I get several inquiries a month from people who want help but can’t afford to hire a startup branding consultant.

Founders who have just left a good job try to convince their spouse that the salsa recipe everyone loves at the holiday party is actually a business.

They are trying to figure out what to do first, and they don’t have the budget to hire an experienced marketing advisor.

So here is the free version of what I share.

Eleven pieces of advice, in the order I think matter most, based on years of advising more than fifty entrepreneurs. None of these suggestions requires a marketing degree. Most of it requires slowing down before you jump.

1. The Problem You Solve Comes Before Everything Else

Before starting on the recipe, packaging, and pricing, you need one honest sentence that explains what problem your product solves and for whom.

Rebel Cheese didn’t set out to make “another vegan cheese.” They set out to fix the actual problem: most plant-based cheeses taste like a sad compromise for people who are lactose intolerant. Their answer was cheese made from cashews using real aging and culturing techniques, so it tastes like cheese, not like a consolation prize.

If you can’t say what problem you solve in one or two sentences, you don’t have a product yet. You have a commodity.

2. Know Your Numbers Before You Make a Single Unit

This is the one thing nobody wants to hear, and it’s the one that kills more food businesses than bad marketing ever will. Before you find a co-packer, design packaging, create a brand name, or build a website, sit down and figure out exactly what it costs you to make your product. Then figure out what a store would need to pay you for it, and what that store would then charge a shopper.

If that final shelf price makes you wince, you have a problem to solve now, not later. A lot of founders fall in love with a brand name or a novel recipe, and then fall back on the business model. Flip that order. Know the economics first. The recipe can be adjusted. Channels of distribution can be changed. A business that loses money on every unit sold cannot survive. Know your numbers at startup, and estimate whether you can build volume and get better pricing at scale.

3. Solve One Problem, Not Five

New founders love to list everything their product does. It’s healthy. It’s convenient. It’s sustainable. It supports a cause. It tastes amazing.

Pick one.

A shopper walking down an aisle gives your package about two seconds. Two seconds is not enough time to read a list of virtues. It’s enough time to understand one clear idea. What is the single reason someone should buy this instead of the ten other things sitting next to it? Answer that question honestly, then build everything else around it.

4. Get It In Front of Real Strangers Before You Spend Real Money

Your friends and family are not a focus group. They love you, and they will tell you your product is great even when it isn’t ready. Before you invest in packaging, a website, or a big production run, find a farmers’ market, a local pop-up, or a neighbor’s backyard barbecue where you can hand your product to people who have no reason to be nice to you.

Watch their faces before they say anything. That reaction is more honest than any survey you could run.

If your product is for new moms, put it in front of them to get an honest reaction. Find creative ways to get honest feedback.

5. Start Small and Prove It Works Close to Home

Every founder dreams about a wall of their product at a national chain. That dream is fine to have, but it’s not where you start. Start with the store down the street, the local co-op, the market where you can actually walk in and see how your product is doing.

Selling well in one store and selling well again the next month in that same store tells you something a big launch never will. It tells you people are coming back. That is the real test, not the size of the first order.

I often advise that getting distribution is the easy part. But will your customer come back and buy again and again? Testing and learning locally is much easier than at a distance.

6. Make Your Package Do the Talking

You will not be standing in the store to explain your product. Your package has to do that job alone, in about two seconds, from a few feet away. That means a clear name, a clear picture of what’s inside (if it helps), and one clean message about why someone should care.

Resist the urge to cover the front of your package with every award, certification, and claim you’ve earned. Save those for the side or the back. The front has one job. Everything else is a supporting cast member, not the star.

7. Get Into the Right Stores, Not Just Any Store – or Online

Not every store is the right store for your product, even if they’ll take you. A store’s shopper needs to match the person who actually wants what you’re selling. A high-end health food shop and a busy convenience store attract two very different customers, and your product might make sense to only one of them.

