Shelf Space

Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony
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  • Entrepreneurship
  • Weekly

Conversations with CPG founders at the top of their game. Gathering unique insights and having impactful conversations to help guide the next generation of founders.

  1. Oct 29

    From Shark Tank to Walmart Nationwide - Chris Jane on building Proper Good

    How do you break into a billion-dollar category controlled by just a handful of brands? Christopher Jane, co-founder and CEO of Proper Good, did it by taking the sleepy canned soup aisle head on.In this episode of Shelf Space, Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony sit down with Chris, a two-time CPG founder and Shark Tank alum, to unpack how Proper Good went from a direct-to-consumer startup launched during COVID to a national Walmart partnership, with no middle ground in between. Chris shares why he deliberately chose a “boring” category with massive TAM, how retailers came to him looking for a solution to a declining soup set, and why his first retail packaging failed on shelf even though the product itself was winning.We also get into the side of CPG that rarely gets airtime: the brutal working capital cycles, retailer deductions, a product-filled train derailing mid-order, and why one VC friend called CPG the only industry where you can do everything right and still lose. Chris breaks down how to pitch mass retailers with data instead of story, how to market inside Walmart’s everyday low price model, how to raise from angels and family offices without signing a bad deal, and the pre-mortem framework his team runs on nearly every big decision.In this episode: Why Chris picked a category owned by five brands instead of a crowded one with 600Going from DTC straight to Walmart nationwide after Shark TankThe packaging changes that turned a DTC pouch into a retail-ready productHow to drive sales in an EDLP retailer with no promos, displays or demosThe biggest mistakes founders make when pitching retail buyersWhat “hard” actually looks like in CPG, and the math behind scalingRaising capital the right way and avoiding the “fox in the hen house” investorThe pre-mortem: planning for failure before it happensWhat a good outcome looks like for Proper GoodIf you’re building a food, beverage or consumer brand and eyeing big-box retail, this one is packed with tactical, no-fluff lessons from a founder who has done it twice.Connect with Christopher Jane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisofthejane/Shop Proper Good: https://eatpropergood.com/Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link#ShelfSpace #ProperGood #CPG #SharkTank #Walmart #RetailStrategy #FoodStartup #FoundersPodcast #ConsumerBrands #Entrepreneurship

    From Shark Tank to Walmart Nationwide - Chris Jane on building Proper Good

  2. Oct 23

    From Hand-Labelled Cans to the UK’s #1 Independent RTD - Rob Wallis on Scaling Moth

    Moth started as little glass bottles made above a pub. Today it’s the UK’s largest independent RTD brand, the third biggest overall, and the name behind most of the margaritas drunk in the UK. In this episode of Shelf Space, Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony sit down with Rob Wallis, co-founder of Moth, to unpack how two friends in their mid-twenties went from pitching Waitrose for feedback on a product that didn’t exist yet, to landing 180 stores with three months to deliver, hand-labelling the first 30,000 cans themselves in the middle of COVID. Rob breaks down why Moth spent its entire first year with a single retailer, how they launched Tesco and Sainsbury’s within two weeks of each other (going from 200 to 2,000 stores), and why Tesco actually has more “Waitrose shoppers” than Waitrose. He also shares how they held the line on a £4+ price point when every buyer pushed back, and why competing with Diageo on quality beats competing on price.We also get into:• Bringing buyers into product development and why humility wins listings• The fine line between perseverance and annoyance in buyer outreach• How convenience went from half a million a year to half a million a month• Treating the US like 50 countries (and why California is bigger than Europe for RTD)•  Margaritas on draft and the role of on-trade as a brand-building engine• Raising £11M: why it’s the founder’s job, why it takes 9 to 12 months, and the “don’t be a dick” investor test• Balancing founder life with a newbornWhether you’re a CPG founder chasing your first grocery listing or scaling into new markets, this is a masterclass in building a premium brand without cutting corners on quality.Connect with Rob Wallis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/🍸-rob-wallis-162801113/Shop Moth: https://mothdrinks.com/Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link#ShelfSpace #MothDrinks #RTD #CannedCocktails #CPG #RetailStrategy #Waitrose #Tesco #BeverageBrand #FounderStory #Fundraising #ConsumerBrands #Podcast

