The Startup CPG Podcast


In this Founder Fundraising Journey episode, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Griffin Spolansky, Co-Founder and CEO of Mezcla, the plant-based, puffed, crispy protein bar brand that puts taste and texture first, to walk through how he raised multiple rounds of capital and what he would do differently.


Griffin grew up in New York City in a family of entrepreneurs and started bottling and selling his grandmother’s salad dressing at 13. While playing lacrosse at the University of Virginia, he found post-practice protein bars chalky, dry, and boring, and he met his co-founder in an entrepreneurship class, where she was building a granola company inspired by her hometown in Mexico. The two named the brand Mezcla, Spanish for “mixture,” and Griffin began building it as a college student, with no CPG experience.


Hannah and Griffin dig into how he raised small tranches tied to specific revenue goals, why angels came first, how he vetted investors for each round, and what finally resonated with investors as the brand grew. They also cover how to handle rejection, why conservative projections protect your cash, how advisors act as people who “look around corners,” and a Slack community case study on the single thing that helped most with fundraising.


Listen in as they discuss:

  • How Griffin went from selling his grandmother’s salad dressing at 13 to launching Mezcla as a college student
  • Why Mezcla is “taste first and protein second,” and where Griffin sees white space across aisles
  • How he raised $500K, then $2M, then $4M to $5M, with each round tied to an 18-month revenue goal
  • Why the first rounds were angels, and why Griffin waited two and a half years before raising venture
  • Why raising is a two-way relationship, and how he vetted investors instead of taking any check that came in the door
  • How consistently hitting his numbers and sending quarterly updates built trust with investors
  • Why Griffin says to nail the product and the positioning, and to look for clear white space
  • How he handled hundreds of no’s, and why messaging matters as much as the number of people you reach
  • Why conservative projections protect your cash position, and how to train a growing team on your operating model
  • How advisors a few steps ahead of you help you look around corners


Hiring: Mezcla is hiring a Director of Conventional Sales and a Director of Food Service Sales. Interested candidates can reach out to Griffin on LinkedIn.

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Creators and Guests

Host
Hannah Dittman
Operations and Finance Correspondent at Startup CPG

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Griffin Spolansky
I always tried to raise small amounts of capital that would get me through to the next stage because honestly I had to. At that point I wasn't able to go out and raise a 10 million dollar round off the bat. So I went out and I raised $500,000 and that took us from 200k in revenue, a million revenue. And then I went out And I raised $2 million and that took us from a million revenue to 5 million revenue. And then I raised $4 million or $5 million. That took us from 5 million revenue to 20 million revenue. Right.

00:32
Griffin Spolansky
So like that's kind of how I went about doing it is I would just raise smaller tranches and basically every time I raised I had a goal in mind and I would say, look like this is where our revenue is going to go over the next 18 months and every time we hit it and were able to raise the subsequent round. So that's kind of how I think about funding, or at least I thought about funding for the business initially. If I had to go ahead and do it again and I were in the position I am now, I would raise a larger chunk off the bat. But I had to deal with the cards that I was dealt.

01:02
Hannah Dittman
Hey everybody. I'm Hannah Dittman, Operations and Finance host of the Startup CPG podcast. And today I'm joined by Griffin Spilansky, co founder and CEO of Mezcla for another founder fundraising journey episode. Mezcla is shaking up the protein bar aisle with delicious puff crispy plant based protein bars that put taste and texture. Coming from a family full of entrepreneurs, Griffin caught the entrepreneurial bug early and started building Mezcla as a college student. Through years of grit, persistence and multiple fundraising rounds, Griffin has built Mezcla into one of the most exciting, high growth, nationally distributed, emerging brands in the category. In this episode, Griffin takes us through his fundraising journey. From navigating the earliest days as a first time founder to raising multiple rounds of capital to fuel Mazcla's growth, we get into the realities of building a business from the ground up.

01:54
Hannah Dittman
Lessons learned from investors and fundraising, the challenges of scaling, and how his approach to raising capital has evolved alongside the business. Whether you're preparing for your first raise, navigating your next round, or simply looking for a little inspiration from a founder who's built something incredible through grit, determination and persistence, this episode is packed with valuable lessons. Grab a mess Clubar. They are so, so good. And enjoy another great founder fundraising journey Epis. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Hannah. And today we're back for an awesome founder fundraising journey episode with Griffin Spilansky of Mezcla. Griffin, welcome to the show.

