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Speaker 1: For Denise Woodard, her journey into entrepreneurship started with every

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Speaker 1: parent's worst nightmare.

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Speaker 2: It was a Wednesday afternoon. I was on a conference call.

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Speaker 2: Our nanny, Martha, gave Vivi the snack with just two ingredients.

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Speaker 2: As soon as she started to eat it, her lips

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Speaker 2: started to swell up, her tongue started to swell up.

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Speaker 3: She started to.

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Speaker 2: Turn blue in our living room. I hear Martha scream

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Speaker 2: from my home office and I immediately run out and

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Speaker 2: I see she's like swelling up like a balloon right

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Speaker 2: in front of my eyes and clearly couldn't breathe. I

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Speaker 2: thought my daughter was going to die.

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Speaker 1: This is the Unshakables and I'm Ben Walter, CEO of

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Speaker 1: Chase for Business, and.

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Speaker 3: I'm Tanya Nepo, a lawyer and consultant for business owners.

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Speaker 1: On the Unshakables, we're sharing the daring stories of small

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Speaker 1: business owners facing their crisis points and telling the stories

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Speaker 1: of how they got through it. Hi, Tanya, Hey Ben Tanya.

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Speaker 1: This episode is a one especially for anyone interested in

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Speaker 1: raising some serious capital for the company. Today, we have

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Speaker 1: the story of Denise Woodard, who, after receiving eighty six

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Speaker 1: knows from investors has raised over twenty three million dollars in.

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Speaker 3: Capital twenty three million. Huh. I can't wait to hear

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Speaker 3: this one.

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Speaker 1: On today's episode Partake Foods out of Los Angeles, California.

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Speaker 1: So many small businesses are family businesses, and for Denise Woodard,

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Speaker 1: founder and CEO of Partake Foods, her family, specifically her

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Speaker 1: daughter Vivi, was the whole reason she started a company

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Speaker 1: in the first place.

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Speaker 2: When Vivi was around eight months old, her first Thanksgiving,

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Speaker 2: she had a dish that had baked egg in it,

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Speaker 2: and she ended up throwing up like fourteen times over

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Speaker 2: five hours, and we ended up rushing her to the

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Speaker 2: emergency room. We learned that she had several food allergies.

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Speaker 2: One of the things that she wasn't allergic to was peanuts,

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Speaker 2: and so the recommendation of our owne ellogist was introduced

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Speaker 2: peanuts as soon as possible, and so shortly after her

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Speaker 2: first birthday, she had a really simple snack with two ingredients,

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Speaker 2: just peanuts and corn, and she had an anaphylactic response immediately.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that must have been terrifying.

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Speaker 2: It was the scariest five minutes of my life.

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Speaker 1: Viv was given two EpiPens and rushed to the emergency room. Thankfully,

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Speaker 1: she was fine, but they were clearly living in a

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Speaker 1: new reality.

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Speaker 2: I felt like inspector Gadget. I felt like a detective

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Speaker 2: who had to dig and dig and dig. While the

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Speaker 2: ingredients may have looked safe, then there could be the

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Speaker 2: concern of it's made on the same equipment with tree nuts.

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Speaker 2: And so I found myself calling food manufacturers and trying

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Speaker 2: to join all these communities online with other food allergy

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Speaker 2: parents to learn what was safe for their kids. And

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Speaker 2: so I went into like overdrive in terms of trying

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Speaker 2: to always be prepared to make sure that she was safe.

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Speaker 1: Of course, Denise was worried about Viv's health, but she

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Speaker 1: was also worried about the social stress the allergies would

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Speaker 1: create for her daughter.

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Speaker 2: I started to think about the emotional impact that having

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Speaker 2: food allergies would have on her, how she wouldn't be

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Speaker 2: able to safely or confidently participate in playdates and celebrations

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Speaker 2: and birthday parties and all the things that involve food.

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Speaker 2: And dreamed of like a brand that was cool enough

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Speaker 2: that people without food allergies would also willingly choose to

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Speaker 2: eat it, And I couldn't find it.

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Speaker 1: With nowhere else to turn, she decided to take matters

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Speaker 1: into her own hands.

