Will Nitze, Founder and CEO of IQBAR, shares his relentless competitive spirit that fueled the creation of a leading brain-food brand. He discusses transitioning from sports to entrepreneurship during his transformative time at Harvard. Nitze reveals the behind-the-scenes of launching IQBAR on Kickstarter and navigating rapid growth with a lean team. He emphasizes the importance of horizontal mentorship and maintaining work-life balance while expanding the brand. The conversation also touches on the journey from personal fulfillment to the lasting impact of creating value.
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insights INSIGHT
Opportunist Mindset Drives Success
Will Nitze identifies as an opportunist who seeks opportunities where he can win.
His competitive nature drives him to focus only on winnable battles in life and business.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Recent Peers and Trial & Error
Find founders who launched similar products recently (around 2 years ago) and ask lots of questions.
Trial and error is the best mentor for building a consumer goods brand.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Prioritize Horizontal Mentorship
Focus on horizontal mentorship with founders in your space to stay current with fast-changing trends.
Vertical mentorship with older founders is less valuable given rapid shifts in retail and marketing.
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In this episode of Founder2Founder, Aaron Spivak sits down with Will Nitze, Founder & CEO of IQBAR, the leading brain-and-body nutrition startup in America. Will shares how his competitive spirit and obsession with winning drove him to build a thriving brand dedicated to brain food and cognitive nutrition. He reflects on his journey from playing competitive sports to attending Harvard, where he first realized that building something impactful was more important than just making money.
Will also discusses launching IQBAR through a successful Kickstarter campaign, scaling with major retailers, and maintaining a lean, efficient team. He opens up about running the business alongside his wife, the importance of horizontal mentorship, and how he plans to build for acquisition and legacy.
Chapters: 00:44 – The Opportunist Mindset: Learning from Sam Zell 03:06 – Building the Competitive Spirit Through Sports 08:26 – Harvard Experience and Finding Direction 12:25 – First Steps into Entrepreneurship 14:02 – Negotiating Half-Time Work for Full-Time Hustle 15:21 – Starting IQBAR: Building Brain Food from Scratch 19:31 – Kickstarter Strategies: Guerrilla Tactics and Validation 22:01 – Manufacturing at Scale and Finding Co-Packers 24:38 – The Importance of Horizontal Mentorship 27:46 – Scaling the Business with a Lean Team 30:25 – Expanding into Major Retailers and Hitting Volume 33:43 – Navigating Trends and Pivoting the Brand 36:40 – Maintaining Control While Scaling Fast 38:29 – Hiring the Right People and the Hub-and-Spoke Model 41:06 – Working In the Business, Not Just On It 46:40 – Running a Business with His Wife 49:05 – Moving to Miami and the Evolution of IQBAR 52:13 – Building for Acquisition and Legacy 1:06:01 – Overcoming Challenges: Tariffs, COVID, and Market Shifts 1:07:50 - Building a Personal Brand 1:11:04 - The ROI of Personal Branding 1:25:10 - The Emotional Impact of Exiting a Business 1:31:11 - The Role of Partnerships in Business Success 1:34:46 - Advice for Younger Entrepreneurs
Tune in to hear Will’s raw insights on scaling a consumer brand from the ground up, the sacrifices required, and the mindset needed to build something that lasts. Don't forget to subscribe, share with a fellow founder, and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode.
Founder2Founder with Aaron Spivak 
