Mike Fata, founder of Manitoba Harvest, shares his incredible journey from high school dropout to building a $419 million hemp empire. Discover the lessons he learned while navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship, from humble beginnings to scaling a business, managing successful exits, and embracing servant leadership. Mike's insights on passion, persistence, and personal growth will inspire and motivate you on your own entrepreneurial path.Chapter Titles:00:00:00 - Intro00:05:16 - Starting Manitoba Harvest00:07:34 - Early Guerrilla Marketing00:11:56 - Scaling to $1 Million00:15:10 - The Path to $10 Million00:19:05 - Trademark Battles00:21:25 - Challenges of 24/7 Manufacturing00:22:18 - Navigating the First Exit00:27:44 - Life After Partial Exit00:29:54 - The $419 Million Exit00:32:14 - Investing Philosophy00:34:20 - Finding Deals00:36:10 - The Evolution of CPG00:40:00 - Mike's Portfolio Insights00:41:29 - A Tough Lesson Learned00:44:55 - Rapid Fire Questions00:49:14 - Balancing Entrepreneurship and Single Fatherhood00:52:05 - Servant Leadership00:53:06 - ConclusionABOUT THE HOSTS:Will Nitze is the Founder & CEO at IQBAR - America's leading "brain + body" nutrition startup. With minimal funding, Will has taken IQBAR from zero locations and zero in revenue in 2018 to 10,000+ doors and a projected $50 million in sales in 2024.Joe Lemay founded Rocketbook with business partner Jake Epstein. After being featured on “Shark Tank”, where the sharks passed on a chance to invest – Joe would go on to grow Rocketbook and sell it to BIC for 40 million dollars just three years later.Connect with Mike Fata:Website: https://www.mikefata.ca/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themikefata/X: https://twitter.com/themikefataInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/themikefata/

Welcome to the first episode of Eating Glass!In this inaugural episode, ho sts Will Nitze and Joe Lemay sit down with founder Preston Rutherford to dive into his journey starting his company ‘Chubbies’ and how he (and his friends) pioneered some of the raddest, most weekend-built gear ever.From the benefits (and drawbacks) he experienced by having co-founders and being in a niche product category – to how he managed headwinds, tailwinds and ultimately, to how he successfully exited, you’ll get access to every stage of Preston’s startup journey!Episode Highlights:[00:00:00] Intro[00:09:00] The Early Days of Chubbies[00:12:21] Funding Chubbies[00:16:00] How Co-Founders Drove Chubbies' Success[00:22:10] Polarizing Products and Brand Salience[00:27:36] Expanding Channels, Facing Headwinds[00:33:26] Adapting to Fashion Trends & Seasonality[00:40:40] Maintaining the Spark During Growth[00:50:44] Navigating Multiple Exit Attempts[00:56:00] Earned Secrets & Regrets[01:11:00] Priorities After the Acquisition[01:16:10] Final ThoughtsABOUT THE HOSTS:Will Nitze is the Founder & CEO at IQBAR - America's leading "brain + body" nutrition startup. With minimal funding, Will has taken IQBAR from zero locations and zero in revenue in 2018 to 10,000+ doors and a projected $50 million in sales in 2024.Joe Lemay founded Rocketbook with business partner Jake Epstein. After being featured on “Shark Tank”, where the sharks passed on a chance to invest – Joe would go on to grow Rocketbook and sell it to BIC for 40 million dollars just three years later.Connect with Preston Rutherford:https://www.linkedin.com/in/prestonr/https://bodaciousbrands.beehiiv.com/p/introducing-bodacious-brands

Welcome to Eating Glass