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Speaker 2: I was so frustrated with the lack of options that

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Speaker 2: I could find. I immediately went to all the natural

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Speaker 2: food stores in our neighborhood, trying to find safe things

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Speaker 2: that she could eat. But all the fun stuff that

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Speaker 2: kids want to eat and share became off limits, and

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Speaker 2: I wanted to do something about that.

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Speaker 1: Denise founded Partake Foods with a simple goal in mind,

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Speaker 1: make food better so anyone could partake. Though she faced

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Speaker 1: a dwindling list of acceptable ingredients, Denise had to find

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Speaker 1: a way to make something that would work, so she

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Speaker 1: started by experimenting in the kitchen with her nanny, Martha.

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Speaker 2: I remember standing in my kitchen covered in flour with

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Speaker 2: cookies that looked like dog food, and I quickly realized

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Speaker 2: that I was not the person to commercialize this product.

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Speaker 2: So it was very clear that we needed the help

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Speaker 2: of a professional now.

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Speaker 1: Fortunately, Denise did have experience in commercial food and beverage.

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Speaker 1: In fact, she'd been at Coca Cola for a decade

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Speaker 1: working in sales, but manufacturing food that wasn't her specialty,

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Speaker 1: So she got in touch with a food scientist on

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Speaker 1: LinkedIn who helped bring the first few products of Partake

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Speaker 1: Foods to life.

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Speaker 2: Our first product was three flavors of crunchy cookies. We

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Speaker 2: had sprouted grain, chocolate chip, sweet potato, millet, and carrot oat.

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Speaker 1: Denise finally quit her job and started demoing at natural

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Speaker 1: food stores.

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Speaker 2: I'd show up to the store and I'd have this

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Speaker 2: little folding table and a five dollars tablecloth, and I'd

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Speaker 2: show up in my Partake T shirt and I'd share

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Speaker 2: about the story. I'd try to convince them to try

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Speaker 2: the product and kind of rinse and repeat every day

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Speaker 2: for several months.

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Speaker 1: Now, Denise received unanimous feedback about her product names, as in,

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Speaker 1: they didn't se so good. I mean, imagine seeing a

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Speaker 1: package on the shelf, one for a chocolate chip cookie

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Speaker 1: and then one for a sprouted grain cookie. Now which

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Speaker 1: would you choose.

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Speaker 2: I quickly got that feedback of these products taste great,

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Speaker 2: but if I saw this on the shelf and it

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Speaker 2: was called carrot oat, I would never want to eat it.

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Speaker 2: So then those flavor names changed to be much more indulgent,

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Speaker 2: like chocolate Deliciousness or whatever, chocolate chip and ginger snap

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Speaker 2: and oat meal and like very like traditional indulgent cookie

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Speaker 2: flavor names, and we also updated the packaging to match that.

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Speaker 1: Now, she'd been working in sales for a long time,

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Speaker 1: so she knew how to get products on the shelf,

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Speaker 1: but getting those products sold and into people's homes that

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Speaker 1: was a whole nother story.

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Speaker 2: What I quickly saw was that there was a high

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Speaker 2: barrier to entry with the food allergy consumer, and so

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Speaker 2: while they liked the idea in theory, we hadn't really

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Speaker 2: built any trust or brand equity with that consumer.

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Speaker 3: Hey, Ben, can we pause for a second. This one

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Speaker 3: really hits.

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Speaker 1: Home for me. Why Tony, you tell me I have

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Speaker 1: a younger.

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Speaker 3: Brother who had severe, severe food allergies. I'm talking nuts, fish, dairy,

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Speaker 3: all the stuff we like, right, And when he was

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Speaker 3: a child, there were a few life or death situations

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Speaker 3: that still to this day make me emotional when I

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Speaker 3: think about them. And so with my brother, not only

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Speaker 3: did we have to be very mindful of the ingredients

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Speaker 3: listed on the back of any food packaging, but also

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Speaker 3: we had to be very mindful of where the products

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Speaker 3: were manufactured. Could there possibly have been some cross contamination

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Speaker 3: with nuts or some other thing that he's allergic to.

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Speaker 3: We were looking at all these things and constantly had

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Speaker 3: to do so in order to feel confident about the

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Speaker 3: food that we were giving him. I mean, when it's

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Speaker 3: literally life or death, which it was, you have to

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Speaker 3: pay very close attention to these things. So this really

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Speaker 3: matters to me.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I can only imagine. You know, if you're scared

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Speaker 1: for the safety of your child, good enough isn't good enough? Right,

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Speaker 1: there's only implicit trust or nothing.

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Speaker 3: That's so true. So then what happened next.

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Speaker 1: Denise didn't have brand equity yet, and she knew it

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Speaker 1: would take time to build, but there was a bright spot.

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Speaker 1: The demand was much broader than she thought. Her food

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Speaker 1: wasn't just for people like Vivi who were restricted by allergies.

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Speaker 2: Our products appealed to much broader consumer groups. Folks who

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Speaker 2: were looking for health conscious products because they were looking

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Speaker 2: to eat gluten free or plant based out of personal preference,

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Speaker 2: parents who needed school safe snacks even if their child

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Speaker 2: didn't have food allergies, or people who wanted to support

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Speaker 2: a woman or minority owned business, and then fell in

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Speaker 2: love with the products.

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Speaker 1: And by the end of her first year, Denise had

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Speaker 1: her product on the shelf. In fifty stores.

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Speaker 2: That gave me the confidence to take things to what

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Speaker 2: I perceived to be the next level, which for me

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Speaker 2: was trying to get into Whole Foods and getting into

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Speaker 2: a regional grocery account.

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Speaker 1: She went back to her tried and true method cold

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Speaker 1: calling and perseverance. In fact, she reached out to every

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Speaker 1: single category manager at Whole Foods.

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Speaker 2: There was an employee in a Boulder, Colorado store who

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Speaker 2: I think took pity on me or saw something interesting

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Speaker 2: in my email and passed on to the appropriate contact.

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Speaker 1: And finally, after months and months of outreach, Denise got

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Speaker 1: a yes.

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Speaker 2: I remember getting the email and my mom was visiting

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Speaker 2: and my husband was home, and I just remember screaming

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Speaker 2: and running through the apartment, like we got in, we

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Speaker 2: got in, we got in, We're going into Whole Foods.

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Speaker 2: This is it. Literally, Like the next week we got

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Speaker 2: a yes from Wegman's as well, which was actually going

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Speaker 2: to kind of triple the store account that we were in,

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Speaker 2: and so I was just super super excited. Quickly that

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Speaker 2: turned into Okay, now the work begins.

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Speaker 1: The job to be done was to fill the demand

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Speaker 1: for all these new orders. It was a lot of work.

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Speaker 1: It also required more money.

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Speaker 2: I never said, okay, let's empty the savings account and

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Speaker 2: put everything into partake. It would be like, oh, I

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Speaker 2: thought the distributor would pay me this week, and I

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Speaker 2: have to buy one thousand dollars worth of sugar. Let

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Speaker 2: me pull one thousand dollars out of the savings account.

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Speaker 2: And it was that continuous drain. As I started to

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Speaker 2: see dwindling down, I started to think, oh shit.

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Speaker 1: But then she had an idea.

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Speaker 2: I remember reading an article about the founder of Tascha

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Speaker 2: Beauty and she talked about making the tough decision to

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Speaker 2: sell her engagement ring. And I remember being like, WOI la.

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Speaker 2: And I called my husband over and I was like,

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Speaker 2: what do you think about this? And oddly, I guess

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Speaker 2: he and I were both super supportive of it. And

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Speaker 2: I sent him to the Diamond District in New York

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Speaker 2: and he came home with several thousand dollars and that

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Speaker 2: continued to keep the business afloat.

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Speaker 3: Ben I got to jump in here. I know we

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Speaker 3: give a lot of sound advice on this show, but

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Speaker 3: I think tip number one, should we get a partner

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Speaker 3: who doesn't bet an eye when you suggest you sell

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Speaker 3: your engagement ring? To buy more sugar for cookies.

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Speaker 1: Right, I'll call my wife right now and let her know.

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Speaker 3: I gotta say, Denise has my favorite type of small

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Speaker 3: business crisis.

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Speaker 1: What crisis getting big too fast?

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Speaker 3: Precisely the moment when you start to consider or in

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Speaker 3: Denise's cases, have no other choice but to consider mentor capital.

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Speaker 1: All right, and I think you're cheating. I think you

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Speaker 1: know what happens next.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, let's hear it.

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Speaker 1: Denise knew it was time to get serious about fundraising.

