In The Money: eCommerce, DTC, and CPG

In The Money: eCommerce, DTC, and CPG

A podcast about the real economics of ecommerce, DTC, and CPG. Hosted by Fan Bi, In The Money features honest convos with the people building, growing, and investing in modern consumer brands.

  1. 1h ago

    Reaching Eight Figures by Doing the Unscalable Things First

    Sahand Dilmaghani, Founder and CEO of Terra Cafe, joins In The Money to tell one of the more quietly impressive origin stories in consumer hardware, a founder who spent months recording conversations with strangers in retail stores, carried espresso machines door to door across New York City, and built a relationship with a Chinese manufacturer just weeks before the world shut down during COVID. Terra Cafe makes premium automatic bean-to-cup espresso machines, 400-plus moving parts, a hardware-plus-consumables ecosystem, and a customer base where nearly half are converting directly from a pod machine to a $2,000 device. The category had been full of machines nobody could explain, priced anywhere from $1,200 to $6,000, with no brand making the transition from pods feel accessible. Sahand saw the missing link. He spent three years building the product to fill it. We cover: Why Sahand moved to New York, lived on one meal a day, and carried espresso machines door to door before spending a dollar on adsRecording conversations with strangers in retail stores and how that unscalable customer research shaped every marketing message Terra Cafe has ever runBuilding a manufacturer relationship in China just weeks before COVID shut the world down and how he maintained it for three years without a single visitThe bean-to-cup category: why it's been misunderstood, undermarketed, and wide open for a brand that could make it accessibleHardware plus consumables: how the economics of a recurring revenue model change everything about how you think about CAC and LTVWhy nearly half of Terra Cafe customers are converting from pod machines and what that means for category sizingThe $2,000 considered purchase: how to nurture leads, overcome objections, and convert customers who take months to decideScaling to eight figures while staying obsessively close to the customer at every stageThe marketing stack that's working: what channels are driving acquisition and why If you're building a hardware brand, a considered-purchase DTC business, or anything where the customer research phase is the most important thing you'll ever do, this episode is one of the most honest accounts of what that actually looks like in practice.

  2. Jul 22

    Engineering Adult Friendships to a Billion Dollar Business

    What happens when a former consumer brand founder gets tired of the working capital grind, spots a broken format in adult recreational sports leagues, and decides to engineer the conditions for adults to actually make new friends? Tommy Flaim, Founder of Silly Pickles, joins In The Money to break down one of the more unexpected growth stories in the consumer space, a pickleball league that started as a side hustle managed on Microsoft Excel, hit a waitlist of over a thousand players in its first few seasons, and is now in 75 metro areas across the US, Canada, and Australia doing $6 million in run rate on just $750K raised. We cover: Why adult recreational sports leagues have a broken format and the dynamic ladder system Tommy built to fix itHow to engineer a social outcome: skill-based matchups, repeat exposure, happy hours, and the magic of a great local hostWhy 50% of Silly Pickles players have never played in another adult rec league and 30% had never even played pickleball before their first nightThe bottom 90% thesis: why most competitors target washed-up athletes and why Tommy is going after everyone elseHow Silly Pickles went from one Chicago bar to 75 metro areas with a decentralized hub-and-spoke modelBrand partnerships: Waterboy, an alcohol brand, an iced tea brand and why Silly Pickles is becoming one of the most interesting IRL activation platforms in consumerWhat CPG brands get wrong about IRL activations and the two ingredients that make the difference between a great event and a forgettable oneThe non-technical founder's guide to building software: the agency route, the tradeoffs, and why Tommy chose the most expensive option on purposeThe math to a billion: 200 metro areas, 10 sports, $500K per metro area per sportPickleball as the wedge and what comes next as they layer on volleyball and additional sportsLessons from his consumer apparel brand: what he'd do differently and why he's now a little jaded about inventory-based businessesThe holy trinity for consumer founders: brand, community, differentiated product, and catching a wave before incumbents catch upWhy TikTok is still the most important platform for consumer businesses and what to do if you're not good at it yet If you're building a consumer brand, thinking about IRL community as a channel, or trying to understand what catching a category wave actually looks like from the inside this episode is packed with hard-won lessons from a founder who's done it twice.

