Hardware Podcasts

#168 - CPG Founder Life - What to Expect: Paul Voge

The Startup CPG Podcast · 5 Nov 2024 · 1h 07m · Episode 91

What this episode covers

Paul Voge, Co-Founder and CEO of Aura Bora, a craft sparkling water brand, details his journey from launching in 2019 to reaching 10,000 stores by 2024. He explains the structural unprofitability of the beverage industry due to distributor margins and the lack of vertical integration compared to giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Voge discusses the operational nightmares of physical goods, including a $400,000 loss from exploding cans and a truck frozen in Texas, while emphasizing that fundraising consumes over half his time. He advises founders to pursue CPG only for the creative fulfillment of building something tangible, warning against the expectation of quick profits or easy scaling.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprouts, Walmart, Kroger
Products
Aura Bora, LaCroix, Liquid Death, Poppy, Siete

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