the rise of ALPHAGVRD
If you’ve spent any time in the creative world, you know the feeling of a new camera. It’s pristine. It’s powerful. And it looks exactly like every other camera on the set.
Years ago, when I first landed in LA, our mutual friend Abraham told me, "You have to meet Jett. He’s doing something insane with cameras." When I walked into his studio and saw what he was building with ALPHAGVRD, I didn’t just see "stickers." I saw a movement. I saw a guy who looked at a hundred-year-old industry and said, "Why can't we express ourselves?"
I recently sat down with Jett He for an episode of the Axel Axe Show to dig into the grit behind the gear. We didn't just talk about camera skins; we talked about the psychology of winning.
ALPHAGVRD Founder and CEO gifts Axel Axe a branded T-shirt
The Power of Shame (The "Slap" That Built an Empire)
One of the wildest things Jett revealed was how he stayed motivated in the early days. He and his partner made a pact: if they didn't hit their success milestones by the end of the year, they had to go on Facebook Live and get slapped in the face with baby powder in front of everyone they knew.
It sounds like a joke, but it highlights a brutal truth about entrepreneurship: consequence is the best coach. In a world full of "get rich quick" schemes and easy outs, Jett used the fear of public humiliation to force himself to "eat sh*t" and do the hard work that nobody else wanted to do.
Navigating the "AI Slop" Era
As creators, we’re all feeling the weight of AI. We talked about the shift from high-end cinema glass to iPhone content just to keep up with the algorithm. Jett’s take? It’s a "necessary evil."
We’re landing in a hybrid world. While AI can generate images in seconds, it lacks the soul of a tactile, mechanical experience. That’s why ALPHAGVRD is doubling down on the physical—moving into 3D printing and CNC machining right here in America. When the world goes digital, the value of something you can hold in your hand only goes up.
Lessons from the Top: TAM and the 80/20 Rule
Jett broke down his "unorthodox" business filter for me, and it’s something every creative needs to hear:
Look at the TAM (Total Addressable Market): You don't need to capture the whole world. If you niche down into 1% of a billion-dollar industry, you have a ten-million-dollar business.
The 80/20 Rule: 20% of your customers will take up 80% of your time. Knowing when to say "no" to the wrong projects is how you save your sanity.
Self-Validation: If you love the product, you can convince a thousand other people to love it, too.
More Than Just Metal and Glass
We ended the conversation talking about Porsches, Rolexes, and the "temporary high" of materialism. Coming from Cuba, I didn't move to America to be poor—I moved here to win. But as Jett pointed out, those luxury symbols are just markers of time.
The real success isn't the car in the driveway; it's the ability to spend your time with people you admire, building things that actually change the way people see their craft.
Watch the full episode with Jett He on YouTube now to see the full breakdown of how he built ALPHAGVRD from zero to 100,000+ customers.
