Episodes
5
April 10, 2023
Caroline Cotto (Renewal Mill) - How They Create Superfoods By Upcycling Byproducts, Why They Are Both a Brand and an Ingredients Company, and New Flour Opportunities
Our guest today is Caroline Cotto, COO at Renewal Mill. Renewal Mill is a food company that fights climate change and global food loss by upcycling byproducts from food manufacturing into superfood ingredients. They both produce their own products like baking mixes and sweet cookies as well as being an ingredient company. We discuss what is upcycling, how they partner with manufacturers to produce their own flour and products, the business model of being an ingredients company vs. a brand and mu...
4
April 6, 2023
Greg Shugar (Beau Ties of Vermont) - What DTC Was Like In The 2000s, The Tie Arbitrage Opportunity, and How He Introduces New Product Categories
Our guest today is Greg Shugar, CEO of Beau Ties of Vermont and previously he founded Tie Bar and Thread Experiment. Tie Bar became one of the first DTC brands in menswear. Thread Experiment was the first ever brand of home bedding dedicated exclusively to men. He bought Beau Ties of Vermont in 2019 which is the premier source of handmade silk bow ties, neckties and coordinates for men. In this episode we focus mostly on how to think about supply chains and product assortment when selling online...
3
April 5, 2023
Dean Kelly (Gainful) - How They Balance Personalization and Scale, Why They Went into Target Nationwide, and Ramping Up Inventory
Our guest is Dean Kelly, CEO of Gainful. Gainful is a personalized sports nutrition brand that unlocks your full potential. They are digitally native, but are launching at Target nationwide as well, which is incredibly exciting. I chat with Dean about how they approached personalization before he was involved with the company vs. after he joined, how do you balance lots of different product combinations (since it is personalized) and scale, how they produced new products for Target and the overa...
2
April 4, 2023
Bret Rasmussen (KURU Footwear) - Why He Studied Patents When Launching a Shoe Brand, How Customer Feedback Leads to New Product Creation, and How He Learned What Quality Meant
Our guest today is Bret Rasmussen, Founder and CEO of KURU Footwear. KURU Footwear is the leading, digitally-native shoe brand for maximum comfort and superior support. We discuss why he started a shoe brand during the great recession, how he pivoted early from going into retail to going all in online, how he thinks about patents and competitive advantages within products, how he learned what quality meant to him when meeting with manufacturers in China, strategy for releasing new products and S...
1
April 3, 2023
David Greenfeld (Dream Pops) - Why Launching a New SKU Means You’re Launching a New Supply Chain, The Challenges of Shipping Frozen Products and Why Invest In Your Manufacturing Process
Our guest is David Greenfeld, Founder & CEO of Dream Pops. Dream Pops is plant-based superfood ice cream that is dairy, soy and gluten free under 100 calories. We discuss the origin story of Dream Pops, how he got into grocery early on, the challenges of shipping frozen products, how they invest in the manufacturing process and think about partnerships, how they evaluate new retail opportunities & much much more. This podcast is brought to you by Manufactured. Manufactured is an online platform...