# Founder Fundraising Journey: Victor Guardiola, Bawi

- Show: [The Startup CPG Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast)
- Published: 2026-08-01
- Length: 45m
- Episode: 346
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-08-01-founder-fundraising-journey-victor-guardiola-bawi
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/47996037

## Summary

Victor Guardiola, Founder and CEO of Bawi, a sparkling agua fresca brand, details his journey from a UT Austin entrepreneurship practicum to scaling a beverage company in Texas and California. He explains how he overcame the lack of a 'rich uncle' by selling on tap at farmer's markets, cold-emailing hundreds of investors, and leveraging a 'golden follow-up' from a notable investor to unlock his first equity round from backers like Patrick Terry and Mike Rypka. Guardiola also discusses Bawi's strategic pivot to food service distribution to drive retail velocity, the challenges of early production contamination with breweries, and his mission to increase representation for Latino founders in CPG.

## Outline

1. Introduction: Victor Guardiola and Bawi's Mission
2. Origin Story: UT Austin Practicum and Market Research
3. Early Hustle: Farmer's Markets and Commercial Kitchen Grind
4. Fundraising Strategy: Cold Emailing and the 'Golden Follow-Up'
5. Production Challenges: Brewing Line Time and Contamination
6. Go-to-Market: Building Retail Density and Food Service Pivot
7. Scaling and Future Vision: Revenue Growth and Cultural Representation
8. Slack Q&A: Structuring Investor Outreach and Pitches

## Topics

- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Bawi (product)
- P. Terry's Burger Stand (company)
- Torchy's Tacos (company)
- Siete Foods (company)
- Golden Ratio (company)
- Vital Farms (company)
- C4 Pre Workout (product)
- Central Market (company)
- Cosmic Coffee (company)
- Spindrift (company)
- H-E-B (company)

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- [Advice Line with Brett Schulman of CAVA (July 2024)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-02-advice-line-with-brett-schulman-of-cava-july-2024) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Brett Schulman of CAVA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-07-04-advice-line-with-brett-schulman-of-cava) (How I Built This)
- [Guayakí Yerba Mate: David Karr and Chris Mann](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-11-28-guayaki-yerba-mate-david-karr-and-chris-mann) (How I Built This)
- [290 - Taylor Foxman is the master connector for CPG's!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2024-09-26-290-taylor-foxman-is-the-master-connector-for-cpgs) (People of Packaging)

## Citing this page

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