Home
Essays
Series
CFO Services
Login
Sign Up
Jun 9, 2026
Nathan Bryan on Why 84% Search His Name
Nathan Bryan on Why 84% Search His Name
00:00
48:33
Transcript
0:02
All right, everyone, welcome to Margin Theory, where we bring you stories from CEOs and business owners about how they make sense of business and life and everything in between. Today I have a special guest with us. Dr.
0:15
Nathan Bryan is the founder and CEO of Bryan Therapeutics, a biotech company building drugs that restore nitric oxide to treat heart disease, Alzheimer's, and wounds that won't heal. Bryan, welcome to the show.
0:30
Really glad to have you. Hey, great to be with you. Yeah, thanks for having me. Absolutely, man. Absolutely. This is, uh... I'm s- I'm super pumped to get into this and all the science and stuff. So, um,
0:41
yeah, like let's start from the beginning. So tell me a little bit about your story. You know, how'd you get into what you're doing, and what does Bryan Therapeutics actually do? Well, thanks Jake.
0:53
Again, I'm a small town Texas boy. I grew up just outside of Austin. I went to University of Texas at Austin and got a degree in biochemistry. From there I went to LSU School of Medicine.
1:02
I got a PhD in molecular and cellular physiology, then did some additional training at, uh, Boston Medical Center in cardiology and vascular biology.
1:10
And then really my, my professional career began as a professor of molecular medicine at UT Medical School in Houston. And, you know, I was involved in nitric oxide research, I guess, probably for the past 26, 27 years.
1:21
Yeah. Made a lot of discoveries
1:23
and filed patents and then, you know, I went from academia and a professor of molecular medicine to entrepreneur, because I realized early on that the discoveries we made could be life-changing.
1:35
And unfortunately, the typical...
1:36
Well, not really unfortunately, but the typical academic model is when professors or faculty have a discovery, the university license it to existing companies, then they hopefully monetize it and receive royalties on it.
1:49
But, you know, at the time, 20-something years ago, there wasn't a lot of companies interested in nitric oxide, and so what I had to do was go out and start my own company, uh, license my technology and intellectual property from the university, and then productize the discoveries.
2:04
And so that was the genesis, and now, you know, fast-forward, uh, almost 16, 17 years, now we've, you know, we've been very successful in the consumer marketplace.
2:14
Uh, but now we're developing drug therapy for, as you mentioned, things like heart disease, Alzheimer's, and topical drugs for diabetic ulcers.
2:21
But everything we do revolves around the production of nitric oxide and, you know, there's, there's a lot of misinformation out there. There's still a lot of not, not a lot of awareness around nitric oxide.
2:31
You know, years ago we created the market for it and have become market leaders, uh, but there's still a lot of work to do. Yeah, no, I, I, uh... That's... It's very interesting.
2:42
Can you explain a little bit more about, you know, uh, nitric oxide and kinda spreading out the awareness, so, um, yeah, just so we kinda get a little bit of a idea of what it is and what it does?
2:54
Yeah, nitric oxide is a gas that's naturally produced in the human body, so it's what we call a signaling molecule.
2:59
It's made primarily in the lining of the blood vessels, and so when it's produced, it can dilate blood vessels, it can regulate blood flow to certain organs, like to the heart when we wanna increase, you know, activity to the brain, we wanna recall memory, or to the sex organs when we wanna have sex or be intimate.
3:16
And so, you know, the regulation of blood flow is what determines, you know, optimal health or disease. But it's, you know, it's a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.
3:26
It's how our immune system fights off bacteria and viruses and, and other pathogens. Um, but you know, now we know that it's responsible for mobilizing our own stem cells. It prevents our telomeres from getting shorter.
3:36
It activates the mitochondrion, the energy-producing organelles of the cell.
3:41
So today we call nitric oxide a foundational molecule, because the data clearly indicate that when you lose the ability to produce sufficient amounts of nitric oxide within the human body, then really that's the earliest step in the onset progression of all age-related chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease.
3:58
So being able to regulate nitric oxide production, prevent its age-related decline, and restore its production through, you know, changes in diet and lifestyle and, you know, even the addition of product technology, we're finding is the foundational thing and the most important thing you can do for health and longevity.
4:17
Wow. Wow, okay. So are you saying, so as we age, we lose the ability to regulate or be able to produce nitric oxide in our, in our bodies? That's what the clinical data reveal.
4:30
So, and I mean, it's not dissimilar to, you know, growth hormone or, or the other hormones in, in men and women. The older we get, the less we make. But today we understand that that doesn't have to be the case,
4:40
because I'm 52, but I've got the nitric oxide production of a 28, 29-year-old, because I understand the enzymology and the biochemistry and how the human body makes it, and, you know, I avoid things that disrupt its natural production, and we don't have to see this age-related decline.
4:55
And, you know, that's, that's the basis, and really, that was my mission in academia, was to understand the mechanism of disease to the extent that you could not only prevent it, but even reverse it, treat it, and best case scenario, cure it.
5:09
And that's really the work we've done over the past 25 years, is gaining that understanding so now we can develop product technology and drug therapy that gets to the root cause of many age-related chronic diseases.
5:21
Got it. So how does, how does, how does, um, how does Bryan Therapeutics work nowadays? Like, how does it, uh... Okay, so it- I see the bio, um, where s-
5:32
where safe and effective drug therapy and consumer products are accessible to all. Do you guys sell any drug therapy and consumer products, or how do, how does, um, how does that work?
5:43
Well, the, the drug therapy takes a little bit of time, right?
5:45
We have to go through randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials through the FDA for specific indications, and that takes, you know, tens of millions of dollars and many, many years.
5:54
But several years ago, more than a decade ago, I developed consumer products because- Okay...
5:59
you know, once we realized how the human body makes nitric oxide, these natural production pathways-We could develop product technology that recapitulates natural production or that can mimic the natural production.
6:10
And so I've had consumer products on the market for, I guess, more than 16, 17 years now, but we make a solid dose form of nitric oxide gas. Because nitric oxide, again, it's a gas that's produced inside the body.