    From Hand-Labelled Cans to the UK’s #1 Independent RTD - Rob Wallis on Scaling Moth

  3. Oct 15

    The Seltzer That Outgrew the Nelk Boys - Alex Isby on Happy Dad's Next Chapter

    What does it actually take to make a creator brand last longer than the hype? On this episode of ShelfSpace, Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony sit down with Alex Isby, Director of Product and Innovation at Happy Dad, the hard seltzer founded by the Nelk Boys in 2021. Alex left E. & J. Gallo, where he developed liquids for High Noon, after a coffee chat with a friend turned into a job offer within days. He joined a team of about eight people and was immediately sent to Memphis for the first Snoop Dogg Death Row Grape production run. Demand was exploding, but co-manufacturers kept pushing Happy Dad down the schedule for bigger customers. Alex breaks down how he and the team visited more than 70 co-manufacturers across the US to build a four-site network, why early-stage brands should start with a turnkey co-man to protect cash flow, and how combining raw material runs saves 10 to 15 cents per unit. He shares the real reason behind the fat can and low carbonation (hint: "claw throat"), why they removed electrolyte claims, and how the team tastes samples from every single batch tank. He also goes inside Happy Dad 2.0: moving from the Nelk Boys' gut instinct to scan data, the upcoming hard lemonade launch, and how they moved from idea to production in months when it would have taken two years at Gallo. Plus floods, lightning strikes, a CO2 force majeure, and why Happy Dad is still growing while the seltzer category shrinks.If you're building a beverage brand or working with co-manufacturers, this one is packed with operational lessons.Shop Happy Dad: https://happydad.com/Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link#ShelfSpace #HappyDad #NelkBoys #HardSeltzer #CPG #BeverageIndustry #CoManufacturing #SupplyChain #ProductInnovation #CreatorBrands #FoundersPodcast #BeverageBrands #Entrepreneurship

    The Seltzer That Outgrew the Nelk Boys - Alex Isby on Happy Dad's Next Chapter

  4. Oct 8

    Built and Sold in Five Years - Jon Sebastiani on KRAVE, selling to Hersey and Sonoma Brands

    How do you take a "gas station" snack, make it premium, and sell it to Hershey in just five years?On this episode of Shelf Space, Connor Macpherson sits down with Jon Sebastiani, founder of KRAVE Jerky and founder of Sonoma Brands Capital, the growth equity firm behind brands like Oats Overnight, Touchland and Beekeeper's Naturals.Jon grew up in his family's multi-generational wine business. While training for the 2009 New York City Marathon, he found a local butcher's jerky that changed how he thought about protein, and realized what was on store shelves was nowhere near premium. So he built KRAVE: whole muscle cuts, culinary flavors, no artificial junk, and a brand designed for a customer jerky had never spoken to.Jon breaks down how he validated the idea with a tiny test audience before spending big, how a first-of-its-kind Safeway deal took KRAVE from 200 stores to 2,000 doors, and how that data opened the door to Target, Walmart and Costco. He also gets honest about the hard parts: margins sinking to single digits, a supplier recall that put KRAVE in headlines from Hawaii to New York, and a bad batch so overcooked it was "like chewing a rock." Then it's the Hershey story, from an unsolicited "what's your number?" to a deal closed in a matter of months, and why Jon jumped back in as an investor. He shares the mistakes from Fund 1, Sonoma Brands' four-category thesis, their $10M to $50M revenue strike zone, and exactly what he looks for in a founder before writing a check.If you're building an early or mid-stage CPG brand, or getting ready to raise, this one's packed with lessons you can use right away.Connect with Jon Sebastiani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonsebastiani/Learn more about Sonoma Brands Capital: https://www.sonomabrands.com/Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link #ShelfSpace #CPG #KRAVE #JonSebastiani #SonomaBrands #Hershey #FoodAndBeverage #CPGFounders #RetailStrategy #Fundraising #ConsumerBrands #Entrepreneurship #StartupPodcast