  3. Jul 14

    We Thought It Could Be a Modest $10M Business. We Were Very Wrong.

    What does it look like to send 25 to 30 cold emails to a founder you've never met because you believe in a product so much you're willing to bet your career on it? Kieran Mathew, CEO of Equip Foods, joins In The Money to break down one of the more unconventional origin stories in better-for-you supplements, an operator who joined an existing business, took over day-to-day functions from the founder, and helped scale it from low seven figures to well into eight on a growth model that barely touched Meta spend. Equip makes animal-based protein products built around one standard: real food ingredients, nothing the brand wouldn't stand behind completely. No fillers. No shortcuts. A product built for a customer who reads labels and doesn't forgive compromises. We cover: Why Kieran sent 25-30 emails to founder Anthony Gustin before getting a response and what he said to finally get oneWhat it actually looks like to join a business as an operator-partner rather than a founderHow to take over day-to-day operations from a founder without breaking what's already workingThe affiliate flywheel: how Equip built a roster of thousands of partners who became genuine evangelists for the brandHow affiliate seeding trained the algorithm before a dollar of Meta spend and what that did to ROAS when they finally turned it onWhy beef protein is having its moment and how whey margin compression is accelerating the category shiftThe animal-based consumer: who they are, what they believe, and why they're more loyal than almost any other supplement customerWhat Equip would do differently in paid if they were starting the channel from scratch todayOrg structure evolution: why the team design that worked at $3M doesn't work at $15M and what needs to changeHow Equip thinks about SKU expansion without losing the brand clarity that made themRetention, subscription, and what actually drives LTV in the supplement category If you're building in supplements, better-for-you CPG, or thinking about how to join an existing business as an operator rather than start from scratch, this episode is one of the most useful conversations I've had on the pod this year.

  4. Jul 6

    The LinkedIn Message They Almost Ignored For Target Nationwide

    What happens when a high-protein, clean-ingredient frozen pizza brand spends two years grinding through cold chain nightmares, supply chain restarts, and a fundraising carousel, and then lands at number one in the frozen pizza category at Target? Michael Rolland, Co-Founder of Yough!, joins In The Money to tell one of the more honest origin stories in better-for-you frozen food, a brand built around a simple thesis that you shouldn't have to choose between eating pizza and feeling good afterward, and the long road it took to get that product in front of the right retailers at the right moment. 700 calories. 46 grams of protein. No junk ingredients. An anytime meal that people are eating pre-workout, post-workout, and at 2am after a night out, without the guilt. We cover: Why DTC was the wrong model for frozen and what Yough! learned the expensive wayThe supply chain issues that forced a full relaunch and why it ultimately made the product betterHow Yough! built into boutique specialty retail first before going massThe LinkedIn message they almost ignored and how it turned into a meeting at Target HQWhat it actually looks like when a national retailer offers you a launch before you've pitched themGoing from specialty to Target and Sprouts on organic momentum alone, no broker, no traditional pitchWhat number one in frozen pizza at Target actually means for a brand at this stageThe fundraising reality for better-for-you frozen: what investors want to see and when the timing is rightProtein in frozen as the next major category wave and why the timing is right nowWhat Michael would do differently in the first 12-24 months if he started overWhat's next for Yough! heading into the back half of 2026If you're building in frozen, better-for-you, or any category where the product has to earn its place on a cold shelf, this episode is a candid look at what the grind before the breakthrough actually costs.

  5. Jun 30

    No Formula. No Co-Man. No Branding. Nationwide Whole Foods in Three Months.