6:22
So kind of my claim to fame and kind of a history of innovation and inventions are creating a solid dose form of this gas.
6:29
We make an orally disintegrating tablet that's, you know, it's registered as a dietary supplement.
6:34
But you put this lozenge in your mouth, it slowly dissolves over five to six minutes, and it's releasing nitric oxide, because we know that most people aren't making nitric oxide on their own, so we got to provide it for you, and we do this through this orally disintegrating tablet.
6:47
And then we make... You know, beets have become popular over the past, you know, 10 or 15 years.
6:51
Unfortunately, most probably, uh, I wouldn't say all because we have beet products on the market, but most of the beet products on the market provide no nitric oxide benefit.
7:00
And yet companies are out there spending tens of millions of dollars in advertising and making hundreds of millions of dollars a year on beet products, gummies, chews- Mm-hmm...
7:09
capsules, powders, that don't provide any nitric oxide benefit. They're dead beets. So, you know, we make an, an optimized fermented beet product.
7:18
We remove the oxalate so it's not inflammatory or damaging to the gut and cause gout and other, uh, conditions, and we call that NOBEETS.
7:27
But again, everything we do is designed to increase the production of nitric oxide. And then we make a topical line of nitric oxide for aesthetics and skincare through our N-101 line of products.
7:39
But really, th- the purpose of that was to, you know, give consumers access, quick access to products that actually work, that's based on real science- Mm-hmm... as we start to develop safe and effective drug therapy.
7:52
And so that's been our strategy, our mission, and, you know, we've kind of bootstrapped this and used the proceeds from our consumer products to fund the more expensive- Mm-hmm... drug trials.
8:01
Because here's what I've tried to avoid, Jake, and this is very important. Because, you know, I've turned down tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars from private equity and venture capital to come in.
8:12
They see the future of where we see, but they want to come in and take control of the company. And, you know, I'm not building these companies to exit and to get a windfall of money.
8:23
I've made enough money to survive the rest of my life. Mm-hmm. So I'm building these companies to change the world. Mm-hmm.
8:29
And I don't want venture capital, I don't want private equity coming in, changing the direction and the strategy of what we're doing.
8:35
And so it's a slower build, but to me it's the right way to do it, and I never lose control of the company and never lose the, you know, the strategy building, kind of our- Mm-hmm... overall mission that we talked about.
8:47
And, you know, it's, I think it's the right thing to do because, you know- Mm-hmm... I think our philosophy is if you do the right thing, the cash register rings. But we're not out there- Mm-hmm...
8:55
trying to ring the cash register.
8:56
We're trying to provide real world science, innovation, and build consumer trust so that they understand the difference between what we're doing and all these other companies out there who are led by marketing executives who know absolutely nothing about the science of nitric oxide.
9:11
Interesting. Interesting. So, like, for the impact, too, and it's... That, I love that. That's, that's actually a great thing, and you guys got a mission I, I- behind it. That's right. So okay.
9:21
So how does, how does a typical consumer find you guys, and what, what's, like, that necessarily first route where they, they go, "Okay, I need, I do need nitric oxide"? How does, how does, how does that process work?
9:34
Well, unfortunately, if you go to your primary care physician or really any healthcare practitioner, there's not a way they can measure your nitric oxide.
9:40
So it's un- it's not like vitamin D where you go, you get blood labs, your vitamin D is low, you supplement vitamin D till we get you to normal.
9:47
Because nitric oxide's a gas and it's gone in less than a second, there's nothing we can measure in the blood, so we have to rely on symptoms.
9:54
And so over the past 30 years, we've understood that there's signs and symptoms that develop as you progressively lose the ability to produce nitric oxide. Mm-hmm.
10:03
And usually the first sign and symptom is, is sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction in both men and women.
10:09
Because if you can't dilate the blood vessels of the sex organs, men and women don't get an erection and they can't get an erection. Mm-hmm. So erectile dysfunction is an early symptom of nitric oxide deficiency.
10:20
So that's number one. Mm-hmm. And 50% of the men over the age of 40 self-report erectile dysfunction.
10:25
And then the next thing is your blood pressure starts to go up, because if you lose the production of nitric oxide and you can no longer dilate the blood vessels, your pressure goes up.
10:33
And so two out of three Americans have an unsafe elevation in blood pressure.
10:37
Number three, you start to develop insulin resistance and you get diabetes, and 93% of Americans are metabolically unfit because they're not making enough nitric oxide for insulin to do its work and to clear glucose from the circulation.
10:50
Then number four, you start to develop, um, you know, fatigue, exercise intolerance. You get winded going up a flight of steps.
10:58
And then fifthly, kind of the end stage of chronic nitric oxide deficiency is you get brain fog, dementia, and Alzheimer's.
11:06
And so this is a progressive process, and if you don't listen to your body when you develop erectile dysfunction or your blood pressure starts to go up, you're gonna develop diabetes, you're gonna develop ischemic heart disease, and you're gonna develop Alzheimer's.
11:18
And that's why it's so important for people to listen to their body, 'cause our body's always talking to us, and if we don't- Yep... listen and don't take corrective steps, we get chronic disease and we die- Mm-hmm...
11:28
most of the time before our time. Wow. Okay. And so you've been building, you've been building this, this business for around, you said 20 years?
11:39
Or was it- Yeah, I started my first company or kind of built my first business plan probably over 25 years ago.
11:45
Uh, we productized the market probably more than 15, 16 years ago, and now I've got a, you know, several companies where we're focused singly on nitric oxide.
11:54
But we, you know, we built a, you know, a portfolio of companies that have an enterprise value of greater than a billion dollars and sold more than a billion dollars in products over the past, you know, 15, 20 years.
12:03
Oh, wow. So you've been doing this... Yeah, you've been doing this for a while. I was only looking at your LinkedIn s- and it, it said, it said something different, but that's, that's crazy.
12:11
There's a lot of people who don't-Don't put everything in right off the bat. So sometimes it's, there's a hidden story behind that. Yeah, there usually is. [laughs] Yeah, man. Okay, so love it. That's, uh, that's crazy.
