[00:00:10] Zoe Feldman: Hello, and thanks for tuning in to the Top Podcast for the food and beverage industry Taste Radio. I'm editor and producer Ray Latif, and you're listening to episode 191, which features an interview with Alix Peabody, the Founders Fund CEO of Bev, an upstart wine brand that aims to shatter the status quo in the business of beverage alcohol. Tune in on Friday, December 6 for episode 63 of our Taste Radio Insider podcast, when we're joined by Zoe Feldman, the director of the influential Chobani Incubator, who discusses the value of diversity in business. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we'd love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app, or your listening platform of choice. It's fair to say that Bev isn't your average wine brand, and it's certainly the case that Alique's Peabody isn't your average beverage entrepreneur. The 28-year-old Founders Fund Bev, a wellness-focused canned wine brand based in LA, Alix started her company with what marketers commonly refer to as a BHAG. The acronym stands for a big, hairy, audacious goal. That goal? To change the narrative around how women are projected and perceived by the alcohol industry, and redefine traditional ways of doing business in a space long dominated by men. Her vision culminated in the creation of Bev, which Alix launched in 2017 after cashing out her 401k and buying 300 gallons of rosé wine. It hasn't been easy, but Bev has eventually found its stride in a powerful partner in Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, which led a $7 million investment round in the brand this year. In the following interview, I spoke with Alix about aligning mission and brand, staying the course despite being dead-ridden and broke, how the company strategizes around digital content, and how she's become comfortable as the face of Bev. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. I'm on a call with Alix Peabody, the Founders Fund CEO of Bev. Alix, thanks so much for being with me.
[00:02:10] Chobani Incubator: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
[00:02:11] Zoe Feldman: We just got through about 20 minutes of technical difficulties, and the fact that you've stayed on with me this long and dealt with my nonsense.
[00:02:20] Chobani Incubator: You know, it's been a pleasure.
[00:02:22] Zoe Feldman: It's really been a pleasure.
[00:02:23] Chobani Incubator: I feel like we've really gotten to know each other. You know, I feel like this podcast will really just be on a whole new level now.
[00:02:30] Zoe Feldman: Exactly. You are the Founders Fund an amazing new brand called Bev. A lot of times when I start doing my research on folks, I check out their Instagram accounts. And I was looking at your Instagram account, and one of the most recent posts you put up was about fending off imposter syndrome. And you had a caption that said, takeaway, make imposter syndrome your friend, because that shit ain't going anywhere. I have a feeling that some folks don't know what you mean by imposter syndrome. What is that all about?
[00:03:05] Chobani Incubator: Sure. Yeah. So I mean, basically, it's like, how did I get qualified to do this job? essentially what it usually means for me. And it's kind of that feeling when you're, I don't know, for a lot of people, it's like, oh my gosh, someone's going to realize that I am not qualified for this or that I'm not quite good enough or that I don't actually know what I'm doing. And I think that's something that most entrepreneurs feel. I think most people feel, as I see my friends who are young parents, they're for sure feeling it. So I think it's a pretty common thing. But for me specifically, you know, it's just how you take that emotion and, and approach it and how you turn it into something that fuels you instead of something that paralyzes you.
[00:03:48] Zoe Feldman: So it comes from success. It comes from the fact that you're actually doing something that you set out to do.
[00:03:56] Chobani Incubator: Um, I suppose in a way, I mean, I guess it stems from insecurity. A lot of the time, you know, everybody's a little insecure. Nobody really fully knows, you know, what they're doing all the time. And I think that generally, I suppose it, it's related to when you're in what seems from the outside to be successful uncharted territory. Right. But you can post on Instagram and you can have an article written and there can be all of these things going on behind the scenes that make you feel like you are totally in over your head. And, you know, and everyone's like, you're killing it. I'm like, okay. Most people who are, quote, killing it don't actually feel that way. It just appears that way. So that's kind of the emotion that I'm referring to.
[00:04:34] Zoe Feldman: But don't you have to sort of make it seem like you're killing it? Isn't there sort of this, I don't know, I don't want to call it faking it until you make it because that has a negative connotation, but sort of just putting on the look of success as much as you are.
[00:04:48] Chobani Incubator: Oh, for sure. Wear the outfit for the job you want to have. That includes your mood, right?
[00:04:54] Zoe Feldman: Totally.
[00:04:56] Chobani Incubator: Yeah, no, I think it's funny because someone I said that recently, it was like, you know, the thing about faking it until you make it is that people forget to tell you that it means that you feel like you're faking it a lot of the time. And that's kind of what I'm referring to. The emphasis tends to be on the making it part. But I also think that we live just in a world right now where there's so much bravado, there's so much of that Instagram filter and that, do I look cute in this picture and whatever with so much going on behind the scenes that to me and I know to Bev as a brand and as a company, it's so, so, so important to show that vulnerability and show that it's not always what it appears and that we're all kind of just trying to figure it out as we go along. And that's something that for better or for worse, I'm not afraid to tell people that I feel every day.
[00:05:43] Zoe Feldman: Gotcha. And kudos because it's difficult to be vulnerable, especially when people expect great things from you. You started out cashing out your 401k, maxing out your credit cards to build Bev. So the fact that you're here and actually making it means something. But most people wouldn't do what you did. Most people wouldn't cash out their 401k.