02:39
Griffin Spolansky
Thank you very much for having me, Hannah. Appreciate it.

02:41
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, we're so excited you're here. I'm a huge fan of your brand as well as the startup CPG team as well. And I'm super excited to be chatting here today. So I'd love to dive straight in with a brief background of your journey and your path to Mezcla. What got you wrapped up and involved in all of this in the first place?

02:59
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, let's do it. Very quick background, but I grew up in New York City to a family of entrepreneurs. Everyone from my dad to all my uncles to my grandfather were entrepreneurs. And I also had a huge passion for food. I actually started bottling and selling my grandmother's salad dressing when I was, like, 13 years old. So I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I always knew I wanted to do something in food. And while I was at the University of Virginia, I played lacrosse and I was surrounded by protein bars post practice. But for me, the experience was so lackluster. Like, the bars were chalky or they were dry, or they just had really boring flavors. Right. And I really thought there was an opportunity in white space to innovate in the bar set.

03:37
Griffin Spolansky
And of course, I was quite naive at 21 or at 20, but I decided that I would go after it, and that's essentially how the whole idea came to fruition. The one added note I will add on here as well and is I met my co founder, her name is Coco Satelo, while I was in an entrepreneurship class, and she is from Mexico and actually had this granola company, and she was integrating ingredients from her hometown of Mexico into the granola, and I thought that was really cool. So we started talking about the food space in general. I started talking about my idea for the bar space, and we ultimately paired it up, and we decided to call it Mezcla, which means mixture in Spanish. And it was all about the mixture of ingredients and flavors and textures.

04:14
Griffin Spolansky
So that's really the founding story in a nutshell.

04:16
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. That's so interesting. And you guys really do have such a unique texture to your product. So I love that. Totally interesting background that this is so in your blood. I'm sure you've had many phone friends for any things that you were navigating as you went through all of this. It's so awesome and interesting to see how so many entrepreneurs have, like these early shoots and fledgling signs that's where their life is going to end up.

04:43
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, for sure.

04:44
Hannah Dittman
Super fun. I love that. I know we're kind of flirting with and touching on Mezcla a little bit already, but I'd love to get the full story, pitch, mission and what you guys are all about in doing and making and bringing into the world at Mezcla.

04:58
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah. So, I mean, in a nutshell, we make crispy protein treats. Right? Like, that's really what we're doing right now. And in a sea of a lot of generic, boring snacks, we are trying to break through. We are not protein first, we are taste first and protein second, or taste first and function second, if you will. And I think that's really important for us. Our product needs to taste amazing and deliver on deliciousness, and then from there they have to have some functional benefit. So that's really what we're delivering and that's really where we see the white space, not just at the bar aisle, but across aisles.

05:28
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. So well said. And you guys pack a ton of protein into your products. I mean, it's like awesome. And I love the idea of taste first. And I would even extend. Extend that mindset or mantra to experience or product more broadly, I think, like how you guys are touching on the kind of sensory experiences of texture and there's so many components to eating or experience something and really understanding all the reasons that you might like a product or find it interesting. Like if it's a sparkling beverage, for instance, it's like the bubble is part of the experience as much as the taste is too. All of this stuff really matters. I love your guys approach. I love the branding and how passionate you are about everything that you've got going on and all the little details of your company.

06:11
Hannah Dittman
I'd love to understand the founder story. Journey has been, obviously you guys met in school, we're off into the races after that. But what was the unfolding of Mezcla? How did it all come together and what has the fundraising journey been like as well as part of that process?

06:27
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, I mean, look, I think fundraising was extremely difficult for me in the early innings of building the business because I was a young college graduation trying to go out there and raise money. An idea that was launching into a very competitive market in an industry that I'd never worked in before. So that was not easy. But what I will say is, for me, I always tried to raise small amounts of capital that would get me through to the next stage, because, honestly, I had to. At that point, I wasn't able to go out and raise a $10 million round off the bat. So I went out and I raised $500,000, and that took us from 200k in revenue, a million revenue. And then I went out And I raised $2 million, and that took us from a million revenue to 5 million revenue.

