Hardware Podcasts

Live Episode! Milk Bar: Christina Tosi

How I Built This · 14 Oct 2019 · 1h 04m

What this episode covers

Christina Tosi, founder of Milk Bar, explains how she transitioned from a pastry cook at WD50 to opening her own bakery in 2008 with the help of mentor David Chang. She details the creation of iconic products like Crack Pie and Cereal Milk soft serve, which emerged from kitchen experimentation and a desire to reinvent nostalgic American desserts. Tosi discusses the operational challenges of scaling from a single East Village location to 16 shops and a national mail-order business, including managing supply chains and maintaining product quality while keeping prices accessible.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Milk Bar, Momofuku, WD50, Boule, U.S. Bank
Products
Crack Pie, Cereal Milk, Compost Cookie
Also
David Chang, Anderson Cooper

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 28m

    Founder Feature: Liv Truesdell of FROST Buttercream

    Liv Truesdell, founder of FROST Buttercream, and her mother, co-founder, explain their transition from investment banking to creating a meringue-based buttercream with 57% less sugar and real ingredients. They discuss the challenges of small-batch manufacturing, the strategic importance of in-store demos to educate consumers, and their retail expansion into New York City retailers like Fairway Market and Butterfield Market. The episode highlights their iterative packaging design process, collaborations with brands like Bite and Brownie, and the operational discipline required to scale production for food service while maintaining quality.

    Validation & product-market fitMaterials & manufacturing processes
    9 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 31m

    Founder Feature: Elan Halpern & Kiki Couchman of Sourmilk

    Elan Halpern and Kiki Couchman, co-founders of Sourmilk, explain how they combined Stanford education and tech/PE backgrounds to create a Greek yogurt cultured with targeted probiotics for gut health. They detail their unconventional 'drug deal' pickup model in New York City, delivering over 5,000 units in brown paper bags to build a loyal community before retail. The founders also recount their rapid rebranding from a cease-and-desist letter to the name 'Sourmilk' in 14 days, and their strategy for scaling production and launching into NYC grocery stores in early 2026.

    Validation & product-market fitDirect-to-consumer & e-commerce
    7 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 21m

    Dip Into Paradise with Founder Emily Edwards

    Emily Edwards, founder of Paradise Icing (Emily's Foods), explains how she transitioned from social work to developing a plant-based icing using pea protein. She details her 18-month product development process at the Purdue Food Science Lab, where she overcame initial taste failures to create a shelf-stable, allergen-free product. Edwards discusses her strategy of bootstrapping the business due to difficulties securing venture capital, while leveraging her social work skills for consumer research and transparent brand storytelling. She outlines her current focus on expanding flavor lines, securing retail placements in boutique grocers and schools, and managing early-stage operations with a small team.

    Validation & product-market fitStarting a product company
    7 chapters

  • People of Packaging · 46m

    339 - Beyond the Dieline ep 1 with Tom Seymour and Jessica Kwon from Moka Energy!

    Tom Seymour interviews Jessica Kwon, founder of Jack & Friends Jerky and co-founder of Moka Energy, about her journey from a Cornell food science background to building CPG brands. Kwon details the operational challenges of bootstrapping, including 3 AM kitchen shifts and hand-packing orders after a New York Times feature, and the technical pivot from DIY Photoshop designs to custom-printed packaging via Wagon Design Studio. The conversation highlights the importance of owning manufacturing mistakes with partners like Seymour’s company and the strategic decision to launch Moka Energy with an experienced team to skip early-stage hurdles.

    Packaging designManufacturing partners & offshoring
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 37m

    Founder Feature: Jenifer Shwartz of Freezcake

    Jenifer Shwartz, founder of Freezecake, explains how a health crisis led to the creation of the first freeze-dried cheesecake brand. She details the pivot from a brick-and-mortar bakery to self-manufacturing, the challenges of supply chain disruptions for dairy ingredients, and the strategic decision to relocate production to New York to reduce costs. Shwartz also discusses leveraging TikTok Shop for viral growth and the upcoming launch into Whole Foods.

    Direct-to-consumer & e-commerceMarketing & brand
    7 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.