Chasing every yes is tempting when you’re small, but a shelf that doesn’t match your customer is a shelf where your product quietly dies. It’s better to be strong in a few of the right places than thin and invisible across a lot of wrong ones.

8. Build Relationships With the People Who Decide, Not Just the People Who Taste

A buyer at a store is not the same as a shopper trying your sample. Their first question is often, ” What new customers are you bringing to this category? The buyer cares about things like how fast your product sells, how reliable your deliveries are, and whether you’ll still be in business next year. Getting to know that person, being honest with them, and showing up when you say you will matter just as much as how good your product tastes.

Food and beverage is a relationship business before anything else. The founders who last tend to be the ones buyers actually like.

9. Protect Your Cash Like It’s the Last of It, Because It Might Be

Growing a food business costs money at every single stage. Ingredients, packaging, shipping, a bigger cooler, and a new labeling machine. It adds up faster than most first-time founders expect, and running out of cash is one of the most common reasons good products never make it.

Before you say yes to a big order or a new piece of equipment, ask honestly whether you can actually afford it, not whether you can find a way to afford it. Those are two very different questions, and the second one gets founders into trouble. You can use Claude or Chat GBT to create financial models that help predict cash flow.

10. Expect It to Take Longer Than You Think

Nobody’s product blows up overnight, no matter what the founder’s social media interviews make it look like. Most of the brands you admire spent years building, one store and one customer at a time, before anything looked like an overnight success from the outside.

If your growth feels slower than you hoped in the first year or two, that doesn’t mean you’re failing. It might just mean you’re doing it the normal way. Patience is not a weakness in this business. It’s usually the difference between the founders who make it and the ones who quit right before they would have. Most founders who succeed don’t ever quit. They keep finding a way forward until they succeed.

11. Focus on Getting People to Buy It Again, Not Just Once

A first sale is easier than a second one. Anyone can get a curious shopper to try something new. The real business is built on the customer who buys it again next month, and then again after that, without needing to be convinced all over again.

If people aren’t coming back, that’s a signal worth paying attention to, even if your first sale numbers look good. A business that lives on repeat customers can actually grow. A business that only wins new customers over and over is a business that’s always starting from zero.

Four Key Takeaways

Bring a solution to a community in need. Find a group of people with a problem and try to deliver a product that solves that pain point. Don’t be a vitamin; be a painkiller when you start with a community, like those with dairy intolerance who would love to eat cheese again, make a cheese they can enjoy without the lactose issues.

Your numbers matter more than your recipe. A great-tasting product built on a business model that loses money on every unit is not a business; it’s an expensive hobby. Know your costs and your pricing before you fall in love with anything else.

Clarity beats cleverness on the shelf. Shoppers don’t have time to read a list of everything your product does. Give them one clear reason to pick it up, and let the package do that job without any help from you standing there.

Patience and repeat customers build real businesses. The founders who make it are rarely the ones with the fastest first year. They’re the ones who kept showing up, kept the customers they earned, and let the business grow in the slow, steady way that actually lasts.

I didn’t figure any of this out on my own, and neither will you. Hopefully, this saves you a few of the expensive lessons I learned the hard way.

Connect with Jeff at The Marketing Sage Consultancy. Interested in setting up a call? Use my calendly to schedule a time to talk. The call is free, and we can discuss your brand, marketing needs, and challenges.

Feel free to email me at jeffslater@themarketing sage.com or text 919 720 0995. Thanks for your interest in working with The Marketing Sage Consultancy.

The post Starting a Food Business? Here are Eleven Pieces of Sage Advice. appeared first on The Marketing Sage.

A guest post from my friend Courtney O’Brien who worked in Senior Marketing Roles at Coca-Cola (Coke Zero), Gallo (Apothic) and Danone (Evian).