[00:06:06] Chobani Incubator: I also wouldn't recommend it. It's a very stressful way to go about doing what I did. I wouldn't particularly recommend it, but yeah, those are true.
[00:06:16] Zoe Feldman: Well, why'd you do it?
[00:06:19] Chobani Incubator: Because I just had a feeling and I just had a feeling that it was going to work out and You never know, really, if things are going to be successful or if they're going to fail. But the one thing that I've always held very close is that I'm not going to let myself do anything but land on my feet. At the end of the day, I have two feet. I know I'm going to stand on them. And I'm going to take one step in front of the other, one foot in front of the other, rather. And so I had this vision for something that I wanted to build. And that was really the only way that I saw in the near term, I could start working towards it. And at that point in my life, it just didn't really feel like there was all that much to lose. I didn't have kids. I didn't have a family. I was kind of in a weird headspace. And I just had this instinct that I really needed to build this thing and I was going to do whatever it took to do it.
[00:07:13] Zoe Feldman: And what you did is create a canned wine brand.
[00:07:17] Chobani Incubator: Yes. That makes it sound slightly anti-climactic.
[00:07:21] Zoe Feldman: Well, sort of, yes.
[00:07:23] Chobani Incubator: Because I didn't mean it to start that way. But yeah, no, I can't wait. But anyway, as you were saying.
[00:07:28] Zoe Feldman: No, I totally hear what you're saying. But it's interesting because, you know, canned wine was a relatively new concept a few years ago. I mean, 10 years ago, no one would have touched canned wine. And now it's become relatively trendy in the beverage space. But it was also trending before you launched the company. You know, how did you see an opportunity to do something different than what was currently available on the market?
[00:07:51] Chobani Incubator: For sure. So let me back up for just a second, because I ended up here totally by accident. I mean, obviously not by accident, because I, you know, pulled all that money to do it. But I ended up in, in the beverage industry by accident, I actually have always my passion is media. And, you know, and I've always thought it It's very, very interesting. I grew up with a dad who was kind of in the media industry, publishing, and I've always cared a lot about gender dynamics and particularly how gender dynamics are at play when you're talking about men and women, oftentimes under the influence. You're talking about frat basements, holiday parties, you know, bars in New York when I was living there and that kind of thing. And that was always something that I wanted to change the way that that world operates. And so I actually originally set out not to build a beverage brand, but to build a brand centered around all the things I just talked about around gender dynamics and around, you know, kind of like having fun, but safely and respectfully and how we can change a lot of, you know, the date rape culture that's just all over America. It's just, it's so upsetting. And so, you know, so originally I thought, oh, I'll build a media platform with events and maybe one day I'll have venues and bars where, you know, it's just a much safer atmosphere. And as I kind of set out to do that, I realized, A, it was extraordinarily hard to fund something like that. B, it was, it was pretty amorphous. And C, I think, you know, big companies and big brands, they have so many resources to have a voice to really change things. And a lot of them are using it that way. When you think of companies like Patagonia, like Bumble, they're doing big things. And so I ended up in beverage simply because I was like, well, that's something that is at every event you've ever been to, every party you've ever been to, what if I can make a voice at the very, very core of that space itself? And so I'll say your question was about canned wine, which none of which I've answered, but I knew nothing about anything having to do with it. I didn't know it was trendy. I didn't know. I mean, I knew my friends were drinking rosé, but other than that, I had no idea. And the only reason that I picked what I picked was super practical. I picked wine because I knew that I could have a direct-to-consumer business and I knew it was going to be extremely hard to break into an industry, so tighten it and get distribution. And I picked a can because I had no more money. And I figured that if the product itself was was wrapped in my branding, then you would know what you're drinking. When you think about it, when you pour something into a glass, you have no idea what brand it is. You have no idea what's in there. So that was kind of how I ended up in canned wine. And then it just so happened that I was kind of in the early stages of a trend, but I had no idea it existed. I think of us a lot of the time as a media company that's first product just so happens to be in beverage.
[00:10:52] Zoe Feldman: You know, there's another really big company that looks at its business that way too, right?
[00:10:57] Chobani Incubator: Are you referring to Red Bull?
[00:10:58] Zoe Feldman: Yeah. Right. I mean, a lot of people, I mean, Red Bull has made no bones about that. They've said, look, we are a media company that happens to sell, well, it doesn't happen to sell energy drinks, but that uses energy drinks to get our message out there. And it sounds like that's very much your approach to business as well.
[00:11:16] Chobani Incubator: Exactly, exactly. And so I think I get asked a lot about the trends in canned wine and the trends in the market. And obviously, I'm versed in it now, but it was never something that I set out to be well versed in. I set out to be well versed in how are we treating each other when we're drinking? How are we making space both for men and for women in a time that's so complicated, especially women. We've had it tough for a while when it comes to these types of dynamics, and it's especially complicated for men as well. And so how do we build a brand that really takes you know, all of the feminist values and all of the things that a lot of guys care about and make it approachable, fun, you know, not, not so intimidating, because obviously our industry is not intimidating. It's supposed to be fun. It's what you're drinking when you're having fun. And that's, that's something that's always mattered to me. So that was more where I, where I thought I would end up. And then suddenly I knew way too much about how to put wine in the can.
[00:12:16] Zoe Feldman: You can never know too much about how to put wine in cans, for sure. But to put wine in cans, to achieve the vision that you have, there's some money involved, you know, you have to raise a little bit of money to do that.
