# Quality of Revenue Beats Growth: Why a Quick Costco Win Can Boom and Bust

- Show: [The Startup CPG Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast)
- Published: 2026-10-24
- Length: 38m
- Episode: 389
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-10-24-quality-of-revenue-beats-growth-why-a-quick-costco-win-can-boom-and-bust
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/81d93799

## Summary

Moira O’Connell, Vice President at Astō Consumer Partners, explains the firm’s late-stage growth strategy, focusing on profitable CPG brands with $40M+ in sales and checks of $25M–$75M. She highlights portfolio companies Clean Skin Club, Bloom Nutrition, and Starface, detailing how they expanded from DTC to retail or new categories like beverages. O’Connell emphasizes that quality of revenue, particularly avoiding boom-and-bust cycles like a quick Costco win, is more critical than raw growth, and discusses the importance of aligning on valuation and growth levers early in fundraising.

## Outline

1. Introduction: Moira O'Connell and Astō Consumer Partners
2. Astō's Investment Criteria and Operator Background
3. Portfolio Case Studies: Clean Skin Club, Bloom Nutrition, and Starface
4. Primary vs. Secondary Capital and Founder De-risking
5. Scaling from $1M to $25M: Product, Messaging, and Hiring
6. Quality of Revenue vs. Growth: The Costco Example
7. Finding the Right Investor and AI in Hiring

## Topics

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

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Astō Consumer Partners (company)
- Clean Skin Club (product)
- Bloom Nutrition (product)
- Starface (product)
- L Catterton (company)
- Bank of America (company)
- Sweet Leaf Tea (product)
- Deep Eddy Vodka (product)
- SkinnyPop (product)
- Nestle (company)
- Heaven Hill Distillery (company)
- Amplify Snack Brands (company)
- Hershey (company)
- Target (company)
- Walmart (company)
- Amazon (company)
- Nutribullet (product)
- C4 Energy (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [111: Selling & Growing Your Product at Retail Stores](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-26-111-selling-growing-your-product-at-retail-stores) (Product Startup)
- [Advice Line with Sarah Kauss of S'well](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-06-20-advice-line-with-sarah-kauss-of-swell) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Angie & Dan Bastian of Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2026-04-02-advice-line-with-angie-dan-bastian-of-angies-boomchickapop) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Mark Ramadan of Sir Kensington's](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-06-27-advice-line-with-mark-ramadan-of-sir-kensingtons) (How I Built This)
- [Live Episode! Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP: Angie & Dan Bastian (2019)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-02-21-live-episode-angies-boomchickapop-angie-dan-bastian-2019) (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/2026-10-24-quality-of-revenue-beats-growth-why-a-quick-costco-win-can-boom-and-bust. 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.