Long Run Labs Podcast & Network

@JWLevitt @LongRunLabs The other half already missed the ship and it's steaming along real quick. Cool of you to build a lifeboat for rest so they can at least make it out to sea.

I've been running a test on every podcast guest I have on @LongRunLabs. At the end of every conversation I ask: how are you using AI in your business? Half of them light up. The other half give me a polite non-answer about having "played around with ChatGPT a little." The first group is moving faster. Every time. I wrote up what the first group is actually doing (along with how I use these tools!); specifically for marketers at outdoor and endurance brands. This is Part 1 of 3. Part 2: “I Asked AI a Question I Was Too Embarrassed to Ask a Human” is for founders and solo operators running multiple things at once. Part 3 covers the full setup: tooling, integrations, and how to actually wire this into your workflow. open.substack.com/pub/longrunlab…

Product innovation doesn’t always start with new materials or technology. Sometimes it starts with rethinking who you design for. @PYNRS_ founder Sidney Baptista explains how his brand approaches design differently. 🎧 Listen to the full episode now.

It only felt right to publish the first post in this series while in SF: open.substack.com/pub/longrunlab…

I'm finally placing an ad read on my own podcast for something I'm actually building. Catch @FindMyHuddle in the pre-roll on @longrunlabs next week. The highlights 👇

Get a peek of a business journey from Kickstarter hustle to Brooks Running partnership! Jon sits down with Sidney Baptista, founder of @PYNRS_ , to unpack how running can become a community movement. 🎧 Listen to the full episode by tuning in now!

Why did Sid Baptista remove "Black-owned" from his entire brand? The answer is the most counterintuitive thing I've heard from a founder in a long time. But it works. New episode of @longrunlabs with @sidbap is live.

The fastest shoes in the world don't matter if they get you injured. Gelindo Bordin points out that while innovation has focused heavily on making shoes faster over the past two decades, far less attention is being paid to helping runners avoid injuries. 🎧 Listen now.

What Happens When You Put Radically Different Business Operators in the Same Room A little writeup coming off of our second @FindMyHuddle meeting! longrunlabs.substack.com/p/what-happens…

One of the companies I invested in just opened a small seed extension, and it's moving fast. I'm doubling down on my investment from 2024. Laurel is building the AI-powered data layer for endurance sports. Think real-time tracking, AI-generated highlight reels, and broadcast-grade storytelling for every runner in a race; not just the elites. And an incredibly powerful level up for race broadcasts. The numbers: -260+ races timed, over double last year -Largest race this year is Bay To Breakers (33k exclusively timed by Laurel) -Partners with Motiv US, San Antonio Marathon, Boston 10k for Women, Houston Half & more $500K seed extension. 70% already soft-circled. Reserved for aligned partners and strategic investors.

The Only Man to Win the Olympics and Boston Back-to-Back Has Thoughts on Your Shoes The marketing director at Diadora (an Italian running shoe brand) joins @longrunlabs to talk about innovation, how to achieve success in running, and sports marketing in 2026

Olympic champions understand something many brands forget: consistency wins over time. We’re joined by Gelindo Bordin, the first Italian to win the Olympic Marathon. Today, he brings that same champion’s mindset to his role as Marketing Director at Diadora. 🎧 Listen now!

An appropriately positioned affiliate program isn't eating into your margin, it's reducing your CAC. More on this: open.substack.com/pub/longrunlab…

The right audience + a strong affiliate program can drive substantial impact for both brand and creator. Don’t think of it as losing margin, think of it as reducing CAC. More on this, plus a calculator you can use: open.substack.com/pub/longrunlab…

It’s that time again. Our annual survey is here! Each year, we ask for your feedback on @forthelrpod (and @longrunlabs!) so we can keep improving, make your experience as a listener even better, and get to know you a little more. Your responses help us make thoughtful tweaks, partner with brands that actually fit your needs, and invite the guests you’re most excited to hear from. Hit the link and you’ll also be entered to win a $100 gift card to your favorite running store! forthelong.run/2026-survey

The clearest signal of progress may not be a sales spike or a headline moment. Rachel Friedline says it’s being out in the wild and spotting a dog wearing the gear her team created. One dog on a trail might look small, but it’s proof the system works. 🎧 Tune in now.

People never get tired of seeing dogs. That one insight built Wilderdog's entire marketing engine. In the early days, customers would tag Wilderdog in photos of their dogs wearing the gear. The team would repost. Free marketing for the brand. Free exposure for the customer. Everyone was happy. Then a photographer sent an angry message about not being paid for a repost. At the time it felt unreasonable. In hindsight, it was the moment the creator economy changed. Today Rachel works with ~10 ambassador photographers, uses Popfly for creator management, and still shoots some of the best-performing reels herself. 15 seconds of content. Hours of work. But the core advantage hasn't changed: if your product naturally generates shareable moments, lean into it. We talked about all of this plus bootstrapping without outside capital, donating $500K+ to shelters, and the product she resisted making for years that became her top seller. New @LongRunLabs episode with Rachel Friedline, founder of Wilderdog. And here's a cute photo of our foster pup Oscar wearing their collar, because everyone loves cute dogs. 🎧 Link in reply

From selling braided iPhone chargers on Instagram to building a half-million-dollar outdoor dog gear company... 🐕 Rachel Friedline, co-founder of Wilderdog, shares the unexpected path that led to building one of the most trusted brands in outdoor dog gear. 🎧 Tune in now!

A guy who ran digital for PowerBar in the late 90s and watched DoubleClick get swallowed by Google told me this week that podcast advertising is in that exact moment right now. The brands that figure out outcome-based measurement first will be Google. The ones that don't will be DoubleClick. New episode of @longrunlabs: longrunlabs.substack.com/p/the-last-tim…

Earlier this week I published data from 24 sponsorship campaigns across the @longrunlabs network. Today I went to Outdoor Market Alliance's trade show and watched the industry start responding to exactly what that data revealed. The brands paying attention aren't buying ads. They're buying infrastructure. Wrote about what I saw, who I talked to, and an open question about trade show booths that I think the industry needs to discuss. 👉 open.substack.com/pub/longrunlab…