Startup to Storefront

Today we talk with Rachel Henderson, founder of Project Sunscreen. The goal behind Project Sunscreen is simple: get more people to wear sunscreen. It's not that putting on sunscreen is an inherently strenuous activity that keeps people up at night with anxiety. But there are friction points. Rachel broke these points down and addressed them by designing a product with a roll-on application and without any harmful or irritating chemicals. Our conversation today covers how to prepare yourself for a lot of "no's" while fundraising, advice on how to get your product into big box stores, and the difficulties of growing while cash-strapped.

Today's guest is Joe Nicchi, founder of CVT Soft Serve. Like a lot of east-coasters who move out West, Joe found himself in Los Angeles searching for comfort food to remind him of where he came from. The problem was that Joe's comfort food was soft-serve ice cream, and LA really didn't offer that particular food group. Sure, there were ice cream parlors and frozen yogurt shops, but none of those really hit the spot for Joe. So he did what any self-enterprising person would do: he created his own soft-serve company. Well, first he had to find an old Mr. Softee ice cream truck, fix it up, ship it to LA, get all the permits, yadda yadda yadda… But we'll cover all that later in the episode. Joe's story is a perfect example of how a great product paired with an electric personality can catapult a company to uncharted heights. Listen in as we cover everything from why the customer is NOT always right, the trials and errors of finding the best spots to park your ice cream truck, and why there should be ice cream served in every gym.

Today's guest is Ben Seidl, founder of Neyborly. In much the same way as WeWork or AirBnB reimagined how we work and vacation, Neyborly is reimagining how we interact within our community. Odds are high that there are a couple of vacant commercial real estate properties in your town. Some might see vacant properties as nothing more than urban blight, but Ben sees opportunity. Instead of sitting empty while waiting for the next long-term tenant, Neyborly partners with the landlords to rent these spaces out for everything from one-time meetings, limited-time restaurant pop-ups, to multi-year leases for retail stores. Listen in as we cover everything from how he shifted his mentality to succeed in a hopefully-soon-to-be post-covid world, the magic of turning vacant buildings into community hubs, and his bullish views on A.I. and how it will bring new significance to the humble parking lot.

Today's guests are Humberto Ibarra and Craig Cartozian, co-founders of Mandala Tequila. If it feels like tequila is in a golden age right now, you're not imagining things. Between the plethora of tequila varieties, celebrity-owned companies, and competition from its cousin mezcal, walking down the tequila aisle of a liquor store is sure to present you with any number of options. So if you're a tequila company, how do you stand out? First, you need a good product. That should go without saying. Then, you need an eye-catching vessel. If you're at a store that sells Mandala, it's unlikely that you'll miss them. They've got the most ornate ceramic bottles you've ever seen, decorated by hand and featuring designs that celebrate Mexican folklore and culture. Of course, it doesn't hurt that what's inside the bottle is also just as memorable. Mandala's journey hasn't all been sun-kissed though, as they very nearly failed to find a foothold in the crowded tequila market. Listen in as we cover everything from how they created their own niche by going against conventional wisdom in releasing their extra añejo first, the initial challenges of convincing restaurants to stock their product, and why there's no shortcut to success in the tequila market…unless you happen to be The Rock.

Today we talk with Ralph and Caroline Walde, co-founders and the husband and wife chef duo behind Aymara Peruvian kitchen. The restaurant industry is constantly evolving, and trends can seemingly pop-up and disappear overnight. But one industry trend that is looking like it has some staying power is the ghost kitchen. Brick and mortar restaurants begat more cost-efficient food trucks, which have in turn led to even more cost-efficient ghost kitchens. Listen in as we cover how the coronavirus pandemic steered Ralph and Caroline into opening Aymara, the economics of taking orders through delivery apps, and how to progress from a cook to a chef.

Today's guest is Eliza Ganesh, founder of Sunwink. As is often the case in the health and wellness space, the founding of Sunwink came about as a result of a personal issue. Eliza was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and sought a better way to fight the disease and lead a healthier life. She had to experiment a bit and incorporate feedback from her early customers, but she persevered and eventually found a recipe that succeeded. So then, armed with little more than some bottles of Sunwink and her Honda Fit, she made her mark in the Bay Area before growing Sunwink into a nationwide brand. Listen in as we cover everything from working in San Francisco through the pandemic and if she intends to keep the Sunwink HQ there long term, the value of knowing your worth as a female entrepreneur, and how learning new TikTok dances fits into her own corporate wellness plan.

Today's guest is Matthew Herman, co-founder of Boy Smells. What started off as a hobby turned into a side-hustle turned into a thriving business that even caught the attention of country music superstar Kacey Musgraves. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. It began as a candle-making experiment in Matthew's kitchen, trying to buck the gender norms of how candles have been traditionally made and marketed. Matthew and his co-founder David combined both masculine and feminine scents into products like Cinderose, Polyamberous, and Rhubarb Smoke. They then took that philosophy and applied it to underwear. Creating a line with the option of either a pouch front or flat front and leaving it up to the consumer to choose the best fit for them. Listen in as we cover everything from how their sense of humor inspired the company name, how Boy Smells is truly an extension of Matthew's personality, and we find out who made the first move in the collaboration between Boy Smells and Kacey Musgraves.

Today's guest is Gail Levy, founder of HFactor hydrogen water. Gail is a self-described "serial entrepreneur", but of all the companies she's founded, this one is the most personal. Gail watched as her friend went through painful chemotherapy treatments. Nothing was helping her recover from the radiation, and they tried just about everything available. Tragically, Gail's friend lost her battle with cancer, but Gail's fight was just beginning. She was fixated on finding something that would help other cancer patients through their treatment, and it wasn't long before she stumbled upon the benefits of adding extra hydrogen to water. But the science was still in its infancy and to get where H-Factor is today required a lot of grit in navigating uncharted waters. Listen in as we cover everything from how Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr inadvertently helped to advertise HFactor, how she manufactured early samples using a cement mixer and some beer kegs, and Gail reveals to us her startup superpower.

Today's guest is Shane Heath, founder of MUD\WTR, a coffee alternative that boasts all the aspects that make coffee great, without leaving you waiting for the crash. Shane developed MUD\WTR first and foremost for himself. His coffee cycle went something like this: drink coffee, get a boost of energy, crash, repeat. He was fed up. So he started experimenting in his kitchen. After some trial and error, he landed on the recipe that's still sold today. He didn't set out to make a business, he was only trying to solve a problem in his daily ritual. But as you'll hear, the signs that he was onto something big became clearer and clearer until he could ignore them no more. Listen in as we cover everything from the trip to India that helped him shake his coffee habit, why entrepreneurs should chase a feeling of intention and purpose, and why it's so hard to quit drinking coffee.

Today's guests are Brandon, Dylan, and Elliot Kim, co-founders of Brevitē. Brevitē is a backpack company that started out when Dylan needed a camera backpack he could use while traveling. Brandon figured "why buy one when I can make one?" He grabbed a sewing machine and some raw materials and the first Brevitē backpack was born. For some, it may have stopped there. But the three brothers saw the opportunity and combined their design, marketing, and finance skills into a multi-million dollar company. Listen in as we cover everything from the challenges of learning to sew, why they're shifting focus from an outdoor to an urban brand, and we see if they'll answer us when we ask "who's your favorite sibling?"