After raising $300K and spending two years building a CPG brand called Misery & Mayhem, Scott Turner and Nick Lagonia made a bold decision: scrap everything and rebrand in seven weeks on a $2,500 budget. In this raw conversation, the Dawnbreaker Oats co-founders share expensive lessons about influencer marketing, the honest feedback that changed their company, and what it's really like to run a business for 2.5 years without
paying yourself.
We dive into the shift in fundraising expectations (the "golden age of CPG" is over), the unit economics of their subscription oatmeal business, and why sometimes the thing you think is your brand strength is actually holding you back. This is an unusually honest look at the unglamorous reality of building a CPG brand—from patient capital allocation to user testing that revealed a 10% to 65% preference shift.
Key Topics:
Why their original brand name (Misery & Mayhem) became a distraction instead of an advantage
The 7-week, $2,500 rebrand process that tested 50+ concepts
User testing results: from 10% to 65% brand preference
Real talk on not paying yourself for 2.5 years while raising young families
What investors actually want to see now vs. the "golden age of CPG"
D2C unit economics: $7 trials, $25-30 CAC, 50%+ retention on subscriptions
The discipline of proving small bets before scaling
Why they chose e-commerce over retail (and the cash flow reasons behind it)
Guest Bios:
Scott Turner and Nick Lagonia are the co-founders of Dawnbreaker Oats, a high-protein instant oatmeal brand.
They met in 2016 while working at Peloton and launched their first brand in February 2024. After realizing their
original positioning wasn't resonating with customers, they completed a full rebrand in seven weeks,
relaunching as Dawnbreaker Oats in September 2024. They're currently in the middle of raising their second
round of funding while building an e-commerce-first CPG business.
I hope you enjoyed this episode!
Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly.
– Nate and the Profits on Purpose podcast team
Connect with Nathan Littlewood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlittlewood/
Visit the Future Ready CFO website here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/
Join the Future Ready Newsletter here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/newsletter
Listen to Profits on Purpose on these podcast platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1h3U1cG0zhaSwqa8f2UFXI
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087
Amazon Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profits-on-purpose/id1826982087
#profitsonpurpose #nathanlittlewood #futurereadycfo #financeleadership #cfoinsights #purposeledbusiness #scalingforimpact #financialstrategy #purposeledprofit #missiondrivengrowth #sustainablebusiness #businessleaders #entrepreneurmindset #financialclarity #scalingbusinesses #ethicalentrepreneurship #businessstrategy #impactfulleadership #cforole #executivethinking
Welcome to the Profits on Purpose podcast, where we explore the journeys of purpose-led founders and the financial strategies that help them survive and thrive. Host Nate Littlewood sits down with eCommerce and CPG founders to unpack the real-life tension between a brand's mission and the practical realities of generating profit.