will nitze & iqbar

We're creating space for the brains behind the brands we love, and asking good questions along the way. The result is a deep dive into the how and why of brand-building, from blueprints to launch day, customers as community and the detours in between. Big lessons, easy listening.

the Show Notes

In this episode of Read Receipt, Sean sits down with Will Nitze, founder and CEO of IQBAR, the brain and body nutrition brand behind plant protein bars, IQMIX hydration, and instant coffee, now sold in retailers like Costco, Target, and Whole Foods.

Will traces the build from buckets of fiber syrup in his kitchen and a year of trial and error to a Kickstarter he treated as proof of concept, not funding. He gets into riding the keto wave on Amazon, the CVS launch that went sideways, and why he runs a lean 15-person hub-and-spoke company that outsources almost everything.

He also digs into his idea of trend surface area, repositioning a product as trends move without changing what is inside, why being on shelf is a free Facebook ad, why protein has a better brand than Nike, and why you should only take advice from people who did what you want to do in the last 24 months.

Keywords

iqbar, will nitze, iqmix, plant protein, functional nutrition, keto, cpg, food and beverage, kickstarter, amazon, costco, read receipt, antidote

Takeaways

1. Treat Kickstarter as proof, not funding. The pre-sales mostly go back into making and shipping the product. What you really get is evidence that lets you go raise money.
2. Buy yourself time without quitting. Will asked his boss to halve his salary and his hours. That removed the shot clock and bought the year of kitchen trial and error it took to get a real prototype.
3. Build a product with high trend surface area. Do not try to predict trends. Make something you can reposition as trends move, net carbs for keto, now fiber, without changing the product.
4. Win the shopper who has never heard of you. Flavor appeal, an approachable price, the right set, and a clear call-out hierarchy on the front of pack beat geo-fenced ads. Protein has a better brand than Nike, so lean on it.
5. Stay small at the center. A 15-person hub with outside spokes, an email agency, an Amazon agency, retail brokers, keeps a flat team where everyone owns their thing.
6. Serve demand, do not manufacture it. Go after big, obvious categories and out-execute. Get horizontal mentors who are in the trenches right now, because in this space there is no playbook.

Sound Bites

• Anyone who's trying to sell you a playbook is lying or wrong. It does not exist because what worked 10 years ago does not work today.
• What if you cut my salary in half and I worked half the hours? It removed a shot clock for me.
• Being on shelf is a free Facebook ad. 2,000 people will walk by your carton of bars on that shelf every day, 365 days a year.
• Protein has a better brand than Nike. So leverage the brand that the value proposition has more than your brand.
• Don't ever take advice from someone unless they're literally in your category and did what you want to do within the trailing 24 months.

Chapters

00:00 - cold open: there is no playbook

00:38 - what IQBAR is: 12g plant protein, 1g sugar, 9g fiber

01:07 - Will's background: neuroscience, software sales, the Honest Tea book

05:38 - starting from zero: fiber syrup in the kitchen and the half-salary deal

13:26 - Kickstarter is proof of concept, not funding

15:35 - raising to reach scale, and price testing

17:03 - Amazon first, and the keto lucky break

19:57 - trend surface area: reposition without changing the product

26:16 - retail: the CVS misadventure and going omnichannel

27:52 - line extensions: IQMIX hydration and coffee

30:53 - the 15-person hub-and-spoke team

34:44 - marketing: shelf as a free Facebook ad, Costco pallets

41:43 - where the CPG opportunity is: serve demand, do not manufacture it

45:31 - horizontal mentorship

47:33 - building to exit and staying default alive