Hardware Podcasts

Kodiak Cakes: Joel Clark (2020)

How I Built This · 2 Jan 2023 · 1h 14m

What this episode covers

Joel Clark, co-founder of Kodiak Cakes, recounts the 15-year struggle to scale his family's whole grain pancake mix from a garage operation to a $200 million brand. He details near-bankruptcy events, including a failed cookie venture and a $50,000 error from a doubled Safeway promotion, before securing a transformative Target order and a Shark Tank appearance. The episode highlights the launch of Power Cakes, which capitalized on the high-protein trend, and the eventual acquisition by a private equity firm after years of bootstrapping and family-backed financing.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Safeway, Target
Products
Kodiak Cakes, Shark Tank, Ben's Cookies, Power Cakes, Aunt Jemima, Bisquick

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 38m

    Founder Feature: Breanna and Jared Golestani of Kokada

    Breanna and Jared Golestani, co-founders of Kokada, discuss their journey from pandemic-era kitchen experiments to launching a nationally distributed coconut-based snack brand. They detail the strategic decision to scale rapidly after winning the NOSH Pitch Slam, the challenges of managing an international supply chain with co-packers in Sri Lanka and domestically, and their financing strategy relying on angels and family offices rather than venture capital. The founders also explain the development and retail testing of their new product, Kokada Dunks, leveraging FDA guidance on coconut to target school-safe, peanut-allergy-friendly markets.

    Scaling productionManufacturing partners & offshoring
    7 chapters

  • Product Startup · 55m

    013: From Kitchen to Amazon, Launching All-Natural Cake Mix for Dogs with Kelly Costello of Puppy Cake

    Kelly Costello, founder of Puppy Cake, explains how she launched an all-natural cake mix for dogs in five months with under $5,000, manufacturing in-house from her kitchen. She details her strategy of lowering barriers to entry for retailers through small case sizes and free shipping, and how adding product lines like Puppy Scoops ice cream mix doubled her sales. Costello also shares a critical lesson from a near-bankruptcy event with H.E.B. grocery store, emphasizing the importance of never fulfilling orders without a legally binding purchase order.

    Validation & product-market fitPricing, margins & unit economics
    9 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 44m

    #100 Toasting to 100 Episodes of The Startup CPG Podcast with Our Favorite Moments

    Host Jessi Freitag counts down the top 10 moments from 100 episodes of The Startup CPG Podcast, featuring insights from founders like Seth Goldman of Honest Tea, Alexiou Gibson of The Sea Moss Transformation Factory, and Rosa Li of wildwonder. The episode highlights strategic decisions in fundraising, marketing, and product launches, including Sandra Velasquez’s Shark Tank experience with Nopalera and the collaboration between Partake Foods and Ben & Jerry’s. It emphasizes the importance of resilience, storytelling, and direct outreach in scaling consumer brands.

    Crowdfunding & preordersFundraising & investors
    10 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 32m

    Nowhere Bakery Swims in the Shark Tank!

    Maurizio and Saphira Rasti, founders of Nowhere Bakery, discuss their journey from the fashion industry to creating gluten-free, vegan baked goods, highlighting a serendipitous collaboration with Gwyneth Paltrow. They detail the grueling, multi-stage application process for Shark Tank, which they applied for twice before securing an air date with guest shark Jason Bloom. The founders explain how they managed sudden production demands by leveraging their commercial kitchen and hiring staff just two weeks before the episode aired, while also noting their current distribution in about 80 stores including Mother's Market and Alfred Coffee.

    Validation & product-market fitCrowdfunding & preorders
    7 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 21m

    Founder Feature: Lindsay Hancock of My Better Batch

    Lindsay Hancock, founder of My Better Batch, explains how a career in food retail and manufacturing, culminating in a company sold to Kind Snacks, provided the foundation for her solopreneur venture. She details the rapid growth of her clean-label cookie mix, from shipping the first DTC order in April 2024 to securing national distribution in Target, Sprouts, and Thrive Market. Hancock highlights the operational challenges of preparing for trade shows, including baking thousands of cookies in an Airbnb, and the strategic value of the Startup CPG section at Expo West in securing the Target Accelerator program and major press coverage.

    Crowdfunding & preordersDirect-to-consumer & e-commerce
    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.