From Concept to Can: The Brutal Truth About Launching a Beverage Brand in 2025

One of my mentors once asked me a question, and I thought I was getting the secret to the universe. He said, “Want to know how you make a small fortune in the wine business?” I told him, “Of course I did!” I waited with bated breath. Start with a large fortune. That was not the ending I was expecting, but it stuck with me.

Starting a brand from scratch is exciting but also one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. With thousands of new products launching every year and only a tiny percentage surviving (5% or so), it’s critical to prepare.

Over the years, I’ve seen what separates the brands that break through from the ones that fade away. Building a brand isn’t just about a great product; it’s about understanding your market and your consumers and how to bring the audiences you need into your world.

Seven Things To Know If You Want to Start a Beverage Brand

Here are seven things you should know if you’re building a brand from scratch:

1. A great product isn’t enough.

You’ve probably poured your soul into making an incredible product. But here’s the reality: a great product doesn’t sell itself. And there are many great products out there. It’s table stakes.

If no one knows about it—or worse, they don’t understand why it’s worth their time—you won’t get traction. Marketing isn’t “spin” or fluff. It’s the bridge between your product and the people who will love it.

You need:

• Awareness: People need to know you exist. Whether through a strong social media presence or showing up where your consumers spend time, meet them where they are.
• An apparent reason to care: Don’t confuse them; make your value evident and immediate. Once you get their attention, you get one shot to draw their interest. The website looks like it’s made for Boomers, and you’re selling to Millennials? Nope, they’re gone.

2. Start with one clear idea.

It’s tempting to try and do everything. Resist that urge. The best brands are built on a single, clear idea that resonates deeply.

Ask yourself:

• What do you stand for?
• Who do you stand for?
• How does your product solve a real problem or add value to their lives?

Neither will your audience if you can’t answer these questions clearly and quickly. Build your messaging, visuals, and strategy around that core idea.

3. Scoring distribution is step one. Now you must make it move.

Getting your product on the shelf—or in a distributor’s portfolio—is a huge milestone! But don’t expect that to guarantee success. Retailers and distributors care about one thing: velocity. They want to see your product move, and that’s on you.

To keep distributors and retailers on your side:

• Engage consumers: Make it clear why your product matters. Whether through social media, sampling, or in-store signage, help shoppers see why they should choose you over the competition.
• Support distributors: Don’t assume they’ll sell your product for you. Arm them with the right tools—sell sheets, strong velocity data, and precise positioning—to make pitching your product easy. Please give them a clear message that’s easy to repeat. You’ll get 2 seconds of their time.
• Help retailers drive sales: Offer resources like in-store promotions, eye-catching displays, and staff training to make your product stand out on the shelf. Spend time in stores! Build your relationships. Don’t abdicate this responsibility.

4. Relationships and money don’t happen overnight.

How many times do you buy something the first time you see it? Probably not often. People need time—and multiple touchpoints—to feel comfortable enough to buy.

Consumers are bombarded with brands every day. They’ll forget you exist if you don’t consistently show up.

To build a relationship:

• Be consistent: Your brand voice, visuals, and story should all align.
• Remind them: It takes around seven touchpoints for most people to act. Don’t give up after one interaction.
• Give more than you ask: Don’t just sell. Offer something meaningful, whether it’s entertainment, utility, or education.

Offer value, value, value, THEN ask for a sale. Repeat.

5. Make it easy to say yes.

This one seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many brands make it hard for consumers to take the next step.

• Can they find your website?
• Once they’re there, is it straightforward what to do next?
• Is your checkout process smooth and user-friendly?

Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes—or better yet, have someone test your brand experience. The easier you make it to take the next step, the more likely they will do it. Tell them. And don’t ask too much of them all at once. Baby steps.

6. Don’t overextend—focus on your core product.

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is trying to do too much too soon. Maybe you’re excited to launch new flavors, categories, or SKUs, but the focus is on what separates great brands from the rest.

• Build momentum with your core product before expanding.
• Invest in making that product unforgettable in quality and how you position it.

