Hardware Podcasts

#88 Undaunted Leadership with Hint Founder Kara Goldin

The Startup CPG Podcast · 25 Apr 2023 · 37m · Episode 65

What this episode covers

Kara Goldin, founder of Hint, discusses scaling her unsweetened flavored water company from a garage startup to over 30,000 retail locations, emphasizing leadership lessons from the pandemic and early growth. She explains how Hint grew 40% in 2020 by pivoting operations, securing deals with Costco, Walmart, and Aldi, and managing supply chain disruptions through direct store engagement. Goldin highlights the importance of hiring 'creators' rather than just managers, maintaining transparency with employees, and the strategic value of lacking prior CPG industry experience. The episode covers her book 'Undaunted,' detailing key decisions like losing Starbucks to focus on Target and refusing unfavorable promotions from Whole Foods to protect brand equity.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Costco, Walmart, Aldi, Sam's Club, Target, Starbucks, Whole Foods, AOL, Pepsi
Products
Hint, Undaunted

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