07:05
Griffin Spolansky
And then I raised $4 million or $5 million. That goes from 5 million revenue to 20 million revenue. Right. So, like, that's kind of how I went about doing it, is I would just raise smaller tranches. And basically every time I raised, I had a goal in mind, and I would say, look like this is where revenue is going to go over the next 18 months. And every time we hit it and were able to raise the subsequent round. So that's kind of how I think about funding, or at least I thought about funding for the business initially. If I had to go and do it again and I were in the position I am now, I would raise a larger chunk off the bat. But I had to deal with the cards that I was dealt.

07:37
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, I mean, to your point, like, there's always a reason why something is a huge challenge or obstacle. Part of being a founder is, like, overcoming these things and, like, being young and having to prove it out the hard way before people.

07:49
Griffin Spolansky
Take you.

07:50
Hannah Dittman
Seriously and, like, really cut your teeth on the experience, I think will probably end up serving your business so much better in the long run. But obviously, like, I'm sure there was some, like, dilution costs and, like, things like that. Pros and cons to everything. And it's easy to always think grass is greener. Looking at another founder situation, I'm sure all the founders out there that are struggling through or facing their own obstacles sometimes wish they were in your shoes or something like that, too. But everyone has their own battles or hurdles that they're needing to learn to jump over. And you come out really strong and smart on the other side if you're learning from it.

08:27
Hannah Dittman
When you were going through fundraising, what was kind of the process in terms of outreach or figuring out who you were going to partner with for each of these rounds. Obviously, as you got bigger, I'm sure it became a little bit easier to suss out. But how did you know who was going to be a good fit for you and what you were trying to achieve and really sell that dream to them?

08:48
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, I would say I got this advice pretty early on. Well, first off, the first few rounds were really angels it was a little bit easier because they had less control over the business. And I was trying to bring in people who had already done this before, whether they were really strong investors in early stage CPG brands or they were operators themselves. So I tried to bring those kinds of people in. And for the first year and a half, maybe two and a half years, I didn't raise venture. So I was able to understand what it's like to raise and to build relationships with your investors. And I think what I realized over the first two and a half years is it's a two way relationship, right? Like you can't just take money from investor because you need the money.

09:25
Griffin Spolansky
You need to make sure it's the right partner as well. And that doesn't always mean that the investor is going to help you in any outsized way, but it more so means that they are going to work with you and not be overly aggressive with you when things aren't perfect. Because things are never perfect with a business. So I think that was really helpful for me to raise some angels in the beginning and then when I started doing over time is really vetting our potential partners and not just saying yes to any venture cash that came in the door. So that was really a good learning for me. And what I will say is so far all of our funds have been amazing to work with, having great partners.

09:58
Griffin Spolansky
I think that's a reflection on the fact that were able to take our time and be very thoughtful with who we decided to let into the business.

10:05
Hannah Dittman
Really sage advice. And I think it's no surprise that getting into any formal relationship with someone romantic, professional, co founder, it's like these influence your experience so dramatically. And I think investor is no different. And it's sounds like you were really wise to surround yourself with people that were going to be good to work with and do business with in that way. Obviously you guys are on fire. You're crushing it. You're doing so well. You've achieved all these really big milestones and continue to prove out scale and success. What gave you the conviction early on when you were first going out to fundraise that you felt like this is going to be something and I'm going to be able to achieve the things that I'm saying to these investors that we're going to achieve.

10:51
Hannah Dittman
How did you feel that level of confidence and conviction and what you were doing?

10:55
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, I mean it's a great question. I would say part of it was delusion or me being naive. Like I said, like I'm 21 years old at the time. I have never worked in a true capacity right. Where I interned at places, but I never really worked formally anywhere. I didn't know anything about CPG. I didn't even know what CPG stood for, the acronym. Right. Like, so there are a lot of things that I just had no idea what I was doing at the time. So I think a lot of it was delusion. That said, I also think that I felt very strongly that I would push through any boundaries that came my way.