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Speaker 2: I think it was at the moment where I was like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: if I'm selling my engagement ring, clearly we need to

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Speaker 2: find some investors. I knew nothing about venture capital when

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Speaker 2: I started to raise money for Partake, and I think

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Speaker 2: that was the scariest part. It felt like people were

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Speaker 2: speaking a completely different language. I'd watched Shark Tank religiously,

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Speaker 2: but I still didn't fully understand it. So what I

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Speaker 2: immediately did was started reaching out to other founders who'd

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Speaker 2: raised capital to try to understand more about what they

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Speaker 2: would recommend in terms of like what types of capital,

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Speaker 2: what types of investors. And I realized quickly that it's

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Speaker 2: very much, for lack of better words, an old boys Club.

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Speaker 2: I feel like some of the language isn't that complicated.

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Speaker 2: It's almost like it's constructed to keep people out.

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Speaker 1: But that didn't stop Denise.

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Speaker 2: I literally was just like cold emailing people on LinkedIn.

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Speaker 2: A lot of those folks were allies. They were white

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Speaker 2: men who had done it before, who were willing to

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Speaker 2: explain the code to me and to give me confidence

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Speaker 2: to go into a room with the same like swagger

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Speaker 2: that they would and share why I deserved to get

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Speaker 2: this funding.

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Speaker 1: She worked with her attorney to decide how to structure

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Speaker 1: her fundraise. Denise didn't know what her company was worth,

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Speaker 1: so she didn't want to put a price on the

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Speaker 1: shares just yet, so she decided to use a convertible

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Speaker 1: note for her fundraising. Denise needed to raise six hundred

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and she needed to do it fast.

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Speaker 2: At that point, we were personally all tapped out. When

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Speaker 2: we started. We'd had a really nice savings cushion in

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Speaker 2: four oh one k's and my husband had a fantastic job.

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Speaker 2: In late twenty eighteen, he lost his job, and so

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Speaker 2: I started to feel the financial pressure like crushing me.

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Speaker 2: I was really worried. I was really anxious I was

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Speaker 2: really scared, and for me to continue to keep the

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Speaker 2: business going, I was going to need to raise more

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Speaker 2: capital and I was going to need to be able

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Speaker 2: to do it quickly.

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Speaker 1: For a brief moment, Denise considered going back to her

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Speaker 1: corporate job to make more money, but she really didn't

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Speaker 1: want to do that. She knew if she could crack

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Speaker 1: the investor code, well, then they could really go for it.

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Speaker 2: The angel investor circuit was going horribly for us. I

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Speaker 2: was not able to raise any additional capital, and it

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Speaker 2: was really demoralizing. I was getting no for a lot

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Speaker 2: of different reasons. Sometimes I would get a no because

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Speaker 2: this is a too niche of a category, or some

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Speaker 2: people would say, oh, this is too crowded, or there

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Speaker 2: would be a well come back when you get to

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Speaker 2: a million dollars in sales, and I would think, well,

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Speaker 2: I can't get to a million dollars in sales if

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Speaker 2: I don't have any more money. And so it was

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Speaker 2: really really frustrating, felt like this horrible, exhausting cycle that

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Speaker 2: wasn't going anywhere.

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Speaker 1: She kept pitching, kept getting turned down. Then Denise remembered

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Speaker 1: an article she read about jay z Yes that Jay

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Speaker 1: z He was starting a venture fund.

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Speaker 2: One of our dearest friends, who's also so an investor

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Speaker 2: in our business, works in the music industry. And I

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Speaker 2: remember saying, do you know jay Z? And he's like, no, no,

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Speaker 2: I don't. But he happened to know one of his

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Speaker 2: business partners and they were willing to take the call.

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Speaker 2: And I was like, you know, I'm going to be

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Speaker 2: in La soon. I'd love to get together, just hoping

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Speaker 2: they would agree to take a meeting, and they did so.

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Speaker 1: She met with jay Z's partner and right from the

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Speaker 1: beginning this conversation it felt totally different.

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Speaker 2: It was so different than the Angel pitches in that,

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Speaker 2: like all of the Angel chats typically started with what's

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Speaker 2: your gross margin, what's the tam And this conversation was like,

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Speaker 2: tell me about where you're from, tell me about why

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Speaker 2: you're building this business. And I walked away so excited

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Speaker 2: and so hopeful. And then in March of twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 2: we got a term sheet that Marcy Venture Partners was

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Speaker 2: interested in leading a seed round of funding for us.

