The Money Mondays - Bootstrapping to $100M: How Josh Snow Took on Colgate & Crest 🪥 E156
Episode Date: January 19, 2026Josh Snow built Snow Oral Care by doing what most entrepreneurs won’t: taking on the household-name giants head-on—and bootstrapping his way to nine figures in sales. In this special Money Mondays... episode (recorded during the $100M Mastermind experience), Josh breaks down how to win shelf space against “the whole aisle,” why adversity can become your superpower, and what really makes a brand pop when customers walk past Colgate and Crest.He also goes deep on celebrity partnerships (what founders should know before chasing big names), shares his blunt investing filter (“don’t do it” unless you can stomach the loss), and explains how to choose philanthropy that actually means something instead of checking a box. And of course—he answers the signature Money Mondays question with an answer you won’t forget.Want the systems to turn these lessons into booked calls and consistent revenue? If you’re ready to automate follow-ups, capture leads, and keep your pipeline moving without living in your inbox, check out GoHighLevel—the all-in-one platform for CRM, funnels, email/SMS, calendars, and automations. Start your free trial or book a quick demo using the link in the show notes.
Transcript
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a special edition of the Money Money's podcast.
We cover three core topics, how to make money, how to invest money, how to give away to charity.
It is very rare.
This podcast is not inside of an RV motorhome.
However, right now we're going through the 100 million mastermind experience,
and this gentleman has been one of the instructors for all seven years.
What does that mean?
We bring in people that are between $5 and $50 million in revenue as members,
and then we bring in instructors, like our guest,
who have done over $100 million in sales,
spent over $100 million on ads
or have been seen by over 100 million people.
This gentleman has done all three.
He's got the trifecta.
And so this podcast will be between 32 and 36 minutes
for your listening pleasure
because the average workout is 45 minutes.
The average community work is 45 minutes.
This podcast episode will be under 40 minutes
so you can listen to the whole thing.
We'll keep our 93% listen to rate
and stay as one of the top 50 podcasts on the planet
because of you guys supporting us,
sharing, liking, commenting, and subscribing.
So without further ado, Mr. Josh Snow, give us the quick two-minute bio, so we get straight to the money.
Daniel, I love you, and that was awesome, man.
And it's a huge pleasure to be on the show again.
And so my name is Josh Snow.
I'm most famous for my last name, Snow, which is Snow Oral Care.
So I came with this crazy idea that I could go against Colgate and Crest and build a market
share and mind share in the thing you do twice a day other than poop and eat, which is brush
your teeth. And so I've worked with the Kardashians. I've worked with so many top level celebrities.
And we've been able to build a brand that helps people feel better about their smile,
more confident, not just in their aesthetic appearance, but the ingredients we use in the products.
So we've made a better for you, whitening brand that you might have heard of.
it's called Snow. So I'm Josh Snowing and it's a pleasure, bro. I mean, you're up against
household name 800-pound gorillas, whole aisles and shelves dedicated to these brands. Literally
everyone can name them. It's a very rare in any product category where literally everyone from
six years old to 90 years old says this brand, that brand, that brand. They know Colgate,
they know this brand, they know Crest. These are household named brands. How do you fight the 800-pound
gorillas. I think that's a very valid question, Dan. I think you think differently. And you got to have
the chutzpah. So you got to have the hutspah. You got to, you got to like, you put it. Yeah,
you got to be crazy. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. I think, but if you have something stuck in your mind that
you can't get rid of and you're just thinking of it over and over again, because keep in mind,
I bootstrapped the first $100 million in total sales, right?
So I just, I did it by myself.
I didn't need.
No investors.
I did try.
Yeah.
A little, a little.
But nobody wanted to join me in selling toothpaste, oral care against the big, big giants.
And I just couldn't get out of my head.
Like, I'll be honest with you.
I couldn't.
And I don't want it to you a little bit.
I'm like, I'm stupid.
What am I doing?
You know?
This is Proctor and Gamble.
These are like, they're big, right?
