# Insomnia Cookies: Seth Berkowitz

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2024-08-26
- Length: 1h 17m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz

## Summary

Seth Berkowitz, co-founder and CEO of Insomnia Cookies, recounts the 21-year journey of building a $350 million late-night cookie delivery business. He details early pivots, including a failed partnership with the frozen yogurt brand Tasty Delight and a distraction involving vending trucks, before finding product-market fit with small, corporate-owned retail locations. Berkowitz explains how the iPhone and app culture provided the technological catalyst for scaling, leading to a majority acquisition by Krispy Kreme in 2018 and recent expansion into international markets.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=0) Introduction: Seth Berkowitz and the origins of Insomnia Cookies
- [6:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=377) The dorm room experiment and first flyers at the University of Pennsylvania
- [23:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=1383) Early expansion, the Tasty Delight partnership, and the frozen yogurt pivot
- [39:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=2349) Parting ways with co-founder Jared Barnett and focusing on cookie-only stores
- [49:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=2992) The Great Recession, funding crisis, and the 'hell period' of self-funding
- [55:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=3348) The iPhone as a game-changer and the shift to self-sustaining growth
- [1:05:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=3911) The Krispy Kreme acquisition and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic
- [1:10:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-08-26-insomnia-cookies-seth-berkowitz#t=4226) The lawsuit with co-founder Jared Barnett and current international expansion

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Insomnia Cookies (product)
- Krispy Kreme (company)
- Tasty Delight (product)
- University of Pennsylvania (other)
- Syracuse University (other)
- University of Illinois (other)
- University of Maryland (other)
- Crumble (company)
- Jared Barnett (other)

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- [Founder Feature: Lindsay Hancock of My Better Batch](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-02-27-founder-feature-lindsay-hancock-of-my-better-batch) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Reinventing the Pizza Bagel: Bagelverse's Jacob Cooper on Nostalgia and CPG](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-10-09-reinventing-the-pizza-bagel-bagelverses-jacob-cooper-on-nostalgia-and-cpg) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [244 - Jody Polishchuk from Sundays on how they made the first zero sugar creme cookie](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2024-02-16-244-jody-polishchuk-from-sundays-on-how-they-made-the-first-zero-sugar-creme-coo) (People of Packaging)
- [Founder Feature: Katie Lefkowitz of Harken Sweets](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2024-12-06-founder-feature-katie-lefkowitz-of-harken-sweets) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

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