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Speaker 1: That conversation it changed everything for Denise.

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Speaker 2: A lot of the groups that had said no, the

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Speaker 2: announcement that we'd closed the seed round came out. A

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Speaker 2: lot of those folks came back and they were like,

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Speaker 2: you know, it wasn't a good time when you pitched before,

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Speaker 2: but if you have room now, we'd love to invest.

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Speaker 2: And I realized, like, maybe there wasn't something wrong with

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Speaker 2: me in the business, and they said no. For another reason,

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Speaker 2: it gave me some confidence because of that, but practically

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Speaker 2: it also gave me the capital we needed to begin

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Speaker 2: to scale the business and to begin to hire people.

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Speaker 2: And we raise one million dollars.

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Speaker 1: And soon she received a massive order from a retailed

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Speaker 1: giant Target.

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Speaker 2: I read the email and I reread the email, and

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Speaker 2: I just like, stand up and sit down, and stand

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Speaker 2: up and sit down. I don't know what to do

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Speaker 2: with myself. And we had one other full time employee

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Speaker 2: in the business, so I immediately call her and I tell

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Speaker 2: her what's happened, and like, can we afford this? Can

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Speaker 2: we do this? Can we make this many cookies? And

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Speaker 2: she's like, I think so. And we needed to make

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Speaker 2: a decision that week, and we went for it.

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Speaker 1: In May of twenty twenty, George Floyd was tragically murdered.

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Speaker 1: Tell us how that impacted your family and the business.

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Speaker 2: For my family, you know, I think my husband living

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Speaker 2: as a black man in America and as a black family, like,

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Speaker 2: we felt so angered and saddened and wanted to channel

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Speaker 2: those feelings into something positive and into positive change. And

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Speaker 2: so there was some developments in the business. We launched

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Speaker 2: an HBCU fellowship program aimed at increasing diversity in the

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Speaker 2: food industry, and a lot of that came through kind

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Speaker 2: of our feelings about George Floyd's murder.

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Speaker 3: And then on the.

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Speaker 2: Business front, we received an amount of inbound from potential investors,

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Speaker 2: potential retailers, influencers, press, unlike anything I could have ever imagined.

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Speaker 1: Surprisingly, twenty twenty was Partake Food's biggest year yet. They

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Speaker 1: started the year in three hundred and fifty stores and

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Speaker 1: ended in five thousand and got serious interest from investors.

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Speaker 2: It's like a total one eighty from when I was

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Speaker 2: raising the seed round of funding, where I was like

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Speaker 2: begging for scraps, and I feel like I get to

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Speaker 2: be selective about who I want to partner with.

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Speaker 1: Since then, Denise has raised over twenty three million dollars

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Speaker 1: in capital for Partake Foods.

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Speaker 2: When I think back about why I started the company,

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Speaker 2: it wasn't nutritional. It wasn't taste, it was the emotions.

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Speaker 2: Like so much of your childhood experience, so much of

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Speaker 2: your life experience is built in this, like emotions and

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Speaker 2: the camaraderie and the celebration that comes with enjoying food together.

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Speaker 2: And when I hear notes from our customers about how

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Speaker 2: they could have s'mores for the first time, or bacup

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Speaker 2: pie crust, or enjoy cookies at a birthday party, that's

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Speaker 2: the reason I started the business.

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Speaker 1: Today, Partake Foods has over ten products in their line

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Speaker 1: and is available in thirteen thousand stores across the country.

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Speaker 1: You can find them on multiple airlines and even in

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Speaker 1: Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 3: Then she made some major strides, she really did. There's

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Speaker 3: so many parents and caretakers going through that it has

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Speaker 3: become a major concern for folks. So this is a

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Speaker 3: very real solution that she's provided.

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Speaker 1: I think when there are challenges with food, trust becomes everything.

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Speaker 1: Because there are a lot of things you do once

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Speaker 1: a week, once a month, maybe even once a year.

