Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1364IR // #c1364Synthesis

"Why would I give the IP to somebody else? If I was going to make a frozen pizza, I wanted to own the pizza and the name and not let somebody else get rich off my IP."

— In our words · Source: Cancel Me If You Can (Dave Portnoy)

[Use when]

A partner offers easy money to put your brand on their product.

[Why it matters]

His sales team had agreed to lease the One Bite name to a pizza maker for ad dollars. Portnoy stopped the deal and restructured it so Barstool owned the product. He then had to admit on camera that the first version tasted bad.

Filed under situations:When the other side has more leverageWhen a rival’s move changes your game

More from Cancel Me If You Can

#c1344"At this point the business model was pretty simple: if I could sell $3,400 worth of ads in the newspaper, I would break even."You're running a new venture on thin cash and the finances feel vague. #c1345"How do you sell ads for a newspaper that doesn’t exist? On promises."You need paying customers before you have a finished product. #c1346"I’d sift through all my competitors’ publications in Boston and call every single one of their advertisers every single week to poach them…You're looking for your first customers and your competitors publish who theirs are.

Same situation, different book

#c1287Find the player on tiltThe other side is visibly emotional and you're tempted to match their energy.From Trade Outside the Box #c1272Fronting and slipstreamingOne party is carrying a tough position alone in a group negotiation and the others are quiet.From The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy #c1555The Two-Tier Value Calculus: Preferred Indifferents and the Invention of DutyHigh-stakes negotiations, entrepreneurial risk-taking, or career crises where you need maximum tactical drive…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers #c1549The Cathartic Purge and the Shadow of TranquillityUse when a strategy session or research team is prematurely locked into a dogmatic narrative and needs a…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers