Krishna Kaliannan wanted to start a tech company but failed at every attempt.
On the side, he was teaching himself how to cook with high-protein, low-sugar ingredients. Not just out of interest, but out of necessity. As a teenager, Krishna had been diagnosed with diabetes and epilepsy, meaning he adopted a keto diet long before it was trendy.
Krishna’s home experiments with pea powder and monk fruit eventually became Catalina Crunch, one of the country’s most popular high-protein, low-carb breakfast cereals and snacks.
In this episode, Krishna shares how a life-changing health condition sparked an obsession with healthy baking— and a brand that reimagined snacking.
What You’ll Learn
- How to turn a health challenge into a business opportunity
- The art and science of baking with esoteric ingredients
- When to trust partners and when it’s best to take charge yourself
- Why the DTC model is great for some industries and disastrous for others
Timestamps:
00:06:16- Dealing with diabetes and epilepsy as a college student
00:12:38- What Krishna learns from his early failures in tech
00:22:43- The first, low-sugar cocoa puffs: “Rocks that tasted like soil.”
00:27:36- His homemade cereal gets good enough to sell
00:32:42- Naming the brand: classy alliteration and a nod to a Will Ferrell movie
00:44:51- Learning to make cereal like the pros at Texas A&M
00:54:43- Krishna moves from NYC to Indiana to make sure the cereal is made right
01:01:04- Whole Foods, Costco, and becoming a household brand
This episode was researched and produced by Chris Maccini with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our engineer was Kwesi Lee.
Follow How I Built This:
Instagram → @howibuiltthis
X → @HowIBuiltThis
Facebook → How I Built This
Follow Guy Raz:
Instagram → @guy.raz
Youtube → guy_raz
X → @guyraz
Substack →guyraz.substack.com
Website →guyraz.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
