#201 - Jonah Reider, Founder PZAZ: Shaking Up The Energy Industry

Jonah Reider is an NYC based chef, entrepreneur, and writer for Food & Wine. Prior to starting Pzaz, Jonah made a name for himself cooking meals in his dorm room at Columbia which turned into famed supper club and boutique condiments brand, Pith. Jonah hosts the bi-monthly column “Supper Club” at Food & Wine magazine, and has contributed to GQ, Vice, the Food Network, and more around the food & hospitality space. He’s also collaborated with several major brands like Gucci, Hermes, Land Rover, and The New Yorker to create unique dining experiences. Now Jonah is entering the CPG startup world and building an energy empire called Pzaz. Jonah joins DTC Pod to talk about his launch, developing product and form factor, brand positioning, local retail distribution strategy, and how to make a big impression in a crowded CPG landscape.

Highlights:

32:04 - 32:28
Embrace every part of your product
Pzaz is not a flavor first brand in the sense that I don’t want people to buy it because they think it’s the most delicious, delicate, unique flavor they’ve tasted. It’s functional first. And we don’t have paragraphs and paragraphs on our website about all the functional ingredients. It’s functional in that it wakes you up. If you want to wake up and you don’t want a beverage or you can’t have a beverage, this is the product for you.

35:54 - 36:51
Most Subscriptions Get This Wrong
We only sell subscriptions on our website. If you don’t want to subscribe, if you cancel your subscription, that’s fine.  I’m not here insisting on having the lowest churn rate of all time. We’ll catch you somewhere else on Amazon, Go Puff, at the bodega. That subscription version of purchase needs to be so distinct and rewarding from any other type of purchase, you need to get, you know a giant Pzaz tattoo when you order from Pzaz.com. You need to get a little zazz chain to wear on your neck that connects to the cap so you can take it out on your third order. There should be a real reason to join that DTC community for everyone who comes into the fold. And if they don’t, we’ll still keep them as part of our digital community and solicit content that really raises up the amazing retailers who are carrying us in their stores

44:03 - 44:55
The Ultimate IRL Launch Strategy
We’re at multiple parties going on in the city, multiple clubs, music venues, sporting events,  private parties, art openings, you name it there there will be someone with a backpack of Pzaz putting these tubes out in the bathroom, at the check in counter, at the bar, wherever you might stumble upon it. We have a little, all the energy drink companies have cars. Red Bulls got the Mini Cooper. Monsters got this big truck. We have a single electric scooter sort of like you know in New York they’re called Revels, and we’ve decked it out. It’s it’s ridiculously zazzy. It looks like this office. It’s bright yellow. It has like ludicrously bright rainbow lights, a huge Pzaz flag. And we have  people driving this scooter every hour of every day of the summer.”

50:21 - 50:54
Should New Brands Use Distributors?
The vast majority of their revenue from just a few huge companies that sell massive quantities, but are giving the distributor a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage. So they’ll take on, like almost any. They’ll take on plenty of new brands and not really push you at all, not help that much, take a lot a lot of your margin. And I didn’t want to get caught in that. And I also I think I wanted to have some experience at launching, really understanding what it means to hit the pavement and deliver product and deal with people saying no.

56:34 - 57:31
Every Startup Needs a Laser Focus
Consumer packaged goods in the energy space are really missing a cultural moment and an opportunity to explore new form factors, delivery mechanisms, and of course, branding. And we have a lot of interesting new product ideas, new avenues to take to approach this mission. But  I would say we’re, I am and I try to have our whole team aligned on this, really keeping ourselves quite laser focused on launching and remembering what our key objectives are. We want to be in stores, doing well, building a community and driving digital interactions that everybody finds valuable and exciting and fun. And, that’s what we’re really focused on. So I hope anyone listening who’s made it all the way to the end of this. Get your ass to Pzaz.com.

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Jonah Reider- CEO of Pzaz.com

Ramon Berrios - CEO of Trend.io

Blaine Bolus - COO of OmniPanel