11:29
Griffin Spolansky
I think being a student athlete and even walking onto the team at Virginia, like, I was so used to overcoming adversity, so I felt very confident in myself and very confident that I could overcome adversity along the way. But I think it was a mixture of a little bit of delusion, a little bit of me being naive, and then also a little bit of me just really believing in myself. Because the truth is, like, it's not like there was immense product market fit. There never really is in the beginning. Right. People like the bars, but, like, friends and family. So, like, there wasn't anything on that front that really gave me that much conviction.

11:57
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. I feel like it's a huge bet you make on yourself as a founder. And I honestly think sometimes not having as many reps or not having as much deep experience helps you be a little bit more fearless. It's almost like you don't know. It's like, the more you know what can go wrong. It kind of reminds me of, like, a parent versus as a little kid. Like, the little kid is not scared to go climb the tree or do whatever, jump off the fence. And the parents like, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God. And it's because the parent knows how you can fall and the kid doesn't. And I think that level of fearlessness, it really helps you have a lot of grit and resolve and forward momentum. And clearly, you guys have been on that trajectory.

12:40
Hannah Dittman
I'd love to kind of reframe the same question from the other side of the table. What do you think was resonating the most strongly with investors? You've obviously gone through a lot of fundraising in a lot of different rounds. I'm sure this has changed over time,.

12:53
Griffin Spolansky
For sure.

12:54
Hannah Dittman
But at each kind of big point or big milestone, what do you think the kind of money slide or the hook or the big thing that they were anchoring on and getting excited about was throughout the course of your company so far?

13:04
Griffin Spolansky
So I would say in the more recent days, people have just been excited that we consistently hit our numbers. Right. Look, not every year is a perfect year, right? I want to be very clear on that. In some years, right? It's not exactly you envision, but we've always been very honest and open with not only our investors, but also our distribution list. Right. Like we have a distribution list where we send potential investors emails on a quarterly basis and give them updates of how the business is going. And we've been pretty accurate in terms of our projections. And if for some reason there was year weren't overly accurate, were very quick to communicate why. So I think it's just like being honest and open with A existing investors and B potential investors.

13:44
Griffin Spolansky
Our last two rounds were a lot of existing investors re upping how much they put into the business and then a few new investors who've been following us along the way for the last five years. So I think a big piece of that is just like saying what you do and doing what you say. And again, it doesn't always mean you're going to hit your numbers, but if you're not, like, be honest and be open and communicate. So I think that's number one. Number two is we have been pretty capital efficient throughout the course of the business, so that's helped us a lot. And then what I would say is in the beginning when we didn't have traction, it was me just selling myself. Right. Like, people weren't really investing in the idea.

14:15
Griffin Spolansky
Like, I don't think people need to invest in another protein bar, to be honest with you. Right. Like, they were investing in me and the potential and now it's cool because they're investing in the team who is much stronger than I am, fortunately. So.

14:25
Hannah Dittman
I love that you built things out and you said that and I think that's so true. Right. It's like you're building something bigger than yourself. You start out building yourself, I guess,.

14:34
Griffin Spolansky
For sure.

14:35
Hannah Dittman
And I think what a cool testament and just an awesome milestone as a founder to look around and realize like, hey, like back in the day this was so different. And now the base that we're building off of is a completely different base. It's like you've fully created the space to separate yourself from the business. And if you're not a founder, you might not intimately resonate with that. But I think that is a like, big milestone shift to be like, I am no longer the brand. Like, the brand is the brand. It's speaking for itself and how cool to get to that point. Obviously you've gone through a lot of experiences. You've had a lot of reps under your belt.

15:14
Hannah Dittman
I know you've kind of reflected already that you might have raised a bigger round up front if you could do it all over again. Are there any other learnings or things that you would either take forward into the next phase of your business or that you would tell founders who are earlier on in their trajectory than you are that might be helpful to them?

15:33
Griffin Spolansky
I mean, there are a million and one things that I would advise on and against. What I would say is maybe the single most important thing is making sure that the product is right. Like, making sure that the product makes sense for the market. Like, I mentioned earlier that I just launched a product based off of my gut and one that I saw white space for, but I didn't do really any consumer research in the early days. I didn't really think about positioning in the early days. Like, I was just very focused on making a product tasted good. And that's extremely important. So I think that's, number one is a product that tastes really good, but number two is a product that's positioned really well for the market.

