The Startup CPG Podcast

I love that I get to bring you more Shark Tank content so soon, and with one of my favorite people. Today’s guest is Sandra Velasquez, the CEO & Founder of Nopalera, and a very early member of the Startup CPG community. Nopalera creates Mexican botanicals for bath & body, and as you’ll hear, have become a staple in my life. Sandra appeared on Shark Tank last month during Season 14, Episode...

Today is our sixth episode in the "First Hire" series where we’ve so far covered making first hires in marketing, finance, operations, and retail & foodservice sales. Today I thought it would be helpful to talk more cross-functionally with one of our community member brands about their experience of making first hires, being a first hire, and what they’ve learned in the process, and I immediat...

Earlier this week we had a bonus episode that was a bit shorter, so I thought this was a good chance to re-air one of my favorite episodes from last year with Seth Goldman about prepping for Expo West (which is less than 1 month away!). We have five other great episodes with Seth from last year available as well. Be sure to stop by the Eat the Change booth in the North Hall if you attend Expo West...

Today we have a bonus episode for you to celebrate the launch of the alcohol channel in the Startup CPG Slack! We realize that alcohol brands face many unique challenges and very different regulations, and now that we have over 10,000 community members, we wanted to dedicate a space just for emerging alcohol brands. In the Startup CPG Slack, you can now go to “All Channels” on the sidebar and then...

If you’ve been on LinkedIn in the last year, chances are you’ve seen pictures of a green van making it’s way around the country, spreading the good word about Forij. I was lucky enough to meet up with founder Parker Olson when he came through Portland in the Forij van, and I think it’s the only time I’ve been elated to received food from a stranger out of a van. Forij’s first product line is a fun...

In case you missed it, long-time Startup CPG community member wildwonder just aired on Shark Tank, and today, Founder Rosa Li joins us to share all the details! You don’t need to pre-watch the episode to enjoy the conversation, but I definitely recommend giving Season 14, Episode 11 a watch to see Rosa make a $500,000 deal with Tony Xu, guest Shark and Founder of Door Dash. Listen in as Rosa share...

I figured it was worth putting my soul on the line to bring you some behind the scenes content from one of the hottest brands in CPG. Just a few months ago in October 2022, Liquid Death Mountain Water closed a $70 million Series D round that valued the company at $700 million, their products are in over 60,000 retailers nationwide, they have over 160 employees, and they were only founded in 2018,...

A few weeks back, we talked about Angel Investing 101 on the show, and equity crowdfunding got a brief shoutout. I was super curious on the topic and thought who better to talk about equity crowdfunding than someone in the process right now! Today we’re joined by Elena Guberman, co-CEO of tbh, a brand focused on reimagining nostalgic snacks. Their first product is a better for you, better for the...

Happy New Year! We’re coming at you this week from the archives again - host Jessi got COVID and temporarily lost her voice! I’m sharing another of our greatest hits from last year, 2022, in case you missed it. It’s one of my personal favorites, and I hope you enjoy!  We've got a really fun episode today that I think will bring you a lot of joy and inspiration. It's probably no surprise but your S...

Today is our fifth episode in the "First Hire" series where we’ve so far covered making first hires in marketing, finance, operations, and retail sales. Now we get to cover foodservice sales! Here to help us learn more about first hires in foodservice sales is Jenna Cameron. Jenna is currently the sales lead at SIMULATE and has years of experience in foodservice sales for growing brands. Listen in...

We’re coming at you this week from the archives. Many of you found this pod just this year, so I’m sharing one of our greatest hits from last year, 2021, in case you missed it. It’s one of my personal favorites, and I hope you enjoy!  Kirk Visola is an active member of our Startup CPG community with a heart for sharing his design expertise and helping people navigate the complex world of packaging...

Let’s talk demos! In-store demonstrations are an important tool in a CPG company toolbox, so we brought our favorite team of demo experts to help us navigate this topic: Bridget Aragon & David Heiser - Co-founders of Grassroots Demos. Grassroots Demos help brands boost sales and reach more customers by sampling their items in-stores. Shoppers get to taste items in a safe environment and give f...

I once received a check from a distributor for $500, but it listed a ton of invoices. I dug in and that check was for $40,000 worth of product - it was a combination of unauthorized free fills that led to a broker conversation and double charges for a big distributor promotion plan that was expensive before doubling it. But the amount of time it took to track down all the info, dispute, follow up,...

Content creation. We all know it’s more important than ever. But how do you actually create great content as a brand and measure success? To help us answer these questions, we have David Greenfeld of Dream Pops joining us today. Dream Pops is re-imagining cult classic desserts with plant based ingredients - my current favorite is the frozen cookie dough bites. At the time of recording, Dream Pops...

You’ve all let me know that fundraising content is some of your favorite, so I thought I would bring my favorite angel investing expert on the show, Marcia Dawood, for a 101 level episode on angel investing. Marcia currently serves as the Chair of the Board of the Angel Capital Association, the professional society for angel investors in the US and globally. She is an investor in several early sta...

It’s November and we’re entering the biggest online shopping season of the year in the US. How is your ecommerce site functioning? Or are you thinking about launching a new website? Black Friday is in a few weeks, so hopefully you can take away some actionable tips for the upcoming holiday months or this can help you start thinking through your 2023 website planning. Here to help us navigate the t...

Today’s hot topic is fundraising. And what could be better than talking fundraising with our favorite weird sparkling water brand, Aura Bora. Aura Bora just raised a Series A round, led by Siddhi capital, bringing their lifetime funding as a brand to $10 million, and co-founder Paul Voge is here to share the details with us. Paul and his wife Maddie founded Aura Bora in 2019, and they make sparkli...

What could you learn from one of the largest snack companies in the world? Lonny James Ruben from Bunny James Boxes got to learn just that this year as a member of the 2022 CoLab cohort. Bunny James Boxes make gift boxes for people with specialty diets, allergies, and eating styles. And they provide this niche gifting solution for individuals, businesses, and retailers. They were already on a fast...

What's it like to build out a new section at the grocery store? We saw Perfect Bar create a refrigerated bar section, so why not a refrigerated, delicious, easy-squeezy sauce section? That's what Haven's Kitchen is bringing to a store near you - fresh sauces that help home cooks feel like a champion in their kitchen. I became a Haven's Kitchen fan through our Startup CPG partner Social Nature and...

What does it take to build the next household chocolate brand name like Hershey or Cadbury? The team at Mid-Day Squares is on the road to find out, and today we’re joined by Jake Karls, Co-Founder and Rainmaker. If you aren’t familiar with Mid-Day Squares, head to your nearest Target produce section, grab a square of incredible functional chocolate, and give their product a little quick merchandis...

“'Tis the week post-Expo and all through the land… CPGers have full tummies, full hearts, and half-closed eyes.” I stole that line from Jenna on the Startup CPG team’s recap of Expo East that I’ll link in the show notes, but it captures post-Expo feelings really well. Coming at you a day earlier than normal, so you get the tea faster, this was the first Expo where Startup CPG had a booth, and we h...

A couple weeks ago, Startup CPG hosted the 2nd Annual Shelfie Awards, where we recognized 14 brands across 13 categories. We’ll be talking with more of the finalists and winners in the coming months on the show, but I wanted to give you all a chance to briefly meet each of our lovely winners. Today’s episode is a special format with clips submitted by each winning brand. I’ll still be here listeni...

Influencer and affiliate marketing. Topics with a lot of opinions, a lot of success stories, and unfortunately a lot of wasted time and energy when executed poorly. Thankfully, we've got resident expert Kim Biddle, founder of Clutch Affiliate to walk us through what we need to know. At Clutch Affiliate, Kim focuses on consulting with emerging brands on how to build and scale profitable affiliate p...

If you are listening to this episode on release day, you may notice it's not Tuesday! That's because I wanted to bring you the Startup CPG news hot off the press: a recap of the 2022 Shelfie Awards! If you aren't aware, we have our very own annual industry award competition at Startup CPG, and yesterday was the Second Annual Shelfies Awards Ceremony, proudly sponsored by Trax Retail, where we reco...

Venture capital - a term we've all heard but maybe don't fully understand (this is a safe space to admit what we don't know and I'll be the first to say that fundraising and private equity are pretty confusing). What we do know is that many of the consumer brands we love that have had successful exits have received funding from VMG Partners - like Perfect Bar, KIND Bar, Pirates Booty, and Justin's...