Risk Taking, Hacking the Flow State, and How to Navigate Every Turn in Life ft. Mikey Taylor Summary: Do you know anyone who has successfully applied the lessons learned competing in extreme sports to the business world? We have with us today, serial entrepreneur and former professional skateboarder Mikey Taylor who is President and Managing Principal of Commune Capital, a private equity real estate investment firm. After fighting all odds to rise to the top of the professional skateboarding world, when injury derailed all his plans…Mikey showed his resilience by branching out as a successful entrepreneur with Saint Archer Brewing, a business that he successfully exited in 2015. Currently, at Commune Capital, he is focused on earning stellar returns for his investors. In today’s show, Mikey talks about product differentiation, marketing, resilience, and risk taking. Be it skateboarding or business – you will learn the importance of staying in consistent, peak performance mode. We hope you enjoy this show! Key Takeaways: 00:00 – Welcoming Mikey to the show 03:10 – Back in day, were Mikey’s parents worried about his safety when he used to ride skateboards without helmets? 05:49 – How long did it take Mikey to learn his first skateboard trick? 06:50 – Life lessons that Mike learned from skateboarding 09:18 – Marketing strategies for endorsing lifestyle products 10:58 – Recalling the launch of the X Games, back in the day 13:00 – What does Mikey feel about the current trend of electric skateboards? 14:30 – How a career injury proved to be a blessing in disguise 16:46 – How professional skateboarder to starting his own brewery  19:40 – How has the skateboarding scene evolved over the years 23:46 – Proximity is power – Mikey shares how his mentor helped him navigate the different turns in life 27:46 – About Saint Archer Brewing – Building a brand with a difference 31:33 – Was it the differentiated marketing that was largely instrumental in MillerCoors acquiring Saint Archer back in 2015? 32:50 – Consistently staying in focused, peak performance mode 34:11 – Who were the initial investors in Saint Archer Brewing? How much did Mikey and his co-founders raise? 34:59 – Some marketing wisdom and how to stand out in a crowded marketspace 42:00 – How did Mikey’s successful exit at the age of 32 impact his and his family’s life? 43:18 – Should you raise from family and friends?   Quotes: “Skateboarding built up a work ethic in me, that was in some regards, unstoppable”. “We're creating a brand that represented California through our lens…which was skate, surf, music, art culture”. “How do you how do you make money…create your knowledge. Your knowledge will create money for you”. “I'm going to fight for them. I'm going to I'm going to wake up early, I'm going to grind. I'm going to make sure all my decisions are calculated”. “And so, whether you're a fund manager, or you're syndicating…whatever…things happen. There are things that happen and deals are going to be out of your control. And they're out of our control”. “Nothing goes according to plan ever, right? You try as hard as you can to plan for the unexpected. But you don't know what the unexpected is until it happens”. “And you will never build anything without putting people in place, and ultimately relinquishing control, and allowing people to succeed and potentially failing and you being responsible for it”. Resources: Commune Capital Mikey’s Instagram   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices