Episode #551: Spoonful Founder Bradley Gifford Talks Healthy Food, Community, and Startup Lessons

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This is Pete Moore on Halo Talks NYC. I have the pleasure of

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bringing entrepreneur Bradley Gifford hailing from Dobro,

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which now is Downtown Brooklyn. He's gonna talk about his,

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pivot from being a, digital

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marketer to a, a healthy food

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provider to our halo sector. So, Bradley, welcome to the

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show. Pete, Tom, David, thank you very much for having

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me. You got it. So, so look, jump right

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in, here. You know, the best entrepreneurs are are ones

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that solve frustrations that they have for themselves.

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I grew up on a, healthy mix of

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Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes, Coco Pebbles,

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Honey Nut Cheerios. So I was satiated with a lot of sugar,

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back in the day. So, talk about some of your own issues that you had

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and say, hey. I gotta actually make this my full time job and,

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Yeah. And solve some of these problems. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean,

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that that childhood experience, like many of us share, is, I

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would say, the jumping off point for my health and fitness journey.

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Because when I was 12 years old, my pediatrician told me I

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had high blood pressure, and I would have hypertension before I was 30

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if I continued with the habits that, you know, I was

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kinda demonstrating. So as a division three athlete in college,

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that was really when I sort of hit a fork in the road and really

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decided to overhaul a lot of my habits and ended up fixing a

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lot of my ailments and on the way losing about 70 pounds. So you

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could say Wow. That was really the the kind of first step to my health

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and fitness journey and kind of fell in love with the space. And it's been

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a it's been a roll roller coaster of a ride ever since. Have

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you, had did you have to change your position

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in, in your sport of choice given you lose 70 pounds?

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Thankfully, I I didn't. I was I mean, I have I feel like pretty

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good feet and soft hands, so I was always on the on the bigger

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guard side from a skill set standpoint. So it actually allowed me to do my

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job a lot better. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. My passion

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is catching footballs, and I still have four years of

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eligibility at age 52. So I, I'll send you some

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videos of some, some catches I, used to make

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probably probably not not gonna get an NIL deal anytime

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soon. If Ohio State needs a walk on, then then I'll tell them who

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to call. Ohio State up and down. Where wherever I can find a spot,

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I'll go. But, you know, you you kinda talk,

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a lot in your, you know, in your bios here of, you know, like,

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the processed foods and the things that most kids are exposed to. Even some

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of the things that are healthy are really not healthy. I kinda wanna go

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after the people that determine what the serving sizes are

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of, of some of these snacks that you buy, you know, at the

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airport where you think you're buying, you know, a trail mix, but the trail mix

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has, you know, 10 serving sizes. And nobody folds that thing

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up nine times. So, you know, you get, like, a hundred grams of sugar,

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and you you kinda didn't even know it. So talk about something like the structural

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issues that we're fighting against, where we are kinda like in

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the you know, if we're looking at baseball, like, what inning are we in Mhmm.

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And actually educating people, and then the the path that you're taking to

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try and create change. No. Absolutely. You know, I think,

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you know, first off, to to call out kind of the

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access versus education kinda, I guess, barriers that there

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are for all of us. And some of that is by design.

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You know, you may live in a part of town where certain resources,

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whether it be a studio or better for you food or

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fresh produce and so on and so forth simply isn't available.

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And then there's also the simply just being misled, which

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many of us consumers are. And a lot of times, we

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end up finding solutions from trial and error and having to kind of

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bang our heads up against the wall for a while before we really find what

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works for us. But, you know, I think because of the long sort

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of winding road that has been the emergence of better for

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you brands and them kind of a lot of leaders or producers in the

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space kinda undoing a lot of the knots and kinda webs that were tied

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up by big codes that were making products purely for profit, not

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really with the consumer's needs in mind. I think we're we're in the fifth

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inning. I would say we're at this interesting sort of halfway point where

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you're seeing the rise in things like social fitness, the

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loneliness epidemic that's kinda being solved with the emergence of things

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like outdoor affinity groups, whether it be running or hiking or walking.

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But then you're also seeing the sober curious movement

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sort of bubble up as well, obviously. You know, we have athletic growing to thank

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for that. The advocacy around plant based living, whether it be

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for health or environmental reasons, and then

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simply, I think, all in all, the commodification of

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the healthy lifestyle is something that is uber aspirational

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and requires a massive, you know, financial commitment in order to be

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able to maintain. It's making a lot of us sort of lean on

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each other and I would say call on what our

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community leaders are providing to be able to make some of these

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resources or information just a bit more digestible

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for for lack of a better word. No pun intended. But to make it something

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that isn't seen as, just something that is a lifestyle

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for a specific group of people, but a lifestyle we can live

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by simply adopting a certain type of ideals as well as

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habits. You know, when you started the company and for everyone

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here, spoonful,uh,.life and started mostly with with

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breakfast, and and and oatmeal. You know, when

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entrepreneurs have a passion for for doing something, they feel like conviction and, hey.

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I'm gonna devote my life to this. Sometimes they don't say, like, hey. The there

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there's alternatives out there, and I could just buy these products.

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What was kind of the the the the inflection point or, like, the

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turning point for you to say, like, yeah. I might be able to go buy

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x y z brand, but, like, I wanna do it my way,

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and it solved frustrations for me. And I know that there are a lot of

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people similar to me, and therefore, I'm gonna be an entrepreneur, you know,

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in the food industry instead of base you know, basically just

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changing my habits and, you know, buying certain other brands that that

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might fulfill what I'm trying to fulfill. Definitely. So I

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first had the idea for Spoonful while I was still working at a

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gym called Dog Pound in New York City. So it was doing

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their Instagram and helping them build community and really

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cool partnerships, but, you know, noticed that our food and

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bev selection wasn't totally emblematic

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of the values around f and b that our customers

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would want. So I just started to kinda question why was

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there kinda seemingly this gap in product availability.

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And once we were able to bring some of these better for you things into

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the fold, seeing the branding and just simply the

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positioning and messaging that a lot of these brands were kinda taking on, and I

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felt like there's a lot more unhealthy people out there than people that

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are considered, you know, by the by the letter, you know, healthy.

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So if this is something that isn't totally working

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because the prevailing kind of sentiment that unhealthy people have

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around healthy food is it lacks taste, it lacks flavor, it lacks

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fun, and it takes a bit of the enjoyment out

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of food. So what about a brand

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can put a lot of those concerns at bay and offer something

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that is healthy, delicious, convenient, accessible,

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comprehensive without compromising on any of those things

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that make food enjoyable for us. And just as I started to

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kinda look around and started working more in the, I

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would say, like, the established brand space, I was actually working for Spartan

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at the time, taking on a contract, doing some

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content around the release of their first training shoe. And as I

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was in their office and they had this massive snack

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selection, but a lot of it was dry goods. There was some fresh

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fruit, but other than your apples, your oranges, your bananas,

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you had a lot of the like you just described earlier, the airport

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snacks. So I felt like even in this uber

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performance oriented kind of professional atmosphere,

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there isn't a lot of thought around freshness.

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So as I'm still, you know, enjoying the benefits of working in this,

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you know, great office space, I'm still bringing my food to work with

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me. So I felt like this is really something that

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clearly me as the performance person, as the gym head,

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found a lot of value in, but I felt like maybe I'm not seeing it

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from the right perspective because my worldview is a bit

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more narrow. But once I, you know, left working in a gym and was

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out in the corporate world and kinda saw this need in an even

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in an even deeper sense, I felt like, alright. Maybe there's

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something really, really here, and the trick is to tow this

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line from a positioning and a branding sense where you're able to appeal

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to a wide variety of consumers without compromising on any

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of the things that matter as a company. And that's really

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where your kind of magic can be found, and that's where Spoonful was

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born. This is

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Pete Moore. I wanna let you in on a little secret. There's this company

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called Promotion Vault, and what they do is they give out rewards from

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retailers that allow you to incentivize your members

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without having to do zero down and one month free or

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giving away shakes or giving away t shirts. What you wanna do is

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build a rewards program that lasts, that people value,

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and that doesn't discount your own products and services. So here's the deal.

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There's something called rewards vault. The rewards vault is going to

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allow a member to set up their own profile. They are going to

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answer questions. You are gonna get those answers. You're gonna be able to target

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those members, and you're gonna reward them inside your club,

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inside your spa, and outside of the club, and outside of the

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spa to get them to become loyal, to get them to pay their

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monthly dues, and to be rewarded properly for the

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actions. A lot of companies are cutting back on rewards. You shouldn't be.

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Promotion Vault's your answer. Trust me. This is real.

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I'm still shocked when I sometimes buy, like, a new protein bar or,

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like, a protein, like, Pop Tart that I'm trying to

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figure out. Did anyone taste test this thing before they they put it on the

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shelf? Because it's it's it dries your mouth up or just like

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I don't know whose taste buds it it actually appeals to.

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So I'm kinda shocked by that. Maybe they're actually not the user. They're just, like,

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the processor of it. It it it shocks me. I think I might be I

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might be that user to to shamefully admit. I mean, I'm

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one of the small percentage of people that I think if it helps me hit

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my nutrient my nutrition goals, then I'll eat something that

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tastes like dirt, or I'll eat something that may not be the best,

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but I don't wanna do it all the time. But you're absolutely right. Like, it

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it doesn't go far. It doesn't appeal to nearly as many

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people as I'm sure those brands will will want to. Yeah.

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So, you know, you started the company. You know, you started doing this kind of

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moonlighting to to an extent, now doing this full time. Yeah.

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Building a a a consumer brand, obviously, you know, it

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costs a lot of money, to market consumers. You know, you go grassroots. You

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guys are out of out of Brooklyn. Obviously, there's a lot of density, you know,

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in the tri state area that could build a business, you know, in and of

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itself, not necessarily, you know, needing to go nationwide.

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But what are some of the, maybe shortcuts or,

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you know, areas of, influence that you were able to get into

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that helped you validate, hey. I can actually put a decent amount

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of volume through, on Spoonful. And then, you

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know, what the percentage of people that, you know,

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wanna eat oatmeal and, you know, a lot of people don't eat breakfast

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now, might just have a cup of coffee. So so how did how did you

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kinda think about your entry point? Mhmm. And then how do you spend as

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as an early stage company, you know, your money wisely to get get the

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brand out there? Yeah. Yeah. No. Second part

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is amazing question. We could go go all day about it. But the

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first part is I thought about all

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the moments that I've been in between work and

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home, needed something fresh, and thought about where do

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I go buy those things. But to take it a step further, I

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thought about where can I go buy those things that my competition

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wouldn't be? Because I think about your

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coffee shops, your smoothie bar, your juice

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bar, some specialty grocers if they're, you know, niche

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enough. But I looked at places that had an amazing

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reputation in the community because I felt like I wanna

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be seen as favorably as the places that

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people go and buy my product are. And I'm able to

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achieve that through some sort of, you know, similar kind of association

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that doesn't really happen with grocery stores unless

230
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you're Erewhon, for example. But that loyalty

231
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to your bagel place, to your coffee shop, You go in

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there. You get the same thing. The people know who you are, and some of

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your identity or even your friendships might be

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cultivated or built around you frequenting this place of business.

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So I felt like because of who I knew would take to a product like

236
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Spoonful and just, you know, had a gut feeling, I looked

237
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at all the cafes that had that type of affinity in their

238
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community and then just looked at places that had very limited food and

239
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beverage selections. I thought it was going to be incredibly

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capital intensive to go into a

241
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grocery store shelf and do all the marketing and promotions

242
00:15:01,250 --> 00:15:05,010
and demoing around my product that I would have to do to get people to

243
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notice versus I can just drop this thing off, merchandise it

244
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thoughtfully, and it sells. And I was able to do that

245
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over and over and over again at a handful of places in New York and

246
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The Hamptons. And where I really felt like I found something was

247
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we launched in we launched in April of twenty

248
00:15:23,590 --> 00:15:27,190
twenty two, and I wanna say maybe in June, we got our first

249
00:15:27,190 --> 00:15:30,790
account in The Hamptons, and the place sold out of their first

250
00:15:30,790 --> 00:15:34,334
order in a day. And that place was actually

251
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charging, I wanna say, maybe 2 to $3 more per unit than any other

252
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place that was carrying spoonful at the time. So I felt like not

253
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only is the product selling because it's meeting a need for people,

254
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but it's also something that clearly when positioned right and sold in the right

255
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place, people are willing to pay far above the category average

256
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for. So I need to now find more places that

257
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validate that position as premium and be super selective

258
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about how we roll that out so people understand why

259
00:16:03,255 --> 00:16:07,095
we're different from, you know, the biggest competitor or the leader in our

260
00:16:07,095 --> 00:16:10,935
category, which is sold for $2 at every Whole Foods and Sprouts

261
00:16:10,935 --> 00:16:14,750
around the country. Can't compete with that. So had to stand out a different

262
00:16:15,130 --> 00:16:17,930
way. Yeah. You know, a lot of people I I used to work for a

263
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guy who said, you know, once you give up on once you give on

264
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price, you never get it back. So being a premium brand I

265
00:16:25,529 --> 00:16:29,075
can't And also Yes. Also also being local,

266
00:16:30,095 --> 00:16:33,615
how much do you think that matters? And if you think about, like, the

267
00:16:33,615 --> 00:16:37,375
beer industry Mhmm. Your craft beer industry, a lot of the craft

268
00:16:37,375 --> 00:16:41,000
beer brands are now owned by some of the larger

269
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,620
players because they couldn't really replicate that affinity

270
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,680
and that grassroots following. Some of them botched it.

271
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Some of them have have held true to it by not people not knowing.

272
00:16:52,505 --> 00:16:56,185
You know, it's owned by N. I. Bush or what have you. Yeah. How how

273
00:16:56,185 --> 00:16:59,565
important is that? And and how important as an entrepreneur,

274
00:17:00,665 --> 00:17:04,025
because a lot of people come up with business plans and they'll do marketing. You

275
00:17:04,025 --> 00:17:07,659
know, the fact that you, you know, Bradley walk in and you're like, yo,

276
00:17:07,659 --> 00:17:11,260
who's behind this brand? It's like me. Like, I'm the guy. Like, we're actually

277
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building a relationship. I'm not like you're not a vendor. You know,

278
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I'm like a partner. How do you kinda tow the line with that?

279
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And how important is, you know, face to face selling?

280
00:17:23,005 --> 00:17:26,605
In the early days, I would say for an emerging

281
00:17:26,605 --> 00:17:29,745
brand, it's everything. Yeah.

282
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Because it's great to be able to build up this base of

283
00:17:33,645 --> 00:17:37,390
business, pass it off to your distributor. And now when you walk into

284
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these places, people know you, people remember you, you have that

285
00:17:40,909 --> 00:17:44,750
equity, and you're able to ask for things. The thing that I

286
00:17:44,750 --> 00:17:48,289
had to get used to being a very antsy,

287
00:17:48,635 --> 00:17:52,395
you know, bootstrap company was, at the end of the day, even though people

288
00:17:52,395 --> 00:17:55,935
are buying a finished product, it's still all about relationships.

289
00:17:56,635 --> 00:18:00,475
Yep. So going into Fairway on the Upper West Side and getting

290
00:18:00,475 --> 00:18:04,250
to know the category managers, getting to know the people that stock the product,

291
00:18:04,250 --> 00:18:07,850
getting to know the people that are most closest to your

292
00:18:07,850 --> 00:18:11,610
product before it gets to the consumer, I felt like, a, they would be able

293
00:18:11,610 --> 00:18:14,570
to tell me a lot of useful things that I may not be able to

294
00:18:14,570 --> 00:18:18,005
find out on an industry blog or on a podcast,

295
00:18:18,145 --> 00:18:21,605
but from somebody that's really in it doing it every day.

296
00:18:21,905 --> 00:18:25,345
But then, you know, also realizing when something goes

297
00:18:25,345 --> 00:18:29,185
wrong, it's a pretty tough conversation to have with somebody when you

298
00:18:29,185 --> 00:18:32,799
walk into their store and say, this is messed up and we gotta fix

299
00:18:32,799 --> 00:18:36,179
it, and that's the first time you're meeting them. Yeah. Yeah.

300
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,919
So so to be able to have that rapport with somebody before you

301
00:18:39,919 --> 00:18:43,575
go in and ask for favors or in spoonful's case,

302
00:18:43,735 --> 00:18:47,414
we do a lot of community events, so we do different outreach whether we

303
00:18:47,414 --> 00:18:51,095
partner with a run crew or we host a meditation or we wanna do a

304
00:18:51,095 --> 00:18:54,774
meetup for founders, knowing that I'm bringing this kinda

305
00:18:54,774 --> 00:18:58,530
added layer of value to your establishment other than, hey. I got this

306
00:18:58,530 --> 00:19:02,370
product. I gotta make money. Sell it. But, hey. I really care

307
00:19:02,370 --> 00:19:06,130
about being in your store. We're only choosing to

308
00:19:06,130 --> 00:19:09,350
be in a handful of places right now, and you really fit that criteria.

309
00:19:09,970 --> 00:19:13,270
And I'm willing to invest by making sure

310
00:19:13,665 --> 00:19:17,285
everybody in my community knows that you can buy a spoonful here.

311
00:19:17,505 --> 00:19:21,345
And there's not many places in the entire city that I'm gonna be able to

312
00:19:21,345 --> 00:19:25,105
say that about. So I think investing in that and I wouldn't

313
00:19:25,105 --> 00:19:28,600
say making them feel special, but making them feel like the relationship

314
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,280
matters to you and the business. Mhmm. You know, as you look

315
00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,880
at, expanding your team and bringing on

316
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,179
salespeople, I feel like there's there's a culture of,

317
00:19:39,799 --> 00:19:42,934
you know, oh, I sent a text message. Oh, I sent an email. You know,

318
00:19:42,934 --> 00:19:46,635
I'm all for There's all about that. This person's name? Do you know, like,

319
00:19:46,695 --> 00:19:49,335
do you know how to sell? Do you know how to build a relationship? You

320
00:19:49,335 --> 00:19:53,095
know? And if you're taking my product or my service and you're you're taking

321
00:19:53,095 --> 00:19:56,795
it off of your menu, you know, you're breaking up with me. Right? Because

322
00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,660
because I I know I'm fulfilling a good product, and and you're basically, like,

323
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,720
you know, trying to save, like, 25 or 50¢. Like, that's not what

324
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,320
it's all about here. Are you finding the people that you

325
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,100
wanna find, or how hard is it to find people that are passionate

326
00:20:12,544 --> 00:20:15,985
that also could kinda that that are aggressive, but not

327
00:20:15,985 --> 00:20:19,044
annoyingly aggressive, but are relationally

328
00:20:19,345 --> 00:20:23,105
aggressive, I guess, is a term that I just made up. I like

329
00:20:23,105 --> 00:20:26,909
that. I like that. Those people have

330
00:20:26,909 --> 00:20:30,750
found me. Nice. One of the, good

331
00:20:30,750 --> 00:20:34,429
piece of advice that I got from a gentleman by the name

332
00:20:34,429 --> 00:20:38,270
of Jeff Hoffman. He's a cofounder of Priceline. He

333
00:20:38,270 --> 00:20:41,685
said, with when it comes to finding and

334
00:20:41,685 --> 00:20:45,525
hiring good talent, anybody you want is already gonna

335
00:20:45,525 --> 00:20:49,285
have another job. So what are you going to do,

336
00:20:49,285 --> 00:20:53,045
whether it's directly or indirectly, to create something

337
00:20:53,045 --> 00:20:56,690
and facilitate a relationship where that person feels like

338
00:20:56,690 --> 00:21:00,470
this is so worth it, or I believe in this thing so much, I'm willing

339
00:21:00,930 --> 00:21:04,530
to let go of my current position to explore this new

340
00:21:04,530 --> 00:21:08,130
opportunity. And my mind has always been on making

341
00:21:08,130 --> 00:21:11,495
sure that I'm building that to the best of my ability.

