Hardware Podcasts

Advice Line with Tony Lamb of Kona Ice

How I Built This · 11 Jul 2024 · 47m

What this episode covers

Kona Ice founder Tony Lamb joins Guy Raz to advise three early-stage founders: Dylan Richter of The Sweet Spot, a candy store in rural Illinois considering franchising; Zach Dietz of Just Futz, launching needle felting kits in the US; and Jennifer Braidwood of Bradenwood Design Studio, seeking low-cost marketing for her home decor brand. Lamb emphasizes the importance of grassroots marketing, the dangers of premature scaling, and the value of happiness over exponential growth for small business owners.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Kona Ice, The Sweet Spot, Just Futz, Bradenwood Design Studio, West Elm, Magnolia Market, Uncommon Goods, Cliff Bar, U.S. Bank
Products
Traveling Toms

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • 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 · 33m

    #232 - 2026 Brand Resolutions

    Host Daniel Scharff interviews Rebecca Styn of Blind Tiger Spirit Free Cocktails, Dava Guthmiller of A Dash of, and Andrew Schundler of CH Matcha about their 2026 brand resolutions. Rebecca resolves to eliminate noise by saying no to unaligned opportunities like expensive celebrity gifting, focusing instead on strategic regional growth. Dava aims to step into the spotlight by sharing her personal story and passion for salt terroir to build authenticity, rather than just curating others' products. Andrew plans to double down on retail execution and in-person tastings for his canned matcha brand, learning from early data to avoid stretching the business too thin.

    Direct-to-consumer & e-commerceMarketing & brand
    6 chapters

  • Product Startup · 40m

    032: Success in Small Niches with Jill Bong of Chicken Armor

    Jill Bong, founder of Chicken Armor, explains how she and her husband designed a vinyl chicken saddle to solve a specific problem for their 80-chicken flock, prioritizing washability and low cost over complex components. They validated the market by selling on eBay and pitching targeted homesteading publications, while deliberately avoiding expensive patent protection and large-scale manufacturing to maintain their lifestyle-focused business model. Bong details their iterative prototyping process, which involved testing multiple material samples and designs over a year, and highlights their success in niche marketing through editorial coverage rather than paid ads.

    Validation & product-market fitPrototyping & iteration
    8 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 32m

    Founder Feature: Maxi Heidenblut of Häppy Candy

    Maxi Heidenblut, founder of Häppy Candy, explains how she bootstrapped a better-for-you gummy brand with 70% less sugar and no artificial sweeteners while working a full-time finance job in New York City. She details the year-long formula development with a co-packer, the high minimum order quantities (MOQs) that forced heavy upfront investment, and her strategy of using free samples and influencer barter deals to launch. Heidenblut discusses expanding from independent retailers like Gourmet Garage to national chains via trade shows like Fancy Food Show and Expo West, while managing DTC channels on Amazon and Shopify with a focus on organic growth and reviews.

    Starting a product companyCrowdfunding & preorders
    7 chapters

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 46m

    #111 Twrl Milk Tea: Boba is the New Sprinkle & Twrling into Sprouts, Costco, & Pop Up Grocer

    Twrl Milk Tea co-founders Olivia Chen and Pauline Chen discuss creating the world's first canned milk tea made with pea milk and single-origin teas, launching six SKUs including Ube and Hojicha varieties, and developing separate boba toppings. The founders detail their rapid retail expansion into Sprouts, Wegmans, and Central Market, while explaining their strategic decision to test Costco to stress-test their operational infrastructure before committing to large-scale distribution. They emphasize their marketing approach, which includes organic press outreach, pop-up events, and a Times Square advertisement, to build brand legitimacy and drive consumer demand.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    8 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.