LEVELS – A Whole New Level

Latest Episodes:

#131 - Building in public: Transparency, confidence, and ownership | CEO Sam Corcos & Mike DiDonato Jun 10, 2022

Show notes

At a startup, or any company for that matter, you have the choice to keep the business strategy and culture private… or you can build in public. Building in public inspires an environment of transparency and confidence for investors, employee recruitment, and customers.

Levels’ Head of Success Mike DiDonato met with CEO Sam Corcos to discuss the benefits of Levels’ policy of building in public:

It helps internal and external people feel good about the company through a strong culture of trust and documentation.
You can recruit and retain employees and investors who feel more comfortable because they can see behind the curtain.
It limits gossip fatigue and removes elements of surprise through top-down openness and transparency.

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Levels' CEO Sam Corcos and Head of Success Mike DiDonato discuss:

(03:05) – Communicate intentionally

(04:15) – Transparency offers security

(05:49) – Find people who match your company’s culture

(07:41) – Let people opt out

(10:47) – The curse of knowledge

(11:55) – Navigating company growth

(14:50) – Be confident

(16:48) – Pragmatic transparency

Follow our podcast, A Whole New Level, for more of the inside scoop from the Levels team. We talk about our mission to solve the metabolic health crisis, our fully remote and async startup culture, and the process of building a health and wellness movement from the ground up.

Transcripts & Show Notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mJWoF-ws8vc

#130 - On working with family at a startup | Josh Clemente, Mercy Clemente, & Ben Grynol Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

At a small startup, siblings working together would normally be a disaster. But Josh Clemente and his sister Mercy Clemente found a way to work well together and maintain a positive family relationship.

In this episode, they discuss all of this with host Ben Grynol:

How their upbringing prepared them for the Levels’ async culture
The serendipitous timing of Mercy joining first as a contractor
How they keep their home and work life separate

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Josh Clemente, Mercy Clemente, & Ben Grynol discuss:

(04:00) – Learning independence

(04:53) – The similarity between homeschooling and async work

(09:04) – Institute solid boundaries

(14:08) – Failure is okay

(15:16) – Be confident

(29:22) – Working as family

(37:26) – Eliminating helplessness

(42:40) – Trying new things

Transcripts & Show Notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

#129 - Unschooling: Embracing unstructured learning at home | Dave ten Have & Dr. Casey Means Jun 08, 2022

Show notes

How could unstructured learning help your children? Here’s a look into how a Levels team member is “unschooling” his kids using the self-directed, unstructured methods and how it differs from homeschooling. Look for multiple new shows per week on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations about metabolic health and how the Levels startup team builds a wellness movement from the ground up in the health and wellness tech industry.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Levels’ Chief Medical Officer Dr. Casey Means and Lead Software Engineer Dave ten Have discuss:

(03:33) – What is unschooling?

(05:35) – What does unschooling curriculum look like?

(07:18) – How to teach on subjects you don’t know

(24:00) – The ebbs and flows of unschooling

(26:29) – The effect on Dave’s life

(33:13) – Getting rid of artificial milestones

(39:44) – Learning is something you do

(48:33) – You’ve got to have faith

(53:19) – Navigating screen time

(57:01) – Walk away from work

Transcripts & Show Notes

Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/levelshealth

#128 - All things in marketing attribution | Josh Mohrer, Paul Barszcz, & Ben Grynol Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

With online sales, all customer touchpoints are important for attribution. But how do you determine which are the strongest levers, which have the highest ROI, and whether remarketing is actually worth it?

In this episode, Levels’ Head of Growth, Ben Grynol, chatted with our head of Global Operations, Josh Mohrer, and Digital Marketing Manager, Paul Barszcz about all things marketing attribution.

