April 28, 2025 • 30 mins
Erik Fabian transforms everyday sourdough challenges into innovative kitchen solutions with Sourhouse, born from his own bread-baking frustrations during the pandemic.
What makes this entrepreneurial story particularly compelling is Eric's thoughtful approach to business building. Rather than rushing to market during the initial COVID sourdough craze, he spent two years perfecting his product. This patience positioned Sourhouse to capture sustainable growth rather than riding a temporary trend.
Eric shares valuable insights about bootstrapping versus venture funding, explaining how staying lean and focusing on brand-building has allowed his small team to grow profitably while maintaining creative control.
The conversation tackles the delicate balance between entrepreneurship and family life, with Eric revealing how he incorporates his children into the business while setting boundaries that protect family time.
For anyone considering starting a specialty brand or pursuing crowdfunding, this episode delivers practical wisdom about market timing, building community around your products, and creating a category where none previously existed. Eric's story proves that even in established industries like kitchenware, innovation opportunities await those willing to notice overlooked problems and craft thoughtful solutions.
ABOUT ERIC:
Erik Fabian is a homebaker, dad and co-founder of Sourhouse. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Sourhouse envisions a world where people gather daily to share homemade sourdough bread and other fermented foods. So Erik and co-founder Jennifer Yoko Olson design tools that simplify sourdough baking and inspire people to make more bread.
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me at https://billgilliland.actioncoach.com/
All the best!
Bill
Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com.
All the best!
Bill
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, thanks for joining this week's episode of
Epic Entrepreneurs.
I've got Eric Fabian from SourHouse, and boy does he have a
cool story, so I can't wait forus to jump in.
Hi Eric, hey Bill, thanks forhaving me.
Yeah, thanks for having me Tellus what Sour House is.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Sure.
So at Sour House we make andsell tools for sourdough home
bakers.
At Sour House we make and selltools for sourdough home bakers.
So we launched as a Kickstartercampaign back in 22 with a
device, that's a countertopappliance that keeps sourdough
starter warm at kind of an idealtemperature.
So to make bread baking easier.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
we sell jars and we sell some other accessories, all
with this kind of goal ofencouraging more sourdough
baking and more sourdough bakers.
Yeah, so I mean, how did itcome about?
I mean, I don't think you justwake up one day and say I'm
going to make this sourdough,what did you?
What did you jar?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's like a jar that keeps it to proper temperature,
right, yeah, so, goldie, yeah,this device, goldie, that's the
kind of our hero product.
It's like a jar that keeps itto the proper temperature, right
, yeah, this device, goldie,that's kind of our hero product.
It's the warmer.
And then we make a variety ofstarter jars.
Yeah, I guess I was a sourdoughbaker no-transcript and I just
(01:33):
remembered, you know like, whatit was like to create my first
sourdough starter and thechallenges I had.
And I had this idea for alittle warm spot to help warm up
sourdough starter.
The thing, if you're not abaker, sourdough starter is like
a slurry of flour and waterthat has all the microbes that
people use to puff up and flavorsourdough bread, and those
(01:56):
microbes are happiest and mostactive in like 75, 82 degree
Fahrenheit range we call it thebody lock zone.
So most people's homes are alittle cooler than that.
And so I just kind of had thisidea for this device that could
help people warm up theirstarters.
And I was talking to a bunch offriends I had during COVID I had
(02:17):
become, we had moved to staywith some family.
We had a very young.
Our second child had been borna couple of months before that,
so I basically became astay-at-home dad and I was kind
of itching for adultconversation.
So one of the I was talking tofriends and one of my friends is
an industrial designer Her nameis Jenny and she got interested
in the idea and in sourdoughand the community and so we just
(02:41):
ended up working on it and itwas a kind of a nights and
weekends thing for the nextcouple of years.
So we literally started right atthe beginning of it, like March
2020, the idea kind of came upand and then it took us a couple
of years to get to ourKickstarter campaign and by then
we had a Goldie as well as oura couple of jars kind of ideas
(03:03):
for that and the prototypes.
And then we raised.
We ended up raising uh, about$150,000 from over a thousand
backers on a Kickstarter andanother crowdfunding platform
and that was the start of it.
And, uh, now we've been uhselling for a few years now and,
um, mostly e commerce.
We do some wholesale throughretailers.
(03:26):
Folks like Williams Sonomawould be our biggest retailer in
the United States.
We sell internationally.
We just did our secondKickstarter campaign for a new
product last year that we'reabout to fulfill here in late
March of 2025.
And then we'll be bringing thatout to the public a couple
(03:48):
months later.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's a cool story.
That's a great story andinteresting and it's a nice
mixture with your marketingbackground and then an
industrial designer to help makethe thing work and look cool.
Yeah, you know, if you go onthe website and we'll make sure
everybody has the website sothey can check it out but it
(04:13):
does look cool.
You know, it's got a sleek,smooth, cool design.
It's interesting.
I didn't think about it from anindustrial design standpoint,
but it's the very thing I wantto talk.
Let's talk about Kickstarterand how do you do that?
Let's let's see what we canlearn about that.
That seems to be a good thing.
Tell us what you've learned bygoing down that path.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Well, I have an advantage because my wife was an
early hire at Kickstarter.
So I have kind of been aroundthe community of Kickstarter for
years and years and years andseen it's kind of like rise and
the different, like generationsof it.
I am somewhat, I guess, oldschool because of that and I
sense I feel like theKickstarter's fundamental
(04:56):
purpose and kind of contributionto the world is to create a
platform for new ideas andthings that are perhaps untested
, and so Kickstarter is a spaceto just to get a kind of read on
the market, see if people areinterested in these things,
whether you want to do a smalllittle kind of batch of
something kind of precious oryou want to kind of you have a
(05:17):
bigger idea.
You just want to see what thesize of the market is.
Um, I think it's also, um, eventhough today it's used a lot
more for pre-selling, um, Ithink using it as a, as a
platform for um, raising thefunds to do a first round of
production in a lower risk kindof way, I think it's still a
good tool for that and um, youknow, and it can just help
(05:39):
expand your audience to somedegree if you're in a category
that you know the kickstartercommunity kind of overlaps with
in some way.
