Yanni Hufnagel (Lemon Perfect) - Why He Left Basketball To Founding a Lemon Water Company, Getting Beyoncé to Invest, and How He Scaled Distribution Nationally

Thank you CJ Fowler for the introduction to our guest today, Yanni Hufnagel, Founder & CEO of Lemon Perfect. Lemon Perfect is a super-refreshing, full-flavored, hydrating lemon water with no sugar, artificial flavors, or sweeteners.Some of the questions I ask Yanni:Why did you become a coach?Why did you leave college basketball to found Lemon Perfect? What was the insight that led you?How did you think about the hydration category?What was your first steps when you started Lemon Perfect?How did you think about testing?Curious as to how their omnichannel strategy started, evolved(lessons learned), and what next steps areHow Beyonce drinking their product has helped them grow, did it help get into retailers?And more generally, his thoughts on working and taking money from celebrities.How did you get into retail?Moving forward what will be the best avenues to pursue for sampling ?What’s the biggest change from your role going from early stage to growth stageWhat was the most surprising part in CPG since you were an outsider?How has college basketball helped shape you?How did you approach raising capital? How big do you want to go?Why did you go to recycled plastic? How do you think about margins?***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000. Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.

Om Podcasten

The Consumer VC takes a look into early-stage consumer investing and venture capital. If you are interested in learning about consumer trends, have a b2c business and interested in learning about the fundraising process at the early stage, you have come to the right place. Mike interviews some of the top venture capitalists in the world that focus on B2C and consumer type companies or have a deep track record investing in these categories such as marketplaces, SaaS, social, CPG and non-tech subscription. Mike also interviews founders that are building some of the most disruptive consumer facing companies in the world. The conversation usually includes the insight the founder discovered, fundraising strategy, and the pitch. This podcast also includes bonus episodes. Each bonus episode dives into a particular subject that might not have to due with the fundraise or venture capital, but still would be helpful to founders. For example, a bonus episode on brand strategy or how to construct a board of directors. All bonus episodes will be clearly labeled. For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.com. For updates, you can follow @mikegelb on Twitter.