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Speaker 1: Food's not like that. Foods multiple times a day. It's

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Speaker 1: always in our minds. It's a big part of our

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Speaker 1: lives physically, but it's also a big part of our

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Speaker 1: lives socially, So if you can't trust in the food

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Speaker 1: brands that you're buying and that you're consuming, it's a

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Speaker 1: real issue for consumers. And so you know, she had

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Speaker 1: a pretty big trust barrier she had to get up

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Speaker 1: over because that's a community that always has trust front

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Speaker 1: and center in their minds.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, as I said earlier, my younger brother has severe

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Speaker 3: food allergies and still does to this day. I mean

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Speaker 3: even as an adult, he has to be very, very

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Speaker 3: particular about what he eats. So I love that Denise

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Speaker 3: brought these products to the market and that they're products

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Speaker 3: that people can trust.

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Speaker 1: I think there were some good lessons in there in

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Speaker 1: terms of how she brought her product to the market,

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Speaker 1: how she earned that trust over time, how she stepstoned

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Speaker 1: into it. And I think with something like this, you

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Speaker 1: can imagine a big food brand goes in and they

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Speaker 1: launch a big marketing blitz and it says this is safety,

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Speaker 1: and they have that brand equity already and they're able

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Speaker 1: to build that. She didn't have any of that, so

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Speaker 1: she had to earn that trust along the way, and

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Speaker 1: that's not an easy thing to do, but she sort

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Speaker 1: of scratched away at it until she got there. And

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Speaker 1: I think the authenticity of her story and where she

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Speaker 1: was coming from and how the product evolved gave her

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Speaker 1: the credibility to do that over time.

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Speaker 3: And I like the term scratched away because that's really

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Speaker 3: how it felt like. She had to make little strides,

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Speaker 3: be open, and of course pivot. I thought that was

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Speaker 3: a really great part of her story, the fact that

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Speaker 3: she was able to make adjustments and she learned about

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Speaker 3: who her target market was and was open to her

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Speaker 3: business becoming something other than what she initially thought it

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Speaker 3: was going to be. I liked her openness and her flexibility.

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Speaker 1: That's a really hard balance to get right, you know.

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Speaker 1: On the one hand, I hear people say, stay true

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Speaker 1: to what you originally set out to do, and be

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Speaker 1: true to your original product and your original audience, and

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Speaker 1: she kind of couldn't do that because it wasn't a

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Speaker 1: big enough market. Right. What she realized of her time

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Speaker 1: is she could be true to that while also catering

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Speaker 1: to a larger market. So she managed to throw that

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Speaker 1: needle really well because what she didn't do was compromise

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Speaker 1: on her original audience. She stayed with it. She kept

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Speaker 1: her products completely allagen free and stayed true to that,

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Speaker 1: but in a way that appealed to a broader audience

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Speaker 1: that grew her dressable market without compromising on the core

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Speaker 1: value proposition.

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Speaker 3: And I think that the openness and her willingness to

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Speaker 3: learn and getting out there and listening to what people

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Speaker 3: were saying about her product, her seeing who was finding

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Speaker 3: the product to be interesting, I thought that was a

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Speaker 3: really great entrepreneurial move on her part.

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Speaker 1: I think it was. The other thing I give her

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Speaker 1: a ton of credit for is capital pee patients. You know,

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Speaker 1: you can imagine when you start a business. Rather than

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Speaker 1: just quitting her job and running out there and having

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Speaker 1: to make it all go in a short period of

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Speaker 1: time and running to market, she took her time in

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Speaker 1: a couple of ways. She took her time by keeping

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Speaker 1: a job on the side for a while, which helped

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Speaker 1: her earn some money and helped her build the business

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Speaker 1: more methodically. She took her time getting her product right

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Speaker 1: before she went big and launched it and tried to

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Speaker 1: sell it beyond its capabilities, beyond her manufacturing capabilities. She

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Speaker 1: took her time from an equity perspective, which helped her

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Speaker 1: preserve her equity in the business. She didn't just go

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Speaker 1: out and raise a bunch of money that deluted her

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Speaker 1: down right away. So you know, as fast as she moved,

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Speaker 1: and she did move pretty fast, I think she found

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Speaker 1: a good balance between pace and patience, and I think

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Speaker 1: her patience has really paid off.