I would say that um, todaykickstarter kind of another
craft funding camp kind ofplatforms have taken on this
like um air of of kind ofthere's a lot more like kind of
(06:01):
commodity driven, like you knowkind of pre-selling of
preexisting products.
Sometimes you'll see largerbrands coming in and just like
using it as a marketing platformand you know these are all fair
ways to use it.
But what I would kind ofencourage people to ignore is
this idea that you have to losemoney on a Kickstarter campaign
(06:23):
or just try to break even.
I don't think, unless you're alarge company, that makes sense.
I think you should try tocreate campaigns that do that
are profitable and I thinkthat's still possible If you can
ignore that.
Some of the professionalecosystem that's grown up around
Kickstarter that be a little.
(06:43):
It can be expensive and, youknow, maybe a little predatory
if you don't have experience inbusiness.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah Well, give us maybe your top couple or three
tips on how to do a Kickstartercampaign profitably.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, I mean all this stuff is pretty well mapped out
on the internet now, but themain thing is you want to bring
an audience to kickstarter, soyou want to start to build that
audience ahead of yourkickstarter campaign, um,
through you know list buildingand you know various ways.
Um, you also uh, you know wantyou want to create fun
(07:20):
incentives that make sense.
Um, you know, whether throughcreating different tiers of
rewards for the campaign orlooking for ways to incentivize
people to show up early with,like limited edition kind of
reward tiers or something likethat.
And then I just think youshould try to like make it fun
(07:40):
and personal and like you knowthe the you know like the video
making and stuff and personaland like you know the the you
know like the video making andstuff and imagery and
everything's gotten a lot moreprofessional.
But I think, even just comingwith a sincere kind of pitch
that's well thought out, thatmaybe it has a lower production
value If it feels like it's realpeople behind it.
(08:00):
I think there's still peoplewho are on the Kickstarter
platform that want to help newideas and young businesses
succeed and like take pleasurein that, and so I think you know
if you have an idea like that,you know take advantage of that.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, I think that's a.
I think I think that's greatadvice.
I love it.
I mean, it's always a betteridea to be sincere, right and
and and just and, to just behonest.
All right, let's switch gears alittle bit.
Um, let me get your thoughts onsome, on some business and some
of the, some of the things thatyou've learned along the way.
I mean, you guys, it soundslike man, between you and your
wife and your business partner,you've got a really wide range
(08:40):
of experiences here, range ofexperiences here.
So that's got to be one thingthat's been helpful.
But let's say you were startingover again.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Is there anything you would do differently?
Well, I mean, it took longerthan I thought.
I thought we would get ourKickstarter campaign out in like
three months and it took twoyears and I heard that feedback
from people but I didn't believeit up a little bit.
But the I think the confluenceof factors actually ended up
(09:24):
helping us because, you know, Ihad more, you know theory, I
wasn't working, so I wasn'tdistracted by my regular work.
And then COVID obviously createda context for sourdough and,
while we didn't capture like thehuge spike of demand that
happened in 2020 and 2021 withour product itself, it did
create a context where I couldsell in the idea of the product
(09:48):
and in building a business,potentially at that time to
people like my wife and to theinitial stakeholders.
You know, it's like friends andfamily and, like you know,
those other baker friends whowere showing to it and getting
feedback from it's likeeverybody was like, oh yeah,
sourdough.
I have some sense that this ispopular right now.
I could see why you want tomake a business with it.
(10:09):
So it's you know, I might havechanged my timing expectations a
little bit, but I think thatthe main thing is like looking
for those moments where notnecessarily where you feel like
you should be in market actuallyis a good time to start a
business, even if you might notcatch it, and I think I could
(10:30):
probably apply that to otherother initiatives if I were to
do it again.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, I mean I like that.
I mean people always say, well,I've got this idea.
Well, is anyone else actuallydoing something like it?
Because if they're not, it'sprobably not a market.
And so, yeah, I mean it's veryrare when you create an entirely
new market.
So I think what you just saidwas brilliant, like, hey, the
market's there.
The time seemed right in 2020,2021, but maybe 2022, in 2020,
(10:59):
2021, but maybe 2022, 23 wasbetter.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
So, yeah, there was definitely other you know bread
brands that had huge spikesduring that time, sold out and
had all these inventory issuesand had a different kind of set
of challenges than you have acouple of years later.
But then they had to fall offand they had to deal with like
how much do we scale and when isthis going to end?
And, like you know.
And then then you know, had todeal with maybe downsizing and
stuff that we were able tosidestep.
(11:23):
Um, you know, maybe we would bemulti-millionaires now if we
had gotten it out earlier.
I don't know, but the uh, butthe but I think it is a
different kind of environment.
We did end up building out likewe are building a category
because of it and it's like I dofeel like we have a lot of you
know kind of open space ahead ofus.
Like our device Goldie was likethe world's first like device
(11:46):
dedicated warming sourdoughstarter, and you've seen other
devices like that come to marketsince after kind of proving
that there is a market.
And I think, in general, breadbaking even though people have
done it for a thousand years um,and particularly sourdough, has
been somewhat neglected withinthe kind of the you know,
kitchenware retail space for alot of years.
(12:07):
Um, if you go into Williams,Sonoma, there's a beautiful
shelf of like dessert bakingtools you know very prominent of
.
You have your kitchen aid,mixers and all this kind of
stuff but there's no bread shelf.
At least it has, it hasn't been, and it's just starting to kind
of appear now.
And so one thing I'm veryexcited about, and what the it's
kind of been proven to me overthe last couple of years, few
(12:27):
years, is that, um, there is asizable market that's been
untouched, um, for bread bakingand, uh, you know.
So I think, as a category, weare trying to grow this category
and I think it's kind of afloatable boats kind of
situation and I am seeing otherbrands start to come into it,
which is kind of giving us morereassurance that there's some
(12:48):
legs here.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, well, that's great.
