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Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali started Chomps with nothing but a simple idea, some grassroots hustle, and their first month bringing in… just $500 in revenue.

Fast forward, Chomps is now an $80M+ powerhouse sold in Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and Whole Foods—all built before taking a single VC check.

In this episode, Pete and Rashid share how they turned a $500 side hustle into a national brand:

✅ Why starting small gave them the discipline to stay profitable

✅ The scrappy marketing tactics that turned $500 into their first $5,000

✅ How a Trader Joe’s deal transformed their growth overnight

✅ Why they ignored the “raise early” startup playbook and bootstrapped instead

✅ How their opposite personalities created the perfect founder duo

✅ The systems and strategy that took them from a side hustle to shelves nationwide

👉 If you’re building a business from scratch—or wondering if you really need VC money—this episode is proof that you can start lean, grow smart, and win big.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:10 How a $500 Side Hustle Became Chomps

03:25 Pivoting From Frozen Meat to Beef Sticks

06:20 Early Influencer Hacks That Fueled Growth

10:45 The Trader Joe’s Breakthrough

14:10 Staying Profitable Through Scale

18:30 The Founder Dynamic That Made It Work

22:00 Why They Waited Until $80M to Raise

26:30 Building a Brand Customers Love

30:00 The Next Chapter for Chomps

34:20 Building Systems and Teams for Scale

37:00 Staying Profitable While Competing with Legacy Brands

40:10 Why They Raised Only After $80M in Revenue

44:00 Becoming a B‑Corp and Setting Higher Standards 48:10 Their Take on the Protein Trend and What’s Next for Chomps

51:30 Book Picks: Rocket Fuel & Die With Zero

📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter

Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

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