Today, I'm joined by Stephen Ellsworth, founder of poppi.
Originally launched at farmers markets as "Mother Beverage," poppi rebranded in 2020 and scaled rapidly before being acquired by PepsiCo for nearly $2B.
In this episode, we discuss cultivating consumer obsession.
We also cover:
- How 2.5 years at farmers markets became the ultimate R&D
- Why the $50M revenue milestone matters
- Landing a deal on Shark Tank
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Website: www.drinkpoppi.com/
Stephen's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephenellsworth_/
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Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:49) Background and poppi origin story
(02:40) Mother Beverage to poppi journey
(04:50) Two-year R&D at farmers market
(06:20) Shark Tank and capital inflection
(08:12) Rebranding decision and strategy
(11:00) 2020 timing and category alignment
(12:40) Intuition-driven product development
(13:40) COVID acceleration
(14:45) $50M inflection point
(16:20) Founder preferences: zero to one vs. scaling
(17:50) Product obsession and team building
(18:40) 15–20% better formula
(20:00) poppi playbook and thinking differently
(21:50) Democratizing better-for-you foods
(25:30) PepsiCo acquisition concerns
(28:45) Large incumbents vs. innovation
(31:00) Post-acquisition emotions
(35:15) Preferment vs. retirement
(37:30) What's next
(39:15) Conclusion