I mean, it seems like thecategory is growing, so that's
good.
I mean it's new and it'sgrowing, so that's awesome.
I mean it's new and it's newand it's growing, so that's,
that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So what do you think some of the misconceptions
people have about runningbusinesses are?
I imagine there's a lot.
The one that I kind of probablyreact against is, like you know
my background's in marketing.
I've worked for, you know,popular brands like Moleskine
and I've worked for techstartups, and you know I moved
down this area from New YorkCity so I've been in and I've,
(13:25):
you know, companies I've workedfor have had offices in Silicon
Valley.
So it's like within that kind ofworld, you know, there's a sort
of default to trying to createa fast growth, vc funded sort of
situation.
And, um, and I've seencompanies that you know who've
taken VC money or got, you know,sold to private equity and as
(13:46):
soon as you uh sell yourbusiness to those kinds of
stakeholders, uh, the pressureramps up really fast and you
have to.
You have this um kind of likeincentive to grow fast, perhaps
faster than you should, and totake, you know, kind of like
very black and white risks whichmay cause good ideas to crash
(14:07):
and burn.
You know, and and so definitelyI think you know we're
bootstrapping what we're doing.
We, you know we're focusing onbuilding a brand in a space
that's typically considered toneed a large amount of money to
build brands, because you dohave to buy inventory and
whatnot.
And, uh, we're doing it withjust staying very lean, like we
(14:27):
have.
We're a very small companyjenny and I are still like the
only full-time people and wehave a whole bunch of
consultants and agencies andstuff to help us.
But, um, but we'veintentionally stayed very lean.
We we're very virtual.
We rely on platforms likeShopify and 3PLs and these kind
of things that enable a morekind of dispersed business model
(14:48):
nowadays and we're able tocreate a profitable business
that is growing and in a spacethat's growing, without taking
this, like you know, kind oflike all or nothing risk that I
think comes with you know, vcbacked stuff and, and I think
that you know, perhaps you knowwe're in a moment where people
(15:11):
are seeing the attraction oflike the smaller, you know kind
of less sexy business and youknow people are looking to kind
of try to cash into that by.
You know you see MBAs right nowcoming in and trying to like buy
plumbing shops and, like youknow, manufacturing, because
they feel like this is, you know, something that has cashflow
and, um, I can see theattraction to it, cause I also
(15:33):
feel that you know that thosethose kind of more solid
business models, um, you know,or have a more reasonable
lifestyle and are kind of moresolid businesses.
But I also think you need tobuild a brand and I also I think
you also need to make goodproducts and and so, as a person
that's coming from like amarketing background and is a
brand builder, you know, I feellike in today's world, you know,
(15:56):
with everything changing soquickly, with AI rising up with
you know, blah, blah, blah, allthese stories you hear it's like
one of the few moats you stillhave is building a good brand,
and I think that starts with areally good product and you know
it also, you know, starts withthe people that you bring
together, if they really believein the story and the mission
and the kind of culture thatyou're trying to create.
(16:17):
I don't think that everythingyou know.
I think you can buildbusinesses that have an
operational advantage and Ithink you can build brands, and
I think those are kind ofdifferent strategies, but I am
skeptical of people who arecoming into this like
bootstrappy cashflow typebusiness with just the
operational mindset and notthinking that, like the product
has to be special and that thestory has to be special and the
(16:40):
relationship with the producthas to be special, and that the
story has to be special and therelationship with the community
has to be special, because thatreally, I think something that
adds value to the world.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, no, not a hundred percent.
I mean, there is kind of thiswe see it because we have a lot
of clients that are in that, inthat space, where the it's sort
of the, the, the boringbusinesses that are, you know,
that have cashflow, and peopleare looking to buy them and
build them and sell them, andthat's that's a thing.
But but I also say, along theway, you have to build the brand
(17:09):
.
So I a hundred percent agreewith you and I like what you're
doing.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to so far?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Well, so we're in a good space.
It's a growing space like the.
If you look at, like googlesearch terms for sourdough, you
know, obviously there was aspike during covid and then
there was a, and then it kind ofmoved into a seasonal pattern.
So there was like a spike in2023, that kind of matched covid
, and then um, actually thislast december, um, the spike in
(17:40):
the us like doubled the covidperiod and you know, I can only
speculate why.
I have some ideas, but butnonetheless I can tell that
we're in a growing space at themoment, um, so that helps a lot
and um.
But I also think that we, youknow, really care about the
product that we're making andthe and the people that we're
kind of customers and the peoplewe collaborate with, and we,
(18:01):
you know the and we have abigger idea that we're making
and the and the people that werekind of customers and the
people we collaborate with, andwe, you know the, and we have a
bigger idea that we're trying topush um, uh, push out into the
world with, uh, you know, theidea of kind of encouraging more
sourdough baking.
You know we're not just makinganother you know tool commodity
where you know we, we have akind of a mission against it,
because we think that sourdoughbaking is good for us in a
(18:22):
variety of ways it's good forour bellies, it's good for our
wallets, it's good, um, you know, sourdough baking encourages a
sense of generosity, and I thinkthat's something that's needed
more of in the world today.
And so, um, I think that the uhyou know by, and I think people
can tell that there's like alevel of care and commitment to
what we do.
Um, even though we may be smalland scrappy and not be able to
(18:46):
always answer an email as fastas maybe a larger team or
something like, at the end ofthe day, we're very responsive
and we, we, you know care aboutthe people we work with and we
sell to.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
No, I love it.
I mean, I think people buy ineither buy into what you're
doing or they're repelled by it.
Either way, it's fine becauseyou've got a.
There's a big enough market forpretty much everything.
Yeah, it's unbelievable.
So this whole thing started you.
It seems like you're prettybalanced, or at least looking
(19:19):
for balance, uh, with kids andfamily and all that.
So I mean, how do you sort ofbalance?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
your business and personal.
Yeah, I mean that is one of theharder things.
And like the uh, because I'mnot able to.