They cover:

Determining where sales come from
Why and what Levels measure for attribution
Benefits and pitfalls of tracking attribution
Building trust with your customers
Testing multi-touchpoint attribution
When attribution tracking becomes a waste of time
How our diverse startup team contributes to marketing strategy and attribution insights
Memo – Levels Approach to Earned, Owned and Paid Media

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Levels’ head of Global Operations, Josh Mohrer, Digital Marketing Manager, Paul Barszcz, and Head of Growth, Ben Grynol discuss:

(5:26) – How to define attribution

(8:06) – Attribution is a social science

(10:07) – Figure out where demand is generated

(11:12) – Examine your spending habits

(13:30) – Take the long view

(14:45) – How much will you pay to acquire a new customer?

(22:46) – The importance of an omni-channel approach

(26:51) – Make your product worth the buy

(30:38) – Measure the performance of your channels

(36:12) – The Oprah effect

Transcripts & Show Notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/levelshealth Connect with Paul on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/paulbars

#127 - Where metabolic health and culture converge | Dhru Purohit & Austin McGuffie Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

What are the unique metabolic health experiences of South Asian and Black communities? In this candid conversation between serial entrepreneur and health and wellness investor Dhru Purohit and content creator and metabolism mentor Austin McGuffie, they discuss how metabolic health affects their respective communities.

Austin and Dhru discuss:

How rates of metabolic dysfunction are high for South Asian and Black communities
Their personal journeys with food and overall health
Genetic predispositions for insulin resistance
How to strengthen the connection between what we eat and how we feel
The importance of metabolic flexibility
Actionable tips anyone can incorporate to reduce glucose spikes
Focusing on dietary additions and changes rather than deprivation

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

(18:51) – Live by example

(23:21) – Focus on education first

(24:53) – The benefits of targeted fasting

(26:08) – Dying from excess

(30:03) – It all comes back to lifestyle

(34:42) – Talk to people who are on the fence

(35:57) – The societal split

(36:52) – Why we need targeted solutions

(38:45) – The add-in method

(52:09) – Health happens in community

Transcripts & Show Notes

Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/levelshealth

Connect with Austin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/metabolismmentor

Connect with Dhru on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhrupurohit

Connect with Dhru on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhrupurohit

#126 - How to be a digital nomad | Sam Corcos, Dr. Casey Means, Mike Haney, and Steph Coates May 30, 2022

Show notes

When you work at a remote company, you have the unique option to be a digital nomad. Since Levels is a fully remote and async startup, our teammates have the option to travel anywhere in the world and work. For example, Levels’ CEO Sam Corcos lived out of a small backpack, traveling from city to city as Levels started.

Editorial Director Mike Haney chatted with Sam and other Levels employees who lived the digital nomad lifestyle: Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Casey Means, and Steph Coates, a software engineer.

In this episode, Sam, Casey, Haney, and Steph discuss these aspects of being a digital nomad:

The beauty of building a lifestyle around travel and what you love to do at work
Flexing the spontaneity muscle and going outside your comfort zone
Building deeper relationships with friends along the way
And more practical aspects like how to decide where to go, how to stay healthy on the road, how to prepare for different scenarios, and how to pay taxes.

(15:31) – People make you a priority

(17:32) – Don’t overthink your decisions

(18:56) – Set clear expectations

(33:26) – You can be grounded anywhere

(46:09) – Travel doesn’t always mean leisure

(48:55) – Listen to yourself

(01:04:09) – Establish a routine

(01:08:35) – How do you keep your taxes in order?

(01:16:54) – Usually everything works out

(01:23:28) – Being a minimalist

(01:31:20) – The price of being a nomad

(01:39:13) – Making it work

Transcripts & Show Notes

“You Don’t Have to Be Local”: https://sive.rs/local

Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/levelshealth

#125 - Countless STARTUP Milestones in Just One Year - Levels in 2021 | Josh Clemente & Ben Grynol May 26, 2022

Show notes

So much can happen in just one year at a startup: Crucial milestones like team growth, fundraising, and launches happen very fast. Josh Clemente and Ben Grynol reflect on Levels’ 2021 milestones because it was one of our most exciting years. Follow our podcast, A Whole New Level, for more of the inside scoop from the Levels team. We talk about our mission to solve the metabolic health crisis, our fully remote and async startup culture, and the process of building a health and wellness movement from the ground up.

