Bodybuilding.com Supplement Company Of The Month: Top Secret Nutrition

Supplement companies start up for myriad reasons. Sometimes it's a former pro with a niche in want of expansion and other companies stomp a foot in the door because they found a door and happened to have a big foot.

Top Secret Nutrition follows the second course. It saw a void in the industry and sought to fill it. The company doesn't pigeonhole itself though. It is expanding like the muscles of a well-disciplined weightlifter. Tom Richardson and his crew are just getting started. You don't have to wait to see how this company advances. It's happening already, and that's no secret. That's why we congratulate Top Secret Nutrition as the December Supplement Company of the Month!

This question has a couple of answers:

1. From a business perspective, my partners and I who have started and sold many successful businesses felt there was an opportunity to create something special in the nutraceutical supplement space and apply our business methodology to succeed in this industry.
2. From an application perspective,creating products that help people look, feel and perform better was an exciting opportunity that we all felt passionate about.

Again a few answers:

1. The dietary supplement industry is exploding worldwide.
2. The industry is fragmented, allowing for new companies to compete quickly.
3. Based on our research there was/is a need for a company that intelligently spans across sports nutrition, weight management and health and wellness to reduce the amount of brand hopping that consumers have to go through when looking for supplements.

I have an M.B.A. from the University of Miami and started my business career with Arthur Andersen in their consulting division. After leaving Andersen, I opened my own computer consulting business with my current business partner Augusto Vidaurreta. We eventually sold the business to a public company. This is where we fine tuned our business strategy that has been used in all of our ventures which include: banking, plastics, restaurants, computer consulting, real estate, and hotels. We eventually packaged this business strategy into a book called Business is a Contact Sport, which made the New York Times best-seller list. As for the supplement industry, I have always been a fitness enthusiast and a bit of an amateur biochemist. I love scouring through clinical studies and researching the latest in ingredients and then working with scientists to create unique and effective supplements. Additionally, my wife Kristal is an IFBB pro figure competitor, so we both have a passion for fitness.

We have several products that define us, depending on the consumer, but if I was to pick one, it would be the Cardio Igniter™. This is a unique product that enhances aerobic capacity and stimulates fat burning, and helps spare lean muscle. Everyone who does cardio exercise should use this product. The reviews on it are spectacular.

We have several cool products coming out:

1. Energizing Whey: this is where energy drink meets whey protein. The first flavor is a delicious mocha that is refreshing and energizing.
2. Razergy™: this is a 2-ounce shot consisting of raspberry ketones, green coffee extract and caffeine. If you are going to take an energy shot, take one that burns fat as well.
3. BCAA Hyperblend Energy: a powdered stimulant version of our current BCAA Hyperblend capsules. The taste is incredible and it gives you an energy boost as well.

The Cardio Igniter™ - you can use it pre-workout, pre-cardio, during the day, really anytime. It gives you energy, endurance, burns fat, protects lean muscle, and is delicious.

Good question, I would have to say the best things about the industry have to do with developing products that help people be better in every way, it is rewarding. The worst things about the industry have to do with consumer awareness. We can build the best product in the world, but if the consumer does not know about it, then it does not do us or them any good. It's very frustrating at times.

One aspect would be our focus on fueling active lifestyles across sports nutrition, diet and weight management, and health and wellness. We believe that it is important to support the active individual not only inside the gym but outside. Another differentiator is our philosophy not to build "me too" products. Even with the simpler products we like to combine synergistic ingredients to create unique and effective attributes. For example: our successful L-carnitine plus Raspberry Ketones liquid caps. They're simple, but unique. And finally, no one will out science us. We pride ourselves on being in touch with the latest nutraceutical science and applying it to our product development.

Integrity drives our business philosophy, because integrity is the key to longevity. From safe, quality ingredients to label claims we believe in doing it the right way, and sometimes that costs more and takes longer, but, we are in this for the long term. Every business we have built has been based on a solid foundation of ethics.

Science does drive our business from start to finish. The "secret" for us is to match science to consumer demands. How we do that is Top Secret.

Well you have different consumers, some want the deluge so you need to provide it, but not at the expense of someone who just wants the highlights of the product and how it works. We believe that our marketing material is a good blend of both. We still feel that there is a huge opportunity to educate the consumers and that an educated consumer will push up demand.

We give a shout out to the team at bodybuilding.com. They have been instrumental in our rapid growth and success. We consider them all family. They are the definition of a true business partner.