342
00:21:12,115 --> 00:21:15,955
And I've heard from other founders, and, you know, Jeff kinda validated

343
00:21:15,955 --> 00:21:19,794
it with me as well. But if you do that continuously and own

344
00:21:19,794 --> 00:21:23,315
that, the people will come to you simply saying, well, how can I

345
00:21:23,315 --> 00:21:27,040
help? I believe in this thing. I love what you're doing. I've seen you over

346
00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,800
here in this place or that place. My friends talk about you. I've tried the

347
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,480
product, and I think it tastes great. Are you hiring? What do you need? How

348
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,180
can I help? And those are the best kind of relationships

349
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,365
because there are people that, like you said, are, you

350
00:21:42,365 --> 00:21:45,585
know, relationally relation relationally aggressive.

351
00:21:46,125 --> 00:21:49,645
But it's a good kinda hunger where I feel like I'm able to

352
00:21:49,645 --> 00:21:53,420
empower this person with all the technical things, and I don't have to worry

353
00:21:53,420 --> 00:21:57,100
too much about motivating them, teaching them, making

354
00:21:57,100 --> 00:22:00,700
them, you know, look around corners or find the things that really make their job

355
00:22:00,700 --> 00:22:04,380
worthwhile and have the highest impact for the company. All of that stuff kinda

356
00:22:04,380 --> 00:22:07,865
comes naturally, and I'm able to just be more of a, you know,

357
00:22:07,865 --> 00:22:11,305
technical guardrails around processes and just sharing

358
00:22:11,305 --> 00:22:13,645
information and keeping everybody up to speed.

359
00:22:16,505 --> 00:22:20,045
This is Pete Moore. Here's the last tip for you of the podcast.

360
00:22:20,630 --> 00:22:24,470
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368
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376
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377
00:23:27,095 --> 00:23:30,055
You know, when you take a look at any business, whether it's a food or

378
00:23:30,055 --> 00:23:33,835
whether it's a beverage that are going into, you know, small establishments,

379
00:23:34,935 --> 00:23:38,615
and I've I've invested in some companies, I've looked to invest, and there's

380
00:23:38,615 --> 00:23:42,340
always just, like, working capital, you know, wall that you have to climb.

381
00:23:42,340 --> 00:23:46,040
Yeah. You know, given given your background as a

382
00:23:46,260 --> 00:23:49,940
as an entrepreneur, have you found a lot of either, you

383
00:23:49,940 --> 00:23:53,300
know, inventory based lending? Have you found

384
00:23:53,300 --> 00:23:56,825
investors that are saying, hey. I'll help you kinda bridge that

385
00:23:56,825 --> 00:24:00,664
working capital, wall and and that, you know, basically,

386
00:24:00,664 --> 00:24:03,625
that timing of of when you get paid and how much product you have out

387
00:24:03,625 --> 00:24:07,060
there? And and how how do you feel about the current

388
00:24:07,060 --> 00:24:10,180
environment? There's a there's a lot of groups out there that say, hey. We're, you

389
00:24:10,180 --> 00:24:14,020
know, we're here. We're gonna work with, you know, strong, you

390
00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:17,860
know, growth companies in in CPG. And then

391
00:24:17,860 --> 00:24:21,295
when you get down to the terms, it's like, you know, is did is there

392
00:24:21,295 --> 00:24:25,135
a was there is this a typo? You know, either in, like, you

393
00:24:25,135 --> 00:24:28,975
know, the interest rate or, you know, the payback schedule or, you know, if

394
00:24:28,975 --> 00:24:32,735
I take this money, I'm not even sure if my margin, you know, could cover

395
00:24:32,735 --> 00:24:36,580
the the the capital cost. Right. So how have you have you been

396
00:24:36,580 --> 00:24:39,780
able to overcome that? Or, you know, is it do you see any,

397
00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:43,940
other people that understand, like, hey. I might I need to help you bridge this.