    What does it look like to sell a brand to Kraft Heinz for a reported $200 million, and then build the second one with three kids under seven and no social media on your phone? Morgan Zanotti, Founder and CEO of Waay, joins In The Money to break down what changed and what stayed the same the second time around. Waay is a fizzy, clear sparkling protein water, 10 grams of protein, 45 calories, zero sugar, built for women who are tired of choking down chalky shakes to hit their protein goals. Before Waay, Morgan co-founded Primal Kitchen alongside Mark Sisson, bootstrapped it to $50M in revenue profitably, and led the company through its $200 million acquisition by Kraft Heinz in 2019. We cover: Why Morgan built Waay after watching the protein trend get sold entirely to menThe Primal Kitchen playbook: bootstrapping to $50M before the exitWhat she learned inside Kraft Heinz about scale, GLP-1s, and category timingWhy she pitched Whole Foods with a silver can, no final formula, no co-manufacturer, and no branding, and how they said yes nationwide anyway18 months of formulation: getting real protein, zero sucralose, and a taste that doesn't announce itselfBuilding the entire brand identity in three months and launching by OctoberWhy she went Whole Foods first instead of Target, and how that sequencing shaped everything that followedThe clear protein category: how it's exploding globally and why the US is just catching upBuilding lean the second time: a small remote team built through referrals, no agencyRaising capital on traction versus raising on hopes and dreamsWhat she'd do exactly the same the second time, and what she's doing completely differentlyBalancing three kids under seven with building a fast-scaling consumer brandIf you're building a consumer brand, thinking about a second act after an exit, or trying to figure out how to build with intention instead of urgency, this episode is one of the most grounded founder conversations I've put out this year.

  6. Jun 22

    The Repeat Founder Who Learned to Focus On One Product that Actually Matters

    What does it look like to build a premium hydration brand in one of the most crowded categories in consumer health, and win by doing almost everything differently? Joe Welstead, Co-Founder of Oshun, joins In The Money to break down how a repeat founder took every assumption about the electrolyte category and threw them out. No sachets. No citrus. No agency. No VC. Just a pump dispenser, an unflavored formula, and a brand positioning that owes more to skincare than sports nutrition. Joe built Motion Nutrition before this. He came out of that experience with one lesson above all others: launch one product, nail it completely, and resist every temptation to expand before you've earned the right to. At Oshun, he's done exactly that, and it's working. We cover: Why Joe looked at LMNT, Liquid IV, Nuun, Hydrant, and Prime and saw an opportunity hiding in plain sightThe pump dispenser decision: why form factor is a marketing strategy, not just a packaging choiceWhy Oshun has no flavor, and how that single decision sidesteps flavor fatigue and the endless SKU trapThe "clear skin, clear mind" moment: how a single conversation with a friend reframed the entire brand positioning overnightBeauty adjacent, not supplement adjacent: why escaping the supplement category unlocks everythingThree months of real-world conversations before running a single ad, and why that made the first Meta campaigns perform from day oneHow Joe learned to run Meta himself without an agency, and why he thinks the learning curve is overstatedThe seeding to Meta funnel: how Oshun uses creator seeding to train the algorithm before spending a dollar on paidTwo co-founders, one product, 75-90% of scope focused entirely on growthWhy Oshun launched a magnesium sleep product, and the surprisingly simple customer reason that accelerated the timelineBuilding in public without sharing revenue: why Joe talks about subscriber count and compound metrics but never top lineProfitable and growing while turning down institutional investors, what that optionality actually feels likeSkio's cancel flow as the single biggest retention unlock of 2026Why a skip or delay beats a discount every time for subscription churnWhat Joe would do differently in the first 12 months of the next brandIf you're building a consumer brand in health, wellness, or any crowded category where the default playbook isn't working — this episode is one of the clearest arguments I've heard for why doing less, better, wins.