They've been around for a little.
I think I understand. Hold on a second. It's the whole aisle. It's the whole walkway. I don't think
people understand. There is not a retail store in the country. Liquor store, convenience
store, random store in the middle of Alabama that doesn't sell these Colgate Crest, Procter
and Gamble-type brands. You were fighting with them. How? How are you taking this market share?
I will tell you that adversity is your superpower. It doesn't matter if you're born as a billionaire's
son, daughter, whatever, it doesn't matter. Adversity shows its face in many different ways
how you deal with that adversity could be your superpower. I really believe it. And it doesn't
matter if you're broke. It doesn't matter if nobody believed in you. That adversity creates an
energy inside of you that you control how you output that energy. And I think there's a lot of power
it look i mean i could have sold whatever right like whatever yeah sweaters whatever i could you know
but i wanted something that meant something to me and and in my community right i'm latino i'm first
generation all this stuff i wanted to choose something that meant something but it meant something to me
and when it means something to you you have to do something about it you almost feel compelled to do it and i
I don't know how to put that in words,
but I think that when I was undergoing jaw surgery,
and I just, I did not feel okay with the manner of kind of the manure of the manner
in the manner that it was presented to me.
But I think that I didn't like what was there.
And what do we always think as entrepreneurs?
There's got to be a better way.
We got to, like, we got to make it.
And I did, I will say, selfishly, I wanted something so difficult that I would never succeed in.
Wow.
Because that's the life I grew up in.
That's deep.
When you walk into a retail chain.
Yeah.
And you look them in the face and say, buy snow teeth lighting, buy snow oral care.
We are going to take market share from the brands you've been buying for decades, if not 10, 30, 40, 50 years.
Yeah.
Hey, I'm Josh Snow.
Here's my oral care household name chain store.
Buy my products and take away some of their space and give it to me.
How do you tell them to get rid of that shelf space and give it to you?
What does that meeting look like?
Most people don't get the meeting.
But you've done it over and over and over.
That meeting is an opportunity for you to show what you got.
And that's how I come into it, right?
So I'm coming in.
I'm Connor McGregor.
I'm the best fighter ever.
But yeah.
Yeah.
If you got the right shit, if you got the right stuff, you should go in there with that rigor.
You should.
And even if you don't, and maybe for some reason you're doubting yourself, but you can't at that level.
You can't.
Paul Brothers, right?
Like all this stuff, you can't doubt yourself at that level.
No, of course not.
You know what I mean?
Those guys fought Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, like, some of that household name fighters.
So when someone walks down the aisle, a mother and her two kids or a wealthy family or someone,
they're just walking down the aisle and they're walking by their normal Colgate crest,
etc.
What do you think makes it stand out when they see your brand?
Aesthetics.
The packaging, the name, the combination, the aura.
Yeah.
It's definitely the aura.
I think ultimately it's aura.
Yeah, I think you nailed it.
It's the aura.
You walk down and you feel something, you want to try something.
you want to try something different.
Because, I mean, I've talked to,
we have millions and millions of customers.
But that's like, we're like a baby company,
even though.
Yeah, 100 million, 200 million.
That sounds like a lot.
That's a day for some of these brands.
Like an actual day.
Yeah.
Like literally a day.
And you're sitting there and you're like that.
What if they wanted to buy you right now?
What would you do?
I'm not ready to, man.
Like, we got some great part of shit.
Like, we just.
You keep fighting the good fight?
I think you've got to stay in the business long enough to make your own luck.
You can't die.
You cannot die.
If it's a big industry, you cannot die.
Because if you die, you give it up to whoever fucking wants it, freaking wants it.
And I think that in that moment, you have admitted a certain level of defeat that is so soul-crushing to a type of entrepreneur that I have.
am that I couldn't do it.
And a lot of people think, you know, oh, he's got a Rolls Royce.
He's got this, all this stuff.
I have paid myself a penny from snow.
Nothing.
Didn't raise capital and you weren't taking money out?
