Growing 500-600% annually off a small base is the bleeding edge of exponential growth. And ButcherBox quietly did it. It pulled a Chobani as the meat industry incumbents slept. Fresh meat, as insiders know, is primarily an unbranded space in grocery retail. Most Americans buy unpackaged
Most fast-growing CPG founders get replaced by the time the brand exits. This is mainly because the amount raised involves so much founder equity dilution deliberately intended by the lead investment firm. They want to take control. Even when they ‘trust’ the founder/CEO, they still
The vast majority of CPG startups operate as B2B businesses. They don't interact with their consumers. They aren't curious about how they receive and use their products. As long as case volumes grow, they're happy. As long as their wholesale price can float operations and
Most of my clients are founders new to the CPG space, regardless of their dominant sales channel (DTC or brick). Most high-growth companies raise money from investors at some point to keep growing quickly. And once you have a board that has a vote on what
When folks take my Riding the Ramp training each quarter, I ask them to do a live, rough draft of a competitive strategy statement using the theory in my book. Then, they send it to me for critique. I regularly get folks who write down emotional
Here’s a clip of my podcast interview with Prof. Tom Eisenmann of Harvard Business School’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, author of Why Startups Fail. Aired in June on Startup Confidential – the interview is available on all major podcast platforms. Believe it or not, founders with prior business operating experience
I've studied emerging symbolism in premium, early-stage brands for a long time. And "organic" is not a meaningful symbol in beverages outside of fluid milk. This is because 'organic' requires a broadly disseminated consumer fear of impurities in a beverage's supply chain to have any
When early-stage businesses struggle in the premium end of consumer-packaged goods, a shocking number of founders and operators leap to the conclusion that they need a “brand refresh” or a “re-brand.” Look, branding agencies are numerous, and they network heavily at Expo West. They sponsor
Put simply; it's about the nature of averages. Even today, the problem is always in chain store systems with huge, store-level variations in demand for premium brands. A consumer brand’s sales in any chain will vary in U/S/W based simply on variations in-store traffic. But chain
I get this asked about this a lot because most early-stage startups are in Phase one, like ~80% of them. Where do I start when ‘big’ premium chains like Whole Foods totally ignore me? Looking ahead to next year, here’s where I stand (which you should