12:23
That's, uh, that's awesome with w- with what you're accomplished. And now you're, you're going to a speaking event in, uh, Las Vegas right now. It's, it's speaking on medicine, is that right? Yeah.
12:32
I'm here at the, the stem cell conference. This is a regenerative medicine conference focused on stem cell, uh, therapies. And I've spoken at this conference for the last probably 13 or 14 years.
12:42
It's, it's really a great...
12:44
You know, I think stem cells are certainly the future of medicine, and what I've been speaking on for the past 14 years is the body needs to be able to make nitric oxide for our own stem cells to do their job.
12:55
Because we have an infinite number of stem cells, whether it's in our bone marrow, in our fat, that-- and nitric oxide's the signal that tells our own stem cells to mobilize and differentiate, to repair and replace dysfunctional cells or tissue.
13:06
Mm-hmm. And so if our body's not making nitric oxide, then we don't recover as well, and we can't replace dysfunctional tissues.
13:12
We get these zombie cells, these senescent cells, and that tissue becomes dysfunctional, and that's what causes end organ failure, whether it's, you know, heart disease or liver disease or, you know, uh, brain disease.
13:24
It's always a loss of the inability to repair and replace dysfunctional cells with cells that work properly.
13:29
And so now there's-- it's a huge industry of, you know, deployment of stem cells, taking your own stem cells and deploying them back and injecting them in the joints or in the brain in Parkinson's patients or stroke patients.
13:39
Yep. So the important thing is you have to understand the biochemistry and the physiology and the signal that's required for these stem cells to go and differentiate into specific cell types. Mm-hmm.
13:50
And without adequate nitric oxide production, you don't get the outcome that you're looking for.
13:54
And so it's, it's important for me and important for the entire field of regenerative medicine to understand what nitric oxide is, what it does, and how important it is for any regenerative medicine therapy.
14:06
Wow, that's interesting.
14:07
'Cause, like, nowadays a lot of people are trying to diagnose their symptoms using AI and, and, uh, and, uh, you know, a lot of people have more access to knowledge, but they gotta be careful with that knowledge.
14:17
They gotta be able to real- you know, read it right and, uh, um- Well, that's the problem. That's the problem I see with AI, because AI is only good as the information that it's fed. Mm-hmm.
14:27
You know, there's so much misinformation out there in medicine, specifically as it relates to nitric oxide. Mm-hmm. And AI picks up that information and then regurgitates it back. So if it's misinformation...
14:39
You know, spending 20 years in academia, teaching in medical schools and, uh, you know, future physicians, you know, my, our job in academia is to take information and impart knowledge so that knowledge can become wisdom.
14:51
Mm-hmm. But if you're starting with misinformation, you can never gain knowledge and certainly can't get wisdom if you're misinformed. Mm-hmm.
14:58
And that's the problem I see in a lot of these consumer-facing companies out there that are selling nitric oxide product, is they don't understand the science. Mm-hmm.
15:05
These companies are led by marketing executives, former tech- Mm... CEOs. They're not scientists. Mm-hmm.
15:12
And they're out there d- doing interviews and podcasts and putting information out there and spending tens of millions of dollars in TV and radio advertising, and it's- Mm-hmm... misinformation. Mm-hmm.
15:20
But yet they're the first on the organic searches. They do paid ads.
15:24
And so when consumers search for it, they're finding the misinformation, and most consumers don't have the, the skill set or the acumen to understand what's real- Uh-huh. Yep... or s- what's science-based- Yep...
15:36
and what's misinformation and propaganda by these marketing companies. And it's, it's not only disingenuous, it's dangerous. I 100% agree with you on that.
15:45
I'm a, I, uh, I'm a financial professional, and I help businesses, and there's so much that AI can get wrong, especially with so mu- 'cause AI has, every ch- session has, like, a context limit. Yeah.
15:57
And it can only get so much context, and you need to make sure it points to the right direction. But then if it, if you keep going in, it just, there is, there's so much to it, um, that people don't understand.
16:08
Quick question.
16:10
So if someone wanted to learn more about, you know, stem cells and, um, nitric oxide and kinda, like, your area of expertise, 'cause I totally agree with you, it's all, it's very hard to, you know, just get in there and learn about it.
16:26
Could they, like, point to the right resources, like to, um, to actual, um, academia and, uh, the right research papers or, like, the re- the, the right, uh, site that it could pull?
16:38
Or do you have, like, do you have any recommendations for that or how, how they can kinda learn about this? Certainly.
16:44
I mean, PubMed is kind of the, kind of the repertoire or the, uh, repository for peer-reviewed scientific and medical publication. Mm-hmm. I've published over peer- 100 peer-reviewed articles on there.
16:55
So if you g- people can go to PubMed, put in my name, uh, Brian, comma, NS. It'll bring up all my nitric oxide publications. Oh, that's awesome.
17:02
The problem is they're scientific articles, and most consumers don't wanna read, you know, complex scientific articles. So I've created my own YouTube page, Dr.
17:11
Nathan S Bryan Nitric Oxide, where my, my single objective is to communicate science-based nitric oxide kind of awareness and education. And so I always send people there because I'm less interested in selling products.
17:24
I'm more interested in providing the science of nitric oxide so consumers be- can become informed, and when consumers become inform- informed, they don't buy from these fraudulent, deceptive companies because they know, they're informed enough to know that beet capsule, beet powder in a capsule is not gonna do it.
17:42
Mm-hmm. And beets in a gummy or chew aren't gonna do what I need, what nitric oxide is gonna do. It's impossible. It's virtually impossible for these products to provide any benefit in nitric oxide.
17:53
And then, you know, I realized, once I realized people weren't reading my scientific papers, I've, I've published several books. The latest book was called The Secret of Nitric Oxide. I published it last year. Mm-hmm.
18:02
It's on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, but it's The Secret- Mm... of Nitric Oxide, bring the science to life.
18:07
And what I've tried to do is there distill the complex science into something that's, you know, consumer friendly- Yeah, digestibleAnd then, you know, you can follow me on LinkedIn, social media, Instagram, Dr. Nathan S.