I didn't take a penny.
Wow.
I don't take a penny.
Snow saved my life, man.
It did.
It gave me a call.
a calling that I was looking for like I put it into the market right but I didn't know how hard it would be
I did but I didn't know that hard not that hard you know what I'm saying like I knew it was going to be
hard but I didn't know it was going to be that hard you know if one of the big guys bought you
Colgate Cres you know Proctrin Gamble type brand do you think that they would show you do you think
they would put you away or do you think that they would keep growing the brand like when Coca-Cola bought
vitamin water. Do you see vitamin water anywhere? They bought them for billions of dollars. What was it?
4.1 billion or something crazy. And I don't see vitamin water anywhere. They wanted their shelf space.
Do you think that they would come in to try to scale you? Or do you think some of them would just buy you to put
your way to stop you? Like, I think Gatorade should have bought Prime. Just so Prime would stop taking
shelf space. Quick. I'll order them to quick. Go give Logan a billion. A couple of
Billy. Stop. Yeah, one billy. Sure. Just stop. Two billion stop. Done. Fine. Because like you walk into Walmart and
Prime has a freaking end cap.
A lot of nutrition, bloom nutrition.
You go all these brands that are taking over these shelves that were held by the industrialists.
Snow is the growth measure and the growth factor for whoever who buys us.
And that can be Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, Crest, Colgate.
We're the growth factor.
Because when aluminum-free deodorant came on the market, it took a lotter.
over. That's one of our like top factors. Like we're known for that. I have never used fluoride
in any one of the products that I developed for snow. Why? Why? 12 years ago, you should use fluoride.
You're stupid. And I've had some of my mentors. Bruce Halley, rest in peace, founder of discount
tire, Dr. Robert Chaldingy, producer of the whole influence and persuasion. Also,
my mentors have told me you're stupid you should try that some of them some of them and they're not wrong
like they're not wrong but i i built this thing because i want to use my own product and i believe a lot
of people have teeth and if somebody wants to use it as well they should be able to use that they should be
able to feel confidence not just on the outside of the product working which is why like
nobody returns our product. Like, yeah, the product works. Snow works. Got it. But it's also
vegan, gluten-free, kosher. Like, it's got all the other stuff. Like, we got that. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
but like the product's got to work. And I was shocked. Just like the last company I've sold for
$70 million. I bootstrapped it with my partner. 20, oh, actually less than 20 people. We
sold that thing to a public company. I would be willing to sell if
Snow is the growth factor.
That's it.
That's it.
What?
I'm good.
Like I'm good.
You know what I'm saying?
Like,
you know me?
Like,
I'm good.
Why would I,
for what?
Extra 100 million in my pocket?
What would we do with that?
We can figure it out.
We'll spend that.
We'll figure that up.
There's something.
So,
as you're building this brand,
you win the deals with Floyd Mayweather and Chuck Ladell and the Kardashians and
all these different interesting characters.
like, what do you think about the celebrity partnership category of someone out there is thinking
that they want to go do it?
What should they know about trying to do a deal with a big name celebrity?
Dude, you're the only guy that has done more celebrity deals in my circle than me.
It's like, and you're by a multiple.
Nobody else.
Nobody else.
I'm just old.
No, no, no, it's not that.
But like, no, but really, like, you're like deep-seated, right?
And I'm deep-seated too because I had to figure it out.
I didn't know Hollywood.
I didn't know anything, right?
You just got to kind of go in there and figure it out while you figure it out, you know, like, boom.
But I would say, so I bought a domain years ago called affiliate marketing.com.
It's a good domain.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
But I didn't know what it would become.
And it has changed my entire outlook on the entire industry, man.
I've been to e-commerce since I was 13.
So about 20 years. I'm 33. So 20 years, right? I don't like to say it that much because I'm like, damn, I've been in there and that long. And there's the old reminiscent version of me that's like, you should have $7 billion right now and 300 yachts. Like, you know, there's a part of me that that fills that. But I was being real with you. But I think. Someone gave you $7 billion. Would you never work again?
Yeah. That's it? Right now, yes.
Right now I would.
What would you do with your life?
I would, I would be a great father.
I would have kids.
I'd be a great husband.
I would be a great friend.
I would bring my friends on all the experiences that I want to go on.
I would be more present.
I would be more present.
I wish I could.
And it doesn't need $7 billion.
But like, we're rich, but like it's, you know, okay, so rich.
Like, you know, you're Elon Musk all of a sudden.
And like, but I think that I definitely would, for way less.
And I'm a gentleman.
I will not tell her price.
So what do you think holds people back?
They start their brand.
They have this idea.
What holds them back from selling?
Like you are willing to go call the major retailers.
You are willing to spend money on ads.
You are willing to beat your chest and build your brand, talk about your brand.
Why do I think most people are like, I'm going to post once a week or once a month about my brand?
It's going to work out great.
They're scared to post about it.
It's normal.
It's normal.
And I hate to say that.
And you do too.
We know this.
We know this.
But I've started brands with the biggest celebrities in the world.
You have as well.
We know.
But that's a perfect question because I would say, who cares?
Who cares, really?
Oh my gosh.
So-and-so is going to see me promoting some product where I'm making
money for my family. God forbid. God forbid. Oh my gosh. You become an influencer and you're
getting all these views and you're making money for your family. God forbid that, huh? We care too much
about what other people think. Nobody cares more about what people think than themselves.
They do not care about you. And not to say that, nobody cares about you. It's just like,
they don't actually. They don't. But yeah, but like, I'm not trying to be like, like, all.
dark and stuff. It's just people don't care as much as you think. They, they care about themselves
and their own survival. It is primal. Like, it's just, I don't care if you're Jewish, Muslim,
you can be anything you want. I love you. Perfect. We all believe the same. People or self-preservation
experts, we must be. So we self-preserve at the layer at which we have found the most comfort in
exchange for our goals. So then what are the variables in that? And I think I've gone old enough now
that I can see a little bit of that. I go, wow, maybe I shouldn't have blown tens of millions
of dollars. Maybe. But also like, I did it. I learned from it. You know, I went, I went, I went, I went, I went to
my number one mentor in my life and in my business and I went to breakfast with him at first
watch you know first watch it's cute uh so we went to breakfast boom and actually we're probably
at somewhere else but whatever we got to first watch a lot together and he goes how's business Josh
and he's 89 now and I said it's not as good as I like it to be it was like the first time it was like
a negative response.
In 15 years of him mentoring me.
You know his response, man?
He laughed.
He laughed at me.
Because he said, for you to learn that at 30
instead of 60, you are blessed.
Shut up.
It was like, I'm going to share everything
with you here, but like, he was like,
shut up. Stop complaining.
It's not like a little crabbed baby boy.
And I was like,
like, I'm hurting.
This is tough for me, you know?
We've been used like every business I've started
as double, double, double, double, double dutch.
Like, boom, boom, boom, boom.
I've never encountered a problem
and you're my mentor, so I'm going to bring that to you
and you're going to laugh at me.
I think that, you know, whether you believe in God or not,
whatever, it doesn't matter.
Like, you are built for what you are in front of.
Whether you choose to own it,
and the devices that you should own it in is up to your wisdom, which comes from experience
and other people's experience. So that's why I think that coaching, mentoring, being a part of
an event, being a part of 100 million mastermind, like you've got to be in the nexus to develop
a complex that learns from other people's failures, not your own, which is the smartest way
to do it. We all know that now. But some things you have to learn on your own.
So let's talk about the investing side of things.
As an entrepreneur starts to make money,
at some point they have some extra capital to start investing,
but they have so many choices.
Real estate, stock market, Bitcoin, cryptocurrency,
cash-flying businesses,
their friends' new restaurants.
There's so many things getting pitched at them.
How can someone decide with all these different options
what they should consider investing into?
