Tips for Navigating Entrepreneurial Journeys in CPG

The 7 brutal habits of highly successful CPG founders (Spoiler: It’s not what the business books tell you.) Over 20 years in CPG, I’ve seen what separates the walking dead from the winners. The difference? They master the unglamorous stuff. 1) They model trade spend and deductions first, revenue second Most founders celebrate the $50K PO. Winners plan for the $5K–$10K+ that will be netted out via trade spend, fees, and deductions, and price and budget accordingly. They build it into the P&L from day one. 2) They kill their darlings before the market does That SKU you love but isn’t moving? They set a clear velocity hurdle and make a call within weeks, not quarters... rework it or retire it. No emotion. Just math. 3) They visit stores more than they visit Instagram Weekly store walks. Real conversations with staff. Watching shoppers ignore their product. They fix what they see: mispriced tags, missing facings, empty pegs, dead displays. The truth lives on the shelf, not in your feed. 4) They say no to big retailers (at first) They don’t chase a national rollout before they own 10 local stores. Deep before wide. Velocity before vanity. Big accounts come with expectations (promos, fees, flawless execution) that can drain cash and get you delisted if you’re not ready. 5) They treat cash like oxygen Not “runway until next raise,” but “days until we suffocate.” They know their cash conversion cycle and burn to the penny. Daily. 6) They systematize the boring stuff early Ops. Inventory. Trade & deduction tracking. They install lightweight SOPs and tools when they’re small, so growth doesn’t break them later. Their future self says thanks. 7) They stay paranoid when winning Good velocity? They ask what’s about to break. Growing fast? They stress‑test the P&L. Success makes them more careful, not less. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: - None of this is sexy. - None of this makes good LinkedIn content. - None of this gets you featured in Forbes. But it keeps you alive. My skincare brand had the mission. The clean ingredients. The customer testimonials that made me cry. What I didn’t have? These 7 habits. It cost me everything. The founders who last aren’t the smartest or most funded. They’re the ones who do the uncomfortable work before it’s required. Every. Single. Day. 👇 Which habit hits closest to home, or which one saved your brand? ♻️ Repost if you know a founder who needs this reality check.

Getting onto the shelf is a vanity metric. Most founders celebrate the "Yes" from a buyer, but they don't realize they've just signed an expensive rental agreement. The operational reality of CPG isn't what people think: Post-Purchase Risk: You think a sale to a distributor is final. It’s not. If the product doesn’t move, you’re often carrying the liability for the dead inventory. Invisible Labor: Retailers don't always stock your product. You often have to fund the displays, the materials, and the people to physically put the bags on the hooks. The Promo Trap: Those "2 for $6.00" tags? The brand usually funds that discount and pays a fee to the retailer just for the privilege of running the deal. The grocery aisle isn't a gallery for your brand story; it’s a high-stakes rental market. Stop pitching your "clean ingredients" or your "category disruption." Buyers don’t want a story. They want proof of performance. Once I stopped selling Rotten and started selling impact – velocity, incrementality, and category growth – our close rate shifted. If you aren't prepared to be the merchandiser, the marketer, and the insurance policy for the store, you’ve already lost.

I wasted years as a Founder in CPG chasing the wrong milestones. Doors, dollars, and design. None of them mattered as much as I thought. I thought winning in CPG meant: – getting into Whole Foods – landing investors – and showing up at Expo with a booth that looked legit. I was wrong - all great but not the right measuring stick. 3 harsh truths I learned the hard way: 1) Retail doesn’t fix product-market fit. I used to think more doors = more validation. Then I realized velocity tells the real story. If the product isn’t pulling, distribution just scales the problem. 2) Funding doesn’t fix fundamentals. Every founder believes a cash infusion will solve their pain. But if you don’t have pricing discipline, supply chain reliability, or a margin that works — you’re just fueling a fire you can’t control. 3) Brand doesn’t beat execution. You can have the best story, packaging, and social media in the world. If you can’t ship on time, hit margin, and communicate clearly — it all collapses. None of these are fun to learn. But they separate the founders who build businesses from the ones who just build buzz. You don’t need to be perfect — just brutally honest with yourself. I may be wrong. But I doubt it.

If you're in the beverage industry read this 👇 Landing a distributor? Not a win 🛑 Getting on shelf? Not a win 🛑 Your first sale? Not a win 🛑 Because up to 90% of CPG brands don’t make it past the first two years. And for new beverage brands, failure rates are even steeper - 95% crash and burn. Why? Because repeat purchase is the only measurement of product-market fit. That second sip is the only signal that your brand matters. Until that happens, you're spinning your wheels—burning cash on one‑offs, not building real momentum. So pivot your focus: Data‑track second‑purchase rate like your life depends on it ✅ Optimize packaging, pricing, placement for velocity - not just presence ✅ Double down only where repeat purchases exist ✅ Stop celebrating vanity metrics. Flashy launches mean nothing if they don't stick. Measure, drive, repeat. That’s how you stay on the side of success - and build a brand that lasts.

