Brand Builder

This week we have Sisun Lee - a software engineer-turned-entrepreneur, who, through a combination of talent, grit, and serendipity, has brought a Korean drinking remedy to the states in a product called Morning Recovery. Sisun and the Morning Recovery story is pretty wild - and teaches us a lot. Sisun started his career as a data scientist and product specialist working for companies like Tesla, Uber, and Facebook. So how did he end up in CPG? Listen and find out.

“Waste isn’t waste until you waste it.” Our guest this week claims to have discovered the most sustainable superfood on earth - and it’s something that most manufacturers were simply throwing away.

For our 50th episode, we have a classic conversation with Jason Nazar, an incredibly accomplished entrepreneur and Culture Builder extraordinaire.

Functional products are all about aspiration - consumers are increasingly looking for products that aren’t just clean, convenient, and taste amazing, but that make their lives better in a demonstrable way. Consumers want products that move them a little bit closer to that ideal version of themselves. This week we have two companies and three entrepreneurs who are leading the charge in the Functional Revolution. 

This week we’ve got Zak Normandin, the Co Founder & CEO of Dirty Lemon Beverages Dirty Lemon make functional beverages designed to help you get better sleep, elevate your metabolism, or just look your best. Zak and the team have created a red-hot brand that’s been a hit with consumers. But as we learn in this interview, there’s so much more to it than that. Dirty Lemon is the first consumer brand in the world to offer products exclusively via text message.

We’re back with another “Culture Builder” edition of the podcast, where we focus on how to build great teams and become the leader your brand needs to reach that next level. Our guest this week is Dr. John Izzo, author of six bestselling books, most recently releasing The Purpose Revolution, a manual to show leaders and companies how to transform their corporate culture so they can succeed in the midst of this Purpose Revolution.

What does it take to bring a totally new product to the US market? How do you go about sourcing the highest quality option for a single-ingredient product? Even after just a couple months to market, Priyal Bhartia and Nadine Habayeb of Bohana have answered these questions with their newly launched snack: popped water lily seeds. Yes, that’s a thing - and we’ll tell all about how this dynamic duo is bringing this functional and delicious Indian ingredient to The States.

Can you turn a commodity into a brand? How do you make something old new again?  Karma Nuts is doing exactly that. Founder and CEO Ganesh Nair has brought innovation and brand building to the common cashew. Ganesh joined us this week to help us understand the ins and outs of this challenge, as well as talk to us about competitive moats, optimism, and why how much feedback you need before you can really invest in a brand building exercise like this.

I think it’s fair to say that many entrepreneurs (or their investors) have an exit in mind as they're building their brand. We wanted to know - what's that experience really like? Why do companies consider mergers and acquisitions? How do you court a buyer? How do you reach a deal, and what happens next? To answer these questions, we’ve got Aihui Ong, the founder of EdgiLife and now the SVP of data and insights at SnackNation. She also shares how the best brands use data to stay a step ahead.

To follow up our conversation with KNOW Foods co-CEO Yemeni Mesa, we're replaying this classic culture-focused interview with Tom Bilyeu. Tom is the co-founder of Quest Nutrition and now leads Impact Theory, a first-of-its-kind company designed to facilitate global change through the incubation of mission-based businesses and the cultivation of empowering content. Their mission? To “free people from The Matrix,” which he explains in this interview.

This week we have Josh Taekman, the founder of EBOOST. EBOOST provides clean performance products that increase energy, focus, and all-around well-being. One of the coolest things about EBOOST - from the beginning Josh and his team decided to treat it more like a fashion brand, and really make a lifestyle play in the CPG space. He also breaks down how to find the right mix of ecomm, Amazon, and speciality channels, and why treating EBOOST like a fashion brand has made all the difference.

This week the KNOW Foods Co-CEO joins us to talk about the influencer strategy that's changing the game for the rapidly growing keto-friendly baked goods brand.  

There are certain guests for whom there's just no denying - this person is a bonafide Brand Builder. But Gigi Lee Chang, she’s something else. When you look at her body of work thus far, she's not just a Brand Builder, she's more like a Brand Renaissance Woman. This week, Gigi Lee joins SnackNation CEO Sean Kelly to discuss this remarkable trajectory, and to share her lessons learned along the way.

"When you call your company 'Fair,' you better be fair." We’re back with another “Culture Builder” edition of the podcast, and this week’s guest is someone who is building a consumer brand around the concept of fairness. Scott Painter is probably best known as the founder and CEO of both True Car and Cars Direct. This time out, Scott isn’t creating a hard charging team full of “brilliant jerks” (his words). The brand is all about fairness, and that requires a culture to match. 

A logo that you designed yourself on a cross country flight. Packaging you slapped together in powerpoint minutes before the first production run. A brand name that you landed on because, well, the URL was available. In the startup world, there’s no shortage of accidentally, stumbled upon, or just plain DIY brands. But why have an accidental brand when you can have a strategic one? A well-thought out brand might just be the one thing holding you back from your next big growth phase.