16:06
Griffin Spolansky
And of course that positioning is going to shift and change a little along the way, but you need to make sure there's a clear white space for that positioning as well. So, like I would say anyone starting a brand now, the product needs to be incredible and, you know, there needs to be clear white space for it as well. That is my thing. Because I think everything else, including that, by the way, you can figure out along the way. But it becomes a lot easier when you have that like, quote, unquote product market fit for you to grow really quickly.

16:28
Hannah Dittman
I think that's such sound advice and definitely, I think, makes the fundraising conversation and the kind of like, I got what you're doing so much more lubricated and obvious versus them, especially in the earliest days. Like you're saying when you don't have traction, you're kind of have yourself and your concept. And if the concept doesn't jump off the page, you have such an uphill battle for yourself. And I totally get that. And that doesn't mean you won't be successful. Like, you obviously have been super successful, but it definitely, I'm sure, was a hard one, success.

16:59
Griffin Spolansky
I mean, the amount of times that I heard people say, like, I'm not investing another protein bar or I'm not looking at another protein bar deck is just off the charts. So, yes, agreed.

17:07
Hannah Dittman
How did you handle the rejection and what was kind of like the volume of outreach that you needed to do at the beginning. We often hear on these episodes from founders. They needed to reach out to, like, a hundred people to convert enough to get going and get the ball rolling. If you had to kind of quantify it or give some perspective for other founders, what points would you share with them?

17:29
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, I mean, it's tough because, like, it is a numbers game for sure, but it doesn't matter how many people you talk to if the messaging isn't correct. So I think it's a bit of numbers, and there's also a bit of, like, massaging and making sure that the messaging and the points you're trying to drive home actually make sense and resonate to your point. I don't think 100. I think I reached out to hundreds of people and I got hundreds of no's and I got a few yeses. And those yeses were enough to get me the money that I needed to start the business and to grow the business. And, you know, every time I went out to raise, I still got so many nos.

17:58
Griffin Spolansky
No matter how much larger we got, no matter how much success we proved, we still got so many nos, and I think that's always going to be the case. So what I would say is, like, yes, it is a numbers game. We need to reach out to as many people as possible. But also, it doesn't matter if you reach out to a thousand people if your messenger doesn't resonate with anyone. So I think you really need to push on both. And that's what I would argue is really the most important thing.

18:18
Hannah Dittman
What kept you going through all the rejection? What made you feel like, no, this is still a good idea, I'm still going to keep pursuing this, and I know it's just a matter of time before someone sees what I'm saying or what was the mental process that helped you get through and navigate all of that?

18:36
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to lie. The fundraising piece was always hard. But what was really encouraging was that were literally doubling every single year. Like, every single year were doubling, and every three months, I was seeing some pretty big jumps in our growth. So I think that's what always kept me going, was even if we're having tough conversations with investors, I'm seeing clear growth. I can see a clear path to double the business. Right. Like, so I think that was always the fire that was kind of lighting inside me. If now, for example, we had two or three years where there was just no growth. And were a 2, 3, 4, $5 million business. You know, I think that's where you really have to evaluate and say, like, does this make sense?

19:14
Griffin Spolansky
And I don't think that means you have to shut the business down. I think the revaluation needs to be like, how do I make this product better so that the market responds to it in a better way? I'm making this up. Like, maybe that's making the product less expensive. If your margins can handle it, maybe it's adding function, or maybe it's removing function. Maybe it's going to a different aisle. Right. Like, there are a lot of things that you could think about, but the thing that always kept me going was that the product was clearly working. So that was definitely the easy piece for me.

19:39
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, it's like that traction, the wind in your sails. You're like, all right, well, someone likes this. We're getting pos. You're still getting even. If you feel like you're getting negative feedback somewhere, you're getting positive feedback somewhere where it matters. Sure. So that makes a ton of sense.

19:52
Griffin Spolansky
And it's funny. Like, I think this is kind of cliche, but it's 100% true. That's the interesting about entrepreneurship, is in a day or a week, you can get hit in the face, like, a hundred times and literally feel like you're gonna break down, but in the same week, you can also have, like, some of the biggest wins. So I do think that's, like, pretty interesting to think about for sure as well.