As the saying goes, Do one thing incredibly well before you try to do everything. It’s a red flag when a founder seems distracted with everything else she wants to do. This is a long game, and focus is required.

7. Build a world they want to belong to.

Your brand isn’t just a product. It’s a story, a promise, and an invitation to be part of something bigger.

To create a world people want to belong to:

• Know your audience: The more specific your target, the more deeply you can connect.
• Speak their language: Messaging that resonates with your core consumer will attract others, too. It seems the opposite, but it’s very accurate. Generalities attract no one.

When you create a world that feels personal and meaningful, you’re building something far more powerful than a product—you’re creating a movement. The brands I’ve led that have been the most successful have created movements.

Final Thoughts – Last Call

Building a brand isn’t just about having the best idea or product; it’s about understanding how to connect with your audience and build something that lasts.

Start small. Stay focused. And remember that great brands aren’t built overnight—they’re built through persistence, clarity, and a relentless commitment to adding value to your consumers and trade partners.

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

About The Outlier Initiative:
I’m Courtney O’Brien, founder of The Outlier Initiative, where I help growth-stage beverage brands claim their space and become world-class. From brand positioning to marketing and go-to-market strategy, I bring decades of experience managing billion-dollar portfolios to help smaller brands win in competitive markets.

Are you curious about how I can help your brand break through? Connect with me here on LinkedIn or visit theoutlierinitiative.com.

Connect with Jeff at The Marketing Sage Consultancy. Interested in setting up a call with me? Use my calendly to schedule a time to talk. The call is free, and we can discuss your brand and marketing needs.

If you want to learn more about my new offering, The Trusted Advisor Board, you can click here to learn the details. Feel free to email me at jeffslater@themarketing sage.com or text 919 720 0995. Thanks for your interest in working with The Marketing Sage Consultancy.

The post So, You Want to Start a Beverage Brand? 7 Pieces of Advice From An Industry Expert appeared first on The Marketing Sage.

FOUNDER’S MODE: Unlocking Startup Success or Courting Controversy?

In my startup in the bakery business, I was clueless. I didn’t hire professional managers to run the business, I hired kind, smart and competent people who could help me figure out what to do. I probably micromanaged more than I realized, but it was instinctual to lead and direct others to do what I thought was best.

When you are in your late 20s, you think you know everything. I guess I was in founder’s mode.

Brian Chesky, one of Airbnb’s founders, recently gave a talk at Y Combinator, the startup accelerator. Then Paul Graham, one of the founders of Y Combinator, posted a blog about the talk. He said that Chesky described a simple idea.

Dubbed “FOUNDER’S MODE,” this approach to startup leadership draws inspiration from the experiences and philosophies of successful entrepreneurs like Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and his observations of what Steve Jobs did at Apple.

But what exactly is Founder’s Mode, and how does it impact a startup’s trajectory?

Understanding Founder’s Mode

At its core, Founder’s Mode is a leadership style and operational mindset that emphasizes the founder’s vision, intuition, and direct involvement in all aspects of the business. Instead of hiring professional managers to help you scale, the founder “micromanages” the operation so that their fingerprints are all over the culture and operations.

It’s characterized by:

1. Hyper-focus on product and user experience

2. Rapid, intuition-driven decision-making

3. Minimal bureaucracy and streamlined processes

4. Direct communication between founders and employees/customers

5. A culture of experimentation and calculated risk-taking

Proponents argue that this approach allows startups to maintain the agility, creativity, and user-centricity that often diminish as companies scale.

The Pros of Founder’s Mode

1. Visionary Leadership

In Founder’s Mode, the company benefits from its creator’s undiluted vision. This can lead to groundbreaking innovations and a strong, cohesive brand identity.

2. Rapid Iteration

With decision-making centralized and bureaucracy minimized, startups can pivot quickly in response to market feedback or emerging opportunities.

