On Wednesday, November 8, I took a few founders through some beta paid training I put together this Fall. In this new training content, I walk viewers through the story of RampCo and how it went from 11% growth in its original core UPCs to 120%
I’ll explain. But before I do, less than 10 spots are available for TODAY’s quarterly cohort. So, you may want to grab one now. OK. For the rest of you reading this, this is my best explanation of why it matters for CPG founders new to
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
Sorry for the clickbait. This is not about current events or about 2024. This is an evergreen sermon on why you have to have a concise, crisp strategic plan, even as a Phase 1 consumer brand. You may have heard the phrase “strategic plan” before, even though
It’s not uncommon for math-driven founders to agree as a team to pivot their business without spending enough time considering their emotional readiness as a team. What might this emotional readiness consist of? Have you and your co-founders sat down to deeply share your fears about pivoting
The experience of approaching co-mans for your CPG business is when most founders realize the meaning of ‘zero leverage’ business conversations. Ouch. Co-mans are notorious for ‘using’ startups to plug small holes in their production capacity without caring about the end product quality. You are
Startups are supposed to be scrappy, opportunistic, and always hustling. Their agility is their superpower, right? Who has time for planning anything more than the supply chain? Why bother setting a comprehensive strategy as long as we're growing? As long as customers keep pouring in?
Here’s a free preview of content from my upcoming Nov. 8 paid training: Pivoting is a sexy Silicon Valley term pushed by venture capitalists who don’t want their ‘kids’ to languish too long in failure before making relatively cheap pivots to new audiences, features, etc. But pivoting
If Gooder Foods has developed an innovation with scale potential, it will have to grow the category known as “dried dinner mixes” in a way that no one, not even Annie’s, has ever managed to achieve. Taking on Kraft-Heinz (or Annie’s) directly would be difficult
Most CPG innovators and founders are geeks of some sort. It doesn't matter if the geekiness was professional or amateurish or a committee of both. The point is that you isolated a problem, a gap in your category, and you filled it. Or