My number one response to that,
and that's you ask the best questions always.
I've known you forever and you always do.
But my number one response to be, don't do it.
Just don't do it.
If you do not, I'm not talking about a compelling nature inside of you.
They're like, this is my brother.
He's starting an Asian, fusion, Japanese and this and that.
Just don't do it.
You got to make enough money to lose it to take that hit on the chin.
Because I've lost tens of millions of dollars.
And if you take that hit, you take that hit.
and that's why my mentor laughed at me, right?
He's like, ha, ha, ha.
And I get it now.
I do.
I think I get some of it.
I don't think I get all of it.
And he's still alive today.
He's one of my best friends.
I love him to death.
I think I'm still discovering what that is.
But I will tell you, based on my past,
and this might sound pessimistic.
I'm over here like, don't do it.
But if you can't obsess over it, control it,
or it doesn't fit your dynamic of world that you've created, that you control.
Do not do it.
If you're willing to lose it times five, how about that, fine, make it easy.
You put 100,000 in, you're willing to lose 500,000, negative, negative 500,000 on your bankroll.
Do it.
If you're not, then don't cry about it when you lose your money.
because that's called investing, brother.
You lose money, you make money, you lose money, you make money.
It's up to you.
The highest paid skill in the world is judgment.
Warren Buffett.
It's the highest paid skill.
If you don't have it, you don't have it.
So don't have I if I could do because you're going to lose a little bit of money.
We're going to put it on the chin.
Let's talk about the charity side of things.
Do you think that brands or products or services should have a certain?
percentage go to charity of philanthropy?
The easy answer is yes.
But I'm going to, of course.
Elaborate.
Elaborate on the answer.
That's why you're here.
I know.
But I think you got to...
It's not a yes or no podcast.
I know.
Definitely not.
Definitely not.
Well, I think, choose it.
Like, choose it.
You know, like feel good about it.
You know, like, can be tell...
It's like a charity that you care about, you mean.
Correct.
Yeah.
Just make it worthwhile.
You know, like...
Don't just check a box.
Correct. Tax write off, boom. Unfortunately, and fortunately, the tax code is written that way
that you can just write off a bunch of money, writing it to make a wish. But if it's, you know,
for me, growing up, I didn't have a lot of money. So having lunch, breakfast, these things,
they sound like necessities, right? They are. Like, feed the child when you have them all day.
But they don't have the resources to do that.
and I played piano, cello, violin, clarinet, growing up.
They canceled our music program, or arts and music, whatever, but they canceled it, whatever.
We didn't have that at a certain point.
That wasn't cool.
And so that's why I started the Phoenix Coding Academy with the best group of donors and just like,
what if poor people had the same opportunity?
And that's part, and that's my view, right?
Because that's where I grew up.
But if I did, I did.
Somehow I got the opportunity and look what I've done so far.
And like, I'm just getting started, you know.
But like, what if everybody had the same opportunity?
I am a capitalist.
And I would die on the stakes.
I'm a capitalist.
If you help people that don't have a lot of money,
but have a lot of pride in who they want to become,
a lot of passion.
That's what America's built off of.
And we export what, innovation, entrepreneurship.
If we look at our actual exports, it's the innovation.
And yeah, the Kardashians, but like, you want to be us, baby?
Because we're free.
We can say whatever we want.
We get all this stuff.
So I think ultimately, I think every company should have some type of give back.
component. Every company should have a good back component. But I think that you should choose,
because if you're the founder or you have, you know, co-founders and stuff, choose something that
that you feel really good about. Because everybody can get a tax write off. But if it feels good,
it makes you do more of that. And if more of that means make more money and help more people,
and then you get to give more, that's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
So I would just say that
Not that I'm better than
anyway, it's just if you're going to give
to an organization
choose it, you know?
Go on Charity Navigator and see
does 99% of the money go to the kids
or do a little bit of research
because as a donor you have
just as much responsibility
of where that money goes
and I think that is overseen
in the majority of population
but yeah, just choose something
I don't care. You can tell me I donate to
kidney foundation. Love that.