3. Authentic Customer Connections

Direct founder involvement in customer interactions can foster a sense of authenticity and responsiveness that resonates with users.

4. Cultural Alignment

A vital founder presence can help maintain the company’s core values and culture as it grows, potentially leading to higher employee engagement.

The Cons of Founder’s Mode

1. Scalability Challenges

As startups grow, the founder-centric approach may become unsustainable, potentially leading to operational bottlenecks.

2. Risk of Tunnel Vision

Over-reliance on the founder’s perspective can lead to missed opportunities or blind spots in strategy.

3. Succession Planning Difficulties

A company too dependent on its founder may struggle with leadership transitions or attracting top-tier executive talent.

4. Potential for Burnout

The intense demands of Founder’s Mode can take a toll on entrepreneurs’ mental and physical well-being.

Founder’s Mode Across Different Startup Types

The efficacy of Founder’s Mode can vary significantly depending on the nature of the startup:

Tech Startups, particularly in early stages, often benefit from Founder’s Mode’s rapid iteration and product focus.

B2B Enterprises: The personalized touch of founder involvement is valuable in building key client relationships.

Consumer Products: Can leverage the founder’s vision to create strong brand narratives but may need to balance this with scalable operations.

Biotech/Deep Tech: While benefiting from visionary leadership, these startups often require a more structured approach due to regulatory constraints and long development cycles.

Striking the Right Balance

The key to leveraging Founder’s Mode effectively lies in understanding its appropriate application and limitations. Successful implementation often involves:

1. Clearly defining the founder’s role and areas of focus

2. Building a strong leadership team to complement the founder’s skills

3. Establishing processes that capture the benefits of Founder’s Mode while allowing for scalability

4. Regular reassessment of the approach as the company grows and evolves

While Founder’s Mode can be a powerful catalyst for startup growth and innovation, it’s not without its challenges. As with any leadership philosophy, success depends on thoughtful application, adaptability, and a willingness to evolve.

Ten Key Takeaways:

• Chesky and other successful founders found that following traditional advice on scaling companies (hiring good people and giving them autonomy) led to poor results.
• Conventional wisdom assumes startups should switch to manager mode as they scale, but this approach is less practical for founders.
• Manager mode treats parts of the organization as “black boxes,” avoiding involvement in detail to prevent micromanagement.
• Founder mode is poorly understood or documented, and no specific books or business school teachings exist on the subject.
• Founders often feel “gaslit” by advisors pushing manager mode and by employees when implementing it.
• Founder mode likely involves more direct engagement across different company levels, breaking the principle of CEOs only interacting with direct reports.
•  Steve Jobs’s approach to annual retreats with Apple’s 100 most influential people (not necessarily the highest-ranking) is an example of potential founder-mode practices.
•  Founder mode will likely be more complex than manager mode, with varying degrees of delegation and autonomy based on the company and individual managers.
• The author predicts that once founder mode is better understood, we’ll find that some founders were already practicing it, though they may have been seen as eccentric.
• The post concludes by suggesting that founders have achieved great things despite following suboptimal advice, implying even more significant potential once the founder mode is better understood and implemented.

For today’s startups, the question isn’t whether to adopt Founder’s Mode wholesale but how to selectively apply its principles to drive success while mitigating potential drawbacks.

Connect with Jeff at The Marketing Sage Consultancy. Interested in setting up a call with me? Use my calendly to schedule a time to talk. The call is free, and we can discuss your brand and marketing needs. If you want to learn more about my new offering, The Trusted Advisor Board, you can click here to learn the details. Feel free to email me at jeffslater@themarketing sage.com or text 919 720 0995. Thanks for your interest in working with The Marketing Sage Consultancy.

Photo by Phil Cln on Unsplash

Photo by Richard Jaimes on Unsplash

The post The Dynamic to Unlocking Startup Growth: Insights From Founder’s Mode appeared first on The Marketing Sage.