Josh Clemente & Ben Grynol cover:

Notable press and print articles, including a podcast tour
Nearly doubling the Levels team
Community engagement and beta testing, with a Coke challenge 🥤
The decision to stop using Slack
Developing new product features and membership frameworks
Successful fundraising and crowdfunding
Growing the advisory board with incredible thought leaders, including Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. Sara Gottfried, Dr. David Sinclair, and Dr. Mark Hyman

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Josh Clemente & Ben Grynol discuss:

(09:44) – The power of podcasting

(12:35) – Help people live better lives

(19:23) – The importance of remote datasets

(22:09) – Creating engagement

(25:13) – Getting rid of Slack

(27:23) – Streamline communication

(28:59) – Be willing to make changes

(30:40) – Question assumptions

(33:09) – Align incentives

(47:14) – Looking at long-term scale

Transcript & Show notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/IFBcmxWMZKo

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

#124 - When doors become hallways: A repeatable product-building process (Scott Klein & Mike Haney) May 23, 2022

Show notes

Levels Editorial Director, Mike Haney, chatted with our Head of Product, Scott Klein. They explored Scott's role in our company, what it means to be a Head of Product, and how the functional area of Product works in a remote async environment.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

(07:15) – Product is a tough role

(11:03) – Focus on the customer experience

(17:45) – Do more experiments

(19:46) – Be thoughtful about changes

(22:42) – It’s not just a numbers game

(23:42) – Land your products

(25:06) – Focus on alignment

(36:52) – Good async enables good sync

(40:40) – When a door becomes a hallway

(46:08) – Making real-time decisions

Transcripts & Show Notes

#123 - Member Story: Being a role model for my family and the next generation (Gabe Mendoza & Ben Grynol) May 19, 2022

Show notes

Levels Head of Growth, Ben Grynol, follows up with CrossFit trainer, creator of the Mendoza Program and one of our earliest Levels members, Gabe Mendoza. They dive into how Gabe has been focused on optimizing his fitness through diet and lifestyle choices with the help of his CGM. Gabe also discusses how this insight has helped him be a role model for his family’s health and so many people around him.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

(08:03) – People have to opt in

(10:26) – Focus on small changes

(15:07) – Overcoming the American diet

(19:18) – Look at your patterns

(21:13) – Your body craves homeostasis

(25:59) – Control your environment

(30:11) – Create routines

(32:38) – Influence the people closest to you

(33:27) – You can change your community

(36:25) – Change is a long-term endeavor

Read Gabe's Story – levelshealth.com/blog

Transcripts & Show Notes

#122 - Fight burnout to live a balanced life | Michael ‘Miz’ Mizrahi & Ben Grynol May 16, 2022

Show notes

Burnout looks different for everyone. It can be a universal experience in a startup environment because it’s easy to let your work become your full identity. Levels Head of Operations Michael ‘Miz’ Mizrahi wrote a detailed memo on burnout to help start the discussion around the topic so we can do our best to avoid it. In this episode, Ben Grynol chatted with Miz about what exactly might cause burnout and some of the strategies to mitigate it, why it’s important, and how we think about it internally as a team. Learn the best ways to protect yourself from burnout so you can live a more balanced life.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 WhatMichael ‘Miz’ Mizrahi & Ben Grynol discuss:

(03:46) - Check in on remote workers

(06:30) - It’s not just overworking, it’s overinvesting

(08:24) - Separate work and personal identity

(11:15) - Remember change is constant

(14:20) - Trust in yourself and your work

(19:38) - Keep boundaries

(27:38) - Understand people’s whole lives

(29:30) - Let people define their own limits

(36:55) - Talk to someone if you need help

(44:54) - Check in on peers