Almost a year ago, I had an opportunity to teach a branding workshop to the Founders Institute, The World’s Largest Pre-Seed Accelerator. After the workshop, one of the participants reached me on Linkedin, asking for advice and to keep me updated on his journey. The founder, Blake Berman, was in early stages of launching a San-Diego based premium sparkling soda brand. He sent me early mockups of the brand identity, website, and product. Earlier this year, Blake and his team officially launched Spade, a soda brand for health-conscious consumers like me who refuse to settle for high-sugar formulas and questionable ingredients. I invited Blake on the podcasts to talk about why he and his co-founders decided to go after the soda industry, what they’ve learned since launching, and where the biggest opportunity lies from a category and positioning perspective for Spade.