# Move over coconut water - Pricklee cactus water brings health, happiness, & hydration

- Show: [The Startup CPG Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast)
- Published: 2021-10-11
- Length: 26m
- Episode: 3
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/b3f41008

## Summary

Kun Yang, CEO of Pricklee, and his four pharmacist co-founders explain how they launched Pricklee, a prickly pear cactus water brand, by leveraging a family recipe from Lebanon and targeting health-conscious consumers with a product that has half the sugar and calories of coconut water. Yang details their scrappy, hands-on marketing strategy, including wearing cactus suits in New York and Boston for 'gorilla marketing,' and their strategic positioning as 'cactus is the new coconut' to anchor consumer understanding. The episode highlights their recent feature on the Today Show, which drove their highest single day of sales, and outlines their plan to raise a seed round to transition the founders from part-time pharmacy jobs to full-time entrepreneurship while expanding distribution in the Northeast.

## Chapters

- [0:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=3) Introduction: Kun Yang and Pricklee's Origin Story
- [2:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=151) Pricklee Product Details and Omni-channel Distribution
- [3:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=207) Pharmacist Co-founders and the Prickly Pear Inspiration
- [5:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=314) Leveraging the Startup CPG Community for Launch
- [7:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=473) Scrappy Operations and Testing Philosophy
- [9:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=599) Positioning Against Coconut Water and Cactus Suit Marketing
- [12:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=773) The Cactus Suit Activations in NYC and Boston
- [15:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=914) Today Show Feature and PR for Good Partnership
- [17:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=1079) Balancing Day Jobs and Transitioning to Full-Time
- [19:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=1174) Advice for CPG Entrepreneurs: Efficiency and Authenticity
- [22:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2021-10-11-move-over-coconut-water-pricklee-cactus-water-brings-health-happiness-hydration#t=1377) Future Plans: Seed Round and Sustainability Mission

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Pricklee (product)
- Prickly (product)
- coconut water (product)
- Amazon (other)
- TikTok (other)
- Instagram (other)
- Facebook (other)
- Today Show (other)
- PR for Good (other)
- Tio Vipita's (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Liquid Death: Mike Cessario](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-01-22-liquid-death-mike-cessario) (How I Built This)
- [Health-Ade Kombucha: Daina Trout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-09-28-health-ade-kombucha-daina-trout) (How I Built This)
- [Vita Coco: Michael Kirban](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-03-vita-coco-michael-kirban) (How I Built This)
- [How I Built Resilience: Kara Goldin of Hint](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-04-01-how-i-built-resilience-kara-goldin-of-hint) (How I Built This)
- [Spindrift: Bill Creelman](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-01-13-spindrift-bill-creelman) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

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