industry. What she didn't know was how to start an e-commerce brand. James Jade, her all-in-one leave-in conditioner that replaces up to five separate products, took two years and close to $21,000 to get off the ground. She doesn't regret a cent of it. In this episode, Alisha walks through the full build - the custom formula she landed on her second sample, the five delays before launch, and the first two years of selling almost entirely through word of mouth, mystery notes left in cafe bathrooms, and conversations at the World Surf League. She gets honest about what held her back, how slow it actually was, and what finally started to move the needle. What you'll learn in this interview: How 16 years on the salon floor became the most credible form of product validation - and why Alisha already knew her formula before she ever met a cosmetic chemist Why she got the formula right on the second sample when most founders go through 20 - and the one thing that was actually the hardest to nail The real cost of custom formulation: $7,000 for packaging, ~$14,000 for 1,000 units at $15 a bottle, and why she was told to double her budget - and it ended up being triple What she did during the two years between starting development and actually launching, including freelancing to fund each invoice one at a time Why refusing to be the face of the brand in the early days made everything slower - and the exact moment she realised the product alone wasn't enough The scrappy, offline community tactics that built early…","meta_description":"Alisha dropped out of year 10 to become a hairdresser, opened her own salon at 20, and ran it for nearly a decade - applying five different products to ev…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2053,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008/episodes/676-alisha-spent-16-years-in-salons-and-distilled-it-all-into-one-7k-month-product/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-foundr-podcast-with-nathan-chan-974008/676-alisha-spent-16-years-in-salons-and-distilled-it-all-into-one-7k-month-product.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}