Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing I Brands George Milton (Yellowbird Sauce) - Becoming The Hot Sauce Guy While Playing Gigs in Austin, Early Distribution Growing Pains, Getting into National Retail
I'd like to thank Fernando Gentil for introducing me to today's guest, George Milton, co-founder and CEO of Yellowbird Sauce, Spicy condiments crafted to take you on a fiery–fresh food adventure. This is a conversation all about things hot sauce, which I really enjoyed. George takes us through his journey from playing music gigs to becoming known as the hot sauce guy in Austin Texas and eventually scaling his condiment business nationally.
You can follow George on Twitter at @geemilton. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.
A book the inspired George personally is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. A couple books that inspired him professionally are Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
In this episode, I ask George -
- Tell me how you got started making hot sauce?
- When did you first realize that this could be a business? How did you determine there was a proof in concept?
- In the early days, when did you have that moment where you wanted to move produce the sauce in commercial kitchens and be able to see it in stores?
- How did you approach sourcing from the very beginning?
- How did you think about pricing and brand positioning?
- How were you able to get into retail? Who do you consider your target audience?
- Why did you choose to fundraise?
- What was your fundraising strategy?
- How has COVID affected Yellowbird?
- What does the next few years look like for Yellowbird? What are some objectives that you’d like to achieve?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?