“How on earth do you ACTUALLY EXIT your food and drink brand?”

This question swirled my mind.

Thankfully, one woman knows all the answers.

Libby Gibson is a total legend. She lives and breathes challenger brands. Libby successfully built, scaled and sold Pitcher & Piano.

Then she set up Piper with Crispin Twidgen

PIPER are responsible for tonnes of HUGE exits.

• Proper Corn
• Bruce’s Doggy Day Care
• Flat Iron
• Wattbike
• Bloom and Wild
• Neom
• Mindful Chef
• Hickories
• Frame
• Olebar Brown swimwear

I know people say: “it’s not about the money, it’s about the journey”

I know, it’s grotesquely-uncouth to say it’s all about the the Dough, Coin, Wonga, Cash-eesh, Moolah, Bunsen-Burner-Nice-Little-Earner

But, C’maaaaaaaaaannnn.

Let’s not beat around the bush.

There’s a gorgeous pot of glistening gold waiting for you at the end of your Rainbow.

If you sell you’ll be filthy rich, minted and smoking cubbies on the French Riveria.

I jest. But, I do believe you can do BOTH.

You can build an amazing brand, have lots of fun, help people, do good and, also, make a BUCKET LOADS OF COIN.

This poddy BLEW MY MIND

• Are you thinking about the right things?
• Have you ACTUALLY thought about the succession plan?
• Who are you selling actually going to sell to?
• Are you launching NPD willy-nilly? Is NPD distracting from keeping the main thing, the main thing?

ON THE MENU:

1. PIPER’s 7, 17, 70 Law: The inflection points of growth on the journey to exit - You must invest ahead of the growth curve.
2. PIPERs “Back from the Future” Law: Founders must start thinking about the exit three years before they think they’re ready
3. The Hidden Dangers of Building a Strong Personal Brand if You’re Looking to Exit: what’s the succession plan? who’s going to replace you?
4. How to Hire, Scale and Keep The Magic Alive 1. “You don't have to hire all at once” 2. “Hire ahead of the curve” 3. “Hire people stepping up vs. down”
5. 3 Rules to Go from” Challenger Brand” to “Brand Legend”: 1. Focus Better + Different 2. Codify business values
6. Why “Brand Legends” Do Two Things Consistently 1. Turn customers into their best brand ambassadors + constantly surprise and delight
7. PROPER CORN’s Hidden Retail Relationship Genius: Top to Bottom Relationships + Work from the detail up to the big
8. Solving the NPD Riddle: Constantly Launching NPD is dangerous “it’s a huge distraction” + “You may think everyone knows about your product but they probably don’t”
9. How PROPER CORN went from £7 Million Challenger to £70 Million Brand Legend “the way you run through walls at £70 million is different”
10. Founders constantly ask: Why do we have a right to win in this category?
11. How Challenger Brands can Ge get over the £5 million sticking point 1. Be rigorous with priorities 2. Understand NPD is sometimes a distraction 3.
12. How PROPER CORN escaped the £7million Sticking Point: Carefully and Slowly Moving into The Right NPD

Listen to the full episode here

Espresso's are powered by our brand new sponsor, Unleashed!

1. What on earth is Unleashed, I hear you asking?

Unleashed is Inventory management software that talks to your financial and eComm software. We use it daily at Islands. It's BANGING!!

2. Why Unleashed will change your life as a foodie founder?

Cut admin time in half. Save money. Lots of money. Get lucid clarity on margins. Be all over cash flow, after all cash is king. Manage stock and cash flow.

3. The biggest brands in FMCG love love Unleashed

Your fave brands like Candy Kittens, Tiny Rebel, TRIP use religiously. Tarquins Gin, Three Spirit, Minor Figures, The Turmeric Co., Volcano Coffee

4. Do yourself a favour

Feel free to reach out to the utter legends Josh and Bryony at Unleashed, book in a 20 min chat with this magical link. Even if nothing comes of it, it's worth having a chat. Click this magical link

Listen to the full episode here

Espresso's are powered by our brand new sponsor, Unleashed!

1. What on earth is Unleashed, I hear you asking?

Unleashed is Inventory management software that talks to your financial and eComm software. We use it daily at Islands. It's BANGING!!

2. Why Unleashed will change your life as a foodie founder?

Cut admin time in half. Save money. Lots of money. Get lucid clarity on margins. Be all over cash flow, after all cash is king. Manage stock and cash flow.

3. The biggest brands in FMCG love love Unleashed

Your fave brands like Candy Kittens, Tiny Rebel, TRIP use religiously. Tarquins Gin, Three Spirit, Minor Figures, The Turmeric Co., Volcano Coffee

4. Do yourself a favour

Feel free to reach out to the utter legends Josh and Bryony at Unleashed, book in a 20 min chat with this magical link. Even if nothing comes of it, it's worth having a chat. Click this magical link

The wave was coming.

