Mark Samuel (IWON Organics) - Why His Entrepreneurial Journey Led Him to CPG, What’s Difficult About Scaling a Health Brand, Approach To New Sales Channels and Media

The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing I Brands

Our guest today is Mark Samuel, Founder & CEO of IWON Organics. IWON Organics snacks are delicious, high-protein, Non-GMO, gluten-free, plant-based snacks made from purely organic ingredients. This was a treat for me as I’ve been following Mark on LinkedIn for a long time and it was great to finally connect with him. We discussed his health journey and entrepreneur journey, why his road eventually led to CPG, what he thought about building a brand vs. what he knows now, how he thinks about new sales channels and growth and more.

We discuss:

1. When did you get serious about your health?
2. What attracted you to entrepreneurship?
3. How do you found IWON organics? What’s the problem that you’re attempting to solve?
4. What was your approach to creating the product?
5. How did you approach creating the supply chain?
6. How did you get into your first retail accounts?
7. What are the future areas of expansion, and what is the end game for them?
8. When did you start posting on LinkedIn and starting a podcast/Youtube channel?
9. How has your role evolved?
10. How do you think about how much capital to raise
11. What were some of the early mistakes you made in CPG?
12. How is CPG different to some of the other businesses you’ve founded?
13. How are you approaching today’s market?
14. What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one

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