Startup Confidential

Lots of well-run, patient brands need an angel infusion right now. But the absence of VC right now is still a blessing. Instead, founders will need to network for angel cash, be much more focused and disciplined and yes fewer people will get to play. Fewer, better businesses actually improve the whole ecosystem in my opinion. In this episode, I lay out how I came to this conclusion recently. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Unfortunately, the folks who talk loudest about brand-building are either a) branding agencies, b) venture capitalists or c) overly enthusiastic founders. Curb your enthusiasm. You can design a brand identity, a symbolic system. But, ‘brand’ is an outcome. It is an outcome based on influencing real human behavior, entering social networks with memorable consumer experiences, potent symbolism, and grassroots ‘influence,’ not social media puffery. Learn the rules of behavior-based brand-building or get ready to struggle unnecessarily on your journey up the Skate Ramp. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

In the world of consumer brands, it’s common for investors to look down on paid advertising. Why? Because they often don’t see the same kind of trial surge that a temporary price reduction or change in attribute-outcome signaling can deliver. So, they generally see no real return on the expense. However, ROAS has to be calculated on the basis of a longer-term view of how repeat purchasers contribute to the brand. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

It’s critical NOT to remain with a bubble of startup founders in the early Phases. If you do, you will not access the greater wisdom you need. In this episode, I explain the social science behind this networking advice. You don’t need to have lunch with Mark Cuban or Daniel Lubtezky to succeed. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

In this episode, I address some of the key myths about pivoting that I have heard. Most correspond to excess risk aversion for an ideal founder. You took the risk to start this business. Let’s not let risk in the back door and prevent you from pivoting to a better path to scale. In many cases, you do not need to see a sales decline at all. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

99% of business media stories on startups are essentially PR for the startup itself. This makes these stories a one-sided source of information on what it’s like to operate and grow a startup. While there are more and more discussions of mistakes, basically no one at Inc or Entrepreneur or anywhere else really will ever greenlight a debate on this or that failed startup unless, like Theranos, it ended in some massive ethical scandal. Failure is depressing, they say. Not me. I’m honored to bring you a past podcast, the second part in a two-part interview with Professor Tom Eisenmann of the Harvard Business School (HBS). He and I chat about themes from his new book Why Startups Fail and how these patterns play out in the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG). In the second part of our interview, we discuss more advanced themes in failure: the Speed Trap, Help Wanted, and the challenges of staffing up quickly Since joining the HBS faculty in 1997, Tom has led The Entrepreneurial Manager, an introductory course taught to all first-year MBAs, and launched fourteen electives on all aspects of entrepreneurship, including one on startup failure. Eisenmann has authored more than one hundred HBS case studies, and his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

99% of business media stories on startups are essentially PR for the startup itself. This makes these stories a one-sided source of information on what it’s like to operate and grow a startup. While there are more and more discussions of mistakes, basically no one at Inc or Entrepreneur or anywhere else really will ever greenlight a debate on this or that failed startup unless, like Theranos, it ended in some massive ethical scandal. Failure is depressing, they say. Not me. I’m honored to bring you a past episode, the first in a two-part interview with Professor Tom Eisenmann of the Harvard Business School (HBS). He and I chat about themes from his new book Why Startups Fail and how these patterns play out in the world of consumer packaged goods (CPG). In this episode, we discuss what to do when you have little business training, how unit economics evolve differently in CPG vs. tech startups, and how to prevent False Positives by doing just the right pre-revenue research. Since joining the HBS faculty in 1997, Tom has led The Entrepreneurial Manager, an introductory course taught to all first-year MBAs, and launched fourteen electives on all aspects of entrepreneurship, including one on startup failure. Eisenmann has authored more than one hundred HBS case studies, and his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Episode 100! Boom! I want to thank my listeners for tuning in twice a month to the Startup Confidential podcast Do you have what it takes to be a killer Founder? In this episode, I talk about the traits top founders have to have to make it in the industry. Are you a smooth-talking public firm CEO kinda person? You won’t make it…and here’s why... Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Listen in on a re-issue of a popular podcast: Retail Buyers. Either right now or eventually, you will need to convince buyers you are a key new addition to their sets. In this episode, I share some pros and cons of developing relationships with these important stakeholders. I also discuss why the Skate Ramp is just not on their radar, even though one of your key KPIs - velocity - absolutely is. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

The real diversity issue in American marketing is diversity of thought. Emmanuel and I continue the discussion in which you will learn why Dr. Squatch nailed it and MTV literally researched its way into oblivion. Dr. Emmanuel Probst is Global Lead, Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos, adjunct professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Brand Hacks and Assemblage – The Art and Science of Brand Transformation. He holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Hull, United Kingdom and a Doctorate in Consumer Psychology from the University of Nottingham Trent, United Kingdom. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

