Mike Constantiner

Mike is a creative entrepreneur and angel investor with over a decade in consumer products and tech under his belt. He’s the man behind PRNCPLS, Cameo (acq. Vimeo), and Fast Society, while his portfolio includes heavy-hitters like Capital, Vacation, Sanzo, Cadence, Smartrr, and Baboon to the Moon.

This May, he launched Freestyle, a diaper and baby care brand set out to redefine mainstream perception of the American family.

On his morning routine.

I’m only an early riser because I have to be.

I workout Monday to Friday at 6am. I lift Mondays and Fridays, and on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So, I’m up at 5:35, but in California, that’s actually pretty easy since everything is so much earlier here. 

After working out, I come home and spend time with my two kids (5 and 2) and wife while getting ready for the day. The house is a bit wild, but I love the energy my kids bring in the morning. They’re the best hype machines in the world and they don’t even know it. 

Around 8am, I’m usually at my kitchen table with some coffee and whatever food my body tells me I need that morning. I use this time to prepare for the work day ahead. I take my son to school and then I’m in the office by 8:45.

On prioritizing what’s in your control.

Jiu-Jitsu is my form of meditation. It’s one hour where you literally can’t think about anything else. You're sparring with somebody, so you’re effectively in the middle of a fight. 

When I show up, I’m very focused on whatever I’m working on. One of the beautiful things about Jiu-Jitsu is the tangible results of your direct effort. 

Meanwhile, at work, wins usually are a result of a variety of factors, and a lot of times, luck is a major component. It’s usually out of your control whether someone says yes or no to you; they’ve got their own whole thing going on. 

In Jiu-Jitsu, you may have an opponent, but it’s all you. It’s how much you put into it, what positions you get yourself into, your ability to execute on what you’re trying to do. 

So, I try to maintain that mindset outside of Jiu-Jitsu. Whether it’s work or my personal life, what are the things I can actually control right now?

On his personal routine for steady energy flow.

I thrive off of my routine.

As a founder (and father), it’s really easy to get pulled in a million directions, so having this structure is something that I have found to really help me be very productive; create time for myself, family, and friends; and not burn out.

When my routine gets thrown off, I notice myself slipping up. It happens more than I’d like, obviously, but having this structure gets me back on track quickly.

I break my work day up into 3 working sessions. Morning, afternoon, and night with a 30–60-minute lunch break, which is a non-negotiable for me. I hate eating at my desk. The time away from my desk allows me to come back feeling fresh and with a clear mind.

I work until it’s time to go home to spend some time with my family and have dinner. After dinner, we put the kids to bed, and then I catch up on outstanding work. Then, my wife and I hit the sack around 9 and usually fall asleep watching a show or reading by 10 or 10:30.

On being a father and a founder.

It’s hard, man. You obviously only see the highlights on Instagram. 

My daughter was sick for a straight month, one thing after another: 104-degree fever for 5 days from COVID that turned into an ear infection, which led to an allergic reaction from the antibiotics to cure the ear infection, and then she picked up a stomach bug from my son. It is super stressful. 

Honestly, thank god for my wife. She’s world-class at being a mom, and I’m super grateful to have someone like her as my partner. I feel like my role as a dad and a husband, up until this point at least, is to just make sure my wife has what she needs to excel at being a mom and a wife. 

Being a father can be stressful in the micro sense, but it’s the biggest motivating factor on a macro scale. 

I know I want to provide my kids with a certain kind of lifestyle and expose them to lots of opportunities. They’ll find something they really love, maybe excel at, whether that’s a sport or dance or art or whatever. 

I just want to be able to put them in a position to find stuff they love and support them in that pursuit. The work I do is worth it to make that happen.

On non-linear growth.

If we go back to Jiu-Jitsu, everyone — no matter who they are or what their background is — starts as a white belt. The goal is to get your black belt, and you don’t know if that’ll take five, eight, 10, 15, however many years. 

I technically started in 2006. Life got in the way, things changed. Now, 16 years later, I’m a brown belt. I’ll probably get my black belt within two years if I can keep training consistently, but that’s not the end goal for me. 

It’s not just getting the belt. The goal is being 65 years old and still training as a black belt. I think I see my career the same way. 

There’s an analogy I like where some people win their Oscar when they’re 25. Some people win it when they’re 70. You just don’t know when you’re gonna win it. The goal is to put yourself in that position over and over again so that the potential is there.

On dedicating your life to constant improvement.

I love what I do at Freestyle. Ultimately, my goal in life — when I eventually retire or I die — is to be considered one of the best brand builders who’s ever lived. That’s literally everything that motivates me from a professional standpoint. 

Of course, I want Freestyle to get really big, have a major cultural impact, and make lots of money and all that good stuff. But in the case that it doesn’t, I want to be confident that the work I put in will open doors to new opportunities. 

As long as every opportunity I get moves me toward my big goal, I’m grateful, because I just want to continuously get better at what I do. 

I spent the first, I don’t know, 12 years of my career doing the wrong things. 

I finally found what I’m really good at. I’m really appreciative that I could get to this point. 

I’m 39 and, in my mind, have a good 50+ years of work in me. I don’t believe in retirement. My 93-year-old stepfather still goes to his office 4 days a week and is an absolute legend. He’s a huge role model for me, and I just want to keep being able to do this over and over again. As long as I have these opportunities, I’m gonna do whatever I can to keep that wheel spinning.