I took the chair navigator all right.
Like, I love that.
It's better than doing nothing.
Yeah.
So there's only one question that I ask on every episode, and I've never gotten the same
answer before.
I'm not going to get the same answer right now.
Josh Snow, you end up selling Snow oral care for billions of dollars.
Affiliatemarketing.com for another billion dollars.
And all these different brands and products, you end up becoming a multi-billionaire,
which is a foregone conclusion for the Josh Snow future.
but along the way
you end up having two beautiful children
what percentage of your net worth
do you leave to those children
80% fuck them up
I'm definitely fuck them up
80% no I know for sure
yeah I will
it's okay
because if I didn't do a good enough job
that's all right too
you know like
I'm only we're living the human experience
but I'm going to spend as much as I can
because daddy earned it
and daddy and mommy going to spend that, you know, but, and they're going to be all regardless.
Maybe we spend it all, I don't know.
We'll see, I don't know.
Bill Perkins has that book called Die Was Zero.
Correct.
Depending on Brian Johnson's out here, like, you could live to 180.
I'm like, damn, I don't know if I got money like that.
I don't know if I got money like that.
But a billion will cut it.
Yeah, I had a couple of those.
But I kind of think that right now, ask me in a few years, but I think that that's what you
get the same answer.
I've never had someone say 80, fuck him up.
That's for sure.
Let's give me a t-shirt.
We'll take that, yeah.
Give it to them.
You know what I'm saying?
But like, why not?
Those are your kin, you know?
Let's give it to them and see if you did a good enough job.
And maybe didn't.
So, like, you kind of bifurcate.
But like, but you give the majority of them the majority of what you have left.
Like, why not?
What are you going to do with it?
Can't take it with you?
Let my kids, you know.
Have you heard of Alice Walton?
Yeah.
What does she do?
She's dope.
She built a massive, one of the, I think the biggest private collection of private art and made it a public exhibition.
Fuck yeah.
Like, I don't know.
If I'm that rich, like, she wants, like, ponies.
She's got pony outlet.
Like, everybody gets to ride a pony.
But I'm going to teach my kids well enough.
And if I don't, I'm going to spend it all.
where can people find you online where can they find the brand's product services
I'm at Josh snow on Instagram and at snow everywhere for my brand that I've given my life to
and I'm very proud of and then I'm on a TV show that you were on and crush it
goingpublic dot com you can see my TV show as well but I'm at Josh snow at snow at snow
for my brand and you'll kind of figure it out from there for sure.
So as you guys know, I've been running these commercial free for almost three years now.
I have done some endorsement deals with a company called Go High Level because it's part of my
entire ecosystem.
They're my whole back end.
They were just with us at dinner a few minutes ago.
Like, Go High Level is not something I'm giving you like an affiliate code to.
It's just a brand that I'm part of.
And then fan bases.
Fanbases, obviously, some company you've heard me talk about over and over and over because
all my merchant processing, everything goes through fan bases.
Again, it's not an affiliate code thing.
It's just these are brands go high level and fan bases that are part of my ecosystem.
When you look at Josh Snow, it is a foreground conclusion that he's building multi-billion-dollar companies.
You're going to see him on social, you're going to see him in the press, you're going to see him do celebrity partnerships.
These podcasts that you listen to are not just for you.
It's for your friends, family, and followers.
It's also for people from your past, present, and future.
You might only be focused on real estate, and you're like, ah, what do I care about snow teeth whitening?
Maybe one of your friends in the future might be someone creating a consumer product.
You're like, oh, you should follow Josh Snow, listen to this Money Monday's podcast.
You might be at a lunch two years from now and remember, oh, there's this episode of Josh Snow.
You should listen to it.
That's why these podcasts are so important.
They're not just for you, that people follow your past, present, and future.
I appreciate you guys.
Check us on the Money Mondays.com.
Check out Josh Snow.
We'll see you guys next week.
