Startup To Scale
Episodes
291 episodes
167. Building IQ Bar to $55 Million+ with Will Nitze
Will Nitze created IQ Bar, a protein bar to increase mental health and cognition, and now runs a multi-million dollar brand selling bars, hydration sticks, and mushroom coffees.Learn his strategy for growing a brand to a projected $55 mi...
166. Financial Modeling, Forecasting, Budgeting
As a CPG founder, it’s necessary to understand where you want to go in your business in order to get there. Financial Modeling, Forecasting, Budgeting are crucial steps to turning your strategic vision into actionable steps.Join me for a...
165. Trashy: Upcycled Veggie Chips
Kaitlin Mogentale founded Pulp Pantry in 2019 to reduce food waste and increase nutrition using upcycled veggie pulp. She had great initial traction getting accepted into Target’s Accelerator, airing on Shark Tank, and launching in major retail...
164. EDI 101: What is EDI and How to Implement It
As you launch in retail most brands will start by taking orders manually via email, phone call, or even text. But once you start working with larger retailers, they’ll usually require you to process orders via EDI.In this episode I break...
163. How to Avoid Building a Culture of Putting Out Fires
If you find yourself constantly putting out fires, this episode is for you. I talk with Katie Armistead about how to build strong relationships and processes across your supply chain so you don’t have to solve every issue that comes up.W...
162. Tia Lupita Foods: Post Shark Tank Growth
Tia Lupita Foods pitched on Shark Tank in April 2023 and made a deal with Kevin O’Leary. So what’s new? I invited on Jose Carrillo, Tia Lupita’s Head of Marketing and Strategy to discuss. We get into how Shark Tank affected their brand awarenes...
161. Bear Maple: Launching a New Beverage Brand
Launching a new CPG business is tough at any time, but launching one in 2024? Let’s find out. I invited on Brian Bethke, founder of Bear Maple, a new Ginseng Maple Water. Brian first came up with the idea in 2020 when looking at Maple Trees out...
160. Financial Foundations For Your CPG Business
As a CPG brand, understanding your business financials is imperative to building a successful company. You first need to understand your business goals to get where you want to go. I’ve invited on Brad Ebenhoeh from
159. How To Tell Your Brand Story
Telling your brand story comes naturally for some, but challenging for others. In this episode I invite you to learn how to build a compelling story for your brand so you can influence how customers thing about you. I invite on Jake Ahles
158. CPG Insurance, What Could Go Wrong?
Business insurance is one of those things that most founders think about once, and never thing about again. That is, until a major problem happens and they’re desperately trying to figure out if insurance will cover it. As your brand grows, you...
157. What CPG Brands can do in 2024 to Drive Success in Retail
Every CPG brand I’ve talked to over the past year has been laser focused on expanding into retail. While the initial order volumes can look promising, growth takes significant investment in managing those relations and driving sales.So h...
156. Order Management, Forecasting, and AI
Growing in retail means managing orders in multiple formats. Email, EDI, it can get overwhelming. Join me for a conversation with Ian Leaman, founder of Pantry as we breakdown some of the common challenges founders face and how proper order man...
154. Building a Resilient CPG Brand for 2024.
The past year has been excruciating for emerging CPG brands. The lack of capital, rise in expenses, and sales challenges have been really tough. This year looks like more of the same, but the good news is that you can position your business to ...
155. Foodservice for CPG Brands in 2024
The foodservice channel is one of my favorite channels for CPG Brands, but it’s gone through some change over the past few years. I’ve invited on Kristi McGill VP of Sales at Rooted Food Sales to talk through foodservice tre...
153. Increase Amazon Sales 300% with Premium A+ Content
Amazon is an amazing platform for CPG brands to reach your customers where they want to buy. As a seller, there are a ton of tools on Amazon, and you may be wondering what are the most impactful ones to grow your sales.There’s a lot of t...
152. How to Fundraise in this Economy with Jimmy Semrick of Brella
Fundraising for CPG brands in this environment is extremely challenging, especially for emerging brands. My guest today, Jimmy Semrick is the founder of Brella and has managed to raise $650 thousand dollars in the past 2 years and is using that...
151. Succeeding in CPG 2024
What does it take to build a successful CPG business in 2024? In this episode I invite on a panel to talk through industry trends, founder survival, and finding the support you need to grow your business. My guests are:- Christi...
150. How Retail E-Commerce Can Help Achieve Your Retail Goals
As you launch into new retailers, what tools do you have to drive sales and velocity outside of the store? Retail E-commerce is a new marketing category that’s recently grown, which can help you make all your digital marketing shoppable. I talk...
149. What It Means to Build a CPG Brand
Branding is more than just your logo or packaging design. Branding is how you and your company show up in the world, and how people view your actions, your values, your products, your mission, and your vision. Your visual identity just becomes ...
148. Creating a Planning Process for Your CPG Business
As CPG founders, we spend a lot of our days reacting to the world around us and not enough time strategizing and planning for the future. It can leave you feeling unbalanced and constantly behind. One of the best things you can strategize is yo...
147. Building Your Social Media Strategy from the Ground Up
Having a Social Media presence for your brand is a given for businesses today, but how do you actually build a strategy that provides value to your brand? I talk with so many founds who spend hours a week sharing photos and posting reels, just ...
146. Building a Plant-Based Mac and Cheese w/ David Delcourt
My guest today is David Delcourt, founder of Grown As* Foods and Seed Ranch Flavor Co. If you’re on Linkedin, you’ve likely seen David on your feed in a bright yellow jump suit talking about his plant-based Mac and Cheese. We break down how Dav...
145. The Story of Uncharted Coffee, a Black-Woman-Owned Ethical Coffee Roaster
Today’s guest is Jasmine Neveles, co-founder and CEO of Uncharted Coffee, a Black-woman-owned ethical coffee roaster with rare and limited-edition coffee bean drops produced by multi-generational coffe...
144. Failure and Resiliency: Lessons From Closing 3 Businesses
Let’s be honest, most businesses will fail and every business will go through challenging times. How do you maintain resiliency through your entrepreneurial journey?Just because your business fails, doesn’t make you a failure.I’m ...
143. Holiday Merchandising for CPG Brands
The Holidays are quickly approaching, and you’ve definitely seen the specific holiday displays in store from Halloween to Thanksgiving, Hanukkah to Christmas.But should you participate in these in-store merchandising displays as an emerg...