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Speaker 3: It just makes me think about myself as a business

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Speaker 3: owner and other business owners and just how we learn

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Speaker 3: to strike that balance, how we learn to make the

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Speaker 3: appropriate adjustments, consider timing. There's so many things to think

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Speaker 3: about when you are as you're trying to grow. How

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Speaker 3: have you seen people strike that balance?

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Speaker 1: I think the way that people are successful in that

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Speaker 1: is they find ways to prove product market fit. So

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Speaker 1: they find ways to prove that their product resonates with

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Speaker 1: the right kinds of customers in the right way, number one,

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Speaker 1: and to prove to themselves that they can meet the

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Speaker 1: supply side of the equation. You know, you have to

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Speaker 1: have both supply and demand to run a business, and

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Speaker 1: you have to have confidence in both before you press

441
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,280
Speaker 1: the gas pedal. The people I've seen do it really well,

442
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,880
Speaker 1: generally don't have it perfectly right the first time. That's

443
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,240
Speaker 1: more luck than skill, and so they find ways to

444
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,560
Speaker 1: d risk as they go. And I think that's a

445
00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,000
Speaker 1: guiding principle that small business owners can have, which is,

446
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,800
Speaker 1: what can I do to de risk what I'm trying

447
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,280
Speaker 1: to do while I learn? And the more you can

448
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,760
Speaker 1: do to take risk out of the business while you

449
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:18,600
Speaker 1: learn those lessons, the better off you're going to be

450
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 1: ultimately from the perspective of how much equity you have,

451
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,440
Speaker 1: from the perspective of how much market credibility you have,

452
00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,040
Speaker 1: from the perspective of how much goodwill you have with

453
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,720
Speaker 1: your partners. The more that you can de risk while

454
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,480
Speaker 1: you learn those lessons, the more runway you're going to

455
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 1: have once you've learned them to go do things the

456
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:34,239
Speaker 1: way you've learned is right.

457
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,520
Speaker 3: That is one way that Denise did that right with

458
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,679
Speaker 3: having her job and holding on to her job. But

459
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,480
Speaker 3: what I like about how she did this because a

460
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,720
Speaker 3: lot of entrepreneurs do that. But what she did was

461
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,720
Speaker 3: she was very consistent about it. She was diligent. Though

462
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,200
Speaker 3: she had the security of her existing position, she still

463
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,920
Speaker 3: was running this company and growing it steadily and learning

464
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,960
Speaker 3: her market and taking major steps. So I like that, Yes,

465
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 3: she had reduced the risk, but she didn't do what

466
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 3: a lot of other people do and they're just starting out,

467
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,879
Speaker 3: which is not take it as seriously as they should

468
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,360
Speaker 3: as if they didn't have the security of the position,

469
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:06,920
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.

470
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, she took it seriously, there's no question. And look, ultimately,

471
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,280
Speaker 1: if it's not your passion, you shouldn't quit your job

472
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,240
Speaker 1: and do it because it's going to be all consuming

473
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,120
Speaker 1: and it's going to be your life. So I think

474
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,119
Speaker 1: the other place that her patient's paid off was in

475
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,920
Speaker 1: her fundraising. You know, we've talked to a lot of

476
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 1: different companies about how they raise money, and some go

477
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,239
Speaker 1: sort of alternative routes, some friends and families, some use

478
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 1: their own money, some use partners money. She went more

479
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,439
Speaker 1: of a sort of classic outside investor route, and like

480
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,200
Speaker 1: many people who go that route, it wasn't easy, right,

481
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 1: So she describes pitching twenty thirty, forty fifty times and

482
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,919
Speaker 1: getting a whole bunch of no's before she gets to

483
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,399
Speaker 1: a yes. I always tell people, if you're fundraising and

484
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,679
Speaker 1: you're not walking out with feedback, you're not getting smarter

485
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:46,440
Speaker 1: and your next pitch is not going to be any

486
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 1: better than your current pitch. And there's a few things

487
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 1: she tipped us off for that, I think are good

488
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,680
Speaker 1: things to keep in mind always, you know, number one,

489
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,719
Speaker 1: always be able to articulate how you're going to use

490
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,880
Speaker 1: the money. You know, saying I need to raise money

491
00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,359
Speaker 1: for this company without being able to specifically articulate how

492
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,000
Speaker 1: you're going to use that money and what kind of

493
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,359
Speaker 1: return you expect probably isn't gonna win very many fans.

