Hardware Podcasts

Stitch Fix's Katrina Lake At The HIBT Summit

How I Built This · 13 Dec 2018 · 15m

What this episode covers

Katrina Lake, founder of Stitch Fix, discusses building a billion-dollar personal shopping service and the importance of intentional culture from day one. She explains her strategy of raising modest capital (under $5 million) despite male VCs' lack of interest in women's fashion, and her practice of 'rehiring' herself annually to adapt to new leadership challenges as the company scaled. Lake also reflects on the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship and the need for perspective to avoid burnout.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Stitch Fix, U.S. Bank, Google, Carol's Daughter
Also
Stanford, Mark Zuckerberg, Lisa Price

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 34m

    Founder Feature: Val Emanuel of Rif Care

    Val Emanuel, co-founder of Rif Care, discusses building a sustainable feminine care brand using hemp fiber, detailing her journey from a talent agency career to securing manufacturing partners overseas. She explains how the company achieved early retail success with Erewhon through direct networking and highlights the critical importance of email capture workflows for DTC growth. Emanuel also shares candid experiences regarding bias in VC fundraising, advocating for grants and accelerators like Techstars and Jumpstart Foundry as viable alternatives for capital and support.

    Starting a product companyManufacturing partners & offshoring
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 32m

    Oddball's Path From Idea to Funding a Nationwide Target Launch

    Sophia Cheng, Founder and CEO of Oddball, details her unconventional path from management consulting and Bridgewater Associates to launching a fruit snack brand inspired by her childhood in Singapore. She explains how she validated the product through benchtop formulations at farmers markets and pitch competitions before securing funding, ultimately achieving a nationwide launch at Target. Cheng discusses the specific challenges of fundraising as a first-time, minority woman founder in 2023, emphasizing the mental shift from convincing investors to finding aligned partners, and her strategy for managing a cap table with approximately 20 investors in her first round.

    Fundraising & investorsValidation & product-market fit
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 37m

    #88 Undaunted Leadership with Hint Founder Kara Goldin

    Kara Goldin, founder of Hint, discusses scaling her unsweetened flavored water company from a garage startup to over 30,000 retail locations, emphasizing leadership lessons from the pandemic and early growth. She explains how Hint grew 40% in 2020 by pivoting operations, securing deals with Costco, Walmart, and Aldi, and managing supply chain disruptions through direct store engagement. Goldin highlights the importance of hiring 'creators' rather than just managers, maintaining transparency with employees, and the strategic value of lacking prior CPG industry experience. The episode covers her book 'Undaunted,' detailing key decisions like losing Starbucks to focus on Target and refusing unfavorable promotions from Whole Foods to protect brand equity.

    Leadership, teams & cultureScaling production
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 1h 00m

    #80 From turning down Shark Tank offers to raising $2.7 million for Nopalera with Sandra Velasquez

    Sandra Velasquez, CEO and founder of Nopalera, discusses her journey from a musician to launching a high-end Latina bath and body brand, including her appearance on Shark Tank where she turned down two offers. She details the process of raising a $2.7 million seed round from scratch, highlighting the importance of valuation assessments, legal costs, and overcoming the 'money begets money' dynamic. Velasquez also shares specific metrics on the post-Shark Tank sales surge, the operational prep required for the influx of demand, and the company's current scaling efforts into new product categories like aluminum-packaged body wash.

    Fundraising & investorsCrowdfunding & preorders
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 40m

    #237 - Inside Founders & Funders with Alex Michaelsen from Leisure Hydration and Alex Malamatinas from Melitas Ventures

    Alex Michaelsen, founder and CEO of Leisure Hydration, and Alex Malamatinas, founder of Melitas Ventures, discuss the Founders & Funders event, a curated gathering of 70 VCs and 160 brands. They detail the event's format of 10-minute speed-dating meetings and panel discussions, emphasizing the importance of in-person connections over digital decks. Michaelsen outlines his 'CPG triangle' framework—focusing on margin, velocity, and cash flow—while Malamatinas highlights how founder charisma and clear vision can overcome limited early-stage traction. Both guests offer tactical advice on pitching, including leading with contribution margin and interviewing investors to tailor the conversation.

    Fundraising & investorsPricing, margins & unit economics
    9 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.