Startup To Scale

What happens when collaboration becomes the growth strategy?

In this episode, we sit down with the founding team behind TUYYO Foods to unpack the decision to merge Nemi Snacks, Todo Verde, and TUYYO Foods into one unified cultural CPG brand.

This conversation goes beyond press-release headlines. We talk about the realities of building independently, the behind-the-scenes conversations that led to alignment, and why they believed grow...

Gen Z is not shopping the way Millennials did and they are definitely not responding to the same packaging playbook.

In this episode, I sits down with Sanders, founder of Nuex Creative, to unpack how Gen Z discovers new food and beverage brands, what signals authenticity and what feels forced, and why traditional front of pack claims have stopped doing the heavy lifting.

They explore the visual languages Gen Z actually responds to, w...

Scaling a CPG brand doesn’t always mean hiring fast or hiring locally. In this episode, I sits down with Luke Anthony, founder of Morning Made, to break down how he used global, VA-style talent to grow the brand without overextending cash or complexity.

Luke shares how international support helped him move faster across marketing, operations, and day-to-day execution, the lessons he learned managing remote talent as a founder, and t...

Growing a CPG brand gets messy fast. More SKUs, more people, more tools, more decisions. In this episode, I sit down with Brian, co-founder of Peasy, to talk about why most founders feel overwhelmed not because they’re doing too much, but because they don’t have a clear operating system for their business.

Brian shares lessons learned from growing Mustard & Co and how building simple, repeatable systems helped his team stay focu...

In this episode, I talk with John Ferrante from EO Space about how high-growth CPG brands find white space, build emotional differentiation, and use packaging as a true growth lever. We break down why functional claims are no longer enough, how standout brands earn attention and convert on shelf and on social, and what founders should focus on when positioning their product to win in competitive categories.

Perfect for CPG founders ...

I sit down with Rachel Vigil, Founder of UpClose Marketing, to break down one of the most overlooked sampling channels for emerging CPG brands: vacation rentals and short-term stays.

We talk about how placing products inside Airbnbs, mid-term rentals, and campgrounds allows brands to reach high-intent consumers in distraction-free environments without the high costs and chaos of festivals or in-store demos. Rachel shares which produ...

You made it onto the shelf. Great. But now the real spending begins.

Trade spend is one of the biggest drivers of success in retail — and one of the fastest ways for emerging brands to lose money, stall velocity, or get discontinued. In this deep-dive conversation, I and Yuval Selik unpack the most common and most expensive trade spend mistakes founders make, and how to avoid them.

We cover:

• Why most founders underestimate the tru...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Ian Timmons and Billy Knox, founders of Beefy, and one of my favorite new snacks—featured in our Winter Foodbevy Insider Box.

We talk about:

• what went wrong (and right) in early R&D
• the complexity of manufacturing and scaling a brand-new product format
• the GTM strategy that got Beefy their early traction
• where they’re headed next as they expand beyond DTC

Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foo...

In this episode, I share how one “small” packaging change can snowball into a six-figure problem—and how to stop that from happening to your brand. 

I sit down with Maureen Dollard, founder of Complete Acuity, to break down where CPG founders go wrong: missing pieces in the scope, forgetting secondary packaging, and leaving regulatory to the last minute. If you’re planning a refresh or new launch in 2026, this is your cheat sheet to...

In this episode, I sit down with Joon co-founders Cody Allen and Alexandre Bennet to talk about how they turned a 300-year-old family pistachio recipe into one of my favorite new snack brands. We dig into how they chose pistachios, grew into 1,000+ doors in just months, and built a brand that stands out in a crowded snack aisle. 

If you’re a founder who loves a good origin story and wants the playbook for smart, fast growth, you’ll ...

Most founders design packaging based on gut feeling — not data. But what if you could know, before launch, exactly how consumers will respond?

In this episode, I chat with Michael Keplinger, Managing Partner at SmashBrand, about how to bring the consumer voice into every stage of brand-building. We dive into the psychology behind the 3–13 second decision window, how packaging roles differ between e-commerce and retail, and how to cr...

Getting a meeting with a retail buyer is tough — but winning that meeting is even tougher. In this episode, I talk with Tia Ellis, Founder and CEO of Wildflower Insight, about how to pitch your product to retailers the right way.

Tia shares her Golden Retail Rule, breaks down the 3 types of pitches every founder should master, and reveals how to understand buyer psychology so you can connect, persuade, and close that coveted purchas...

What does success really mean to you? For many founders, that answer gets buried under industry pressures, investor expectations, and comparisons to competitors. In this episode, I sit down with Howie Sher of JPG Resources to discuss how he helps founders uncover their own definition of success—and build their businesses accordingly.

We’ll talk about why defining success in personal terms is essential, how to avoid chasing metrics t...

When I ran my own CPG brand, supply chain headaches nearly broke me — late POs, cash crunches, and endless supplier follow-ups. In this episode, I sit down with Helen Murphy, Founder and CEO of Opply, who’s building an operating system for small and mid-sized CPG brands to simplify sourcing, forecasting, and funding.

Helen shares how her background in consumer goods and tech inspired her to solve the pain points we’ve all felt — fro...

I sat down with Brad Ebenhoeh of Belay (formerly Accountfully) to unpack how CPG founders can actually make money during Black Friday and Q4 instead of burning it on discounts and excess inventory.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Knowing your true landed costs and margins by channel
• Forecasting demand without tying up too much cash in inventory
• Negotiating supplier terms and securing credit before you need it
• Deciding if Q4 is reall...

I sat down with Garrett Otondo, Director of Strategic Operations at Little Spoon, to explore how their team scaled from DTC to retail while shipping 30,000+ fresh meals each week.

We cover:

• Cold chain packaging + logistics
• Data-driven demand planning to reduce waste
• How Owlery streamlined freight and retail launch

👉 Need help managing freight? Owlery is one of our partners and they’re offering CPG founders a 60-day free trial ...

I sat down with Semira Nikou and Bella Hughes, co-founders of Better Sour, to share how they’re redefining the candy aisle with bold sour flavors inspired by their roots in Hawaii and Iran. We talk about scaling into 4,000+ retail doors, building a new category, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Sponsored by Highbeam – The financial platform built to protect and empower modern brands. Highbeam is a founder-focused ...

I sit down with Kyle Stoulil, founder of Kyle’s Organics, to explore how a trained chef turned his home-kitchen experiments into a pioneering brand in the nut and seed milk space. From the creation of his quinoa milk to developing clean-label nutrition bars, Kyle shares the story of building the brand, the strategic choice behind quinoa, and the realities of marketing two very different product lines under one umbrella.

If you’re a ...

Innovation is a buzzword in the food and beverage industry—but for emerging brands, it can be the difference between thriving and burning out. In this episode, Christy Lebor, Partner at SmashBrand, breaks down a practical approach to innovation that helps founders move beyond gut instinct into consumer-driven decision making.

We’ll explore:

• How to avoid taking the wrong risks as an emerging brand
• Why consumer testing—before l...