18:19
Bryan. Um, but my, my entire kind of mission on social media and YouTube is to just bring around- Oh, wow... well, number one, maintain the integrity of the nitric oxide field- Yep...
18:31
and provide the science-based education that I think is not only important for consumers, but important for the field to maintain. Wow. Okay.
18:41
I, I can definitely, I can definitely tell that you're very smart and you know your field, and this is, it's... I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm catching on to everything that you're saying.
18:49
It's just a, there is a whole, a whole, a whole layer of extra knowledge that you do ha- you do have to understand. So, um, you know, thanks for sharing all that. Yeah, of course.
19:00
But, um, all right, so I don't wanna talk all about business today. You know, the real story is within you, Nathan. And so, you know, uh, let me ask you this.
19:11
So while you've been building, you know, the business and, you know, spreading awareness and teaching people all these years, what actually grounds you? And, like, when things...
19:22
And, and I'm trying to make it, um, you know, try to get some principles from you to, you know, help spread the word through the, through the audience.
19:30
And of course, you're talking about nitric oxide, which is great, and through, through my audience. Sure. Um, what actually grounds you?
19:37
Like, when things get hard and, you know, the answers aren't always obvious, like, and, and you've been, you know, all these years you've been, like, pushing this and, um, you know, helping spread the word, what keeps you going?
19:51
You know, really what gets me going and keeps me going even through the hard times are the, you know, dozens, probably hundreds of emails and texts and phone calls and voice messages that I get every day when I wake up of people who heard me on a podcast, tried our product, made some simple lifestyle changes that they took for granted, and it changed their life.
20:09
And, you know, w- when you hear that you've changed someone's life, you know, you've changed the world because instead you change one life, you've changed the world, and you've certainly changed their world.
20:18
But that's what keeps me going, because I've seen this over and over again of people making some very simple changes just based on good information. It's based on real science, and it changes their life.
20:29
And, you know, people who have been sick and tired of being sick and tired for decades, and they make one pivot, do one thing, and it, you know, completely changes their life, and they feel healthy for the first time in
20:39
20 or 30 years. But that keeps me going, you know, a strong faith. Um, you know, I've been sued by competitors. I've been... You know, my life's been threatened. I've been coming after.
20:49
I've had PIs follow me, and because what we do is disruptive.
20:52
And this is, this is a very dangerous proposition because this has the chance to change healthcare and, you know, impede upon the multi-trillion dollar market share for, for big pharma.
21:02
But I wake up every morning- Mm-hmm... say my prayers, meditate with a, with a... You know, and I'm grateful, I'm thankful. Uh, and I just try to live each day with a s- with a servant's heart.
21:10
And, you know, I, I believe, you know, God put me here for, for a, for a reason. Mm-hmm. You know, it's been said there's two important days in any person's life.
21:19
It's the day you were born and the day you realize why you were born. Mm-hmm. And for me, I think that's, that, that message came through very clear. And so I'm on a mission, and nothing's gonna stop me.
21:28
And so no matter how bad it gets, you know, I just keep my head down and realize that it could be worse. And no matter how good it gets, I don't get too high, and I realize that, you know, it could all fall apart.
21:39
But I think, you know, when you live with a servant's heart and try to do good for humanity and, and serve others and do the right thing and utilize the gifts that I've certainly been given for the betterment of humanity, then I think certainly there's nothing that can stop us now.
21:52
I've, I've survived the worst things that can happen to a person in life and business. You know, survived the loss of our oldest son in 2018 in a car accident. I've survived multi-million dollar- Wow...
22:03
lawsuits and, you know, people coming after me.
22:05
And so, you know, I've learned to be pretty resilient because I've survived what, you know, many people would consider the, the worst things and what m- many people fear as they walk through life.
22:16
And, you know, I've not only, you know, survived it, I've thrived through it and, you know, I've learned a lot from it.
22:22
And I couldn't agree with you more on, um, you c- it could have been worse, and you've went through all these obstacles and stuff.
22:28
I just read, and I'm sure you've r- you probably heard this book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and he brought, he brought up the contrast bias.
22:37
And it's like as you have more, you know, as you have more experiences in life, you know, that are bad or good, you'll be able to compare it to your experiences that you're going through right now, and it's just not that big of a deal- Mm-hmm...
22:51
compared to other things. And it's crazy how that works, and you get stronger over time because of this contrast bias. So it's very... I, I lo- I totally agree with you on that. For sure. You know, I've, I've lived...
23:02
My dad's been a good example for me 'cause my dad had a car accident in 1984 when he was in his mid-30s. It left him paralyzed from his waist down.
23:09
So young, active, very successful entrepreneur was completely, you know, mobilized, immobilized. Mm-hmm.
23:14
And so I've watched him over the past 40-something years roll around in a wheelchair and, you know, his physical activity taken away from him. And- Wow...
23:22
you know, the guy wakes up every morning with a smile on his face and great attitude, and I just go, look, when I think things are bad for me, you know, I have my life, I have my health, I have a supportive family,
23:32
and so it could always be worse. And I look at him as an example, as just positivity with a, with a good attitude, uh, the majority of the time. And I go, you know what?
23:41
If this guy can wake up every morning with a, with a servant's heart and gratitude and, you know, a love for God, then who am I to complain for the, the, [laughs] the seemingly small things that are happening in my life?
23:54
You know, so, a- again, it's all about perspective. And the older we get- All about perspective... the more perspective we gain. Yep, all about perspective, man. All about perspective.
24:02
All right, so, uh, tell me about the people outside the business. Like, and you have your father that you just mentioned, um, in the wheelchair and, um, and, you know, y- you gain perspective from him.
24:14
But, like, out- outside of your father, maybe, like, your relationships or people or just friendships or anything, who matters most to you when you close the laptop at the end of the day right now?You know, certainly it's, it's my kids.
24:26
You know, I think the greatest achievement I can, uh, any of us can do is being a good father and, you know, s- raising good kids that are productive and, you know, kind and generous and, you know.
24:35
So I look at, you know, how we've raised our kids and who they're becoming and, you know, that's my greatest achievement, uh, I think.