I still have young kids, so Ilike I cannot put the same
amount of time into this as Icould when I was like my
twenties and thirties, and umand uh, I uh.
Sometimes it's frustrating butI also take it as a success,
(19:50):
like if our strategy works, evenif we execute on 50% of it,
then I feel like it's a prettygood strategy.
Um and the um.
And then you know I takepleasure in being able to be
home and you know I like workingfrom home in general.
But, like you know, being ableto pick up kids and, you know,
be around them is like supernice.
(20:10):
And my kids have been involvedin the business.
Like you know, when I was likenaming the company, naming the
first products, getting feedbackon it, like my older son, you
know, I'd ask him for feedbackand he's been around that kind
of thing his whole life, and soI like being able to kind of
share, share that to some degreewith them.
But you know it's hard, but youknow that I always to to kind
(20:35):
of make those trade-offs.
You know I don't travel as muchas I probably should and when I
do go away, you know it's justlike you kind of miss the kids
and you know I look forward tomaybe someday where I can like
bring the family with me more.
But it's an ongoing kind of setof trade-offs, I think yeah,
(20:56):
but you've, I mean, but you'veset your rules.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I mean, that's what I tell everybody, that's right
yeah, yeah well, yeah, yeah,it's hard, make your rules right
.
Yeah, make your rules.
But you know the demands arethere, so they go.
Let me uh, you know epic is aacronym, so let me uh, get your
sort of quick fire.
Maybe a word or a couple ofsentences on each letter in Epic
, um, and I'll.
(21:21):
I'll just go through them realquick.
So E is education.
What are your thoughts oneducation?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Uh, I am a person who really likes learning.
I think you should always belearning.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, I love that.
How about P for planning?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Um, I am a believer in plan, uh, but assume your
plan is going to go wrong.
Um, so I'm more of likeplanning and like an outline
form and then kind of likeimprovise around the bullets
plan and then improvise.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
I love that.
Yeah, I love that.
Good, I is for inspiration.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I take a lot of inspiration just from, you know,
looking around like we're inthe baking space.
So I look around.
You know I talk to bakers,people who love food.
You know we're just like youknow we're food loving people,
so I'm very fascinated bypeople's excitement.
For you know the history offood and you know things that
you things that tasted andexperienced.
(22:21):
So I get just, I think, a lotof inspiration from talking to
people.
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, I do think the whole food sector has grown
amazingly, certainly in mylifetime, and in particular in
the last 10 or 15, 20 years.
I mean it's been crazy.
So I do think that'sinteresting and C is commitment.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, there is.
I've learned this lessonrepeatedly in my life because
I've started a bunch of thingsand a lot of them have been sort
of successful.
This has been the mostsuccessful thing I'd say I've
done.
But there's always been a pointwhen I've kind of like just
decided to go all the way in onsomething and I feel like the
(23:06):
world does sort of bend to kindof support you when you're fully
committed to it.
Like people who have resourcesshow up and like people are like
okay, this is a real thing.
Um, I don't think you can buildthings half fast.
Like you can be careful, hedgeyour bets and research and do
all that kind of stuff, butthere has to be some kind of
(23:29):
deep level of commitment to whatyou're doing to make it really
work.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Man, 100%, and I do think the world same thing and
people are either attracted toit or repelled from it either
way, and the people who areattracted are really attracted.
I mean, it comes across to mejust reading the website talking
to you that there is this levelof commitment and passion
around it that creates an energythat's attractive, and I think
(23:59):
that's amazing.
What do you wish somebody hadtold you?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Well, the you know the trade-offs of like balancing
your time and managing yourenergy is like, at this phase,
that that's something probablywould have been helpful to know,
like if, if, if, if you couldsomehow communicate to people
who aren't parents, like me, youknow, 15, 20 years ago, or
something like like what theresponsibility of parenthood is
(24:30):
like, in some sort of visceralway, I think it would have
motivated me even more so to tryto do things and get things
going, because it's it is a lotof work.
So I think I, you know, yeah,just like how to how to manage
your time and balance, balanceyour energy.
I think is is what I'd probablyyeah, and I don't know how to.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Maybe they'll listen to you and hear when they when
they when they hear it here, butyou can't know until you've
done it and I mean I guess Iguess you could, you know,
foster some kids or something inyour family.
Maybe you'd get some aspect tothat if that was happening in
your family.
So, yeah, look, thanks forsharing all this.
(25:14):
This has really been, this isreally good and I think it's
really impactful and I love whaty'all are doing, and so if
somebody wants to get involvedor get you know, get a hold of
you where's, where's the, whatare the best places?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, so you know, sour House has our website is
SourHouseco and we have run allthe social media platforms life
at Sour House, mostly Instagram.
We also have a Facebook groupfor bakers and people who are
into fermentation, and thenwe've also been doing a variety
(25:49):
of things since Helene tosupport recovery and relief in
the region.
Relief in the region we wereworking on at the end of last
year, an initiative called 1%for Asheville, which we joined
along 17 other local businessesand ended up committing a
percentage of our profits inNovember, december, to various
(26:13):
charities and ended up raisingover $48,000 from these
companies that were directed torelief efforts and about $48,000
from these various, you know,from these companies that were
directed to relief efforts, andabout 30,000 additional
donations were raised and over500 and something hours of
volunteer hours were committedfrom this little group.
And you can go to1%netforashtralorg and see that
(26:36):
list of companies that and youknow kind of organizations that
were donated to.
And you know we're still in thisperiod where you know a lot of
recovery is happening in theregion and particularly in the
business community.
I think a lot of recovery ishappening now.
So, you know, I encourage youto support those companies that
were part of that initiative,because they, you know, need it
(26:57):
as well.
And then, you know, considerdoing follow-on donations to the
kind of charities that thesecompanies decided to give to,
because it's very much likeneighbors helping neighbors.
Neighbors know what's going onaround here right now.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, what's that website again?
Give it to us again 1% forAsheville.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
So it's.