398
00:24:43,940 --> 00:24:47,140
And once I get to a certain level, you know, kind of the working capital

399
00:24:47,140 --> 00:24:50,975
engine kinda will feed itself. Yeah. We so we've been

400
00:24:50,975 --> 00:24:54,655
a % bootstrapped to date. We recently closed

401
00:24:54,655 --> 00:24:58,255
on investment from Pharrell Williams and the

402
00:24:58,255 --> 00:25:01,695
owners of the Brooklyn Nets. So, a really kinda

403
00:25:01,695 --> 00:25:05,390
fortunate breakthrough for us there. So we won't be bootstrapped for too much

404
00:25:05,390 --> 00:25:08,610
longer. But to this point, I

405
00:25:09,390 --> 00:25:13,230
haven't been able to actually secure a lot of, I guess, loans, you

406
00:25:13,230 --> 00:25:17,070
could say, or inventory financing purely because we

407
00:25:17,070 --> 00:25:20,775
just haven't made enough revenue. And it's almost been a chicken

408
00:25:20,775 --> 00:25:23,975
or the egg where you say, well, I need money to make more rev make

409
00:25:23,975 --> 00:25:27,655
more inventory so I can sell and make more revenue, and then I'll be at

410
00:25:27,655 --> 00:25:31,410
the benchmark. But you have to find you know, kinda find a way. And,

411
00:25:31,650 --> 00:25:35,490
thankfully, I've leaned on my network for

412
00:25:35,490 --> 00:25:39,170
little bridges here and there, but I've also been lucky

413
00:25:39,170 --> 00:25:42,690
enough to you know, because of our b two b kind of focus, we've been

414
00:25:42,690 --> 00:25:46,424
able to have a bit more, I think, recurring revenue than a

415
00:25:46,424 --> 00:25:50,205
retail business might because I know that every week,

416
00:25:50,825 --> 00:25:54,424
these 24 offices are buying x amount of cases from

417
00:25:54,424 --> 00:25:58,265
me. So that recurring revenue is something that, as an

418
00:25:58,265 --> 00:26:02,040
emerging brand, I definitely kind of encourage some founders to go after and

419
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,800
look at because, like you said, grocery stores really don't

420
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,560
have an incentive to keep you on. It's purely about margins

421
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,205
and relationship, but the office manager that you know,

422
00:26:13,205 --> 00:26:16,725
everybody in BCG or, Conde Nast,

423
00:26:16,725 --> 00:26:20,265
everybody loves Spoonful. She might be a little more reluctant

424
00:26:20,965 --> 00:26:24,025
to totally ax the budget on breakfast

425
00:26:24,645 --> 00:26:28,050
knowing what the employees might say and the way people might ask about it.

426
00:26:28,290 --> 00:26:31,970
So even if it's a right sizing of a budget or a, you know,

427
00:26:31,970 --> 00:26:35,650
slight reduction in that revenue, it's not a total pulling the

428
00:26:35,650 --> 00:26:39,490
rug out from underneath us. So our business model has definitely allowed us to

429
00:26:39,490 --> 00:26:43,044
have a bit more cash flow that kinda steadily comes in,

430
00:26:43,184 --> 00:26:46,544
but we've definitely had to sacrifice on scale to be

431
00:26:46,544 --> 00:26:50,164
bootstrapped and simply just pass up on a lot of opportunities

432
00:26:50,384 --> 00:26:54,090
to get a new doors because of everything you described in terms of

433
00:26:54,250 --> 00:26:57,549
whether it be the payback schedule, the lack of manpower

434
00:26:57,770 --> 00:27:01,610
to think if we go into this account, do we have the boots on the

435
00:27:01,610 --> 00:27:05,370
ground to guarantee that velocity and ensure that sell through? If we

436
00:27:05,370 --> 00:27:09,195
don't, how much is it gonna cost? Can we afford it? And if not, then

437
00:27:09,495 --> 00:27:12,955
it's just gonna have to be a thank you. I really appreciate it.

