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May 2, 2024 · 50m · how-i-built-this

Advice Line with Pete Maldonado of Chomps

Guy Raz · 17m spoken Pete Maldonado · 13m spoken Brandy Shelton · 5m spoken Jennifer Ballin · 5m spoken Jake Meyer · 4m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of How I Built This Lab's 'The Advice Line,' host Guy Raz and Chomps co-founder Pete Maldonado mentor emerging food and beverage entrepreneurs on retail expansion, brand equity, and grassroots marketing. Through practical caller consultations, they provide actionable strategies for navigating distribution hurdles, pricing power, and sustainable direct-to-consumer growth.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 37.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Guy as informed peer 6.7 Guest teaching 4.0 Guest disagreement 1.3 Guy pushing back 4.0
05100:0015:0030:0045:004:25–18:36 · Guy as informed peer 6/10 Badass Bagels: Evaluating Franchising, CPG Expansion, and Positioning Guy Raz and Pete Maldonado advise Jennifer on scaling Badass Bagels, citing case studies like Dave's Hot Chicken and Cava. Pete guides her on incrementality instead of trying to challenge mainstream dairy conglomerates, while Jennifer explains the technical fermentation constraints of sourdough.18:38–33:42 · Guy as informed peer 7/10 Retail Strategy Debrief and Rejecting Private Label Deals Guy and Pete advise Brandy on transitioning Just Add Honey into big box retail, recommending Whole Foods regional testing based on previous guest case studies like Numi Tea. Guy strongly pushes Brandy to surface her grandmother's story and personal sourcing trips directly onto the packaging and website.33:44–48:03 · Guy as informed peer 7/10 Post-Call Debrief on Tea, Longevity, and Transition Jake seeks advice on launching DTC wild salmon sales to mitigate seasonal fishery price swings. Guy and Pete firmly reject his doubts about unpolished video marketing and door-to-door selling, urging him to leverage his sales background and LDS community network directly.4:25–18:36 · Guest teaching 4/10 Badass Bagels: Evaluating Franchising, CPG Expansion, and Positioning Guy Raz and Pete Maldonado advise Jennifer on scaling Badass Bagels, citing case studies like Dave's Hot Chicken and Cava. Pete guides her on incrementality instead of trying to challenge mainstream dairy conglomerates, while Jennifer explains the technical fermentation constraints of sourdough.18:38–33:42 · Guest teaching 4/10 Retail Strategy Debrief and Rejecting Private Label Deals Guy and Pete advise Brandy on transitioning Just Add Honey into big box retail, recommending Whole Foods regional testing based on previous guest case studies like Numi Tea. Guy strongly pushes Brandy to surface her grandmother's story and personal sourcing trips directly onto the packaging and website.33:44–48:03 · Guest teaching 4/10 Post-Call Debrief on Tea, Longevity, and Transition Jake seeks advice on launching DTC wild salmon sales to mitigate seasonal fishery price swings. Guy and Pete firmly reject his doubts about unpolished video marketing and door-to-door selling, urging him to leverage his sales background and LDS community network directly.4:25–18:36 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Badass Bagels: Evaluating Franchising, CPG Expansion, and Positioning Guy Raz and Pete Maldonado advise Jennifer on scaling Badass Bagels, citing case studies like Dave's Hot Chicken and Cava. Pete guides her on incrementality instead of trying to challenge mainstream dairy conglomerates, while Jennifer explains the technical fermentation constraints of sourdough.18:38–33:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Retail Strategy Debrief and Rejecting Private Label Deals Guy and Pete advise Brandy on transitioning Just Add Honey into big box retail, recommending Whole Foods regional testing based on previous guest case studies like Numi Tea. Guy strongly pushes Brandy to surface her grandmother's story and personal sourcing trips directly onto the packaging and website.33:44–48:03 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Post-Call Debrief on Tea, Longevity, and Transition Jake seeks advice on launching DTC wild salmon sales to mitigate seasonal fishery price swings. Guy and Pete firmly reject his doubts about unpolished video marketing and door-to-door selling, urging him to leverage his sales background and LDS community network directly.4:25–18:36 · Guy pushing back 3/10 Badass Bagels: Evaluating Franchising, CPG Expansion, and Positioning Guy Raz and Pete Maldonado advise Jennifer on scaling Badass Bagels, citing case studies like Dave's Hot Chicken and Cava. Pete guides her on incrementality instead of trying to challenge mainstream dairy conglomerates, while Jennifer explains the technical fermentation constraints of sourdough.18:38–33:42 · Guy pushing back 4/10 Retail Strategy Debrief and Rejecting Private Label Deals Guy and Pete advise Brandy on transitioning Just Add Honey into big box retail, recommending Whole Foods regional testing based on previous guest case studies like Numi Tea. Guy strongly pushes Brandy to surface her grandmother's story and personal sourcing trips directly onto the packaging and website.33:44–48:03 · Guy pushing back 5/10 Post-Call Debrief on Tea, Longevity, and Transition Jake seeks advice on launching DTC wild salmon sales to mitigate seasonal fishery price swings. Guy and Pete firmly reject his doubts about unpolished video marketing and door-to-door selling, urging him to leverage his sales background and LDS community network directly.

speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Guy 62.1% · guest 37.9%0:00 · Guy 62.1% · guest 37.9%3:00 · Guy 33.4% · guest 66.6%3:00 · Guy 33.4% · guest 66.6%6:00 · Guy 15.8% · guest 84.2%6:00 · Guy 15.8% · guest 84.2%9:00 · Guy 38.1% · guest 61.9%9:00 · Guy 38.1% · guest 61.9%12:00 · Guy 15.7% · guest 84.3%12:00 · Guy 15.7% · guest 84.3%15:00 · Guy 12.3% · guest 87.7%15:00 · Guy 12.3% · guest 87.7%18:00 · Guy 71.2% · guest 28.8%18:00 · Guy 71.2% · guest 28.8%21:00 · Guy 16.9% · guest 83.1%21:00 · Guy 16.9% · guest 83.1%24:00 · Guy 12.3% · guest 87.7%24:00 · Guy 12.3% · guest 87.7%27:00 · Guy 40.8% · guest 59.2%27:00 · Guy 40.8% · guest 59.2%30:00 · Guy 52.3% · guest 47.7%30:00 · Guy 52.3% · guest 47.7%33:00 · Guy 39.2% · guest 60.8%33:00 · Guy 39.2% · guest 60.8%36:00 · Guy 39.3% · guest 60.7%36:00 · Guy 39.3% · guest 60.7%39:00 · Guy 17.6% · guest 82.4%39:00 · Guy 17.6% · guest 82.4%42:00 · Guy 47.1% · guest 52.9%42:00 · Guy 47.1% · guest 52.9%45:00 · Guy 48.7% · guest 51.3%45:00 · Guy 48.7% · guest 51.3%48:00 · Guy 75.5% · guest 24.5%48:00 · Guy 75.5% · guest 24.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 46:32 Pushing back on raw video content

Jake hesitates against the hosts' advice, raising his wife's objections that their homemade footage doesn't look professional enough to post.

 Hardest push from Guy ▶ 43:59 Rejecting search for easy shortcuts

Pete dismisses Jake's hesitation about door knocking, declaring hands-down that direct in-person selling is the single most effective way to secure orders.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 7:06 Explaining the physics of sourdough bagels

Jennifer educates Guy on how 45-minute commercial yeast breads differ fundamentally from freestanding, high-hydration sourdough bagel fermentation.

 Guy holds their own ▶ 28:29 Demonstrating retail incubation playbook

Guy draws upon years of founder interviews to map out how Whole Foods regional buyers incubate local brands before nationwide rollouts, referencing Numi Tea.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicGuy as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementGuy pushing backWhy
Badass Bagels: Evaluating Franchising, CPG Expansion, and Positioning 6413 Guy Raz and Pete Maldonado advise Jennifer on scaling Badass Bagels, citing case studies like Dave's Hot Chicken and Cava. Pete guides her on incrementality instead of trying to challenge mainstream dairy conglomerates, while Jennifer explains the technical fermentation constraints of sourdough.
Retail Strategy Debrief and Rejecting Private Label Deals 7414 Guy and Pete advise Brandy on transitioning Just Add Honey into big box retail, recommending Whole Foods regional testing based on previous guest case studies like Numi Tea. Guy strongly pushes Brandy to surface her grandmother's story and personal sourcing trips directly onto the packaging and website.
Post-Call Debrief on Tea, Longevity, and Transition 7425 Jake seeks advice on launching DTC wild salmon sales to mitigate seasonal fishery price swings. Guy and Pete firmly reject his doubts about unpolished video marketing and door-to-door selling, urging him to leverage his sales background and LDS community network directly.

Statements from this episode (9)

Insight
Maldonado: Getting onto retail shelves is easy compared to post-launch execution
“You selling to the retailer and getting out on the shelf is the easy part. That's when the work starts.”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 2:24
Assertion Contradicted
Maldonado: Most retailers make more from slotting fees than product sales
“And these, you know, retailers, most of them, they make more, more money from slotting fees than they do from actually selling products.”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 3:46
Insight
Maldonado: Single-unit owner-operator franchises have a higher chance of success
“If you're going to franchise, it should be that person's day job. I think that's probably critical to the success of any franchise. If you look at like the Chick-fil-A model where they allow, allow them to Own one unit. I think that's a really, that's a good, …”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 12:24
Prediction Held up
Maldonado: Chomps is approaching $500M in retail sales in 2024
“We'll do somewhere around the, we're approaching the half a billion dollar mark in retail sales this year.”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 16:05
Insight
Maldonado: CPG startups must target incremental customers, not incumbent giants
“I still would never even think about trying to compete with the big guys in the space. Right. It just, it doesn't work. And I would, we would, they would bleed us to death. Like it just wouldn't work. But the reason we've been successful is because we serve an…”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 16:11
Disclosure
Maldonado: Chomps rejected Trader Joe's private-label deal to avoid managing two brands
“The specific ask, you know, they wanted us to do a private label product line firm, which would have been a huge undertaking for a small team like ours. It was just me and Rashid working full time, and it was hard enough to manage one brand, and as a private, …”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 19:45
Insight
Maldonado: Emerging premium CPG brands should not compete on retail price
“With this type of product, one of the other things when you go into retail, don't fall into the trap of trying to compete on price. You are going to be the little guy coming into the space, lean into your story, lean into the premium aspects of the products an…”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 33:07
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Meyer: Annie Alaska generated nearly $350K net profit in six weeks
“The last year I was out there the operation in six, it's about a six week season, but it pulled close to 350,000 dollars net. That's after expenses.”
Jake Meyer May 2, 2024 ▶ 37:56
Opinion
Maldonado: Door-to-door selling is the best route for early food startups
“Knocking on doors is going to be your best bet. Like hands down. I mean, if I could scale that with what I do, I would do that all day long. Cause I'm going to get the sale, man, every time.”
Pete Maldonado May 2, 2024 ▶ 43:59
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