The situation
Advise two founders on go-to-market, brand, retail entry and the fundraising story as their functional mushroom brand moved into national retail.
Two founders, one finance person, a loyal direct-to-consumer following, and a category with no national leader on a grocery shelf, so no buyer had a sales history to underwrite.
To win the meeting before the pitch, by doing the retail buyer's analytical work for them; and then, as the placements came, an advisor who would let the company become what it actually was.
Open every retail conversation with the buyer's own adjacent-category data, cut for that chain; go to the national chains first so their sell-through became the proof for the next tier; build the fundraising story on the same evidence; and back the founders' read of the company over my own.
3,000-plus retail doors, and the number one item in its category at both Sprouts and Target.
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The decision and the reasoning
Why we did it this way, told first.
ReadWhat we did and what it produced
The work, decision by decision, and the result.
ReadA slice of the project list
A few related projects.
ReadPrivate side
The full report, the source files on record, the timeline and every figure with its source. Password.
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