494
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, she definitely was taking a long term approach, not

495
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 3: just seeking money right from wherever she could get it.

496
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,879
Speaker 3: She was very intentional, and I liked that she was

497
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 3: very committed to her education, and she recognized that she

498
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 3: was entering an arena that was very unusual or different

499
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,840
Speaker 3: for her, and she stressed that she had to learn

500
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 3: what to say, she had to learn the language, and

501
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 3: in addition to being patient, she took that part very

502
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 3: seriously as well.

503
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure about that. I think if you

504
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 1: listened in the early days, she just wanted the money.

505
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:34,840
Speaker 1: And I can't really blame her for that, because she's

506
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:36,760
Speaker 1: trying to get going and she's looking for funds, and

507
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:38,879
Speaker 1: so if you listen to how she talks about it

508
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 1: at the end, she clearly had a much more evolved

509
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 1: way of thinking about partnering with someone from a fundraising

510
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 1: capability than she did in the early days. I think

511
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 1: she realized that the fundraising process was about finding the

512
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:50,600
Speaker 1: right long term partner.

513
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,840
Speaker 3: But it worked out well for Denise. I mean, listaid

514
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 3: there are advantages to the nose. In addition to getting

515
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 3: substantive feedback from investors on your pitch, there's also the

516
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 3: men fit of time time to learn more about what

517
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 3: to do differently and not just what to change in

518
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 3: your pitch. So the nos were really a great opportunity

519
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 3: for her to learn.

520
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,960
Speaker 1: Right. If you're not learning from your nose, then you're

521
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 1: not growing, Tanya, I want to share one last piece

522
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,520
Speaker 1: of the interview with you. Denise had some advice for

523
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 1: current and aspiring small business owners that I really think

524
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:21,880
Speaker 1: will resonate.

525
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,919
Speaker 3: Well, let's hear it. It's okay to start small.

526
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 2: I remember being at those local demos and trade shows

527
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:30,919
Speaker 2: and I would have a five dollars tablecloth and a

528
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 2: stand that I made at home myself, and I would

529
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,640
Speaker 2: be embarrassed. I would see other businesses that were much larger,

530
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 2: with much flashier signs, and think something's wrong with my business.

531
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 2: I felt the same when we weren't able to hire

532
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,280
Speaker 2: early on. But I think it was that financial scarcity

533
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,000
Speaker 2: that made me have to be much more scrappy. It

534
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,000
Speaker 2: made me a stronger and better business person. And at

535
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 2: the time I kind of wished it away, but I

536
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,439
Speaker 2: think the starting small was really important for my business.

537
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,879
Speaker 1: Okay, and I have to ask, what is your daughter's

538
00:24:58,920 --> 00:24:59,920
Speaker 1: favorite part take prop.

539
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 2: She takes the crunchy chocolate chip snack packs for lunch

540
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,919
Speaker 2: every single day and I try to switch it up

541
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:08,840
Speaker 2: for her sometimes and she's like, no, I want the

542
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,040
Speaker 2: cookies every day.

543
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 1: Ben.

544
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 3: I think her daughter is onto something. These crunchy chocolate

545
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 3: chip snack packs are delicious.

546
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:17,640
Speaker 1: I can go for some right now.

547
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 3: And there's ice cream too. Where's ice cream? Where's ice cream?

548
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:22,120
Speaker 3: I want to try it.

549
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 1: It sounds like Partake Foods has a really exciting road

550
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,160
Speaker 1: ahead of it, but a lot more to do.

551
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 3: Yes, so much more to do, so many more snacks

552
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 3: for Vivi to try and the rest of us too.

553
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to The Unshakables. If you

554
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,360
Speaker 1: like this episode, please rate and review it. It'll help

555
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,880
Speaker 1: our show find more listeners. On the next episode, after

556
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,639
Speaker 1: a near death experience left him with no one to trust.

557
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,040
Speaker 1: Real estate investor and developer Fukwan Bilal pivoted to reinvent

558
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,960
Speaker 1: his business and his mindset. I'm Ben Walter and this

559
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,120
Speaker 1: is the Unshakables from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio

560
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia.

561
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 2: The Unshakables is a pretty action of Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia.

562
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:02,919
Speaker 3: And we'll have