Hardware Podcasts

LÄRABAR: Lara Merriken

How I Built This · 19 Mar 2018 · 53m

What this episode covers

Lara Merriken, founder of LÄRABAR, explains how she pivoted from a career in social work to creating an energy bar made of just two or three ingredients like dates, almonds, and cherries. She details the early struggles of finding manufacturing partners, the critical decision to rename the product from 'Mana Bar' to 'LÄRABAR' due to trademark issues, and her strategy of hand-making the first 500 bars to secure a launch at Whole Foods. Merriken also discusses the rapid growth to millions in revenue and her eventual decision to sell the company to General Mills in 2008.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Whole Foods, General Mills
Products
LÄRABAR, Cliff Bar, Ginjan
Tools
Cuisinart

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