[00:12:30] Chobani Incubator: Oh yeah, this is not a cheap industry.
[00:12:33] Zoe Feldman: No, it never is. You know, I was reading about you and one of the things that stood out was that at one point, you know, in the early stages of your business, you only had $12 in your bank account.
[00:12:46] Chobani Incubator: And then a short time later... Yeah, that was a dark time. But then that was not a great moment for me personally.
[00:12:54] Zoe Feldman: I can't imagine it would be. I mean, even if you're not building a business, you only have 12 bucks in your pocket. That's a tough place to be in. But, you know, just a short time later, you raised $7 million to fund the brand and to fund your company.
[00:13:06] Chobani Incubator: Yeah. I mean, it was really hard. I had no idea where to start at the beginning. And I, you know, dead broke is a kind term because I was also just insanely in debt. at that point as well, because I'd spent so much money just not only building the company itself, but just basic living expenses while you're making no income and you're trying to build this product, and it is a very, very expensive industry. You think about $7 million and I'm Red Bull or any of these larger companies, they probably spend that in an hour, you know what I mean? Or in one event, one day, and I'm trying to build an entire business off it. It was wild, but basically, I realized that I was going to need funding to play against other industry players who have organizations so big and just so established, I guess is the word I'm looking for. I went out and I started looking at, you know, how to raise capital. And the first thing that I did was I took all of the products that I'd made, and I went to a bunch of parties that I knew basically angel investors were going to be going to that I was thinking about, you know, asking if they'd be interested in investing. At this point, it's myself, my cat Harold's, you know, I had our first round of products and a deck that I'd had my cousin mock up. And I went, I would flood those parties with Bev, girls would be drinking it like crazy because they loved it. They loved the brand. They loved the juice, everything. And then a couple of days later, I would ask for somebody to introduce us. And so I did this for a while just to kind of get myself in front of people. And I'd have investors be like, that's crazy. That brand's everywhere. And I'm like, that's wild. It was just a lot of hustle. And then eventually, when we got to the stage where I was like, I really need some institutional capital if I want to get this thing off the ground, that's when I started fundraising like a normal entrepreneur would, particularly in sort of the Silicon Valley area. And it was also difficult because A, most of them have never invested in this type of brand before, particularly alcohol, wine, and spirits. It's just not something that most of them can invest in. A lot of them have what's called a vice clause where they can't invest in tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, sex toys, that kind of thing. And so that that was pretty tough. I mean, it was tough to find people for whom it was even a possibility. But, you know, I got there just a lot of a lot of convincing, I suppose.
[00:15:38] Ray Latif: Guessing your margins? That's risky. Belay Financial gives CPG brands the clarity to scale smarter, faster, stronger. Get your free inventory ebook by texting TASTE to 55123 and start making data work for you.
[00:15:58] Alix Peabody: Tune in at the end of this episode for an exclusive interview with Matt Lin of Belay Solutions. He sits down with Melissa Traverse to break down the biggest inventory and accounting mistakes CPG Founders Fund make. You'll learn how to bring clarity to your numbers so you can scale with confidence.
[00:16:17] Zoe Feldman: Okay, I want to unpack a couple things because you said a lot there. And let's start with the parties. Entrepreneurs are always looking to rate well, the entrepreneurs I talked to are always looking to raise money. And they're always asking, where can I find angel investors? And it sounds like you found some of these parties. But how do you get invited to these parties? How do you? How do you How are you able to bring product in?
[00:16:37] Chobani Incubator: Oh, yeah. So I mean, invited is a strong term. I had just, um, when I was living in San Francisco as well, I was an executive headhunter. So I, I knew a fair amount of people and was pretty plugged into just generally the social scene. So I would find out just from a friend of a friend, like, Oh, so-and-so having a party, a lot of their friends are angel investors, those types of things. And, you know, sometimes I was invited and most of the time I just showed up as like the girl with her, you trashy old car, giving people cases to bring in because who's going to turn away some free booze or having my friends bring them. So that kind of thing. A lot of the time, I wasn't even necessarily there myself, which I guess is kind of sketchy, but you know, you got to do what you got to do.
[00:17:20] Zoe Feldman: Well, it feels like a combination of hustle culture and party culture and you made it work.
[00:17:26] Chobani Incubator: Yeah, I tried. I definitely tried. But you know, I also knew that if the product if there was enough product there, people were going to start drinking it. And as you know, in our industry, as we say liquid to lips, and just getting people to try it however you can. And at that point, obviously, I was small, I was still, you know, waiting on my license, all that kind of stuff. So it was pretty low risk. But obviously, we have to play by slightly different rules these days.
[00:17:53] Zoe Feldman: Totally. You were able to raise money from investors based in Silicon Valley, tech investors. There's a lot of beverage investors out there. There's a lot of CPG investors out there. Why'd you go to the tech scene?
