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.

Mastering Product Market Fit: A Crucial Strategy for Startups in the CPG World

In the dynamic landscape of modern business, startups often struggle to establish their brand and gain a foothold in the market. The concept of “product-market fit” has emerged as a critical determinant of success, particularly in the Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) sector.

In today’s post, I’ll explore the concept of product-market fit from various perspectives, examine how to measure it for new CPG brands and showcase an example of how a startup successfully leveraged this framework to build its brands.

Rx Bar is a great product to use as to explain product/market fit..

But first, some explainer quotes.

What is Product Market Fit?

This term has gained prominence in entrepreneurship and marketing. It essentially refers to aligning a product or service with a target market’s needs and preferences. Here are three definitions of product market fit from different experts:

In other words, when your product becomes indispensable to your customers’ lives, you have achieved product market fit.

Ellis emphasizes the importance of meeting customer needs and being the best solution.

   Blank underscores the dynamic nature of product market fit, suggesting that it’s an ongoing journey rather than a destination.

Measuring Product Market Fit for New CPG Brands

Raul Vora, CEO of SuperHuman’s perspective on measuring product market fit emphasizes a data-driven approach. He suggests the following steps:

1. Customer Surveys: Conduct surveys to gather feedback from your target audience. Ask questions about the value they derive from your product, their willingness to recommend it to others, and their overall satisfaction.

2. Retention Rate: Monitor your customer retention rate. A high retention rate indicates that customers find ongoing value in your product.

3. Net Promoter Score (NPS): Calculate your NPS by asking customers how likely they are to recommend your product to others. A high NPS indicates a strong product market fit.

4. Qualitative Feedback: Don’t just rely on quantitative data. Engage with customers in qualitative conversations to better understand their pain points and aspirations.

5. Competitor Analysis: Compare your product’s performance and customer satisfaction metrics with those of competitors to gain insights into your market position.

RXBAR – A great way to understand product market fit.

 RXBAR entered the crowded protein bar market with a simple promise – no B.S. (no nasty stuff). They focused on transparency in ingredients and packaging.

They quickly gained a loyal customer base by clearly addressing the demand for clean and nutritious snacks. Kellogg’s recognized the potential and acquired RXBAR for $600 million, illustrating the value of solid product market fit.

In 2012, there were more than 2,000 brands of energy bars on the market. So, Peter Rahal and his childhood friend, Jared Smith, decided to market energy bars.

But Peter, who is dyslexic and is an admitted D student, had a critically important insight about the opportunity. 

I like Cross Fit. I like the Paleo diet. Why isn’t anyone making an energy bar to serve that market?

He wondered, what if I only made energy bars for people like me who are doing Cross Fit and want a no-sugar energy bar without any B.S.?

RXBAR was born in Peter’s parent’s basement.

In a Cuisinart, he blended egg whites, figs, and almonds to make a product for a specific and narrow group of people. He took the products to Cross Fit gyms and sold them as the solution to the problem that those individuals had – portable paleo energy. He wasn’t trying to sell everyone. He was trying to sell to someone who liked Cross Fit and Paleo.

Smallest Viable Audience

By selling to the smallest viable audience, Peter understood that if he could find 100 people who loved his product, he could eventually find 1,000. He wasn’t looking to make energy bars for everyone; he made them for a narrow, specific audience.

Packaging Zig Zag

Against everyone’s advice, Peter and Jared also defied the rules of the category and didn’t make a package that had ‘mouth appeal.’ Instead, they focused on a clean label with a simple product listing that used words like fig, date, and egg whites. It also informed people that it was free of any B.S.

Lessons from RXBAR 

• You’ll probably fail if you start and try to sell everyone.
• The narrower the target, the higher the chance for success.
• Serve an audience, have discreet and specific customers, and understand their community.
• Notice what everyone is doing. And then do something different that challenges how the category does business.
• Stay focused, and don’t get distracted by too many line extensions or products that complicate decision-making.
• Even in a crowded market, you can stand out by serving a small, viable audience.

Kellogg’s bought his business for 600 million dollars because they saw RXBAR as a platform to reach a specific target audience. 

Not bad for a company started with $10,000.

The RXBAR was the way in for Kellogg’s (Now Kellanova) to acquire a successful brand and could then sell more paleo-based products to that audience by leveraging the RXBAR brand.

RXBAR – a prescription of marketing success by understanding product/market fit.

If The Product Fits

In the competitive world of consumer-packaged goods, achieving and maintaining product market fit is crucial for startup success. By understanding the various definitions of product market fit and adopting data-driven measurement strategies like those advocated by Raul Vora, startups can better align their offerings with customer needs.

Through innovation, customer-centricity, and a commitment to continuous improvement, startups can carve out their niche in the CPG world and build enduring brands.

So, remember, product market fit isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the foundation upon which successful startups are built.

You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.

Photo courtesy of RX Bar – all rights reserved

The post What is Product Market Fit? Think RX Bars. appeared first on The Marketing Sage.