The Ledger
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Jennifer Martin: 2020 corporate outreach to Black founders was often opportunistic promotion
“I think where it feels good is when it's companies or people who are reaching out to you who have always supported you, and they're just amplifying it. I think the part where it gets confusing of how to feel about it is when you can tell it's an opportunity fo…”
Jeff Martin: Extreme founder highs can be as crippling as low points
“One thing that we always honestly joke about is like, don't let the highs get you so high, and don't let the lows get you so low, because being really low is, is hard, and it's, there's a lot to work through as a founder, but those super high highs, like getti…”
Jennifer Martin: Pipcorn over-indexed on seasonal gifting post-Oprah
“I think the Oprah, we sort of, like, pivoted A little bit too much to focus on, like, being an online gift, and we had to, like, swing all the way back to figure out, like, okay, well, that's seasonal, right? People love that for the holiday, but then the rest…”
Jennifer Martin: Pipcorn did not run any paid advertisements before 2020
“So we had never run any ads previous to like before 2020.”
Jeff Martin: Columbus Circle Whole Foods volume almost bankrupted early Pipcorn
“The Columbus Circle Whole Foods, like, legitimately almost put us out of business early on because the volume was so huge.”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn raised $6 million in funding in May 2019
“So after a little bit, kind of a short period of time, we were introduced to a couple folks and we wound up signing a term sheet that was very different than the first deal, but we were able to raise six million dollars in May of 2019.”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn website crashed immediately upon airing on Oprah
“They showed a pan-across shot at the market of our packaging, and when they showed the name, Pipcorn, our website crashed.”
Jeff Martin: Robert Herjavec halved Pipcorn's valuation with $200K Shark Tank offer
“So Robert offered us a deal, but he cut our valuation in half. He said, love you guys. Love the product. The valuation is too aggressive. So I'll give you 200,000 for 20%.”
Jeff Martin: 15-day supplier terms versus 30-day retail payments caused cash crunch
“Yeah, I mean, we would owe our bills in 15, and we'd get paid from them in 30 days. So we had cash flow issues for a really long time, because The growth was so extreme that yesterday's checks might not cover next week's bills.”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn expanded into three additional Whole Foods regions post-Shark Tank
“Within a couple, so we aired on Shark Tank in November of 2014, and within the following five or six months, we were able to get into, you know, three more regions of Whole Foods, and with those relationships opened up some opportunities to sell to other retai…”
Jennifer Martin: Online sales make up 20% to 25% of Pipcorn's revenue
“No, that's correct. Yeah, I think it's like 20%, 20, 25% online, and then the rest is wholesale.”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn generated up to $200,000 in sales following Oprah feature
“It was like close to, you know, 200,000 dollars in sales in, in a short, in a really, maybe like a 150,000 dollars of sales in a really short period of time”
Jeff Martin: Kate Spade posted Pipcorn on Instagram during its debut
“Kate Spade. Put us on her Instagram.”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn launched with just $3,000 in personal startup capital
“Incredibly low barriers to entry, where We could start with 3000 dollars in a bank account and get the equipment we needed and at least start.”
Jennifer Martin: Pipcorn received two term sheets within three weeks of fundraising
“Oh, no, the one thing I was just going to add was, like, we kicked off the fundraising process, and then I feel like in two weeks we had, or two or three weeks, we had, like, two term sheets.”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn projected reaching profitability by the end of 2022
“We we're projecting profitability by end of next year, but yeah, I mean, it's the business that we're operating today is definitely different than what we had been operating. We're, you know, without a doubt, marching towards profitability to really set oursel…”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn is open to an acquisition by the right partner
“In terms of an acquisition, I think it's something that we would be, you know, to the right partner too. Like you can really start to see some amazing things happen. And sometimes the founders stay on and Sometimes they move on, but you know, for the right par…”
Jeff Martin: Pipcorn ran up a $100,000 legal bill on a failed deal
“It is. And we, and then after the term sheet, we negotiated like these long form deal documents and, you know, had a 100,000 dollar legal bill.”
Jennifer Martin: I refuse to laugh off discriminatory remarks to diffuse awkwardness
“In the past, I've always just laughed off. Somebody says a comment to me that's racist or sexist or homophobic or whatever it is, I laugh it off because I feel awkward and I don't want them to, you know, I just want to make the situation end, right? Like, that…”