[00:18:05] Chobani Incubator: For sure. So, I mean, a couple of reasons. First and foremost, you know, I just knew more people in that world. I think beverage investors for the most part, first of all, a lot of them invest in, you know, former beverage people. It's very rare from what I've seen for, you know, for a bunch of beverage investors to be investing in beverages with people who just have literally no network, no connections, no experience in beverage at all. And second of all, they have a very cut and dry way of how they look at these types of investments, rightly so. It's about margin. It's about strategic alliances. It's about distribution. All of these things I really, frankly, knew nothing about. My vision for the company is so much more than beverage. And you know and while I'm sure at some point down the line we will we'll speak with beverage investors I wanted to really talk to people who are used to looking at wild ideas that were such moonshot companies that you know if they work they're going to be huge. And if they don't, they're not going to be that much necessarily. But I really wanted somebody who could see the whole vision of the media portion of what I was trying to build of what that world could look like, more so than just straight the straight execution portion. And then in addition to that, I think, generally speaking, a lot of beverage investors are looking for a certain amount of traction, you know, they're looking for two to 5 million in revenue before they start putting capital behind things. And, you know, in the Silicon Valley world, like I said, they dream a little bigger. And I needed somebody who could really help dream with me because we didn't have that traction yet. And they really needed to believe in me more than in, you know, who's your distributor? What's your margin? Blah, blah, blah. Because all of those things, I had faith that we were going to figure out and we have. But at the time, you know, I was extraordinarily green, which I guess kind of leads back to why one might have imposter syndrome.
[00:20:04] Zoe Feldman: It sounds to me like you were the best part of the pitch. They weren't necessarily investing in the brand or the company. They were investing in you and what they thought you could do and pull off.
[00:20:17] Chobani Incubator: I'm flattered. I do. I think so. Yeah. And I think that they were also investing in, you know, what they also see as a huge market gap, what they also see as a need and something that kind of affects everyone's everyday life, right? This is, this is an industry that everyone interacts with in some capacity and very few people know how it works. So it really was, I suppose, in part, it was me and, and just the vision that I have and, and the hustle, but also just faith that we were going to figure it out, you know, and that's kind of. that's kind of critical for somebody like me who's really never been in an industry like this before.
[00:20:53] Zoe Feldman: The money you raised is $7 million. The round was led by the Founders Fund, which is backed by Peter Thiel, the well-known investor in brands like PayPal and Facebook. What do you feel like the key part of your pitch was when you started telling the story about Bev? Did you lead with wine and then go into the vision or did you go lead with the vision and then go to the wine?
[00:21:18] Chobani Incubator: Yeah, I for sure led with the vision. I mean, I barely even touched on the wine, funnily enough. My pitch deck, the first page was, and I recommend that people do this, my first page was simply screenshots from my iPhone that I'd taken. that said, I think the first Google search was alcohol ads and the second Google search was alcohol ads for women. And if you look at those, and that was just the first page of my deck and before anything else. And if you look at what their search results are for those two searches, it's very, very clear immediately that this is an industry that has not done right by women. all you have to do is Google it, or beer ads, or anything of that nature. There's truly, truly nothing, or wasn't at the time, anything that's speaking to women and not at them. And that was something that was very clear. So I started with that, and I basically was like, are we serious? Is this really the best that we can do? And kind of went into what my mission was, why I thought it mattered, and how I expected to get there, which was the wine. And then at the end of the day, You know, I, some of my very first angel investors don't drink at all. So they never even tried it, which is kind of crazy, but it's a pervasive industry issue.
[00:22:41] Zoe Feldman: I 100% agree. And it's interesting because we have entrepreneurs that we've talked to that have been really successful at leading mission-driven brands. Patagonia, obviously, you know, is a great example of that. The interesting thing about some mission-driven brands, though, is that they can get too wrapped up in what they're doing and lose focus on the sort of nuts and bolts of running a food or beverage company. You know, in your case, How do you communicate what Bev is all about? Do your customers have to understand the mission to appreciate the brand?
[00:23:19] Chobani Incubator: Yeah, I mean, that is a great question. And I think, I think the short answer is yes, you know, it is becoming a very crowded space very quickly. And so how do you differentiate other than on brand? And I think that's true for all types of beverage, right? And all types of products, especially when they're in crowded spaces, when it comes to, you know, our distribution partners, they've really gotten on board with our mission and understanding, you know, why we are and not just what we are. And I think that's really what sets us apart. But it's also been You know, it's funny when you do get so wrapped up in the mission, I like I joke with my team where I'm like, Oh, but also we have to, you know, make more money than we spend, which was, you know, for a novel concept. At the very beginning when I was like, Oh, right, right, then there's that whole nuts and bolts part, right. And then, you know, and then the best thing you can do is inspire and hire good people who actually know that space. I mean, my I say to my team all the time, hire people who are way smarter than you and then get out of their way. And so, you know, at this point, we do have industry experts who work at the company who, you know, who know the nuts and bolts. And that way, my mind can stay on mission, can stay on what's next, can stay on the big picture while they make sure that that big picture is communicated. There's places on the shelf for people to buy them.
[00:24:33] Zoe Feldman: The way you're communicating the mission, I think can be spelled out in two really prominent phrases that are associated with Bev. One is break the glass. Another is Made By chicks. Yes. What do they mean? What do they represent?
[00:24:46] Chobani Incubator: Yeah, I mean, this is a great question. I think we say that, you know, breaking the glass means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It means building people up and breaking down barriers. And for me, that also gives us the license to be not just in beverage over time. We really just want to rattle things up. And I think Made By chicks, people enjoy that phrase a lot. It tends to get a good chuckle, but it was also very purposeful in the sense of, I really want to bring this type of joyous, fun, togetherness, and I want to do it in a way that's just as inviting to men as it is to women, and to people of all diverse backgrounds, and to me, Made By women, is one thing. You don't want to say Made By girls in an industry where you have to be 21, obviously. And saying Made By women has a little bit of a heavier feel to it. And for me, saying Made By chicks is taking a word that for a very, very long time was used as almost a derogatory term towards women and owning it and making it fun and approachable. And I think it's something that guys can get behind just as quickly as as women can, or as chicks can, which is fun. So, you know, but the company really is, you know, it's Made By chicks. And we definitely there are men who work at the company as well. But the genesis of what we're doing is, is not necessarily this is by women for women only, but it's just, hey, this is from a female perspective, and we're going to have fun with it along the way. And that's kind of, that's kind of what what it means to me.
