19: From “Naive” Newcomer to 8-Figure Revenue in 4 Years with Barnana Co-Founder Nik Ingersoll

Sep 3, 2019

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Prepare yourself for an incredible tale of entrepreneurship. It features a hardscrabble upbringing, relentless optimism, negotiations with Amazonian tribesmen, and some bold guerrilla (“gorilla”?) marketing stunts.

Barnana has been making organic banana snacks since 2012. The founders call bananas “Mother Nature’s energy bar”—hence, the name.

When they started, they didn’t have much money of their own. So, they had to build a business that appealed to investors.

Today, co-founder Nik Ingersoll reveals exactly how they did that. You don’t get into 20,000 stores (including heavyweights like Whole Foods and Costco) without money. But as Nik explains, it doesn’t have to be YOUR money. In fact, one of the most valuable parts of this episode is Nik’s story of how he used “lean startup” principles to raise Barnana’s first round of funding.

Also, ever wondered how much it actually costs to make that healthy snack you’re munching on? Well, Nik breaks down Barnana’s supply chain and profit margins in detail—from working with distributors/middlemen, to using brokers to get Barnana’s products into stores, to getting certified as “organic.”

And he shares some great ways he’s generated free publicity over the years, including the launch of this farcical new product.

This is one of our best episodes yet. Tell us what you think, and subscribe to the show so you won’t miss an episode.

In This Episode We Cover:

Nik's background and how he has been hustling since he was a kid
Starting various businesses and founding Barnana
How he taught himself to code
Taking on a huge undertaking by starting a massive retail business
Barnana's crazy supply chain
Working with organic products
How he raised capital creatively
Figuring things out one part at a time
Channel strategy
Best advice for anyone who wants to get into the food retail business
And SO much more!

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/bizshow19

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