Simon Mellin

Founder and CEO at The Modern Milkman

1 podcast appearance · 4 clips

Top clips

Riding Unicorns · Simon Mellin

We bought the local milk round for a couple of grand - a bigger public truck with a window we had to wedge shut with cardboard and 100 customers. I quickly found the pitfalls in why it died: no one has cash anymore.

Classic founder origin story with vivid, relatable details (cardboard wedge, cash problem). Shows resourcefulness and immediate problem identification that led to the business model.

6:34 - 6:5825s

Riding Unicorns · Simon Mellin

Business Mechanics

There's a lot of subscriptions that are nice to have, but not necessarily what you need. Milk's a great example - you use it all the time. Having this regular repeat order makes a lot of sense.

Clear distinction between need-based vs nice-to-have subscriptions with concrete example. Explains why some subscription businesses work better than others.

19:44 - 20:0420s

Riding Unicorns · Simon Mellin

Business Mechanics

Population density in the US is only about 20% of the UK, so your cost to serve is significantly higher. But the US consumer spends a lot more than the UK consumer, so the unit economics work out very similar.

Reveals counterintuitive business insight with specific data points. Shows how different market conditions can yield similar outcomes through different mechanisms - valuable for anyone scaling internationally.

24:55 - 25:2328s

Riding Unicorns · Simon Mellin

Origin Story

When we started Modern Milkman, we bought modernmilkman.co.uk, but modernmilkman.com was taken. At that point, we didn't think much about it - we were very focused on testing the plan in the UK.

Sets up an intriguing domain story that hints at future US expansion. The casual dismissal of the .com domain creates tension for anyone who knows how valuable domains become.

23:25 - 23:4318s

Episodes

Riding Unicorns

Simon Mellin, Founder & CEO @ The Modern Milkman

Simon MellinSep 25, 202442 min