    Built and Sold in Five Years - Jon Sebastiani on KRAVE, selling to Hersey and Sonoma Brands

  5. Oct 1

    Stolen Trucks, Broken Bottles, and a Billion-Dollar Vision - Jared Pobre on Caldera + Lab

    Most men's skincare brands buy an existing formula off the shelf and slap a label on it. Jared Pobre, founder and CEO of Caldera + Lab, did the opposite — and it cost him two extra years. In this episode, Jared breaks down how he validated a men's skincare brand using anonymous freelance consultants before telling a single person his real idea, why he chose to build a proprietary formula from scratch instead of buying an existing one, and why he ran a full third-party clinical trial before ever launching a product. He gets into the launch strategy behind Caldera + Lab's hero serum "The Good," how the brand found its real audience (men 40-60, not the twenty-somethings everyone else was chasing), and the years it took to actually crack paid ads on Meta. Jared also opens up about the expensive mistakes along the way — a beautiful but impractical glass bottle, an oversized web agency bill, and a full truck of inventory stolen right before Black Friday — plus how Caldera + Lab built an in-house team from scratch, hit a 70% repeat purchase rate, and is now closing in on $60 million in profitable revenue with a Nordstrom retail launch and a billion-dollar goal ahead. What we cover: Validating a business idea anonymously before committing to itWhy proprietary formulas take years longer than off-the-shelf ones — and why that's the pointRunning an actual third-party clinical trial before launchFinding your real customer (and ignoring the "obvious" demographic)What actually makes a winning Meta adThe CAC-to-LTV math that keeps a DTC brand aliveBuilding an in-house team without hiring "experienced" peopleThe expensive mistakes: bad packaging, an oversized agency, a stolen truck of inventoryWhat's next: Nordstrom, biotech ingredients, and a billion-dollar roadmap Connect with Jared Pobre: https://www.instagram.com/jaredpobre/Shop Caldera + Lab: https://calderalab.com/ Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/ Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link

    Stolen Trucks, Broken Bottles, and a Billion-Dollar Vision - Jared Pobre on Caldera + Lab

  6. Sep 22

    Building the Dyson of Drinking Water - Charlie Carlisle on Rorra's Vision

    Charlie Carlisle went from building and selling Love Your Melon, to spending his days reviewing 30 to 40 acquisition decks a week as a portfolio strategist at WIN Brands Group, to co-founding Rorra: a premium water filtration brand built on stainless steel and glass instead of the plastic the rest of the category leans on. In this episode, Charlie joins Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony to unpack how his co-founder's daughter's unexplained eczema turned into a two and a half year build process, why he canvassed 40 to 50 filter manufacturers before landing on the right partner, and how Rorra earned a relationship with Andrew Huberman's team. They also get into: Why the countertop water filter category hadn't been touched since the Berkey brand collapsedThe post-COVID shift in how consumers think about heavy metals, microplastics, and forever chemicalsWhy a premium hardware brand almost never does influencer seedingThe subscription economics behind Rorra's filter replenishment businessWhy Charlie thinks Rorra can become "the Dyson of water," expanding into hotels, gyms, offices, and airportsThe 10,000 person waitlist for Rorra's new filtered pitcher, launching this week Connect with Charlie Carlisle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-carlisle/Shop Rorra: https://rorra.com/ Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/ Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link

    Building the Dyson of Drinking Water - Charlie Carlisle on Rorra's Vision

  7. Sep 11

    The VC Behind Your Favorite Celebrity Brand - Scott Van den Berg on HotStart's Investment Thesis