You can I have the domain in avariety of ways?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
but if you spell out one percent uh for ashevilleorg,
you'll get there yeah, orsearch for one percent for
ashevilleorg okay yeah, that'sgood, all right, cool, yeah, I
think, uh, yeah, check it out,check it out and uh, there are a
lot of ways to still beinvolved, support those
companies and continue tosupport.
(27:41):
We've got a lot.
We've got a long way to go herein the western North Carolina
area.
Yeah, we're, we're, we're openand we're for business and we're
and we're going, but there isstill a lot, a long time on the
cleanups and putting people backto back to whole again.
So, thanks for all your effortsthere.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Appreciate what you all have done yeah, you too, and
then you know for peoplelistening.
Thanks for your help as well.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I really appreciate it.
So thanks for being on there.
So until next time, all thebest.
Hey there, thanks for joining this week's episode of
Epic Entrepreneurs.
I've got Eric Fabian from SourHouse, and boy does he have a
cool story, so I can't wait forus to jump in.
Hi Eric, hey Bill, thanks forhaving me.
Yeah, thanks for having me Tellus what Sour House is.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Sure.
So at Sour House we make andsell tools for sourdough home
bakers.
At Sour House we make and selltools for sourdough home bakers.
So we launched as a Kickstartercampaign back in 22 with a
device, that's a countertopappliance that keeps sourdough
starter warm at kind of an idealtemperature.
So to make bread baking easier.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
we sell jars and we sell some other accessories, all
with this kind of goal ofencouraging more sourdough
baking and more sourdough bakers.
Yeah, so I mean, how did itcome about?
I mean, I don't think you justwake up one day and say I'm
going to make this sourdough,what did you?
What did you jar?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's like a jar that keeps it to proper temperature,
right, yeah, so, goldie, yeah,this device, goldie, that's the
kind of our hero product.
It's like a jar that keeps itto the proper temperature, right
, yeah, this device, goldie,that's kind of our hero product.
It's the warmer.
And then we make a variety ofstarter jars.
Yeah, I guess I was a sourdoughbaker no-transcript and I just
(01:33):
remembered, you know like, whatit was like to create my first
sourdough starter and thechallenges I had.
And I had this idea for alittle warm spot to help warm up
sourdough starter.
The thing, if you're not abaker, sourdough starter is like
a slurry of flour and waterthat has all the microbes that
people use to puff up and flavorsourdough bread, and those
(01:56):
microbes are happiest and mostactive in like 75, 82 degree
Fahrenheit range we call it thebody lock zone.
So most people's homes are alittle cooler than that.
And so I just kind of had thisidea for this device that could
help people warm up theirstarters.
And I was talking to a bunch offriends I had during COVID I had
(02:17):
become, we had moved to staywith some family.
We had a very young.
Our second child had been borna couple of months before that,
so I basically became astay-at-home dad and I was kind
of itching for adultconversation.
So one of the I was talking tofriends and one of my friends is
an industrial designer Her nameis Jenny and she got interested
in the idea and in sourdoughand the community and so we just
(02:41):
ended up working on it and itwas a kind of a nights and
weekends thing for the nextcouple of years.
So we literally started right atthe beginning of it, like March
2020, the idea kind of came upand and then it took us a couple
of years to get to ourKickstarter campaign and by then
we had a Goldie as well as oura couple of jars kind of ideas
(03:03):
for that and the prototypes.
And then we raised.
We ended up raising uh, about$150,000 from over a thousand
backers on a Kickstarter andanother crowdfunding platform
and that was the start of it.
And, uh, now we've been uhselling for a few years now and,
um, mostly e commerce.
We do some wholesale throughretailers.
(03:26):
Folks like Williams Sonomawould be our biggest retailer in
the United States.
We sell internationally.
We just did our secondKickstarter campaign for a new
product last year that we'reabout to fulfill here in late
March of 2025.
And then we'll be bringing thatout to the public a couple
(03:48):
months later.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's a cool story.
That's a great story andinteresting and it's a nice
mixture with your marketingbackground and then an
industrial designer to help makethe thing work and look cool.
Yeah, you know, if you go onthe website and we'll make sure
everybody has the website sothey can check it out but it
(04:13):
does look cool.
You know, it's got a sleek,smooth, cool design.
It's interesting.
I didn't think about it from anindustrial design standpoint,
but it's the very thing I wantto talk.
Let's talk about Kickstarterand how do you do that?
Let's let's see what we canlearn about that.
That seems to be a good thing.
Tell us what you've learned bygoing down that path.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Well, I have an advantage because my wife was an
early hire at Kickstarter.
So I have kind of been aroundthe community of Kickstarter for
years and years and years andseen it's kind of like rise and
the different, like generationsof it.
I am somewhat, I guess, oldschool because of that and I
sense I feel like theKickstarter's fundamental
(04:56):
purpose and kind of contributionto the world is to create a
platform for new ideas andthings that are perhaps untested
, and so Kickstarter is a spaceto just to get a kind of read on
the market, see if people areinterested in these things,
whether you want to do a smalllittle kind of batch of
something kind of precious oryou want to kind of you have a
(05:17):
bigger idea.
You just want to see what thesize of the market is.
Um, I think it's also, um, eventhough today it's used a lot
more for pre-selling, um, Ithink using it as a, as a
platform for um, raising thefunds to do a first round of
production in a lower risk kindof way, I think it's still a
good tool for that and um, youknow, and it can just help
(05:39):
expand your audience to somedegree if you're in a category
that you know the kickstartercommunity kind of overlaps with
in some way.
I would say that um, todaykickstarter kind of another
craft funding camp kind ofplatforms have taken on this
like um air of of kind ofthere's a lot more like kind of
(06:01):
commodity driven, like you knowkind of pre-selling of
preexisting products.
Sometimes you'll see largerbrands coming in and just like
using it as a marketing platformand you know these are all fair
ways to use it.
But what I would kind ofencourage people to ignore is
this idea that you have to losemoney on a Kickstarter campaign
(06:23):
or just try to break even.
I don't think, unless you're alarge company, that makes sense.
