Episodes

The co-founders of next-generation beverage company Future/Proof, spoke about why naiveté, scrappiness and business school connections were critical to the early development of their flagship brand, BeatBox Beverages. They also explained why over-preparation is key to fundraising and how the convergence of lifestyle and liquid play into the company’s trade and consumer marketing strategies.

Laura Catena, managing director of lauded Argentine winery Bodega Catena Zapata and a San Francisco-based emergency room physician, explained how her professions intersect in ways that make her better in both roles, why she feels a heavy responsibility of carrying the whole country of Argentina on her shoulders and discussed her passion for achieving sustainability through innovation.

Stu Aaron and Martin Janousek, co-founders of Bespoken Spirits, a modern distilling company which claims that it can precisely tailor spirits to a desired aroma, color and taste, spoke about they are attempting to win over stakeholders and gatekeepers, how they validated their process and products and why they described Bespoken as an enabler of change, rather than a change itself.

Sarah Frey, founder & CEO of Frey Farms, spoke about how she engineered her company’s remarkable turnaround despite having no formal business training, how she identified and utilized advantages her company had over larger competitors and how she navigated Walmart’s corporate culture. She also discussed how consumers’ relationship with food has evolved during the Covid era and what she’s learned about building a beverage brand.

Filipp Chebotarev, co-founder of venture capital firm Cambridge SPG, spoke about what he learned from developing an unsuccessful food brand, effective strategies for initiating and cultivating relationships with investors, why he’ll review a 70-page pitch deck under the right circumstances and the general rules that predict success in food and beverage.

Dean Eberhardt, co-founder & CEO of Hoplark, spoke about how getting fired from his own prior startup led him to a “lightbulb” moment and inspired the creation of the fast-growing hopped tea brand, his belief that he’s “a marketing textbook’s worst nightmare,” how the company has succeeded during the pandemic, and why he turned down a venture capital investment this past summer.

Jing Gao, founder & CEO of Sichuan-inspired sauce and seasoning brand Fly By Jing, discussed the origins of her passion for Chinese food culture and why she set out to create a brand that could elevate consumers’ expectations for the cuisine’s flavors. She also spoke about how she managed a surge in demand in 2020 and how she addressed racist comments posted on the brand’s Instagram page.