438
00:27:13,495 --> 00:27:17,254
Not right now, and let's keep the line open. And when we're ready, we would

439
00:27:17,254 --> 00:27:20,890
love to circle back and see what we can do. So I think it's

440
00:27:20,890 --> 00:27:24,270
required a lot of discipline and kind of rigor,

441
00:27:24,650 --> 00:27:28,330
but I think it's put us in a really good place to really just go

442
00:27:28,330 --> 00:27:32,090
after things that we know will work, things that we know will

443
00:27:32,090 --> 00:27:35,625
provide value to our customer, things that are positive for our

444
00:27:35,625 --> 00:27:39,305
margins that aren't too cost intensive, and it allows us

445
00:27:39,305 --> 00:27:42,665
to continue to tell our story and kind of fortify our

446
00:27:42,665 --> 00:27:46,380
position. And those are the kind of filters that we've run through

447
00:27:46,620 --> 00:27:50,460
aside from how many doors can this bring us in or what's the size of

448
00:27:50,460 --> 00:27:54,140
this PO and a lot of other things that maybe top line get founders

449
00:27:54,140 --> 00:27:57,980
super excited. But then six months from then, we kinda look up and

450
00:27:57,980 --> 00:28:01,580
say, shit. Was this was this the rest of the idea? Yeah.

451
00:28:01,580 --> 00:28:05,155
Yeah. Well, Well, congrats on what you built. Sounds like you've done it

452
00:28:05,155 --> 00:28:08,695
very methodically. I love the idea of going into these places

453
00:28:08,755 --> 00:28:12,595
that, you know, you frequent and, that, you know,

454
00:28:12,595 --> 00:28:15,815
wanna feel like they've got some, you know, pseudo exclusivity,

455
00:28:16,515 --> 00:28:20,350
if you will. And when this podcast launches, we'll do a we'll do a big

456
00:28:20,350 --> 00:28:24,110
pitch to, to some of the office, you know, the building

457
00:28:24,110 --> 00:28:27,710
managers and the, and and the companies that you know about this and try and

458
00:28:27,710 --> 00:28:31,485
get you Thank you. Some more distribution. And, you know, before you do

459
00:28:31,485 --> 00:28:35,245
any deals with any health clubs, or cafes, let's, you know,

460
00:28:35,245 --> 00:28:38,465
ping me, please. I'll tell you if that's a good idea or not.

461
00:28:38,845 --> 00:28:42,285
Sometimes they they say that they could provide more volume than they actually can.

462
00:28:42,285 --> 00:28:45,805
We'll we'll we'll sidebar about of our recommendations. I appreciate

463
00:28:45,805 --> 00:28:49,650
it. And we use this term halo, health active lifestyle outdoors. We're trying to solve

464
00:28:49,650 --> 00:28:53,490
loneliness, obesity, and diabetes. And a big big portion of that is,

465
00:28:53,490 --> 00:28:56,450
you know, what you put in your body, you know, what time of day, and

466
00:28:56,450 --> 00:29:00,290
at at what, what portion control. So great to have you on, man.

467
00:29:00,290 --> 00:29:03,955
Glad we met. Dave Ganel, and thanks for making this happen. Thank you.

468
00:29:03,955 --> 00:29:07,795
And, we could definitely we definitely talk for hours, and let's,

469
00:29:07,955 --> 00:29:11,315
let's plan to get together in, in person at some point. We'll we'll have to

470
00:29:11,315 --> 00:29:14,375
sit down in person and and dive into it a bit more, I think. Awesome.

471
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,960
Alright, man. We'll keep doing you good things and, this affects a lot of people

472
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,400
probably more than you know. So congrats on what you built and,

473
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,560
love a good entrepreneurial story where, you know, you kinda kinda

474
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,600
know the road that you have to be on and that you don't deviate from

475
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,355
it. So some of the the best decisions are the ones you don't

476
00:29:32,415 --> 00:29:35,295
jump into. I've done a lot of deals where you take on accounts and you're

477
00:29:35,295 --> 00:29:38,815
like, oh, if I got the Gold's Gym brand, you know, everything's gonna work out

478
00:29:38,815 --> 00:29:42,434
and then you realize, like, it's not profitable and it's efficient license.

479
00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:47,140
And, you know, you stay on the right path and, don't make mistakes,

480
00:29:47,140 --> 00:29:50,260
you're you end up in a good place. So congrats, man. Good stuff. Glad to

481
00:29:50,260 --> 00:29:54,100
meet you. I appreciate it. Likewise. Hopefully, I'll see you guys soon. You

482
00:29:54,100 --> 00:29:57,000
got it. Alright, bud. Thank you. Spoonful.life.