# Founder + Funder: Fundraising, Retail Growth, and Building a Modern Hydration Brand with Alex Michaelsen of Leisure Hydration and Ryan Springer of Midnight

- Show: [The Startup CPG Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast)
- Published: 2026-06-27
- Length: 51m
- Episode: 330
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-06-27-founder-funder-fundraising-retail-growth-and-building-a-modern-hydration-brand-w
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/f82b3833

## Summary

Alex Michaelsen, Co-Founder and CEO of Leisure Hydration, and Ryan Springer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Midnight, discuss the journey of building a modern hydration brand and the nuances of founder-investor relationships. They detail Leisure's unconventional fundraising path, which included NFT sales and early traction in tech offices, leading to a Series A round led by Midnight and placement in Whole Foods and Target. The conversation highlights the importance of building trust over years, maintaining high margins, and avoiding the trap of copying outdated industry playbooks.

## Outline

1. Introduction: Alex Michaelsen and Ryan Springer
2. Leisure Hydration's Origin and Market Positioning
3. Unconventional Fundraising and Early Traction
4. Building Trust with Midnight and Securing Series A
5. Retail Expansion and Overcoming Investor Skepticism
6. Advice on Timing Raises and Founder Resilience
7. Investor-Founder Dynamics and Career Advice

## Topics

- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Leisure Hydration (product)
- Midnight (company)
- Whole Foods (company)
- Target (company)
- H-E-B (company)
- Gatorade (product)
- Olipop (product)
- Celsius (product)
- Vitamin Water (product)
- High Desert Vodka (product)
- Magic Mind (product)
- Recess (product)
- AI (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-10-17-advice-line-with-lara-merriken-of-larabar) (How I Built This)
- [Outdoor Voices: Tyler Haney](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-11-25-outdoor-voices-tyler-haney) (How I Built This)
- [Hydro Flask: Travis Rosbach. How a thirsty surfer changed the water bottle industry](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-11-24-hydro-flask-travis-rosbach-how-a-thirsty-surfer-changed-the-water-bottle-industr) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-09-advice-line-with-lara-merriken-of-larabar-october-2024) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Andrew Abraham of Orgain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-05-16-advice-line-with-andrew-abraham-of-orgain) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-06-27-founder-funder-fundraising-retail-growth-and-building-a-modern-hydration-brand-w. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Startup CPG Podcast.