Ryan Reynolds is best known for his films, but he is also involved in a number of business enterprises. He owns the majority of Mint Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator that has expanded by more than 50,000% in the last three years. He also had a stake in Aviation Gin, which he sold for a whopping $600 million last year. Reynolds is also the founder of Maximum Effort, a marketing firm responsible for advertising for the “Deadpool” franchise, Aviation Gin, Mint Mobile (of course), and that hilarious Match.com ad portraying Satan and the year 2020 as a match made in hell.
We met down with Reynolds at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 this week to talk about how entrepreneurs can leverage “fast-vertising” (a word Reynolds created) to develop their own brand buzz by using real-time cultural moments as a springboard.
We also discussed why he prefers to invest in large, well-established companies rather than small tech startups, why Mint isn’t available in Canada yet, and, perhaps most crucially, how authenticity and failure are the keys to his success.
When Reynolds strikes a deal with a corporation, he knows exactly what he’s bringing to the table. The first step is to become conscious. After all, he is Ryan Reynolds, and with more than 18 million Twitter followers and nearly 40 million Instagram followers, he can easily introduce a lesser-known company.
Unlike other celebrities who use Twitter to promote brands they’re affiliated with, Reynolds genuinely wants a seat at the table and has a level of trust with his fans, and following that stems from his personality.
Reynolds is also the founder of Maximum Effort, a marketing firm responsible for advertising for the “Deadpool” franchise, Aviation Gin, Mint Mobile (of course), and that hilarious Match.com ad portraying Satan and the year 2020 as a match made in hell.
Reynolds is very aware of what he brings to the table when negotiating with a business. It is, first and foremost, consciousness. He’s Ryan Reynolds, after all, and with over 18 million Twitter followers and over 40 million Instagram followers, he can introduce a lesser-known company name with relative ease.
Reynolds, on the other hand, would like a seat at the table and has a level of believability with his followers and followers that is a direct result of his identity, unlike other celebrities who tweet inauthentic advertising of brands with which they are affiliated.
