Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built. Order the How I Built This book at https://www.guyraz.com/
MadeGood: Salma and Nima Fotovat Lost Their First Business.They Grew Their Next One Into a Snack Giant.
What do you do when the family business you've spent decades building... gets bought out from under you?
That’s what happened to Nima and Salma Fotovat.
Devastated, the family rebuilt a new company from the ground up. This time they set out with a new idea: build an allergen-free, organic snack brand not just for kids, but their parents.
Their new brand: MadeGood.
Today, the Canadian brand’s parent company does hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. But getting there meant rebuilding from scratch, fixing 200,000 mislabeled snack bars by hand, and turning a family of co-packers into branding experts.
What you'll learn:
- How owning manufacturing can be a competitive edge
- How they grew a national brand with almost no marketing.
- Why it can be a winning strategy to say "yes" before you know how
- Introducing new products: the tension between research and emotion
- The mindset that can help you rebuild after a devastating setback
Timestamps:
6:05 - Growing up in Iran during wartime, and emigrating to Canada
11:55 - Their dad’s new business: “Why are North Americans not eating nougat?”
19:25 - Building the family’s first snack bar brand—and losing it overnight
34:20 - The next business: going all in on healthier school snacks
42:30 - Fixing a 200,000-bar production error with alcohol wipes
48:30 - Landing MadeGood’s first retail store
51:10 - The 100-mile radius marketing strategy
56:50 - The lure of new products: from human treats to dog treats
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