  7. Jun 12

    Product, Brand, Community: The Holy Trinity for Consumer Investing at Iris Ventures

    What does it actually mean to invest in brand before it's measurable? Florian Wojewodzki, Partner at Iris, joins In The Money to break down one of the most distinctive approaches to consumer investing in Europe and the US, a fund that tracks over 5,000 brands, backs founders they've known for years before writing a check, and won't hire anyone who isn't genuinely obsessed with brand. Iris sits at the intersection of health, wellness, and better-for-you consumer, with a portfolio that includes some of the most interesting brands in CPG right now. Their thesis is built around three things every winning consumer brand needs: product, brand, and community. Miss any one of them and the other two can't save you. We cover: Why Iris describes itself as brand junkies, and why that's a hiring requirement, not a marketing lineThe holy trinity: product, brand, and community as the non-negotiable framework for every investment decisionWhy Iris builds a category view before it ever meets a company, and what that looks like in practiceHow to approach a fund like Iris, and why the best time to reach out is years before you're ready to raisePortfolio deep dive: Biomel and the instant feedback loop that removes the biggest barrier to supplement adoptionSuperlativa: clinical credibility in cortisol management and why the stress and recovery category is vastly underservedHealth: the leading online health and wellness retailer in the UK and what international expansion looks like from thereMaurten: endurance nutrition out of Gothenburg and how to build a fanatical community around cyclists, triathletes, and runnersWhat European consumer investing looks like right now versus two to three years agoStage, check size, and what Iris is actively looking for heading into the back half of 2026The categories Iris is most excited about right now, and the ones they're actively avoidingIf you're a founder, a consumer investor, or anyone trying to understand where the next generation of health and wellness brands is being built, this episode is one of the clearest windows into how the best funds in the space actually think.

  8. Jun 3

    COVID Killed 90% of His Accounts. The Pivot That Followed Built an Eight-Figure Wine Brand

    What happens when a tech founder walks away from a successful exit, spends time drinking wine in Southern Europe, and comes back convinced the American wine industry is getting it completely wrong? Stephen Vlahos, Co-Founder and CEO of Gratsi, joins In The Money to tell the story of building an eight-figure, no-additive, zero-sugar wine brand from scratch, through a pivot that COVID forced on him, a format that nobody thought would work for a premium brand, and a subscriber base of over 30,000 people who keep coming back every month. Before Gratsi, Stephen co-founded Bellhops, a venture-backed two-sided marketplace that scaled to $15 million in revenue before he handed the keys to a team from Uber. What he learned about co-founder dynamics, internal conflict, and what kills companies from the inside shaped everything about how he built Gratsi. We cover: Why Stephen left tech to sell wine, and what time in Southern Europe taught him about how Americans drink wrongThe Bellhops lessons: what happens when a founding team fights more internal battles than external onesHow Gratsi launched in Austin bars and restaurants, and why COVID shutting down 90% of his accounts turned out to be the best thing that happened to the businessThe bag-in-box pivot: why a format associated with cheap wine became Gratsi's biggest competitive advantageHow Gratsi thinks about zero sugar and no additives as a product truth, not just a marketing claimThe DTC-to-retail sequencing playbook: how Gratsi uses ecommerce data to identify which markets to enter before a single case hits a distributor's truckWhy staying at three SKUs while the rest of the industry chases product proliferation has been one of his best decisionsBuilding a subscription wine business: what 30,000 subscribers actually means for capital efficiency and forecastingThe wholesale expansion strategy: how DTC revenue warms up a market before retail arrivesFundraising in beverage alcohol: what investors are looking for and how the category is different from traditional CPGWhat Stephen would do differently in the first 12 months if he started overWhere Gratsi is heading in 2026 and beyondIf you're building in beverage, alcohol, DTC, or any category where the product format itself is the story, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons from a founder who's done it in two very different industries.

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About

A podcast about the real economics of ecommerce, DTC, and CPG. Hosted by Fan Bi, In The Money features honest convos with the people building, growing, and investing in modern consumer brands.

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  • Creator
    In The Money: eCommerce, DTC, and CPG
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    64
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © In The Money: eCommerce, DTC, and CPG
  • Show Website
    In The Money: eCommerce, DTC, and CPG