[00:26:21] Zoe Feldman: Regarding the old school aspects of the beverage industry that you were referring to, I can imagine that a phrase like Made By chicks might elicit some insecurities among some of those old school folks. How do you deal with folks who feel threatened by the emergence of a brand like yours and a female run company at that?
[00:26:43] Chobani Incubator: Oh my gosh, I love that you asked that question. That is a heavy duty question and it's something that I deal with every single day and I love that you asked that. First of all, I think, you know, using the word chicks in and of itself is a little disarming, right? Saying, you know, Made By women tends to have a little bit, carry a little bit more of what you're talking about. You know, my team is bright and bubbly and we really embody the brand that we're trying to build. And I think, you know, being a woman in business, I think Sarah Blakely says this, the best part and the worst part are the same, it's that you're underestimated, right? And I think that's been very true throughout the process of building Bev, where, you know, we kind of go in and it's like, oh, this is a cute little project you're working on and Made By chicks. Haha, that's fun. And then once people realize that, you know, we're a very serious business with a very serious mission, it's kind of too late, they're already bought in, they're already excited. And in large part, that's due to the way that we talk about our brand, the way that we talk about our mission in a way that's so inviting and approachable. And so I think that's kind of how we how we've gotten around some of what you're talking about, because it's very real, you know, and I think especially in a time in the type of time we're in right now, where there's just a lot of questions around, you know, how do we behave in these situations? How do men behave? How do women behave? You know, how do we interact with one another? I think it's important to have some levity and, you know, especially in an industry that's built around fun. It's funny because we're, while we're having this conversation, just, you know, my cat has curled up next to my computer and it's just kind of like sitting on it. And it's just, it's very, um, that of us, you know, we also have, you know, our kittens like painted all over the wall of our office and stuff like that. And that's just also something that I think is, it makes it approachable. It makes it fun. And yeah, it's just, it's very fitting that Harold would just be curling up while we're on the phone.
[00:28:41] Zoe Feldman: You know, I don't know how much of our audience are cat lovers, but I think this bodes well for the popularity of this podcast.
[00:28:47] Alix Peabody: I think this is a good sign. Do you want more repeat buyers on Amazon? Well, this free resource in collaboration with Straight Up Growth will help your brand turn first-time buyers into long-term subscribers. Download Winning the Repeat Purchase Game on Amazon now at Taste Radio slash SUG. That's Taste Radio slash S-U-G to start building retention-driven growth for your brand on Amazon. Scaling a beverage brand into major retail comes down to operational readiness. From packaging lead times to co-manufacturing strategy, the details can make or break a launch. In a new e-book in collaboration with Octopi and Asahi Beer USA, industry leaders share what they've learned in helping brands scale. Download it now at Taste Radio slash octopi. Do you need to scale your team faster without compromising on talent? Join Oceans for a live webinar on April 20th and learn how leading companies are hiring top global professionals who are ready to grow with your business. Register for the webinar now at Taste Radio slash oceans. That's Taste Radio slash oceans.
[00:30:01] Zoe Feldman: There's the message and then there's communicating the message and digital content is critical for any brand these days. Your brand's Instagram account feels very lifestyle oriented. It's all about people doing things with Bev. It's in some cases really tongue in cheek and funny and then a lot of times it's enjoy yourself, enjoy life, it's time to have some Bev. On the other side, on your website, it's almost the opposite. To me, anyway, it feels that way. Is that intentional? Is the website where you go to learn about the vision, the mission, and the Instagram and your other social, is that much more about how to use the product?
[00:30:46] Chobani Incubator: That is also a great question and I think that's something that we're still trying to figure out as a young company, you know, and how do we use each of these platforms to the best of our ability and to get across our mission, but also, you know, but also our vibe for lack of a better word, you know, the website itself. we really want to communicate who we are and what we stand for. But it's also a purchasing platform because we have a direct-to-consumer business as well. And so it has to be something where it's easy to understand a little bit more about what is the actual product, why should you purchase it, that kind of thing. It's a lot more utilitarian in a lot of ways. Whereas our Instagram is kind of where we've started to build a following, where we tell people about what events we're having, what kind of use cases in which you can be drinking Bev and we do try to keep it funny and light and really make sure that we have a personality. But at the end of the day, you know, we also need to have a business presence where people know who we are, what we stand for, where to get us, how to order, you know, simple things like that. So that, you know, if you, if you have any ideas on the best way to figure all of that out, let me know. Cause it's definitely something that evolves as the company evolves and also as, as the market evolves in terms of how they're interacting with brands. you
[00:32:02] Zoe Feldman: Uh, I think you're doing a pretty good job at it. I would say that your Instagram page and your website are polished and you want to learn more in both cases. You want to dig deeper.