I think you should try tocreate campaigns that do that
are profitable and I thinkthat's still possible If you can
ignore that.
Some of the professionalecosystem that's grown up around
Kickstarter that be a little.
(06:43):
It can be expensive and, youknow, maybe a little predatory
if you don't have experience inbusiness.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah Well, give us maybe your top couple or three
tips on how to do a Kickstartercampaign profitably.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, I mean all this stuff is pretty well mapped out
on the internet now, but themain thing is you want to bring
an audience to kickstarter, soyou want to start to build that
audience ahead of yourkickstarter campaign, um,
through you know list buildingand you know various ways.
Um, you also uh, you know wantyou want to create fun
(07:20):
incentives that make sense.
Um, you know, whether throughcreating different tiers of
rewards for the campaign orlooking for ways to incentivize
people to show up early with,like limited edition kind of
reward tiers or something likethat.
And then I just think youshould try to like make it fun
(07:40):
and personal and like you knowthe the you know like the video
making and stuff and personaland like you know the the you
know like the video making andstuff and imagery and
everything's gotten a lot moreprofessional.
But I think, even just comingwith a sincere kind of pitch
that's well thought out, thatmaybe it has a lower production
value If it feels like it's realpeople behind it.
(08:00):
I think there's still peoplewho are on the Kickstarter
platform that want to help newideas and young businesses
succeed and like take pleasurein that, and so I think you know
if you have an idea like that,you know take advantage of that.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, I think that's a.
I think I think that's greatadvice.
I love it.
I mean, it's always a betteridea to be sincere, right and
and and just and, to just behonest.
All right, let's switch gears alittle bit.
Um, let me get your thoughts onsome, on some business and some
of the, some of the things thatyou've learned along the way.
I mean, you guys, it soundslike man, between you and your
wife and your business partner,you've got a really wide range
(08:40):
of experiences here, range ofexperiences here.
So that's got to be one thingthat's been helpful.
But let's say you were startingover again.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Is there anything you would do differently?
Well, I mean, it took longerthan I thought.
I thought we would get ourKickstarter campaign out in like
three months and it took twoyears and I heard that feedback
from people but I didn't believeit up a little bit.
But the I think the confluenceof factors actually ended up
(09:24):
helping us because, you know, Ihad more, you know theory, I
wasn't working, so I wasn'tdistracted by my regular work.
And then COVID obviously createda context for sourdough and,
while we didn't capture like thehuge spike of demand that
happened in 2020 and 2021 withour product itself, it did
create a context where I couldsell in the idea of the product
(09:48):
and in building a business,potentially at that time to
people like my wife and to theinitial stakeholders.
You know, it's like friends andfamily and, like you know,
those other baker friends whowere showing to it and getting
feedback from it's likeeverybody was like, oh yeah,
sourdough.
I have some sense that this ispopular right now.
I could see why you want tomake a business with it.
(10:09):
So it's you know, I might havechanged my timing expectations a
little bit, but I think thatthe main thing is like looking
for those moments where notnecessarily where you feel like
you should be in market actuallyis a good time to start a
business, even if you might notcatch it, and I think I could
(10:30):
probably apply that to otherother initiatives if I were to
do it again.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, I mean I like that.
I mean people always say, well,I've got this idea.
Well, is anyone else actuallydoing something like it?
Because if they're not, it'sprobably not a market.
And so, yeah, I mean it's veryrare when you create an entirely
new market.
So I think what you just saidwas brilliant, like, hey, the
market's there.
The time seemed right in 2020,2021, but maybe 2022, in 2020,
(10:59):
2021, but maybe 2022, 23 wasbetter.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
So, yeah, there was definitely other you know bread
brands that had huge spikesduring that time, sold out and
had all these inventory issuesand had a different kind of set
of challenges than you have acouple of years later.
But then they had to fall offand they had to deal with like
how much do we scale and when isthis going to end?
And, like you know.
And then then you know, had todeal with maybe downsizing and
stuff that we were able tosidestep.
(11:23):
Um, you know, maybe we would bemulti-millionaires now if we
had gotten it out earlier.
I don't know, but the uh, butthe but I think it is a
different kind of environment.
We did end up building out likewe are building a category
because of it and it's like I dofeel like we have a lot of you
know kind of open space ahead ofus.
Like our device Goldie was likethe world's first like device
(11:46):
dedicated warming sourdoughstarter, and you've seen other
devices like that come to marketsince after kind of proving
that there is a market.
And I think, in general, breadbaking even though people have
done it for a thousand years um,and particularly sourdough, has
been somewhat neglected withinthe kind of the you know,
kitchenware retail space for alot of years.
(12:07):
Um, if you go into Williams,Sonoma, there's a beautiful
shelf of like dessert bakingtools you know very prominent of
.
You have your kitchen aid,mixers and all this kind of
stuff but there's no bread shelf.
At least it has, it hasn't been, and it's just starting to kind
of appear now.
And so one thing I'm veryexcited about, and what the it's
kind of been proven to me overthe last couple of years, few
(12:27):
years, is that, um, there is asizable market that's been
untouched, um, for bread bakingand, uh, you know.
So I think, as a category, weare trying to grow this category
and I think it's kind of afloatable boats kind of
situation and I am seeing otherbrands start to come into it,
which is kind of giving us morereassurance that there's some
(12:48):
legs here.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, well, that's great.
I mean, it seems like thecategory is growing, so that's
good.
I mean it's new and it'sgrowing, so that's awesome.
I mean it's new and it's newand it's growing, so that's,
that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So what do you think some of the misconceptions
people have about runningbusinesses are?
I imagine there's a lot.
The one that I kind of probablyreact against is, like you know
my background's in marketing.
I've worked for, you know,popular brands like Moleskine
and I've worked for techstartups, and you know I moved
down this area from New YorkCity so I've been in and I've,
(13:25):
you know, companies I've workedfor have had offices in Silicon
Valley.
So it's like within that kind ofworld, you know, there's a sort
of default to trying to createa fast growth, vc funded sort of
situation.
