It’s the time of year when you’re preparing next year’s plan, I hope. As you move farther up the Ramp, though, the risk of losing focus grows. Why? Well, now you have the cash to entertain all manner of distractions you quickly ignored early on: adding lots
You may have heard the phrase “strategic plan” before. I talk about it a lot. Because it’s the front half of any good business plan, but it is the most poorly thought-out part of most business plans among CPG startups. The ones I’ve looked at seem
One thing I didn’t dive into my book, to keep it short, was how distribution growth pace alters as you Ride the Ramp. You’ll need to turn on a minimum number of stores, say 200-300, to even know if you have a business in retail.
This following is a transcribed excerpt from an upcoming episode of Startup Confidential, the only podcast for consumer brand owners that focuses entirely on challenges, misses, pain points and mistakes to avoid on your way to scale. “
Door-counting is easy to pick on as a completely common yet non-strategic ‘metric.’ Door counting is the easiest public way to suggest growth without divulging your actual trailing revenue to your competitors. The problem is twofold. Not every door is created equal in retail. The reason for this is pretty
In celebration of the second anniversary of its publication, I want to share an excerpt from deep inside the book. I pound heavily on the topic of iteration because it’s critical for most consumer brands to unleash exponential growth (or any kind of growth). Iteration, though,
There’s a fundamental adage in the social sciences when it comes to observing human affairs: all is NOT what it appears to be. The season of investor conferences has begun in person yet again. Bevnet. Nutritional Capital Network. And so on. Founders new to the industry should
One of the enduring challenges in premium CPG innovation is that the founder(s) are usually category geeks. This makes it hard for these founders to accept that even their early fans may not be so geeky. Fans may routinely gravitate to a specific attribute embedded in your offering. Differing groups of fans may gravitate
It sounds so obvious; it almost seems sad we have to discuss it. But here’s a great description of the problem founders with NO track record face in the CPG industry: they disproportionately attract weak talent from within their immediate social circle, exploitative partners, and
Yes and no… I got into a debate recently with a seasoned investor who was adamant that the ecosystem of resources is better for today’s founders of consumer brands than twenty years ago. When I pressed him for his rationale, he pointed to the greater amount