24:42
And then, you know, I've, I've learned to be very selective about who I let into my life because, you know, once upon a time I was a people pleaser and I d- I never said no.
24:50
If people wanted my time, wanted appointments, wanted something of me, I, I said yes. I always said yes. Whether I had time or not, I just made time.
24:57
And then I realized there were people that, that I let in my life who were, you know, almost parasitic. They were occupying my time, stealing my energy, and taking advantage of me.
25:08
And then once I made that decision to, you know, I have to be selective about who I let into my life, and, you know, surround myself with, you know, with common people who share the same vision and energy that I have.
25:20
And, you know, that's the people we hire, who see the vision, who wanna do something. Mm-hmm.
25:24
'Cause there's very few occupations out there where people can get up and at the end of the day look in the mirror and say, "I changed lives today. I actually- Mm-hmm... changed lives today." Mm-hmm.
25:34
And so if people don't share that, and then we don't, we don't hire them. We're very slow to hire and quick to fire.
25:40
You know, I, I wasn't like that at, at first, but, you know, I'm learning that because successful companies are made up of the people. It's not the company, it's the people who make up the company.
25:50
And, you know, I think that's the most important thing. It's, it's the culture we build within the company.
25:55
It's, it's bringing in people who share in that culture, contribute to that culture, and, and see the bigger picture. Uh, I don't want people to come to work because they have a job.
26:04
I want people to come to work because they're on a mission. 100%. 100%.
26:08
If they're, if they're not, uh, if they don't know the why and they're just coming there just to do nothing, they're just gonna say- Just burn a check? Yeah, we're not interested. Yeah, yeah.
26:16
Uh, you know, and you know how business... And you're running the company, you know how business can pull you in every direction.
26:22
One thing I always ask my, um, the people, my, every one of my interviews is, like, um, business pulls you in every direction. You're building the business over years.
26:32
What's something you intentionally do, um, to protect your time on, you know, either the family side or just, like, your own time in general when, you know, everything's pulling you in every direction?
26:45
Well, Jake, honestly I can say I'm not very good at that. [laughs] You know? For me it's, it's b- always been a balance, you know, maintaining balance between home life, you know, my spiritual life and, and work life.
26:56
And, you know, I haven't done a good, good job at that. I'm trying to get better. You know, it, it's a process. It's, it's certainly an evolution.
27:03
But, you know, I just wake up every morning, and when I go to bed at night I plan my next day. Mm-hmm.
27:08
So when I wake up in the morning I have a plan, I have a strategy, and I just each day try to execute that plan and that strategy and not be distracted, you know, by the, by the outside distractions because they come.
27:21
But, you know, I've... Again, I, I say no more today than I did in the past- Mm-hmm... from, you know, people who wanna collaborate or come in and introduce these new product, new projects.
27:32
But we're very focused on, number one, delivering the best products on the market. Yep. Number two, demonstrating that these products actually work through real science, through clinical trials. Mm-hmm.
27:41
And then trying to communicate that, uh, around the world. And if what I'm doing on a daily basis isn't contributing to that mission, then I don't do it and it's not a priority. Mm-hmm. And so that's...
27:54
I'm, I'm a c- I'm getting a little better. You know, it's still a process, have a long way to go, but I'm, I'm getting better at, you know, dedicating my time to things that move the needle.
28:02
And if it doesn't move the needle, then I'm very deliberate and intentional about not bringing it into my daily plans. I like how you mentioned that, you know, like, your...
28:10
It's, it's gotta be in the call, like the mission of your life, so you kinda, like, integrated your life with, you know, your mission and you could say business. But at the same time it's more so your mission.
28:23
Everything goes towards that direction, so that all makes sense. Um- Yeah, no, I think that's, that's one of the benefits of what I do, because it was my,
28:32
my career that led to the inventions, that led to the formation of the companies. And so for the past 30 years, my business is a reflection of 30 years of my life.
28:43
So obviously I have kids to raise, have relationships to foster. Um, but the core of what we do, I think it, it's, it's pretty synergistic.
28:50
And certainly my kids understand this now because, you know, we're, we're a health-related company, and without our health nothing el- else matters. So, you know, my kids, my family are very aware of what I do.
29:00
They practice certainly what I preach and what we preach, and so it all comes together.
29:04
But again, it's, you know, have to do better now of, of being able to, you know, allow more time to spend with the family, the kids, and really at the end of the day things that matters.
29:13
And, you know, m- with any kind of entrepreneur and leader of a company, you wanna be a business owner, right? Mm-hmm. You don't want the o- the business to own you. Yep.
29:22
And I think that's where, you know, hiring good people and, you know, kind of from a high level setting the strategy and letting people, good people execute your strategy and your vision.
29:33
But, you know, when you start out and you're bootstrapping everything in your startup, you know, as a chairman, CEO, and, and, um, you know, founder of the company, you're the, the guy- Everything...
29:44
who takes out the trash. You're the guy who takes the phone calls. Everything. You're the guy who hires people. You know, you're wearing all the hats. You're running everything. Yeah. You're wearing so many hats.
29:50
But, you know, as businesses grow, as companies grow, you become better at delegating and bringing in the right people- Yeah... to where,
29:57
you know, I see my goal, my, my job today as, you know, setting the strategy, maintaining the mission of the company, and hiring the right people to execute what we're trying to do and accomplish. Wow. Okay.
30:09
Yeah, no, that's, that's what a CEO needs to do anyway.
30:12
They need to just get the, get the fact, get, get all the, get their list of to-dos and just make decisions, make the right decisions, but they need the right information from the right people
30:21
to be able to make those decisions. Are you... So, um, you, you mentioned hiring. Um, one thing I always like to ask too is what are one of...
30:30
what's one of the biggestYou know, lessons that you've learned on hiring people. Is it just, you know, being...
30:37
And I know you did mention the fact that, like, they gotta be aligned with the m- mission, but what are all the... what, what's another lesson that you have for, you know, being able to hire people, um, efficiently?
30:50
You know, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
30:52
And, you know, I think sometimes my heart gets in the way of my brain, and we've had people come in who needed help, who needed a job, who were kinda down and out on their luck.