And, um, and I've seencompanies that you know who've
taken VC money or got, you know,sold to private equity and as
(13:46):
soon as you uh sell yourbusiness to those kinds of
stakeholders, uh, the pressureramps up really fast and you
have to.
You have this um kind of likeincentive to grow fast, perhaps
faster than you should, and totake, you know, kind of like
very black and white risks whichmay cause good ideas to crash
(14:07):
and burn.
You know, and and so definitelyI think you know we're
bootstrapping what we're doing.
We, you know we're focusing onbuilding a brand in a space
that's typically considered toneed a large amount of money to
build brands, because you dohave to buy inventory and
whatnot.
And, uh, we're doing it withjust staying very lean, like we
(14:27):
have.
We're a very small companyjenny and I are still like the
only full-time people and wehave a whole bunch of
consultants and agencies andstuff to help us.
But, um, but we'veintentionally stayed very lean.
We we're very virtual.
We rely on platforms likeShopify and 3PLs and these kind
of things that enable a morekind of dispersed business model
(14:48):
nowadays and we're able tocreate a profitable business
that is growing and in a spacethat's growing, without taking
this, like you know, kind oflike all or nothing risk that I
think comes with you know, vcbacked stuff and, and I think
that you know, perhaps you knowwe're in a moment where people
(15:11):
are seeing the attraction oflike the smaller, you know kind
of less sexy business and youknow people are looking to kind
of try to cash into that by.
You know you see MBAs right nowcoming in and trying to like buy
plumbing shops and, like youknow, manufacturing, because
they feel like this is, you know, something that has cashflow
and, um, I can see theattraction to it, cause I also
(15:33):
feel that you know that thosethose kind of more solid
business models, um, you know,or have a more reasonable
lifestyle and are kind of moresolid businesses.
But I also think you need tobuild a brand and I also I think
you also need to make goodproducts and and so, as a person
that's coming from like amarketing background and is a
brand builder, you know, I feellike in today's world, you know,
(15:56):
with everything changing soquickly, with AI rising up with
you know, blah, blah, blah, allthese stories you hear it's like
one of the few moats you stillhave is building a good brand,
and I think that starts with areally good product and you know
it also, you know, starts withthe people that you bring
together, if they really believein the story and the mission
and the kind of culture thatyou're trying to create.
(16:17):
I don't think that everythingyou know.
I think you can buildbusinesses that have an
operational advantage and Ithink you can build brands, and
I think those are kind ofdifferent strategies, but I am
skeptical of people who arecoming into this like
bootstrappy cashflow typebusiness with just the
operational mindset and notthinking that, like the product
has to be special and that thestory has to be special and the
(16:40):
relationship with the producthas to be special, and that the
story has to be special and therelationship with the community
has to be special, because thatreally, I think something that
adds value to the world.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yeah, no, not a hundred percent.
I mean, there is kind of thiswe see it because we have a lot
of clients that are in that, inthat space, where the it's sort
of the, the, the boringbusinesses that are, you know,
that have cashflow, and peopleare looking to buy them and
build them and sell them, andthat's that's a thing.
But but I also say, along theway, you have to build the brand
(17:09):
.
So I a hundred percent agreewith you and I like what you're
doing.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to so far?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Well, so we're in a good space.
It's a growing space like the.
If you look at, like googlesearch terms for sourdough, you
know, obviously there was aspike during covid and then
there was a, and then it kind ofmoved into a seasonal pattern.
So there was like a spike in2023, that kind of matched covid
, and then um, actually thislast december, um, the spike in
(17:40):
the us like doubled the covidperiod and you know, I can only
speculate why.
I have some ideas, but butnonetheless I can tell that
we're in a growing space at themoment, um, so that helps a lot
and um.
But I also think that we, youknow, really care about the
product that we're making andthe and the people that we're
kind of customers and the peoplewe collaborate with, and we,
(18:01):
you know the and we have abigger idea that we're making
and the and the people that werekind of customers and the
people we collaborate with, andwe, you know the, and we have a
bigger idea that we're trying topush um, uh, push out into the
world with, uh, you know, theidea of kind of encouraging more
sourdough baking.
You know we're not just makinganother you know tool commodity
where you know we, we have akind of a mission against it,
because we think that sourdoughbaking is good for us in a
(18:22):
variety of ways it's good forour bellies, it's good for our
wallets, it's good, um, you know, sourdough baking encourages a
sense of generosity, and I thinkthat's something that's needed
more of in the world today.
And so, um, I think that the uhyou know by, and I think people
can tell that there's like alevel of care and commitment to
what we do.
Um, even though we may be smalland scrappy and not be able to
(18:46):
always answer an email as fastas maybe a larger team or
something like, at the end ofthe day, we're very responsive
and we, we, you know care aboutthe people we work with and we
sell to.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
No, I love it.
I mean, I think people buy ineither buy into what you're
doing or they're repelled by it.
Either way, it's fine becauseyou've got a.
There's a big enough market forpretty much everything.
Yeah, it's unbelievable.
So this whole thing started you.
It seems like you're prettybalanced, or at least looking
(19:19):
for balance, uh, with kids andfamily and all that.
So I mean, how do you sort ofbalance?
Speaker 2 (19:28):
your business and personal.
Yeah, I mean that is one of theharder things.
And like the uh, because I'mnot able to.
I still have young kids, so Ilike I cannot put the same
amount of time into this as Icould when I was like my
twenties and thirties, and umand uh, I uh.
Sometimes it's frustrating butI also take it as a success,
(19:50):
like if our strategy works, evenif we execute on 50% of it,
then I feel like it's a prettygood strategy.
Um and the um.
And then you know I takepleasure in being able to be
home and you know I like workingfrom home in general.
But, like you know, being ableto pick up kids and, you know,
be around them is like supernice.
(20:10):
And my kids have been involvedin the business.
Like you know, when I was likenaming the company, naming the
first products, getting feedbackon it, like my older son, you
know, I'd ask him for feedbackand he's been around that kind
of thing his whole life, and soI like being able to kind of
share, share that to some degreewith them.
