Mike Cessario: ”No investor was gonna write me a check for the concept.”

Mike Cessario: ”No investor was gonna write me a check for the concept.”

From Math & Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing with Bob Pittman by iHeartPodcasts

March 19, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

Mike Cessario discusses the innovative marketing strategies behind Liquid Death and his journey as an entrepreneur.

A skull-emblazoned design with a funny slogan is just not what people expect when they’re buying a healthy beverage. But that’s exactly why Liquid Death Founder and CEO Mike Cessario thought there was room for disruption. He didn’t think funny, cool, irreverent marketing should be limited to things that are bad for you. What if this approach could even help people make healthier choices? Now the healthy beverage company trying to “Murder Your Thirst” has expanded to soda-flavored sparkling water, iced tea, and energy drinks and it was valued at $1.4 billion in March 2024. Mike sits down with Bob to talk about how he got from inspiration, to concept, to funding an original order of 150,000 cans. He has great insights on both creativity and analytics, shares lessons from all the surprises and challenges he faced in becoming an entrepreneur and explains why he dislikes traditional marketing as much as most people do. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Bob Pittman

Guest: Mike Cessario

Topics covered

  • entrepreneurship
  • marketing
  • healthy beverages
  • disruption
  • creativity
  • analytics

Keywords

  • Liquid Death
  • healthy beverages
  • marketing
  • entrepreneurship
  • disruption
  • soda-flavored sparkling water
  • iced tea
  • energy drinks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Liquid Death

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