31:01
They probably didn't fit kinda the skill set or the profile that we were looking to hire, but I thought, "You know what? We can train them. We can bring them in." And they were looking for a job
31:12
because they needed money. Mm. And, you know, we were trying to help them and trying to fit a, you know, a square peg into a round hole, and it doesn't work. Mm-hmm.
31:19
So now we're more deliberate about defining a specific skill set for the job that we're looking for, and then making sure that those people not only have that skill set, but buy into what we're trying to do. Mm-hmm.
31:30
And to buy into the mission so that they're not there trying to earn a paycheck every week, but see the bigger vision and the bigger mission of being able to contribute to changing the landscape of medicine and changing the world.
31:44
Mm-hmm. And there's not a lot of people out there who see that, I've learned. Mm-hmm.
31:50
Um, and a- another question I've been meaning to ask you, 'cause I know that you're br- bring up a lot about, um, about nitric oxide and, you know, the, the health industry. Where do you think...
32:02
and just wanna get your basic opinion, and I know this, I know this is a broad question. Yeah. Very broad question. But where do you think the world is going in, um, in United, in US healthcare?
32:13
Like, in general, in this, in this space, 'cause since you have s- all this experience, where do you think the world is going in, in that direction?
32:20
Well, I think the world is recognizing that the current healthcare system isn't working. Mm-hmm. You know, let's take, just take the US for example. The US makes up 4% of the global population,
32:30
but the US makes up 76% of the profits of drug therapy, of prescription medication. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And Americans are the sickest people on the planet. Mm-hmm.
32:40
So that's telling us that drug therapy isn't working and making us better. Mm-hmm.
32:44
And so what people are finding is that they're sick and tired of being sick and tired and going to the doctor and getting another medicine, and if this drug doesn't work, I'm gonna put you on another drug.
32:52
And, you know, they wake up, they're 40, 50, 60 years old and they're taking 10, 12, 15, 20 different medications a day, and they wonder why they're sick.
33:00
The human body is not designed to work when you've got synthetic compounds that inhibit biochemical reactions. Yeah.
33:06
So I see the future as, as medicine being more proactive instead of reactive, 'cause medicine today is reactive. Yeah. You go to the doctor when you get sick, and then it's a reactive process. Yeah.
33:16
And for some people, the first sign and symptom of disease is death, you know, because they haven't listened to their body. And as we- Wow...
33:23
as we advance the science and people start to awaken to the, to how they can t- be empowered to take control of their own health and avoid foods that aren't good for you. Mm-hmm.
33:36
And eat whole foods and, and practice intermittent fasting and, you know, understand, live with purpose. What is your why for living? 'Cause if you wake up- Mm-hmm...
33:43
every morning and you don't have a reason for being- Mm-hmm... or understand that- Mm-hmm... then what motivates you? Yep. And so we, so we have to exercise, we eat the right food, we have to live with purpose.
33:54
Like, most importantly, we have to have a relationship with God, and we have to have some spirituality- Mm-hmm... uh, for our existence for being. Yeah.
34:00
And when people start to develop this connection, and then, you know, for me, the life-changing was having kids.
34:06
Now you're not living for yourself, you're living for your kids and your family and, you know, the support structure. And so that's your why.
34:14
But if you have bad health and you're disabled, you can't enjoy anything you're doing in life. Mm-hmm.
34:20
And now with the, you know, the advancement of regenerative medicine and stem cells and the awareness and the science and innovations around nitric oxide, people are starting to recognize, "Oh, I don't have to be sick anymore."
34:30
Yeah. "I can make these small changes, change my diet, start exercising." You know, eliminate some things from their life that are making them sick. Mm-hmm. Moving from exposure to toxins.
34:39
And they start to see and feel better and be better. That's motivation. Mm-hmm.
34:44
Then their friends and family and neighbors see their transformation, and they're sick and tired of being sick and tired, and then they make these subtle changes.
34:52
Then I think, I think it's catching on, because the he- Mm-hmm... current healthcare system over the past 100 years has failed. Mm-hmm. It's failed miserably.
34:59
We spend more money per capita than any industrialized nation in the world and we have the sickest people, and it cannot continue.
35:06
People are waking up to it, and the medical system has to change, and it's gonna change, and I hope we're a catalyst for it. When do you think it's gonna...
35:14
When do you think the biggest, uh, I mean, I guess I know that there might be some str- strides right now, but when do you think, um, this, this change may happen, like in the next 5 to 10 years, or 15 years, or- I think certainly-...
35:30
whenever... within the next decade, you know, but we're going against some ver- very powerful forces. Yeah. You know, big pharma controls a multi-trillion dollar global business.
35:38
And, you know, my goal is to give people the information and knowledge to where they don't need prescription medication. Mm-hmm.
35:44
So if you're a for-profit company, the last thing you want is to lose market share- Mm-hmm... and lose customers. Mm-hmm. And my goal is for big pharma to lose customers- Yeah... because I wanna empower them to...
35:54
You know, and I think this administration is more receptive to than any other administration in the history.
35:58
They understand the, you know, the f- the, the toxic dyes we put in food and beverages, and the processed foods and, you know, fluoride in the drinking water, which is a neurotoxin, has lowers IQ in kids. Mm-hmm.
36:10
And starting to recognize and making public policy statements and, and changing public policy to remove these toxic chemicals and start to, you know, change the food pyramid to something that's more, you know, conducive with human physiology.
36:24
Um, but I think in the next 10 years we'll start to see some changes. Um, but it's gonna be driven by consumers. I mean, it always is. Mm-hmm.
36:32
And when, when, when patients go to their doctor and say, "I no longer wanna take these medications. Develop me a program to get off this."Because- Mm-hmm... until now, that, that conversation is never had.
36:43
Because once you're on a medication, you're on it for the rest of your life. Mm-hmm. The doctor never says, "Oh, well your labs are better, let's take you off it."
36:49
They go, "Oh, your labs are better because you're taking it." Mm-hmm. And they don't want you to change your diet, they don't wanna change what you're doing. Mm-hmm.