    Everyone wants a celebrity co-founder. Almost nobody knows how to structure that deal without blowing up their company. Scott van den Berg is the founder of Hot Start (formerly Influencer Capital), a venture fund that exclusively invests in and builds brands with celebrities and creators. Before this, Scott worked at an investment bank helping European startups raise US capital, which is where he first started brokering equity deals between celebrities and consumer brands, years before "celebrity equity" became a buzzword.In this episode, Scott breaks down why fame is not a business model, why JLo's alcohol-free cocktail line collapsed while a creator with 2 million followers built a $40M hair care brand in her first year, and why the best celebrity brands are always product first, never celebrity first. We also get into: Why follower count means nothing without "authentic creator product fit"The real story behind Sasha Pieterse joining Hot Start and investing in HydrantWhy Hot Start's due diligence looks at product and team before it ever looks at the celebrityHow equity splits actually work, from ambassador deals to true co-foundersWhy "you need to date before you get married" when bringing a celebrity onto your cap tableWhy CPG celebrity brands cap out around a billion dollars, and why tech is the next frontierHot Start's first company already incubating with 20 creators on the cap table If you've ever wondered whether attaching a celebrity to your brand is genius or a trap, this one lays out exactly how the smartest operators in the space actually think about it. Connect with Scott van den Berg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Visit HotStart: https://hotstart.vc Listen to The HotStart VC Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5u8fxPrbmH0RjqhTv0ZDBG Subscribe to The Fame Game newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/ Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/ Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/ Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link

    The VC Behind Your Favorite Celebrity Brand - Scott Van den Berg on HotStart's Investment Thesis

  8. Sep 3

    From Gourmet Pies to Teen Skincare - Maree Glading on Building Evre. Skincare

    \Maree Glading has built two companies from nothing, sold one before she turned 40, and is now taking on the US beauty market all the way from New Zealand. In this episode of ShelfSpace, she sits down with Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony to unpack 28 years in CPG and the playbook behind it all.Maree launched her first business, gourmet pie company I Love Pie Co, with just $3,000 and a van that broke down so often the AA refused to keep towing it. She grew it into every supermarket in New Zealand, exported across Australia, Asia and China, expanded into better-for-you biscuits, and sold the business roughly eleven years later.Then came evre. (pronounced "Every"), a 100% natural skincare brand for teens and tweens, born when her 12-year-old daughter asked for a $100 moisturiser and Maree realised the market had nothing gentle, clean and actually made for young skin. Today evre. is in Whole Foods nationwide, and the story of how she got there is wild. She landed the yes without even pitching, watched it fall apart when the buyer got promoted, and came back a year later stronger with more SKUs on shelf.Inside the episode: The "three Ps" she runs every business on: passion, problem, purposeHer domino strategy for US retail: Grove and Thrive, to natural independents, to Sprouts, to Whole FoodsWhy she is deliberately saying no to Australia and to new customers right nowBuilding for two shoppers at once: the mum who pays and the teen who choosesFunding a capital-heavy brand mostly herself, and why a raise is still comingWords over goals: why "intentional" and "community" beat a resolution listThe tenacity it really takes to keep going when the money is slow and the knocks keep comingWhether you are building your first brand or scaling your next one, Maree's honesty about retail, funding, focus and staying power is the kind you rarely hear on the record.#evre #TeenSkincare #CPG #ConsumerGoods #WholeFoods #FounderStory #RetailStrategy #FMCG #BeautyBusiness #Entrepreneurship #NewZealandBusiness #ScalingBrands #ShelfSpace #PlusForty #PodcastConnect with Maree Glading: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mareeglading/Shop evre.: https://www.evreselfcare.com/Connect with Connor Macpherson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-retail/Connect with Luke Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-anthony-🍵-394052131/Powered by Plus Forty: http://plusforty.co/ Book a call with Plus Forty: https://calendly.com/d/cr89-stz-hcy/shared-booking-link

    From Gourmet Pies to Teen Skincare - Maree Glading on Building Evre. Skincare
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About

Conversations with CPG founders at the top of their game. Gathering unique insights and having impactful conversations to help guide the next generation of founders.

Information

  • Creator
    Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Connor Macpherson and Luke Anthony
  • Show Website
    Shelf Space