But you know it's hard, but youknow that I always to to kind
(20:35):
of make those trade-offs.
You know I don't travel as muchas I probably should and when I
do go away, you know it's justlike you kind of miss the kids
and you know I look forward tomaybe someday where I can like
bring the family with me more.
But it's an ongoing kind of setof trade-offs, I think yeah,
(20:56):
but you've, I mean, but you'veset your rules.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
I mean, that's what I tell everybody, that's right
yeah, yeah well, yeah, yeah,it's hard, make your rules right
.
Yeah, make your rules.
But you know the demands arethere, so they go.
Let me uh, you know epic is aacronym, so let me uh, get your
sort of quick fire.
Maybe a word or a couple ofsentences on each letter in Epic
, um, and I'll.
(21:21):
I'll just go through them realquick.
So E is education.
What are your thoughts oneducation?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Uh, I am a person who really likes learning.
I think you should always belearning.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, I love that.
How about P for planning?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Um, I am a believer in plan, uh, but assume your
plan is going to go wrong.
Um, so I'm more of likeplanning and like an outline
form and then kind of likeimprovise around the bullets
plan and then improvise.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
I love that.
Yeah, I love that.
Good, I is for inspiration.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I take a lot of inspiration just from, you know,
looking around like we're inthe baking space.
So I look around.
You know I talk to bakers,people who love food.
You know we're just like youknow we're food loving people,
so I'm very fascinated bypeople's excitement.
For you know the history offood and you know things that
you things that tasted andexperienced.
(22:21):
So I get just, I think, a lotof inspiration from talking to
people.
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, I do think the whole food sector has grown
amazingly, certainly in mylifetime, and in particular in
the last 10 or 15, 20 years.
I mean it's been crazy.
So I do think that'sinteresting and C is commitment.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, there is.
I've learned this lessonrepeatedly in my life because
I've started a bunch of thingsand a lot of them have been sort
of successful.
This has been the mostsuccessful thing I'd say I've
done.
But there's always been a pointwhen I've kind of like just
decided to go all the way in onsomething and I feel like the
(23:06):
world does sort of bend to kindof support you when you're fully
committed to it.
Like people who have resourcesshow up and like people are like
okay, this is a real thing.
Um, I don't think you can buildthings half fast.
Like you can be careful, hedgeyour bets and research and do
all that kind of stuff, butthere has to be some kind of
(23:29):
deep level of commitment to whatyou're doing to make it really
work.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Man, 100%, and I do think the world same thing and
people are either attracted toit or repelled from it either
way, and the people who areattracted are really attracted.
I mean, it comes across to mejust reading the website talking
to you that there is this levelof commitment and passion
around it that creates an energythat's attractive, and I think
(23:59):
that's amazing.
What do you wish somebody hadtold you?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Well, the you know the trade-offs of like balancing
your time and managing yourenergy is like, at this phase,
that that's something probablywould have been helpful to know,
like if, if, if, if you couldsomehow communicate to people
who aren't parents, like me, youknow, 15, 20 years ago, or
something like like what theresponsibility of parenthood is
(24:30):
like, in some sort of visceralway, I think it would have
motivated me even more so to tryto do things and get things
going, because it's it is a lotof work.
So I think I, you know, yeah,just like how to how to manage
your time and balance, balanceyour energy.
I think is is what I'd probablyyeah, and I don't know how to.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Maybe they'll listen to you and hear when they when
they when they hear it here, butyou can't know until you've
done it and I mean I guess Iguess you could, you know,
foster some kids or something inyour family.
Maybe you'd get some aspect tothat if that was happening in
your family.
So, yeah, look, thanks forsharing all this.
(25:14):
This has really been, this isreally good and I think it's
really impactful and I love whaty'all are doing, and so if
somebody wants to get involvedor get you know, get a hold of
you where's, where's the, whatare the best places?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Yeah, so you know, sour House has our website is
SourHouseco and we have run allthe social media platforms life
at Sour House, mostly Instagram.
We also have a Facebook groupfor bakers and people who are
into fermentation, and thenwe've also been doing a variety
(25:49):
of things since Helene tosupport recovery and relief in
the region.
Relief in the region we wereworking on at the end of last
year, an initiative called 1%for Asheville, which we joined
along 17 other local businessesand ended up committing a
percentage of our profits inNovember, december, to various
(26:13):
charities and ended up raisingover $48,000 from these
companies that were directed torelief efforts and about $48,000
from these various, you know,from these companies that were
directed to relief efforts, andabout 30,000 additional
donations were raised and over500 and something hours of
volunteer hours were committedfrom this little group.
And you can go to1%netforashtralorg and see that
(26:36):
list of companies that and youknow kind of organizations that
were donated to.
And you know we're still in thisperiod where you know a lot of
recovery is happening in theregion and particularly in the
business community.
I think a lot of recovery ishappening now.
So, you know, I encourage youto support those companies that
were part of that initiative,because they, you know, need it
(26:57):
as well.
And then, you know, considerdoing follow-on donations to the
kind of charities that thesecompanies decided to give to,
because it's very much likeneighbors helping neighbors.
Neighbors know what's going onaround here right now.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, what's that website again?
Give it to us again 1% forAsheville.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
So it's.
You can I have the domain in avariety of ways?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
but if you spell out one percent uh for ashevilleorg,
you'll get there yeah, orsearch for one percent for
ashevilleorg okay yeah, that'sgood, all right, cool, yeah, I
think, uh, yeah, check it out,check it out and uh, there are a
lot of ways to still beinvolved, support those
companies and continue tosupport.
(27:41):
We've got a lot.
We've got a long way to go herein the western North Carolina
area.
Yeah, we're, we're, we're openand we're for business and we're
and we're going, but there isstill a lot, a long time on the
cleanups and putting people backto back to whole again.
So, thanks for all your effortsthere.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Appreciate what you all have done yeah, you too, and
then you know for peoplelistening.
Thanks for your help as well.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I really appreciate it.
So thanks for being on there.
So until next time, all thebest.
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