36:55
And they wanna keep you on these medications for, for the rest of your life. And now it's like, oh, I did this, I changed my diet, I removed fluoride, I stopped using fluoride toothpaste, I weaned off an- uh, antacids.
37:05
Now my blood pressure's normal. My cholesterol, there's no need for cholesterol-lowering medication anyway. Mm-hmm. And so you s- you start getting off medications. Mm-hmm. And then people start to feel better. Mm-hmm.
37:16
And they can become more active and more productive members of society, and that's the, that's the beachhead. I think that's what's gonna lead to this change and this revolution.
37:25
Sometimes, well, actually most of the times, less is more. Really. Absolutely. More times than not. Yep. Okay. All right, so I think I got a few more questions for you, uh, Nathan. Um, three more questions. So mentors.
37:43
All right, so I'm sure you've had a lot of people in your, in your, over your years, you know, that were in your corner when you're, you're, you're running this, running this business and, you know, leading strategy.
37:54
Who are the people who actually challenge your thinking and push you over the years, and who d- who, who...
38:01
Do you have anyone, like, on your executive team that you, that you can thank, or, like, anyone, you know, you can think of? Who are those people that real- he- helped shape you?
38:10
Well, you know what, growing up in academia, where you're challenged, everything you said, your research is challenged, the interpretation of your data is challenged, you learn to grow quick, uh, you know, thick skin early on.
38:21
But my first mentor, Martin Thiele, who's a pharmacologist, and then Lou Ignarro, one of the gentlemen who shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of nitric oxide, has been a longterm mentor and, and friend of mine.
38:31
And then other colleagues in the field, because they made me better. They made me do better research because they asked me the tough questions. Mm-hmm.
38:39
So, and now, you know, I think we, we live in a society where it's, you d- you're, you're afraid to ask tough questions, or you don't wanna offend somebody by asking a question they may not, may not know.
38:49
And then people become soft, and they're less refined. Mm-hmm.
38:53
So growing up in academia where you're constantly challenged and your work is constantly challenged, and you have to do additional experiments and get additional data to support it, or to make you back off of that because we've learned something that maybe we thought was true 10 years ago isn't true anymore- Mm-hmm...
39:08
and then you gotta pivot because we know something different today. So tho- those sort of been all my, my scientific, uh, mentors.
39:16
You know, I've had a strong support team from the Office of Technology Management at University of Texas Health Science Center of Houston.
39:22
You know, my patents and my discoveries are some of the most successful in the history of them, the entire UT, uh, Health Science Center in, in Houston.
39:29
So, you know, they, they encouraged me to, to keep my head down, keep going- Yeah... uh, from a commercial standpoint.
39:36
But, um, you know, I'm pretty self-motivated and, you know, I don't need a lot of cheerleading squad along beside me because I'm- Yeah... self-sufficiently motivated to keep going.
39:46
But most of my mentors are scientific mentors. You know, I have no formal business training, and, you know, I've been criticized for that. But for me, business is very simple.
39:55
Tell the truth and build trust with your customers. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. That's the biggest thing, too. I always tell people that relationships is the number one- [laughs] That's it... thing that anyone can own.
40:07
If you own relationship equity, that is how you're going to be able to sell in this new day and age. Like, that's the biggest thing. You're not gonna have an AI do it for you.
40:15
You need the relationship, the trust of the consumer. Absolutely. All right, two more questions for you. Um, looking ahead, what are the big goals for the next 12 month, both in business and in life?
40:32
You know, in business over the f- next 12 months, we hope to get our d- our ischemic heart disease drug into a phase three clinical trial.
40:38
Uh, we've had met with the FDA, we had pre-IND meetings, we had the clinical trial designed.
40:43
So we hope to, you know, get that started and hopefully have a drug approved and on the market in the next, you know, 18, 24 months. So that's from our business.
40:50
Then we're launching other consumer products, a nitric oxide mouth rinse that we're doing. We're expanding our distribution to international. Uh, so that's kind of our short-term kind of goals for the business. Wow.
41:01
Okay. Um, personally, for me, it's just, it's being a better manager of my time and saying no more. You know, I travel- Yeah...
41:09
150,000, 160,000 air miles every year, and it, you know, uh, some of it's needed because, again, it's about building these relationships and trust in, in international markets.
41:19
And I never conduct business or, or a cons- uh, you know, do a deal without meeting someone face-to-face and looking them in the eye and shaking their hands and getting a true feel for their character and who they are.
41:30
So for me, travel is, is necessary, but for me, you know, my kids are teenagers now, and it's, um, you know, t- you know, allowing more time and spending more time with them, especially during these, you know, kind of last years when, when they're at home.
41:43
My, my middle son just graduated from high school this year. He's going to Baylor now. My youngest is, uh, going into the 10th grade year. So it, it's to be more present.
41:52
You know, they're, they're athletes, they're all-state football, basketball players, and so it's, it's to be more present at their games and, you know, be, be there for them more. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
42:02
And then what's been one of the biggest challenges you've been navigating in the business lately? You know, differentiation, I think it's probably the biggest challenge any, any business leader does.
42:13
How do you differentiate what you do from your competitors when your competitors are outspending you 100 to one? Mm-hmm. And really owning the airwaves, the TV waves of misinformation. Mm-hmm.
42:26
And so to me, that's, that's the challenge is we d- how do we differentiate our products, communicate that differentiation, a complex science, in a way that consumers understand that what I do works, and what this company's saying on TV and radio, saying the exact same thing I'm saying, doesn't work?
42:44
Mm-hmm. And so, you know, Steve Jobs said the, the, the number one key to marketing and the number one-The key to marketing is be different. Mm-hmm.
42:51
So we're different, but more importantly, I would take Steve Jobs' quote to, you know, how do we, how do you communicate that differentiation effectively on a mass scale?
43:01
So tho- that's been the challenge since day one, and it continues to be the, probably the major challenge we face today. What are your thoughts on that?
43:08
Like, how do you, how, how, what, what, uh, what avenues have you taken to try to differentiate yourself? And I'm just c- I'm just curious, too, because I think it's a huge problem, too.
