Hardware Podcasts

Pure Gold Series: How to Build a Field Marketing Event & Demo Program with Seth Goldman

The Startup CPG Podcast · 10 May 2022 · 35m · Episode 21

What this episode covers

Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea and current CEO of Eat the Change, explains how to build a field marketing and demo program for new food and beverage products. He argues that sampling is critical for innovation adoption because taste converts concept to trial, and he advocates for hiring passionate in-house 'road warrior' interns rather than using agencies to ensure brand authenticity. Goldman details the structure of his 10-week paid internship program, including training, supervision, and leveraging demos for market research and incremental retail displays.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Eat the Change, Beyond Meat, Whole Foods, Costco, Safeway, Kroger
Products
Honest Tea, PLNT Burger

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • How I Built This · 29m

    Honest Tea: Seth Goldman

    Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea, explains how he identified a 'sweetness gap' in the beverage market and launched the company with $50,000 from his father. He details the early challenges of securing a Whole Foods order, brewing tea in mesh bags at a juice plant, and navigating distributor rejection. Goldman also discusses a critical quality failure involving faulty glass bottles that forced a voluntary recall, and how maintaining control through a unique equity structure allowed Honest Tea to grow before being acquired by Coca-Cola.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    8 chapters

  • How I Built This · 36m

    Samuel Adams: Jim Koch (2017)

    Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Company, explains how he left a management consulting career to launch Samuel Adams in 1984, reviving a 150-year-old family recipe to create the craft beer movement. Koch details his 'lean startup' approach, including renting brewing space, hiring Dr. Joseph Owades, and personally cold-calling bars with beer in his briefcase to secure initial accounts. The episode highlights the brand's rapid growth after winning 'Best Beer in America' at the Great American Beer Festival, leading to a unique direct-to-consumer IPO that raised $65 million. Additionally, Kaitlin Mogental of Pulp Pantry discusses her garage-stage venture of turning juice bar pulp into snacks, focusing on sourcing ingredients and managing small-batch production.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    7 chapters

  • How I Built This · 48m

    Advice Line with Ben Goodwin of Olipop

    Ben Goodwin, co-founder of the prebiotic soda brand Olipop, joins Guy Raz to answer calls from early-stage founders. Goodwin advises Darren Alpert of Gheelish on how to market ghee-based snacks by prioritizing taste over ingredient education, and helps Sarah Godfrey of Sarah's Gluten Free Goods navigate the scaling challenges of fresh, allergen-safe baked goods. He also counsels John Groner of the Bexley Natural Foods co-op on revitalizing sales through community engagement and curation rather than e-commerce.

    Marketing & brandScaling production
    5 chapters

  • How I Built This · 53m

    Advice Line with Michael Dubin of Dollar Shave Club

    Michael Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, advises three early-stage founders on marketing, hiring, and scaling. He helps Benita Casbo of Kasbo’s Middle Eastern Kitchen launch her Syrian cheese with guerrilla marketing ideas, Brandon Davis of Parrs Mobile Mini Golf retain employees through equity and culture, and Bria Fleming of Incidental Wildland scale her custom firefighter uniforms by raising capital and finding manufacturing partners.

    Marketing & brandHiring & workforce
    5 chapters

  • How I Built This · 45m

    Advice Line with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar

    Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi joins Guy Raz to advise early-stage founders on scaling and product strategy. She discusses her transition from CEO to Chief Experimenter, the strategic value of brand collaborations over immediate revenue, and the importance of packaging in driving repeat gifting behavior. The episode features advice for The Beau Collective on bridge financing, Cotton Clara on market positioning, and Vashon Island Coffee Dust on converting gifters into loyal customers.

    Pricing, margins & unit economicsMarketing & brand
    5 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Startup CPG Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.