In the past 14 months, I've worked with 12 different brands in the Food, Bev and Supplements category (pre-revenue to 9 figs). Here's my honest advice for anyone thinking of entering this space in 2025+: 1) It is not a part-time job; even if you hire people to 'run it' for you, you still need to lean in hard as the figurehead of the brand. 2) It's never been easier to launch a product or brand; it also means it's never been easier to be ignored. Don't count on product features or ingredients to be your silver bullet. That's no longer enough. You need to drive AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action). You build that with sweat equity/talent, or prepare to spend to buy it. Or as Will Nitze likes to say, build your defensible moat. 4) If you are just starting out, please please please don't blow your entire budget on pre-launch activities (ie: inventory, branding, site build, etc.). Most of that will likely change based on market feedback. Upfront research may help, but nothing is like real customer feedback. 5) Have at least 6 months of runway (or longer) to promote your product after. Budget $5-7K a month to start - and more if you need people to run it for you. Caveat: if you are great at driving awareness and exposure pre-launch, like Jay Williams or Mark A. Samuel, this cost can come down to start. 6) Be mentally prepared to stomach the ride. It will test every aspect of your resilience, ego, and intellect. It’s not for the faint of heart, but having the right mindset and preparation in place makes a big difference.   CPG is and always will be a tough space. Those who are in it like the pressure and don’t (usually) do it for the money ( tech and finance are better for that). CGP folks are obsessed with people, love to build, and problem solve (we get to practice that a lot 💆♀️). Here are some heavy hitters I learned (and continue to learn) from: Niraj Dawar - My brand professor at Uni, who first exposed me to this world Graham Robertson - I go to his book when I lose my way Mark Ritson - International brand marketing master Mats Georgson, Ph.D. - If you still don't get it, grandma will beat it into you ✌ Follow for more CPG tales, big and small.  DM if you want to know if you are paying too much for marketing things

Three hard-earned, non-traditional lessons from scaling a CPG brand: 1/ Stop bragging about how many stores you’re in Store count is a vanity metric. Velocity is the scoreboard. If you’re in 1,000 stores doing 1 unit per week, you don’t have a distribution win. You have a slow death. Early on, I chased doors. It cost us. Focus on winning one store at a time. Crush velocity. Make buyers reorder because they have to — not because you pitched them well. Distribution follows performance. 2/ This industry is smaller than you think That person you trashed at a tradeshow? Two years later they might be the buyer reviewing your line sheet. This business is tight. Word travels. Take the high road. Always. Your reputation compounds — for you or against you. 3/ There’s a fine line between genius and insanity When we launched in a pouch, veterans told me it would never work. Now people call it brilliant. The difference? We figured out how to manufacture it at scale. If your “innovation” only works in a commercial kitchen but collapses in real production… that’s not genius. That’s a hobby. Ignore the noise. But pressure-test your idea against scale early. Can it run on real equipment? Can it hit margin? Can it survive 100,000 units a day? Are you reliant on only 1 co-packer? If not, fix that before you fall in love with it. #cpg #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship

Thinking of starting a business? Here’s where I’d begin, before spending a single dollar: 1️⃣ 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀. Not your friends or other founders. The people who would actually pay. What frustrates them? What are they already trying? What would make them pull out a credit card? 2️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲. Read the trade pubs (and substacks). Listen to podcasts. Watch founders’ BTS. For better or worse, you can now learn a lot about an industry from watching TikToks. (My fav CPG nuggets: Business of Drinks, Express Checkout, Snaxshot, Ramping your Brand by Dr. James Richardson, Grow to Market) 3️⃣ 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗼. What’s the fastest, cheapest way to see if this matters? Maybe it’s a landing page and a few targeted ads. Maybe it’s Reddit threads. Maybe it’s DMing 50 strangers. Before you build it, ask: Will anyone pay for this? 4️⃣ 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺. Warm intros beat cold decks. Founder groups accelerate learning. Mentors compress years into minutes. (If you’re in CPG: Myca Collective, Startup CPG, Naturally Network !!) 5️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮. Credibility compounds. Help out at adjacent companies. Do an externship. Write. Teach. Share. Ideas pivot, but reputations stick. Anything you’d add?

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀. → 80% of CPG launches fail within 2 years. → The shelf doesn't forgive guesswork. → Friction to purchase? Never mapped. → Most never tested with consumers. Every innovation director is asking: "How do we speed to market?" ↳ Wrong question. Ask: Did we validate before we built? ↳ Speed without research is expensive failure. ↳ The brands that win do two things religiously. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟮 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵��𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 ↳ Test product experience. Test concept relevance. ↳ Ensure retail channel fit. Each channel has rules. ↳ Identify roadblocks: price, packaging, positioning. ↳ Validate category incrementality. Does it add value? ↳ Coca-Cola, P&G, and Unilever don't guess. They validate. 𝟮. 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 ↳ Zero Moment of Truth: Are you discoverable online? ↳ First Moment: Shelf presence, packaging clarity, price-pack. ↳ Second Moment: Does the product deliver on promise? ↳ Ultimate Moment: Does experience trigger advocacy? ↳ Every friction point is a lost sale. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂: → Consumers don't see themselves using it? Dead. → Packaging confuses at shelf? Dead. → No category incrementality? Lost in noise. → Wrong channel strategy? Wrong consumer. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: First: Validate before you build. ↳ Consumer testing is non-negotiable. ↳ Every insight rigorously tested. Second: Map every Moment of Truth. ↳ Search, shelf, usage, advocacy. ↳ Own every touchpoint or lose to someone who does. Third: Kill the "rush to market" mentality. ↳ Slow validation beats fast failure. ↳ The shelf punishes arrogance. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵: Startups celebrate speed. CPG winners celebrate discipline. Validate before launch. Obsess after launch. That's not slow. That's smart. Skip the fundamentals. Join the 80% that fail. ___________ 👋 Hi, I am Filiberto. Follow me for sharper FMCG insights. 📖 Like this post? You are going to love my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dFwbrjwG