In this Thanksgiving-week Mostly Growth episode, CJ Gustafson and Kyle Poyar ditch the serious finance talk for a looser, drinks-in-hand conversation with Ben Hillman, bouncing between CJ’s nostalgic emo-punk concert adventure, the curse of vanity license plates, and the epidemic of “Y-axis crimes” in founder charts. They riff on Spotify Wrapped copycats, YouTube becoming living-room TV, kids’ YouTube empires, and the game theory behind The Traitors and the Monty Hall problem before shifting into real-world pricing: newsletter perk economics, the pitfalls of hourly consulting, and why value-based packaging always wins. The episode stays playful but still sneaks in sharp insights on growth, psychology, and how weird the business world can be when you actually pay attention.
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SPONSORS:
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LINKS:
Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com
CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/
Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/
Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/
Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/
Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/
https://x.com/parikpatelcfa/status/1992706757073023191?s=46
https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-hacker-ticket-hell/
https://x.com/im_roy_lee/status/1992692253257855261/photo/1
https://nyulangone.org/news/one-third-americans-are-trying-avoid-gluten-it-villain-we-think-it-is
https://x.com/techsalesguy3/status/1991585201601016161?s=46
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https://youtu.be/Yb1lUQLJ6qw
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Preview and Intro
00:01:06 Sponsors – Pulley & Metronome
00:03:26 Mostly Drinks Episode
00:04:39 Concert Stories & Pop-Punk Nostalgia
00:07:30 Concert Parenting & Full-Circle Moment
00:08:01 Business Blunders Begin
00:09:51 License Plate Fails & Accounting Humor
00:11:33 Y-Axis Crime Chart Review
00:13:46 Global Podcast “Success” & Listener Jokes
00:15:25 Spotify Wrapped: Retention vs. Acquisition
00:16:29 YouTube as the Future of Podcasts
00:17:21 Kids’ Shows, Blippi & Creator Economics
00:18:20 The Traitors Show Overview
00:19:55 Game Theory & Winning as a Traitor
00:22:11 Monty Hall Problem Setup
00:23:52 Game Show Logic & Gambler’s Fallacies
00:25:34 Pricing in the Real World
00:26:28 Community Discount Card Business Model
00:28:34 Newsletter Perks & Subscriber Value
00:29:59 Marketplace Discount Math
00:31:26 Negotiating Like a CFO
00:32:25 Gluten-Free Nights & Pricing Strategy
00:34:49 Outbound Pizza as a Go-to-Market Play
00:36:28 Outbound Pizza Tuesdays to Gluten-Free Tuesdays
00:37:02 Pricing Services: Value vs. Hourly
00:40:12 The Picasso Pricing Story
00:42:20 Harvard Business School Case Study & Kim K Photo
00:43:27 Thanksgiving Cooking: Roast Chicken & Porcini Ragu
00:44:21 Wrap & Credits