This is the first of two episodes in which I interview Emmanuel Probst about the continued problems in American marketing. We kick things off by discussing the illusion of control, the need to communicate transformative outcomes or risk being tuned out and other gems. Dr. Emmanuel Probst is Global Lead, Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos, adjunct professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Brand Hacks and Assemblage – The Art and Science of Brand Transformation. He holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Hull, United Kingdom, and a Doctorate in Consumer Psychology from the University of Nottingham Trent, United Kingdom. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

How can a word like “occasionally” be so detrimental to the plant-based meat industry? Scaling too fast and not fully understanding the underlying behavior driving its business resulted in Beyond Meat's premature decline. Haste followed by a series of growth Hail Mary's won’t keep your brand growing once it reaches scale. Tune in to see why not. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

As a CPG founder, you know you need one. Yet, you can’t seem to face the uncomfortable fact that creating a strategic plan will cost just a little time but a lot of emotional courage. Listen to Podcast #95, 7 reasons why you need a strategic plan, and learn how a strategic plan helps you to clarify the rules of decision-making, makes it easier to say no, and more. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Are you too busy to read your third-party distributor’s contract? Too busy or too overwhelmed with pages and pages of the legal doc? Listen in to Part 2 of Getting Real About Distribution, Dr. James Richardson’s guest interview with Greg Esslinger, Distribution Expert of Natural Food Ally. Greg shares common mistakes new founders make when working before and during with third-party distributors. (Part 1 was published May 1, 2023 on Startup Confidential podcast.) Greg's experience includes 10 years at the largest natural foods distributor in the country (UNFI) in various positions including, purchasing, sales, and category/supplier management. Five years ago he founded Natural Food Ally, a consulting firm, with a focus on advising brands on the natural channel and how to increase profitability within the constructs of the distributor model. He has taken a keen interest in helping brands to avoid the many distributor deductions that plague the natural food industry. Most recently Greg has joined Floret, a deduction management platform designed to enable brands to manage their deduction work flow more efficiently, clear distributor deductions more quickly, as well as gain key data and insights into their tradespend in real-time. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Founders new to the food industry often make costly mistakes when they jump in with third-party distributors too soon. Listen to Dr. James Richardson's interview with Greg Esslinger of Natural Food Ally as they discuss the 3 top wrong actions founders take when working with distributors. Part 1 of 2 Parts. (Part 2 will be published on May 15.) Greg's experience includes 10 years at the largest natural foods distributor in the country (UNFI) in various positions including, purchasing, sales, and category/supplier management. Five years ago he founded Natural Food Ally, a consulting firm, with a focus on advising brands on the natural channel and how to increase profitability within the constructs of the distributor model. He has taken a keen interest in helping brands to avoid the many distributor deductions that plague the natural food industry. Most recently Greg has joined Floret, a deduction management platform designed to enable brands to manage their deduction work flow more efficiently, clear distributor deductions more quickly, as well as gain key data and insights into their tradespend in real-time. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Is there more than one way to execute a Root Cause Analysis on your consumer brand? Absolutely...but that shouldn't stop you from performing a complete analysis. In Episode 92, Root Cause Analysis for Founders, I break down the steps on why you need to do one and some blind areas that you and your team may not be seeing. Valuable questions are offered to ask yourself before you hire another marketing consultant to improve your topline. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

It’s time to revisit my original episode! It’s on the dark and painful Phase 1 of the Skate Ramp. And it’s your antidote to the trade media clickbait in which white men raise more money than they deserve and just skip to Phase 3. Not helpful. Learn how to make it through the Death Funnel alive. My most popular and downloaded episode ever. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

The awkward removal of Miyoko's founder Miyoko Schinner is another reminder of how institutional investment can go very badly if founders aren't fully educated and aware of what they are getting into. And they are a reminder to me about how founder ego can cause folks to believe they need more money than they do. Investors in a rush to monetize a fad, will often goad founders into taking a large sum a commercial bank would never loan them and which they don't really need (even to grow exponentially). Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

Trend content is not my focus. However, this Boba tea thing just tickles my brain too much. The explosion in this foodservice category occurred during the pandemic and continues to this day. It's a perfect case to explore the difference between a "fad" and a "trend." I also wrestle with the issues behind the formation of new beverage categories, using bottled, RTD Boba tea as my foil. Hope you enjoy. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com

One reason young folks don't last in the startup world is that too many haven't suffered a massively alienating experience and pushed through. This is especially true for the average founder who is white and upper-middle-class. Teaching 'entrepreneurship' to those without resilience is a bizarre feature of campus life today. Listen to me explain why getting alienated is the entrepreneur's real superpower. Your Host: Dr. James F. Richardson of Premium Growth Solutions, LLC www.premiumgrowthsolutions.com Please send feedback on this or other episodes to: admin@premiumgrowthsolutions.com