[00:32:13] Chobani Incubator: Thanks. We also have, um, actually funnily enough, we also have another kind of still currently a little bit work in progress, but, um, you can actually text with Bev, which is, which is kind of a new, more local marketing thing we've done. But for anybody, anybody listening, the number is 3 2 3 2 1 8. And if you shoot us a text, we actually have people who are, you know, Bev herself is actually responding and letting people know about events we're having and parties and stuff like that. And it's a cool way to be kind of in the know without necessarily having to constantly, you know, be following our Instagram and staying on top of it every single day. So that's, um, that's just a fun little thing we do. And if you text it cat facts, you'll get a cute fact about cats every day. Why? I don't know, because we can.
[00:33:02] Zoe Feldman: That's really interesting. There's a brand out there called Dirty Lemon. I don't know if you're familiar with it.
[00:33:06] Chobani Incubator: Yes, yes, yes. I know them well.
[00:33:09] Zoe Feldman: Yeah, Zach Norman did and the guys, they've done a really good job building that brand out and sort of telling a story without ever almost ever talking about the liquid. And originally, they had built a direct consumer platform using text actually as a way to order the product. Can you text to order?
[00:33:28] Chobani Incubator: You will be able to soon. Okay, you know, though, that might be using Zach's platform to do that. Yeah, no, he's he's a great guy. But, but really, like our whole, you know, the reason that we're doing that is really to connect with the consumers on a basic level. And we do have an office that's, you know, where we throw constant sort of events and parties and people want to know when they're happening. But you also kind of, you know, you want to keep it you want to keep it hip, you want to keep it fun and have people feel like they're in the know. And that's something that we found works pretty well. And it's, It's inviting without necessarily overwhelming my team with too many people showing up at the door on any given day.
[00:34:06] Zoe Feldman: Sometimes it's helpful to align your brand with others, like-minded companies or organizations to sort of help amplify your message. How do you assess opportunities to partner with other brands or companies?
[00:34:22] Chobani Incubator: Yeah, so we have a very specific set of values that we look for in companies that we align with and pretty specific criteria. It's kind of all written out in our internal brand guidelines and that kind of thing. We're really trying to focus on female-led people that have a mission and whose values align with ours. You know, it's pretty straightforward, but that's really how we think about brand partnerships. We are still a young brand, so it's very important also that we establish ourselves, you know, and not overwhelm ourselves with so many partnerships all the time such that we don't, you know, that nobody knows who we are. You can't be everything to everyone, but, you know, but we love partnering with brands that really understand who we're trying to be and understand who they're trying to be and working together towards a common goal.
[00:35:10] Zoe Feldman: When we were talking about your fundraising strategy and how you approached investors and talked about you being one of the most important parts of that pitch, when you're making your pitch to sell Bev to consumers, when you're making your pitch to promote the brand and the product, You have a pretty prominent role. It's almost like you can't separate Alyx from Bev. You're a package deal. It makes you the face and the persona of the brand. Are you comfortable with that role? If not, how do you get comfortable with it?
[00:35:44] Chobani Incubator: Oh, also such a good question. I mean, it's funny because I joke with my team. I'm like, I took my personality and I stuck it in a can and I painted it all over the walls. That's for sure. When you walk into our office, you're like, where am I? And why is there so much pink? And people are like, oh, did you make it pink because it's for women? And I'm like, no, I made it pink because it's my favorite color. Any other questions? pretty unapologetic about that but you know as the company grows at the beginning it was easier right because it was small as the company grows like I said you can't be everything to everyone and you know and I'm very curious to see how that role affects me over time because On the one hand, I love being able to have a voice and speak and lead people. And on the other hand, it's scary to use that voice knowing that not everybody's going to agree with you. And that's something that I've definitely been getting used to and learning a bit. a bit more about. I mean, am I comfortable with it? Some days more than others. Sometimes it can be a little paralyzing to think that something I say can be linked back to the brand and vice versa. But for the most part, if you're comfortable with everything you're doing, are you really pushing the envelope? Yeah, so I'm getting used to it. But it's it's definitely a weird feeling, especially one to have happened so fast, because, you know, two years ago, Bev was didn't exist. So it's kind of crazy.
[00:37:14] Zoe Feldman: What's the sort of steepest part of that learning curve? What's the steepest part of feeling comfortable, or getting to that point where you actually do feel comfortable in that role?
[00:37:23] Chobani Incubator: I think becoming very, very sure of who you are and what you stand for and what it means for you to stand in your own integrity, right? And that's something that I've been trying to figure out. And it takes a lot of work, right? It's a lot of internal work as well as a lot of external work where you're saying, okay, who exactly am I? Who exactly is my company? You know, where do we differ? Where are we the same? And how can I make sure that anything that I put out there, any, you know, thoughts that I have about the world or the industry align very, very tightly with how I want to show up in the world, if that makes sense. And that's something that, you know, that actually, it is a learning curve to actually articulate those things, because you kind of live with it inside. But when you have to take what's inside and really make it lay it out for yourself, you know, it involves taking a very, very strong look, not only at what you want your company to be and what your culture to be, but who you want yourself to be within the world. That's been a steep learning curve and it's in its own way, you know, cause I've, I've known it in my soul, but I haven't explicitly laid it out for myself in a way where I'm like, okay, as long as I'm abiding by these things that I know I believe in, I don't care what anybody says about what I have to say. If that makes sense. I don't know if that answers the question, but.
