I’m pretty harsh about various stakeholders you’ll encounter on this blog and my podcast. Suppose you re-read or re-listen to my commentary, though. In that case, you’ll notice that all I do is point out patterns of behavior that work against an undercapitalized CPG business and
On Monday, I gave a high-level POV on why paternalistic leadership works great for conservative, slow-growth companies where little is changing inside and outside, mostly outside. Of course, this is NOT what we’ve experienced in the past three years in CPG. This is not really
You might think paternalistic work cultures are only a problem for aging Baby Boomer-owned family businesses. Wrong. Paternalistic operating cultures have nothing to do with the owner's age (or gender). There is probably a bit of an age-skew, but you’ll find young punks running paternalistic
I wrote a whitepaper years ago about how using innovation to grow just doesn’t work. I want to refine my case here. It’s a problem that affects platform brands built around an attribute that easily crosses categories and the grocery store itself. Often, I’ve seen this
In January, 43 million student loan borrowers will have to make payments again after a two-year pause. This is hundreds of dollars per month in additional expenses. Covid payments have already ended. Inflation in retail CPG items is a permanent lift of ~10%. With or without
Deep in my book - Ramping Your Brand - I have a long, somewhat torturous chapter on how to diagnose your brand’s early-stage performance. This is for Phase 2+ brands primarily. However, the main point I make is that Product is the number one source of
Yeah, this bro greeting may not return in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but social excitement sure will in many forms. And the surefire way to accelerate same-store velocities or online sales is to insert your new brand into high-intensity social events as a
The following is a preview of Episode 53 of Startup Confidential, the fastest-growing podcast for founders of consumer brands. Yes, the chest-beating about door count continues unabated in the trade media. Must be proof of traction, eh? Um, no. So, there are 38,000 primary grocery points of
The last thing a Phase 1 founder wants to hear is: ‘ you need to ramp up your paid marketing to build awareness.’ Why? There’s no money! Are you kidding? 90% of Phase 1 P&Ls return negative pennies per unit on a net profit basis (after all
In my book - Ramping Your Brand - there is a line that gets at the fundamental danger in CPG innovation, the fundamental threat to above-average memorability in a crowded, oversupplied marketplace. "Rarity in its purest form—rare ingredients, rare flavors, rare sensory textures,