20:08
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. Adrenaline junkies, for sure. I think I've said on this podcast before, I used to think if you're, like, using a sports analogy for things, I used to think, as an investor, you were, like, an Olympian runner. It's like, how fast and how perfect can you get over the hurdles without clipping anything and just go faster and stronger? But I think being a founder is being a boxer in a ring, and it's like, how many hits can you take? And you're still going to come back out. You know you're outsized. You know you're outmatched, and you're still just going to stand there and be like, cool, hit me. That I will survive.

20:37
Griffin Spolansky
And it's funny because I think the outsider's perspective is the bigger you get, the easier it gets. Or, like, maybe the less you get punched. Right. And that's 100. Not true. And I think everyone can attest to that.

20:49
Hannah Dittman
No. And the punches are bigger.

20:50
Griffin Spolansky
Exactly. The punches are bigger. Right. The stakes are Higher. And I think everyone can attest to that, whether you're a $20 million brand, a $40 million brand, $100 million brand. So I think that's always funny because every time I speak to someone now starting a business, it's always like, oh, it must be so much easier. You know your size. And in some ways it's easier, but in some ways it's a lot harder as well. Right?

21:08
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. You went featherweight to heavyweight and the hips still hurt.

21:10
Griffin Spolansky
I don't know if we're heavyweight yet, maybe right in the middle. But yeah,.

21:13
Hannah Dittman
When you're talking about a clear thread that was shown through your company performance and your fundraising tr, what's the growth momentum and that you guys were driving the business forward. Obviously you were saying you were hitting your numbers, which means that you had a growth forecast that you were budgeting against and you were hitting that revenue target. What was the big secret saucer to unlock? What was the driving momentum behind being able to grow the business? Obviously, it's not just capital. I'm sure it's capital enabled, but you were clearly growing before you got a ton of capital in the door too. So what was the way that you were approaching operating and managing that growth and where do you think you guys were gaining success from?

21:52
Griffin Spolansky
I think the biggest thing for us was we always projected very conservatively. I think a lot of founders and early stage businesses project really aggressively, which is tough because when you don't hit it, your investors are upset. But even putting that aside, it's tough because you don't plan out cash based on how much you're actually going to hit in revenue. So at the end of the year, let's say you hit 70% of that revenue or 50% of the revenue. Right. Like, then your cash positions in a lot worse of a place than you thought it would be. So we always try to be really conservative with how we projected out cash, and that's always been really helpful for us as a business.

22:29
Griffin Spolansky
So I would say that has been one of the biggest things in terms of like how we're thinking about modeling out the future is like, let's make sure we're being conservative across the board. Right. If it's velocities, I'm making this up. Right. But let's say that you're expected to sell five units per skill per week, maybe put four there. And of course, like, when it comes to demand and how much you need to produce, give the team the 5 number that you think. But when it comes to cash and how you're thinking about everything, salaries. Right. Like, maybe you think your payroll is going to be $2 million. Maybe put it at 2, 5. Right. Just to make sure you have a little bit of extra padding. So that's really how we try to operate.

22:59
Griffin Spolansky
What I've also found, though, is, like, the larger you get as new people come into the business, you need to make sure you train them on your operating model, if you will, as well. Right. Because, like, sometimes what I've realized is it goes from being three, four, or five people, all big decisions together, to quickly, 15, 20 people, and you're not the one making those decisions anymore. You need to make sure that everyone knows exactly how you think and how you operate as well.

23:19
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, it's definitely. You're clearly rooted in your operations, which is great. Not a lot of founders, or I would say there's different camps of founders, and not all founders have, like, the operational diligence or know how or kind of drive the business off of a budget or think about things like that. Has there been any strategic advice that you've gotten from any of your investors or any real significant value you've gotten from any of your investors that you think played a big part in the trajectory of your company or that you felt like was really critical to where you've gotten so far?

23:51
Griffin Spolansky
I mean, what I'll say is this. We have incredible advisors. We've had advisors since the founding of the business. My whole goal with who we surrounded ourselves with was let's find people who are 2, 3, 4, 5 steps ahead of us, and let's build them around us so they can really help us grow the business. What I'll say is, like, can I give you one exact piece of advice that someone told me? No. But what I will say is that our advisors have been some of the most integral people in helping the business get to where it's gotten to, because they're the ones that are helping us understand how to look around corners. Because they've been there before. Right.