[00:38:44] Zoe Feldman: It does and I can imagine that as you get better at it, that you get better at making imposter syndrome less impactful in your life.
[00:39:00] Chobani Incubator: Part of what's so interesting for me, too, is I'm also totally an open book. I've always been an open book, and I will just kind of say what's on my mind. And I guess that's one of my biggest strengths and also one of my biggest weaknesses. And if I don't know something, you're the first to know I don't know it. I have no problem saying that. But I think that's also been something that's been an interesting learning for me. I mean, I'm not a parent, not yet anyway, but you think about, when you first become a boss, or you first become a parent, you think back on like those offhand comments that someone said to you that stuck with you, whether they were good, bad, you know, confusing, I don't know, right. And you start to realize that those things that you're saying, you know, offhand can be interpreted in that kind of way. Right. And so for me, it's like, that's also a pretty big learning curve. It's like, how do I also stay true to who I am, which is someone who will just say it as I see it. I'm not going to be a particularly scripted person that's never going to be in my DNA. But how do I do that while simultaneously making sure that my bad day doesn't become somebody else's horrible day or become something that negatively affects the company? And so that's something that I've had to learn to think about a little bit more. And I also just want to, at the same time, stay totally true to saying it as it is from the perspective in which I see it.
[00:40:19] Zoe Feldman: Well, there's a couple initials that people use to address the questions you have. HR and PR, right?
[00:40:27] Chobani Incubator: Yeah.
[00:40:30] Zoe Feldman: This has been such a great conversation, Alyse. I do want to talk about the future of Bev as you see it, as related to the changes that we're seeing in the beverage industry, the evolution of our business. You know, Bev feels like it has an opportunity to expand beyond wine, and you've already expanded within wine, going from Rosé to a few other styles, including Sauvignon Blanc and whatnot. Do you see it becoming a platform brand for other beverage categories?
[00:40:57] Chobani Incubator: Oh, heck yes. That's all I see.
[00:41:02] Zoe Feldman: Well, that answers my question.
[00:41:05] Chobani Incubator: For sure, for sure. I mean, look, you walk into the grocery store and there's 10 types of whiskey and 10 types of vodka and 10 types of tequila. And most of them are Made By men. Not that I love men, don't get me wrong, but you know, most of them are Made By men, branded for men. And you know, why aren't there an equal amount of all of those types of beverages? And I'm not just talking canned beverages. I'm not just talking ready to drink, but you know, but spirits, but non-Alcs, you know, energy, I mean, all of these types of categories that have just historically been just run by guys. And I don't see why we can't have just as much on the shelf, right? And so that's the opportunities, I really see them as endless. And yeah, I'm excited.
[00:41:50] Zoe Feldman: So are you saying we'll see a Bev hard seltzer in the near future?
[00:41:53] Chobani Incubator: I'm not saying anything because PR and HR told me better. No, just kidding. We'll see. It is a different category, especially when you're talking about wine versus malt versus spirits. I only learned how to put wine in a can about 18 months ago, so give me a hot second, but we'll see what I can do.
[00:42:16] Zoe Feldman: Well, based on your track record, it sounds like you might have a good shot at accomplishing anything you want. Alyx, this has truly been a really wonderful conversation. I'm so glad that we had an opportunity to chat. I really hope I get an opportunity to meet you in person because you sound like the person I want to meet in person, if that makes any sense. So once again, truly honored to have you on Taste Radio and thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
[00:42:45] Chobani Incubator: Thank you.
[00:42:51] Zoe Feldman: Thank you for having me. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
[00:43:27] Peter Thiel: Hello, I am Melissa Traverse here for the Taste Radio podcast, talking about some of the biggest tension points that CPG brands and founders face when they're scaling a brand, and those are financial accounting and inventory management. I am joined by Matt Lynn, inventory accounting guru from Belay Solutions, and he is going to shed some light on all of this that is going to help everybody out quite a bit. Matt, thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:43:57] Founders Fund: Thank you for having us, Melissa. It's great to be out here at Expo West and it's great to sit down and be able to chat this because it's kind of a passion project of ours, working mainly with CPG brands and hoping to help them scale.
[00:44:09] Peter Thiel: It's been such a pleasure chatting with you and the team and learning all about what you do over there at Belay Solutions. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what your role is and the kinds of solutions that Belay gives to CPG brands and founders?
[00:44:25] Founders Fund: Yeah, absolutely. My role with Belay, I'm actually our inventory accounting manager. I run our inventory department, so we work with CPG brands, taking them from spreadsheets, putting them on inventory management systems, and really helping connect their tech stack between their sales online marketplaces to that inventory management system, even down to their financial systems like QuickBooks. Belay overall is kind of an outsourced accounting firm. And with that, we're helping teams. We have different levels with bookkeeping, controller level work, even high level into CFO type items. So we really help those brands in any way that they need financially. And then I just have a subset of a department where we're really just laser focused on inventory.
[00:45:08] Peter Thiel: It's certainly a complex topic and there are plenty of places to go wrong. Let's start by going right and start super simple. Can you tell us what some of the biggest red flags are that would help a founder understand or, you know, the person running a brand understand that it really is time to get some help with some of these areas?
[00:45:28] Founders Fund: is chaos. So when they're looking in their financial software, maybe they don't really have an accounting background and they're kind of just piecing it together and doing their best. And what they'll see is that reconciliations take forever, if they even happen. They have a lot of transactions that don't get coded or they just put them into placeholders to just get rid of it so it's not an eyesore. They'll notice they have revenue but no cash or they notice that they have a good amount of cash but their blind spot is really seeing the vendor invoices that are sitting there just needing to be paid. And so they just lack that clarity that's going to really be around the corner.