Most couldn’t see it.

Very few were in the water.

But, Two Johns were. Ready to catch it.

Well, actually, t’was a John and a Jon.

John and Jon were in Madrid. Studying a MBA.

In the evenings, parked in baroque slow-paced courtyards, under mind-meltingly, soul-nourishingly wonderful pink-orange sunsets.

John and Jon would glug back G&Ts. Big voluptuous goblet glasses, igloo-thick ice cubes and zesty-slices of fresh orange. Bathing in Baroque Blissssssss.

John and Jon, could feel the Gin Revolution wave coming, the tectonic plates of D2C moving and shaking.

Craft Gin Club is a WHOPPER business

• • £27 million retail sales with an 82% annual growth rate
  • 450,000 monthly subscribers
• Featured

John is a no-nonsense, incredibly pragmatic operator and brand builder.

Loved this one.

With this gorge Weather, pour yourself a G&T and slurp this up episode, nice and slow.

ON THE MENU:

1. Why supermarket booze buying experiences is diabolical 1/10 and how to change it
2. How to Turn Storytelling into Sales as a D2C business: The Balance of Content vs
3. Why Craft = Purpose and Purpose = Craft. Craft is real people making real things.
4. Why Founders should fall in love with cash constraints = Cash Constraints = Innovation Cages
5. Why Idle = Ideas + Ideas = Idle - founders you have to NOTHING to discover SOMETHING
6. How to raise money when your back’s against the wall Craft Gin Club created Gin Bonds
7. The Difference between First level problem solving and Second level problem solving
8. How To Balance Focus vs. Innovation. What now vs. What’s next?

Full episode live Monday 8am.


Every top food and drink founder reads our newsletter: https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/

HUNGRY's Absolutely Bloody Marvellous Sponsors who make HUNGRY possible:

North Star: https://www.northstarbc.co.uk/

MKJ IGNITE: https://www.mkjignite.co.uk/

Big Fish: https://bigfish.co.uk/

BOWIMI: https://www.bowimi.com/

HC Consulting: https://www.hc-consulting.uk/

🤝 Let's mingle

Stalk me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/

Stalk me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/

Listen to the full episode here

Espresso's are powered by our brand new sponsor, Unleashed!

1. What on earth is Unleashed, I hear you asking?

Unleashed is Inventory management software that talks to your financial and eComm software. We use it daily at Islands. It's BANGING!!

2. Why Unleashed will change your life as a foodie founder?

Cut admin time in half. Save money. Lots of money. Get lucid clarity on margins. Be all over cash flow, after all cash is king. Manage stock and cash flow.

3. The biggest brands in FMCG love love Unleashed

Your fave brands like Candy Kittens, Tiny Rebel, TRIP use religiously. Tarquins Gin, Three Spirit, Minor Figures, The Turmeric Co., Volcano Coffee

4. Do yourself a favour

Feel free to reach out to the utter legends Josh and Bryony at Unleashed, book in a 20 min chat with this magical link. Even if nothing comes of it, it's worth having a chat. Click this magical link

A ripe afternoon eclipsed a rotten morning before. everything erupted.

Snotty grey-clotted cream clouds passed.

Peach-peeled sunshine danced along the rooftops, apple-green light flushed into the Soho streets. Everything GLOWED

Friday, 4.30ish.

I rested against the verdant green, freshly painted walls, nursing Guinny n ciggie

A porridge of boozehounds and tangle of ThankGodItsFridays flowed and spilled and laughed into streets.

The Devonshire, SOHO is the Moon landing for battle cruisers.

Centrifugal rocket ship.

Fairground of Fun.

Banging bacchanalia.

I sat in the middle of this Puddin’. Soaking. This lovely-lovely brash bewilderment. Quaffing back Guinness at race-hound speed. Bone-rattling-cold. Creamy Dreamy. Black Abyss. Raging Bliss.

Absolutely DEEE-lighted to welcome co-founder The Devonshire, Oisín Rogers on the pod.

Alongside trio Charlie Carroll (Flat Iron) and Ashley Walter-Palmers (The Fat Duck) - they’re creating something truly special.

Osh is HANDS DOWN one of the best storytellers I’ve had on the poddy.

We dance through the full helter-skelter-kaleidoscope of human emotions.

Our conversation will change the way you view pubs forever.

Before The Devonshire, Osh ran The Guinny Grill in Mayfair and The Ship, Wandsworth. Osh was responsible for the infamous Ship Sundays.

You’re going to love this one

ON THE MENU:

1. The Secrets of Great Hospitality and How Osh Became “OctoPaddy”
2. Why The Devonshire is 1000 little things done well = Storytelling = “the currency of pubs is storytelling”
3. The “Obsessed” Reframe: Change “obsessed” to “besotted”. What a lovely reframe.
4. Everything Popular is Wrong - Oscar Wilde: “there’s no such thing as a good trend” - focus on building a timeless business.
5. The best pubs = Land Lord becomes synonymous pub. Pub becomes synonymous with landlord
6. Devonshire’s Bin man & Chairman Rule = Create a place where everyone speaks to everyone
7. Carrol, Rogers, Palmer-Walters Symphony for Success = Chaos + Order + Perfection
8. Paddy Rogers (Osh’s Dad) Simple Rule for Life “Avoid Unpleasantness”

Monday 8am. Cannae wait till then? Other episodes below

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every top food and drink founder reads our newsletter: https://hungryfeast.beehiiv.com/

HUNGRY's Absolutely Bloody Marvellous Sponsors who make HUNGRY possible:

North Star: https://www.northstarbc.co.uk/

MKJ IGNITE: https://www.mkjignite.co.uk/

Big Fish: https://bigfish.co.uk/

BOWIMI: https://www.bowimi.com/

HC Consulting: https://www.hc-consulting.uk/

🤝 Let's mingle

Stalk me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-pope/

Stalk me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hungry.pod/

Listen to the full episode here

Espresso's are powered by our brand new sponsor, Unleashed!

1. What on earth is Unleashed, I hear you asking?

Unleashed is Inventory management software that talks to your financial and eComm software. We use it daily at Islands. It's BANGING!!

2. Why Unleashed will change your life as a foodie founder?

Cut admin time in half. Save money. Lots of money. Get lucid clarity on margins. Be all over cash flow, after all cash is king. Manage stock and cash flow.

3. The biggest brands in FMCG love love Unleashed

Your fave brands like Candy Kittens, Tiny Rebel, TRIP use religiously. Tarquins Gin, Three Spirit, Minor Figures, The Turmeric Co., Volcano Coffee

4. Do yourself a favour

Feel free to reach out to the utter legends Josh and Bryony at Unleashed, book in a 20 min chat with this magical link. Even if nothing comes of it, it's worth having a chat. Click this magical link

How is this possible?

What’s in the energy? Who does that?

How?

Whaaaaaaa?

What are they on?

This is f*cking INSANE

PerfectTed have astounded me since day one.

Teddie and Marrissa ripped up the “challenger brand play book” with brash boldness, courage and naive intelligence.

PerfectTed’s meteoric rise is CRAZY - they’ve achieved in 1 year what most would dream of in 10 years

🍵 Won Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco, M&S, Joe and The Juice

🍵 Holland and Barrett, Planet Organic Blank Street Coffee,

🍵 Investment by Steven Bartlett, famous feature on Dragon’s Den

🍵 Patnership with The Hardest Geezer - helping him run across the length of Africa race

🍵 Scaled the team to +8 employees

When I got to the office, I can’t lie, there was this big voluptuous wallop of infection energy.

The PerfectTed team GRAFT.

We finished the pod at 8.30pm. The whole team still in the office grafting away.

Teddie and Marissa are onto a special something.

Wanna know that special something?

Monday 8am

ON THE MENU:

1. Why Teddie and Marissa have a daily writing practice and maybe you should too: Writing is Thinking. Clear Writing = Clear Thinking = Clear Leadership.
2. The Hardest Geezer Partnership Genius to Drive New Shoppers to the Tesco Meal Deal: Unlock a New Male Fitness Shopper in a Predominately Female Category
3. The “1% Friday Team Lunch” to Transform Your Brand and Level Up Your Team
4. How to Separate Yourself from your Brand "I am not Teddie founder of PerfectTed". I am Teddie and work for PerfectTed (this one really helped me)
5. Rory Sutherland’s "Framing + Perceived Value". Matcha is the input, NOT the OUTPUT. Matcha may be niche, but “Healthy Energy” is not niche. Focus on Output> Input
6. Why You Must Increase Your Surface Area - “it doesn't get easier the challenges get different”
7. Why Challenger Brands must GO BEYOND Rate of Sale (this is f*cking gold). What are your Retailers Dreams + how to spread unique customer love
8. Steven Bartlett’s ONE Vital Brand Building Lesson for FMCG Brands - “Bring people places they couldn't usually see”. We’re moving from Love Island showbiz to Entrepreneur Entertainment Industry
9. The Danger of Becoming Numb To Your Brand: “Fear knocked, faith opened, no one was there”
10. Why High Vulnerability Cultures = High Creative Cultures. Professional Vulnerability and Fun is a Superpower