43:17
It's really hard to differentiate yourself all the time, and it's, it's, it's more... A lot of people say it's, you know, you differentiate yourself by, you know, the niche, the industry, you know. Yeah.
43:28
And, and then there's s- there's so many other ways of doing it, but, like, what do you think? What i- what, what's your best, best insight that you have so far on differentiation?
43:37
It's conversations with Jake Erickson and people like Jake. Hmm. Because this costs me time, you know? Mm-hmm. I don't have to spend $10 million a month to advertise.
43:46
I can have honest conversations with you, other influencers, people who have an audience, that come to you as a trusted source for information. And so I spend a lot of my time on podcast, um, doing interviews.
44:01
I just took on my, uh, a new TV show called Your Optimal Health on NowMedia TV. We're filming 52 segments this year, one one-hour segment every week to reach a...
44:12
You know, every week we're in about 150 million homes, but we're talking about, you know, what it takes to make optimal health. Mm-hmm. Um, and so, you know, I have a so- strong presence on social media.
44:24
Again, these are kinda cost-effective ways to- Yeah... you know, bring awareness, hopefully build trust, and have an honest conversation so people can know me as a person. I don't, I don't
44:37
really care if they know my business or know what I, my products, because if they know me, know my story, and know my background in science and medicine and, you know, that I have the information and the knowledge base to create products that actually work, then they'll find the products.
44:51
Mm-hmm. And what we found was through, through our, our, our media team and our IT people, is that 84% of the people who come to our product consumer website come from searching my name.
45:04
So it's now that I, I'm, my name, Dr. Nathan Bryan, is the, is the face of the company, the N101 brand. Mm-hmm. So the, our, our company website is n101.com.
45:15
That's one N, the letter N, number one, letter O, number one,.com.
45:18
But, you know, 84% of the search traffic to that site comes from people searching my own name and, and looking for nitric oxide and looking specifically for Nathan Bryan nitric oxide. Wow, yeah.
45:30
I love that because, like, you can just get on, like, 50 podcasts that have big audiences over the next couple years or whatever a year and stuff, and you can really, uh [laughs] yeah, you can really, uh, get a, gain a presence fast, especially if those people have a large- Yeah, and that's, and that's paying dividends.
45:45
You know, Steven Bartlett on Diary of a CEO reached out to me last year and, you know, I was on that, and within the first week I think we had millions and millions of, of views.
45:53
Obviously a, a, a big audience, but, you know, certainly it elevated my exposure and kinda my authoritative voice.
45:59
But, you know, those are the things, and, uh, like, and some of these other interviews I've done that didn't have as much reach, you know, there's something in there that resonated that went viral.
46:08
And so you never know what, you know, your, your particular audience is looking for, any audience, but it resonates and then, and I think that's why these conversations like we just had are so important. Cool, cool.
46:21
Yeah. Bryan, Bryan, uh, or, uh, the Diary of a CFO, he's, yeah, he's definitely awesome. I can't put... Yeah, I didn't even know. I just looked it up. I was like, "Wow, you were on the podcast. That's awesome."
46:32
[laughs] That's cool. Yeah, I didn't, actually, I didn't, I, I didn't know who he was, honestly, when he reached out, his- You-... when his team reached out and, and I denied him.
46:39
I go, "Look, I don't have time to do this." I was trying to be more intentional about [laughs] how I spend my time. And then my media team and says, "What? You have to, you don't know who this guy is?"
46:47
And so then obviously I said yes. Well, appreciate you for being on this one. [laughs] Thank you, Jake, for the invitation. It's good, good talking to you. All right.
46:55
Well, before we wrap up, where can people find you, and what are you working on right now?
47:00
And I know you've been sp- speaking about a lot of what you've been working on, but what are you working on right now that you want people to know about?
47:08
You know, the, the, probably the number one message we're trying to convey now is the importance of oral health and the dangers of fluoride and antiseptic mouthwash.
47:16
And so we're developing consumer products, a nitric oxide-friendly toothpaste, a mouth rinse that people can use to maintain a healthy oral microbiome, good breath, strong teeth, less cavities, uh, and there's a connection to systemic health.
47:30
Mm-hmm. But all of that, you know, I, I send people to my YouTube channels, Dr. Nathan S. Bryan Nitric Oxide. Uh, subscribe to that. We put out daily content. Uh, I'm on Instagram, DrNathanSBryan. LinkedIn.
47:42
I'm on X @DrNitric. Um, what else? And you can... I'm searchable. Mm-hmm. Uh, PubMed. Again, go to my book, the nathansbook.com. It's the Secret of Nitric Oxide- Mm-hmm... bringing the, bringing the science to life.
47:56
Perfect. Awesome. Hear that, ladies and gentlemen. Look up Dr. Nathan S. Bryan online and, uh, you'll learn everything you need to know on nitric oxide. Love it. All right.
48:08
So, uh, well, Nathan, this has been a great conversation. You know, really thank you for the time. You know, to everyone tuning in, thank you for being here.
48:16
If this resonated with you, share it with a business owner in your life who needs to hear it. Until next time, keep pushing forward in faith, fitness, family, and business. Nathan, really appreciate you.
48:29
This was a great one. Thank you, Jake. Thank you.
Margin Theory
Listen on
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Spotify
Recent episodes
Mason Boswell on 40 Screens in His First Year
Jun 9, 2026
Max Kunik on the LLC Mistake That Killed a Loan
Jun 9, 2026
Alexandra McMyler on $200K of Material on the Floor
Jun 9, 2026
Kris Klein on Consulting to CEO in Three Years
May 2, 2026
Scott Newman on Selling Bulletproof Whiteboards to Every School in America
May 2, 2026
Daniel McCaulley on Turning Down Work to Protect His Culture
May 2, 2026
Gabe Draper on Selling the House to Keep Food on the Table
May 2, 2026
Micki Gram on Accidentally Building an Agency After a Failed CBD Farm
Apr 13, 2026
Robby Pederson on Bidding $6 Billion in Work Last Year
Apr 13, 2026
Nick Riseman on Taking Over a 25 Year Family Business
Apr 13, 2026