[00:46:05] Peter Thiel: You know, you were talking about one of the red flags that comes up that I think makes so much sense. When somebody asks you what your numbers are and you can't come up with the right number, that's a big problem because that's something that you really should be able to share with decision makers who, you know, you're ideally looking to do business with. What should you be able to call up at a moment's notice?
[00:46:30] Founders Fund: Really, at any time, you should be able to know an accurate margin. It's amazing how many founders we end up talking to that they can tell you their revenue numbers, they can tell you their selling price, and then the minute you start talking about cost or their cost of goods sold, they just get a deer in headlights look. So really, it's very hard to tell, am I even making money? or if you don't know your entire landed cost. Maybe you know what the freight cost is, the duties separately, but you're not really getting that as part of your unit cost. So it's really hard to tell. Am I even making money or am I losing money from the very beginning?
[00:47:03] Peter Thiel: And do you recommend that founders are able to call up a margin by channel?
[00:47:07] Founders Fund: Absolutely. And depending on the number of products and channels, you kind of want to know what are your best sellers, which ones are making the most and which ones maybe you're not making as much. But especially if you're branching out and you're doing D to C with B to B, absolutely want to know that.
[00:47:24] Peter Thiel: Gotcha. You mentioned that when things feel really chaotic, that's probably a red flag. I would say that it probably almost always feels chaotic if you're running a CBD brand. And I know this may be hard to quantify, but is there a revenue number? Is there a number of doors number that would help a brand understand whether or not it makes sense to bring on a partner like Belay? Understanding that so many brands are bootstrapped or they might be tight for cash. What is that friction point?
[00:47:54] Founders Fund: 3 3 3 3 3 But as you're growing, as you're getting to those six-figure revenue numbers, and especially as you're approaching seven, you want to make sure you've got good financials. Because as you scale to that point, most likely you're going to be looking to raise capital. And investors, the first thing they're going to look at is your books. And are they clean? And do they show a clear picture of your business?
[00:48:27] Peter Thiel: You know, another area that folks might look to to organize some of the chaos are their systems. So many folks stick with Excel spreadsheets for a good amount of time. How do you know that you need to outsource some of your accounting to an organization like Belay Solutions versus maybe signing on to a Synth7 or NetSuite or something like that?
[00:48:50] Founders Fund: Well, that's actually something we really help with when it comes to that cost question. That's something that trips people up. And sometimes if you just have a turnkey business, you buy and sell a finished good, you can maintain with spreadsheets. And we've had clients with million dollar revenue that can do that. But we see so many brands nowadays are using contract manufacturers. and they're just sourcing certain parts of their product. So when you start talking costs, they have no idea exactly what their unit cost is. So that's where we come in and we kind of understand, we'll speak with the customers and the clients and get their needs. And then if we think they're ready for a system, then we'll help put them on that system so they can get some of that clarity. And it's not something we force on anybody. There are plenty of times where founders come to us and we'll tell them bluntly, you're not ready for it right now, but we'll let you know when we think you are.
[00:49:36] Peter Thiel: That sounds like excellent advice. What should a founder or somebody running a brand look for in an outsourced accounting partner? Are there certain checklist items that they should make sure that their partner be able to execute or be able to help them understand?
[00:49:53] Founders Fund: Absolutely. I think one of the keys there's, there's a lot of outsourced accounting firms out there. Some focus on service-based SaaS companies, but if you're a CPG founder, you really want to make sure that your accounting firm has CPG experience. I would ask them, you know, what kind of brands have they worked with and even beyond that industry specific, because there's so many subsets of CPG. And that's something that I think is great about what we do with Belay is that we kind of run the gamut. It's kind of like the insurance commercial. We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two across a broad spectrum.
[00:50:23] Peter Thiel: Probably getting references is always helpful, right? Absolutely. All right. So this all sounds great. I think we have a really good understanding of would it make sense to hire an outsourced partner? You know, what some of the things you should be looking for are. What does offloading this kind of work mean for the brand? What can this do for lightening the load of a founder or lightening the load of a brand operator? Like, how does that help them in their everyday business?
[00:50:52] Founders Fund: It just tries to really help quiet the chaos. So what we're looking to do is just take some of the weight off that founder's shoulder, let them focus on building the brand, building the business, getting that exposure. If you don't have sales, you really don't have anything. So we want them to be able to focus on that while we take care of your back end office work. And we can just present that to you on a monthly basis, you can help make decisions, you can take that to investors. And really, you can just focus on growing your business.
[00:51:18] Peter Thiel: I feel like I felt Founders Fund the folks who are running brands collectively sigh. Breath of relief just hearing that. How can people learn more about Belay Solutions?
[00:51:29] Founders Fund: So people can text TASTE to 55123 for their free inventory guide to get started.
[00:51:34] Peter Thiel: Matt Lynn, inventory accounting guru at Belay Solutions. Thank you so much for joining me here at Expo West. It's been such a pleasure to chat with you and learn about what you all do over there to help Founders Fund brands with their financial accounting and inventory management. For everybody else out there, thank you for listening to the Taste Radio podcast. I am Melissa Traverse and we'll see you next time.
