Intro

"If you're an entrepreneur and you're not getting punched in the face 20 times a day, you're not doing it right." - Daniella Pierson (Founder of Newsette, valued at $200M) -- Comment "yes" if you can relate. Follow Intro to get monthly support from the world's most successful founders who have sold their startups for $100M+.

Want your product in Sephora? Get advice from the founder of Crown Affair on Intro. Ask Dianna Cohen about: ✔️ Fundraising from VCs ✔️ How to launch a consumer brand ✔️ The beauty industry ✔️ Landing big retailers like Sephora ✔️ ... and more Book me on Intro: https://lnkd.in/gjeJREjg

"It was harder than I thought. Starting our company, raising money, hiring people, learning how to build a product someone would buy, and learning how to be profitable. Every single one of these turned out to be insanely hard." - Jen-Hsun Huang (CEO of Nvidia) -- Follow Intro to connect with the world's most successful founders and CEOs.

Everyone thought he was crazy for quitting his finance job to sell ice cream. Today, his novelty brand is available in 5,000+ stores, including Whole Foods, Erewhon, Bristol Farms, and The Fresh Market. Here's how to do the same: Step 1: Find the big idea David's advice: Ask yourself what's missing? - Look around at the way you live - Write down the products you love - Ask yourself: what would improve my quality of life? How can I make something that is 5-10x better than what exists? For David, the missing thing was a way to satisfy his sweet tooth with portion controlled & snackable products like Nestle’s Dibs. As someone who was lactose-intolerant and had issues with dairy, there weren't many options. And so, his dream snack, Dream Pops, was born! Step 2. Make your prototype David's advice: It doesn't have to be perfect. In the early days, David was making samples in his mom's kitchen by hand. One thing entrepreneurs get wrong? Trying to launch something perfect. If you're prototyping a food product, follow his advice: - Create a delicious and unique product - Differentiate with your packaging & branding - Iterate in small format grocery stores and get feedback from your customers before launching into national accounts  Step 3. Put your product out there David's advice: Get your product in as many hands as possible—any way you can. Some ideas: - Host pop-ups with like-minded brands. Some brick and mortar brands were willing to pay $5K-$10K for a tailored “ice cream social”’ event with custom packaging. Revenue + awareness = free marketing. - Personally do samplings at local grocery stores to get real-time feedback from your customers. What do they love about the product? What do they hate? Those are your golden nuggets. Step 4. Scale thoughtfully David's advice: Don't get tempted by a big retailer with thousands of stores out the gate. Getting into a huge retailer can kill your business if you aren’t ready. Don't chase revenue and door count. Consider profitability, product quality, and overall risk. Some retailers require you to pay "slotting" where you spend $50K to $150K+ to be on the shelf for eight months. If you don't perform? You're out. The risk is massive and can put you out of business before you have the opportunity to flourish. Instead, find independent grocery stores and regional grocers with 3-10 locations and scale slowly – laser-focused on profitability and velocity. Today, Dream Pops is a multi-million dollar brand sold at Whole Foods, Safeway Albertsons, Acme, Shaws, Erewhon, ShopRite, The Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, GoPuff, CVS, Thrive Market, and many more. This is your reminder to tune out all the noise, trust your intuition & keep building. Want to get 1:1 advice from a CPG industry expert? You can now book David Greenfeld on Intro. -- Did you enjoy this business breakdown? Follow Intro to learn how the world's most successful entrepreneurs built $100M+ businesses.

"What founders get wrong is... they delegate the most important thing. Hold on to the area you think is the most important to the business. Delegate everything else." - Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) -- Follow Intro to get 1:1 business advice from the world's most successful founders & CEOs.

"98% of people in the world will tell you your idea is "too ambitious". Surrounding yourself with people who will make you more ambitious is really important." - Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) -- Follow Intro to get 1:1 business advice from the most successful people in the world.

The founder of Frame.io is now on Intro! Schedule a call with Emery Wells for advice on: ✔️ Fundraising from VCs ✔️ Product-led growth in SaaS ✔️ How to get acquired for 1B+ ✔️ Scaling your tech startup ✔️ ... and more Book me on Intro: https://lnkd.in/gjeJREjg

The founder of Frame.io is now on Intro! Schedule a call with Emery Wells for advice on: ✔️ Fundraising from VCs ✔️ Product-led growth in SaaS ✔️ How to get acquired for 1B+ ✔️ Scaling your tech startup ✔️ ... and more Book me on Intro: https://lnkd.in/gjeJREjg

"If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn't be easy." - Jen-Hsun Huang (Founder and CEO of NVIDIA) -- Follow Intro to learn how the world's most extraordinary founders built $100M businesses.

This is the marketing genius behind "Rare Beauty", the beauty brand of Selena Gomez. 5 years ago, Katie Welch joined the company as its Chief Marketing Officer. Today, Rare Beauty is one of the most successful celebrity-founded beauty brands. Having a celebrity as your CEO helps a lot with distribution, but it does not guarantee success. Here's what they did differently: 1) Product development: Rare Beauty focuses on high-quality, vegan, and cruelty-free products. The brand shares the journey of creating its products, all the way from formulation to final release. Rare Beauty's focus on producing high-quality products is one of the main reasons for their success. 2) Strong social media presence: As a beauty brand, your social strategy is everything. The marketing team at Rare Beauty did an excellent job at leveraging Selena Gomez's social media following to grow Rare Beauty's page. From there, the brand engages with its audience through interactive Instagram Stories, behind-the-scenes looks, and UGC. 3) Inclusive and authentic messaging: Selena Gomez used to receive a lot of negative comments about her looks. She realized that if it made her insecure, it must make other young people unhappy, too. She asked herself: "How can I stop this?" Rare Beauty positioned itself as a proud advocate for natural beauty. 4) Focus on community building: UGC is quickly becoming one of the primary content strategies for beauty brands. Katie Welch decided to do things a little differently to create an even deeper connection to the community. When someone posts a selfie or video wearing Rare Beauty make-up, they take it a step further and say, “This is Katie in our community, who is wearing Kind Words lipstick in the shade Humble.” Before posting, they will reach out to that community member and ask them to share something about themself, which they add to the post. It might seem minor, but it makes people feel more connected to the brand and incentivizes others to post their own videos. Katie Welch: "We like to celebrate why people are unique and rare, so why not try and do that in all aspects of our social?" 5) Mental Health Advocacy: GenZ likes to buy from brands that stand for something. They want to vote with their dollar more than any of the previous generations. That's why Rare Beauty launched The Rare Impact Fund, with the goal of raising $100 million over ten years to support mental health services. This commitment to a meaningful cause resonates with consumers who value brands with a social mission, creating a deeper emotional connection. Celebrity brands come and go. Having a celebrity as your CEO does not guarantee success. Rare Beauty nailed it. Wanna get marketing advice from a beauty industry veteran? Book Katie Welch from Rare Beauty on Intro. -- Did you enjoy this business breakdown? Follow Intro to learn how the world's most successful entrepreneurs built $100M+ businesses.