24:22
Griffin Spolansky
So, like, whether it was when were a $2 million business and we had the founder of a $10 million business helping us, or when were a $10 million business and we had the founder, CEO of a $50 million business helping us. Right. Like, they have been so invaluable to our growth as a business. So I would say, while I can't give you one exact piece of advice, there's been so much advice along the years, and they've been such an important piece of the puzzle. And I wouldn't want to and probably couldn't do this without them. So.

24:47
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, I think it takes.

24:49
Griffin Spolansky
A village for sure.

24:50
Hannah Dittman
And the more people you gather around the table, I think helps lubricate all these processes too. It's not just that it's helpful advice. It is, but it's also signaling it's network building. So when you have a pool to hire from, there's so many positive externalities from getting quality people involved in your business in some capacity. And I'm sure the kind of tidal wave of that has helped a ton. One last question, kind of reflecting back before we go more forward looking. Has anything surprised you or not matched your initial expectations either about building a brand, operating a business or fundraising?

25:24
Griffin Spolansky
I mean, I think everything surprised me. You know, I went coming out of college, like I said, I'm young, I have a ton of energy, I still do. And I'm obviously super naive and I like, oh, this is gonna be super easy. I'm gonna build this thing in four years, I'm gonna sell it, all that kind of stuff. And I think it is very underrated how difficult it is to build a business. So that's definitely something that I would say caught me by surprise. I shouldn't be surprised by it, but somehow I am. I think you mentioned earlier. Right, but it's a marathon, not a sprint. And that really is the truth. And advisor did tell me that early on. And that's such great advice. Right?

25:58
Griffin Spolansky
Like you can bust your ass and work so hard for a year, but then if you burn out year two, it doesn't do anything for you. Right. Like this is for Most people a 7 to 15 year game you're playing. So you really have to be able to outlast and be in it for the long haul. So that's the thing that I would say maybe surprised me the most, is like how much, not just like burst of energy, but how much consistent energy you need to really build a successful business.

26:21
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, it's like it's so much more than a normal job, I would say. And of course you're ambitious people, you all try your hardest at a normal job, but it doesn't take a lot to get you there every day. And you don't have all the emotional burden of it and you have the structure and all of this other resources, mentorship, like so many, like you're not building like laying the floorboards on your office while you're also trying to work on the computer and all. It's kind of hard to conceptualize Unless you've done it. So it's so real, like half the battle, like we said earlier, it's just staying in the ring. It's just being willing to stay in the ring even when you're scared, even when you're hurting, even when you're tired, even when you don't want to be there anymore.

27:03
Hannah Dittman
And yeah, I have a ton of respect for the founders that have been doing it for a while or that have gotten through hard moments in their businesses because it is no easy feat and tons of respect for you and for people doing it like you. Obviously you've had so much success with Mezcla, so many exciting things going on already. When you look forward to the future of your business, what's the dream that you have for your company? Where do you see you guys going? What's kind of the next big milestones on the horizon or things that you're partnering with your investors to work towards?

27:34
Griffin Spolansky
I mean, what I'll say is our first goal is to keep creating delicious products for consumers, right? Like we exist to make consumers lives better. We're not solving cancer, right? We're not fundamentally changing people's lives, but if we can make people's lives just slightly better in a day, that's obviously a job well done for us. So that is our primary goal in the pipeline. We're working on some SKU innovation, we're working on some out of aisle innovation, which I think is pretty exciting as well. And what I'll add to is just making sure that the Mezcla culture stays in really good shape is really important to me because I think we built something really special with some really incredible people. So that's also a really important goal of mine. Right? Like if inputs are really good, then typically outputs are pretty good as well.

28:14
Griffin Spolansky
So very focused on the product, the people, and also what's next for the business, which is hopefully some innovation.

28:20
Hannah Dittman
Has your family, your uncles, your dad, all been very proud of you or what's their feedback? Been watching you go through this journey and walk a mile in their shoes.

28:28
Griffin Spolansky
At first, surprisingly, they were all pretty upset because they wanted me to get a more traditional job to learn. But now I know they're all very happy, so.

28:35
Hannah Dittman
Oh, I love that the.

