Hardware Podcasts

Happy Family Organics: Shazi Visram

How I Built This · 20 Jan 2020 · 1h 13m

What this episode covers

Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family Organics, explains how she pivoted from frozen baby food cubes to shelf-stable pouches after realizing her initial product failed to replace jars. She details raising $550,000 from friends and family, securing a partnership with Whole Foods and Target, and leveraging an American Express campaign to raise $8 million. Visram discusses selling 92% of the company to Danone to secure financial stability after her son’s autism diagnosis, while maintaining the brand's mission. In a post-script, Dylan Wolff describes inventing the CNSRV WTR, a recirculating water defroster, to solve water waste in restaurants.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Happy Family Organics, Gerber, Beechnut, Earth's Best, Honest Company, Whole Foods, Target, Danone, American Express
Products
CNSRV WTR

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 30m

    #179 - Bootstrap Heroes: Hazard's Hop Water, SWAIR, Gourmend Foods

    Host Daniel Scharff interviews Ryan Hansen of Hazard's Hop Water, Carrie Sporer of SWAIR Hair, and Ketan Vakil of Gourmend Foods about bootstrapping their consumer packaged goods brands to six-figure revenues without venture capital. Hansen details scaling a non-alcoholic hop water brand to $500k by targeting golf courses and breweries, while Sporer explains how SWAIR reached $350k in revenue by focusing on fitness enthusiasts and managing co-founder dynamics. Vakil shares how he built Gourmend Foods to nearly $850k in revenue by reformulating low-FODMAP broths and leveraging online sales and dietitian networks.

    Starting a product companyPricing, margins & unit economics
    5 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 38m

    #117 Rebranding, Fundraising, and the Success Behind Launching Myles Comfort Foods at Target with Myles Powell

    Myles Powell, founder of Myles Comfort Foods, explains how he bootstrapped the brand before securing a $1.5 million seed round and executing a critical rebrand from '8 Myles' to 'Myles Comfort Foods' to support aggressive retail growth. He details an unconventional entry into Target by manually stocking shelves for six weeks to generate sales data, which led to a formal business award and national distribution. Powell also discusses leveraging NIQ’s Byzzer for category insights, navigating the complexities of the frozen food category, and his fundraising journey involving angels and micro-VCs to support expansion into food service.

    Crowdfunding & preordersFundraising & investors
    12 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 43m

    Looking on the Starryside with co-founders Liz Seelye & Erin Fasano

    Starryside co-founders Liz Seelye and Aaron Pisano discuss launching Star Water, an organic, immunity-boosting beverage for kids in 8-ounce aluminum cans. They detail their journey from prototyping flavors with a former Ben & Jerry’s expert to navigating the 2022 can shortage and finding a co-packer willing to handle small, flat-beverage runs. The founders explain how they leveraged the Startup CPG community and Expo West’s Alley Rally to validate their product, secure feedback, and build relationships with retailers and media.

    Materials & manufacturing processesManufacturing partners & offshoring
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 1h 00m

    Founder Fundraising Journey: Craig Dubitsky, Happy Products

    Craig Dubitsky, Co-Founder and CEO of Happy Products, discusses his journey building brands like eos, hello, and Method, and his current venture, Happy, which partners with NAMI. He explains that Happy is in the 'Happy business' with coffee as the delivery system, and details how NAMI holds equity on the cap table from day zero. Dubitsky shares fundraising strategies, emphasizing the importance of an advisory board, identifying manufacturers, and managing expectations that projects will cost more and take longer than anticipated. He also reflects on the acquisition of hello by Colgate, framing it as an 'entrance' rather than an exit, and highlights the critical role of product-market fit, repeat sales, and cross-channel distribution.

    Fundraising & investorsIndustrial & consumer product design
    6 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 1h 00m

    #59 Welcome to the Oat Haus! Celebrity Collaboration, Sprouts Launch, and Mental Health with Ali Bonar

    Ali Bonar, Co-Founder and CEO of Oat Haus, discusses the evolution of her oat-based spread brand from a side hustle to a national retailer presence. She details the strategic launch of the Brownie Batter flavor in collaboration with Jameela Jamil, the challenges of securing a national Sprouts Grocery launch, and the importance of hiring scrappy early employees like VP of Sales Todd and VP of Marketing Lisa. Bonar also opens up about her mental health journey, the isolation of scaling a business, and her methods for maintaining founder wellbeing.

    Direct-to-consumer & e-commerceRetail, wholesale & distribution
    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.