Live Episode! Walker & Company: Tristan Walker

How I Built This · 30 Sept 2019 · 1h 01m

What this episode covers

Tristan Walker, founder of Walker & Company (Bevel), explains how his personal struggle with razor bumps for men of color led to the creation of a single-blade shaving system and a broader beauty brand. He details the difficulty of raising venture capital from investors who didn't understand the problem, the strategic pivot to a subscription model, and the eventual sale of the company to Procter & Gamble in 2018. Walker also discusses his decision to move the company's headquarters from Silicon Valley to Atlanta and his role as P&G's first Black CEO.

Mentioned

Companies
Procter & Gamble, Foursquare, Andreessen Horowitz, Dollar Shave Club, Harry's, Target, Code 2040, Lehman Brothers, J.P. Morgan, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson
Products
Bevel
Also
Stanford University, Hotchkiss

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 45m

    Founder Fundraising Journey: Victor Guardiola, Bawi

    Victor Guardiola, Founder and CEO of Bawi, a sparkling agua fresca brand, details his journey from a UT Austin entrepreneurship practicum to scaling a beverage company in Texas and California. He explains how he overcame the lack of a 'rich uncle' by selling on tap at farmer's markets, cold-emailing hundreds of investors, and leveraging a 'golden follow-up' from a notable investor to unlock his first equity round from backers like Patrick Terry and Mike Rypka. Guardiola also discusses Bawi's strategic pivot to food service distribution to drive retail velocity, the challenges of early production contamination with breweries, and his mission to increase representation for Latino founders in CPG.

  • Product Startup · 55m

    018: Re-inventing the walker with Jennifer Harris of Motivo

    Jennifer Harris, co-founder of Motivo, explains how she and her design partner Jeremy Canopo reinvented the mobility walker by applying user-centered design to a stagnant market. They worked with over 300 users to develop the Motivo Tour, a sleek, contemporary walker that addresses the stigma and ergonomic failures of traditional bent-tube models. The episode details their journey from garage prototyping to scaling production, highlighting their decision to manufacture in the USA and maintain control over shipping and quality to ensure a premium customer experience.

  • 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.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 48m

    Founder + Funder: Fundraising, Founder-Investor Fit, and Building the Next Big Breakfast Brand with Emily Groden of Evergreen and Brian Bernstein of Rich Products Ventures

    Emily Groden, Founder and CEO of Evergreen, and Brian Bernstein, Principal at Rich Products Ventures, discuss the journey of building Evergreen from homemade waffles into a nationally distributed frozen breakfast brand. They detail the fundraising process, emphasizing the importance of founder-investor fit, operational alignment, and building relationships long before capital is needed. The conversation covers Evergreen's product expansion from mini waffles to pancakes and protein products, as well as the diligence and strategic value provided by a corporate venture fund.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 35m

    Founder Feature: Emmanuel Waters and Courtney Tucker of Old Hillside Bourbon

    Emmanuel Waters and Courtney Tucker, co-founders of Old Hillside Bourbon Company, discuss bootstrapping their premium spirit brand for six years to tell Black history through products like Last Ride Rye, Trifecta, and Harlem Hellfighters. They explain how leveraging stories of Black jockeys and the Harlem Hellfighters helped them break records as the fastest-selling bourbon in North Carolina despite facing significant barriers in a $40 billion industry where Black ownership is less than 1%. The founders emphasize their commitment to quality and community, aiming to be the best bourbon period rather than just the best Black-owned brand, while navigating a crowded market with limited capital.

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.