28:36
Griffin Spolansky
Tenor of the conversation has shifted for sure. Yes.

28:38
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, they're probably so proud. Well, I'd love to pivot us over to a Slack case study question. As you know, startup CPG has the largest Slack community in the industry with now over 40,000 members. I'd love to pull a question directly from our channel and have you answer it as a case study for any founder that might have a similar question. Today's question is what single thing or concept helped you the most with fundraising?

29:03
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, it's a good question. I'm going to answer this in two ways. Firstly, later stage fundraising is just making sure that you have a Rolodex of people that you're reaching out to on quarterly basis and keeping them informed of what's going on in the business and making sure that again, you're doing so honestly and transparently. If you do that over the course of a few years, you're going to build up a lot of trust with a lot of these investors and it's going to be, in my opinion, easier to raise as you get later in the business. So that's one thing that I would recommend. And it's definitely a longer term play, for sure, but it's really important.

29:34
Griffin Spolansky
And I know everyone thinks short term when they're fundraising, but once you get that fundraise done, you realize there's probably going to be fewer fundraisers in the pipeline. So make sure you're thinking long term for sure. And then I would say in the short term is building up a lot of excitement. I actually really don't love this aspect of raising money because I think that it shouldn't be necessarily about like creating fomo, it should just be more about showing how strong the business is. But I do think there's something to be said for getting a lot of investors really excited. I don't think there's any perfect way to do that, but what I would say is just be having active conversations with a lot of investors to keep your options open. And obviously word travels fast.

30:13
Griffin Spolansky
So once one or two investors know that you're chatting with a bunch of others, I think it makes the deal more exciting. Of course, if the numbers are decently exciting, if the founder is exciting, all that kind of stuff. So the last thing I'll say too is there's no silver bullet, right? Like, I think everyone's looking for a silver bullet of like, what's going to really make this work. Because reach out to a lot of people, communicate really well, and at some point it's probably going to hit if you're doing both of those things. So that's my advice.

30:37
Hannah Dittman
Great advice, and it's so true. There is no silver bullet for any aspect of business, whether it's product development or anything. There's no one way that it's all going to magically come together and everything is so unique to what you're working on and what you're doing. And I think leaning into your strengths, like obviously you did when you were a young hustling founder, there's always some pro to lean into and I think leaning hard into the pro that you have is probably the best approach. And there's no perfect business, like you said earlier, there's no perfect deal. Every business goes through things and has issues. So I think it's about leaning into what's really going right instead of anchoring on making it 100% perfectly right. Super helpful. Griffin. This has been such an amazing chat.

31:20
Hannah Dittman
I am so impressed with your foundership and your ability to grow and navigate a business, especially without having seen it or experienced it before you cleared really have a high intellectual curiosity, a strong drive and a tenacious spirit and grit. So it's been such a pleasure chatting with you today and getting to meet some of the brains behind an amazing product like Mezcla. I encourage everyone listening in to give them a try for any founders or investors that might want to reach you, continue the conversation or have follow up question what's the best way for them to get in touch or follow along on your journey? And second part of my question, do you have any advice or opportunities for anyone looking maybe to join your team?

32:01
Griffin Spolansky
Yeah, I would say LinkedIn is the best way for people to connect with me. Definitely send me a message if you want to chat. And we are hiring right now for a Director of Conventional Sales as well as a Director of Food Service sales. So if anyone is hearing this and has any interest in either of those roles, please reach out via LinkedIn.

32:19
Hannah Dittman
Awesome. Well thank you so much Griffin. Thanks again for your time and go try some Mezcla. I bet you Protein in guys.

32:26
Griffin Spolansky
There we go. Thank you Hannah. I appreciate the time.

32:29
Hannah Dittman
Well friends, we've now arrived together at the end of another episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, the top globally ranked podcast in cpg. And if you love this podcast, you'll love our Slack community even more. Here at Startup cpg, we're a community of brands and experts and you should join. Sign up @startupcpg.com you'll then get an invite to our online Slack community of over 35,000 All Star CPG members, hear about amazing events near you and all our special opportunities to get you in front of buyers, investors, brands and more. It's a free community. So what are you waiting for? I'll catch you on the next episode and I'll see you on the slack.