Getting into one local Whole Foods wasn't just a sale; it was a key. Travis immediately leveraged that single, high-credibility placement to persuade other local retailers to carry his product. He understood that one prestigious "yes" acts as powerful social proof, creating a domino effect for distribution.

The founders delayed institutional funding to protect their long-term brand strategy. This freedom allowed them to avoid paid ads, which a VC might have demanded for quick growth, and instead focus on building a more powerful and sustainable word-of-mouth engine first.

Chomps' first major retail partner, Trader Joe's, operates uniquely by handling all in-store marketing and merchandising. This simplicity allowed the two-person founding team to scale into retail without needing a massive operations team, de-risking a critical growth phase.

Before launching, assess a product's viability by the sheer number of potential distribution points. Manufacturing and logistics are solvable problems if the market access is vast. This reverses the typical product-first approach by prioritizing market penetration from day one.

Instead of chasing massive, immediate growth, Chomps' founders focused on a sustainable, self-funded model. This gradual scaling allowed them to control their destiny, prove their model, and avoid the pressures of early-stage investors, which had burned one founder before.

Jane Wurwand advises a premium food startup to avoid large supermarkets early on. Big chains demand high volume and have long payment cycles that can crush a new business. Instead, focus on small, high-end local grocers where the brand story can shine and payment terms are more manageable.

Instead of a broad launch, Everflow targeted only mobile affiliate networks—a small market they knew deeply from their previous company. This allowed them to build very specific, high-value features for that ICP, win deals, and establish a strong beachhead before expanding into larger, adjacent markets.

When expanding his law firm, John Morgan uses a 'bullets before bombs' strategy. He first enters a new city with a small, low-cost team and ad budget (the 'bullets') to test viability. Only after seeing positive traction does he commit significant capital and resources (the 'bombs'), de-risking growth.

To prepare for a retail launch, Alave's founders conduct extreme in-person reconnaissance. They fly to stores and use tape measures on competitor packaging to ensure their own boxes fit the shelf set and are compliant. They argue merchandising is a top driver of sales, and if you're not physically visible, you can't be bought.