Overview

In this book, I outline a 4-Part approach to thinking smarter about growth as a CPG entrepreneur. It is based on years of anthropological research into how and why consumers pay for premium-priced CPG items and intensive 4P pattern analysis among an elite club of premium CPG brands that all reached $100M+ in less than a decade. Part 1. Designing to Command a Premium This is where many founders fail without realizing it. There is a cultural logic behind premium products that grow extremely fast. You should learn it. Part 2. Managing A Small Experiment Don't hit the gas too early. Successful CPG startups manage a rolling, iterative experiment until key KPIs appear. You should learn this art. Part 3. Fine Tuning the Conversion Playbook Steady velocity growth is essential to ramping your brand.Your team needs to learn the art of sustaining it in key geographies, so that you don't have to buy premature distribution to obtain growth. Part 4. Accelerating to Scale There are three best practices in acceleration. Two of them are counter-intuitive to CPG veterans not expert in the ramping of premium CPG businesses. You need to learn how to deploy them.

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9781733444637

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Reviews

"""This is the book I wish I'd had twenty years ago"" -- JOHN FORAKER, CEO of Once Upon a Farm and former CEO of Annie's ""This book provides an excellent framework to build a consumer brand in the 2020s."" -- MICHAEL MAUZE, general partner of VMG Partners ""Every entrepreneur needs to read this book before launch. And each year thereafter! -- ANDY WHITMAN, managing partner of 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners ""The industry insights alone make this book worth its weight in gold. But far more valuable is how James Richardson forces you to stop, think, and be intentional about your growth."" -- JOHN SORIAL, founder and managing partner of Tadah! Foods and 2019 Shark Tank winner ""There hasn't been one book yet that can be a Founder's Bible ... until now. Read it and carry it around with you wherever you go. You will find yourself referencing it quite often."" -- GREG FLEISHMAN, co-founder of Foodstirs and Purely Righteous Brands, former vice president of marketing of Kashi/Kellogg ""Ramping Your Brand is packed with insights on the art and the science of incubating and scaling emerging CPG brands. James Richardson has synthesized and democratized over a decade of invaluable learnings into a one-of-kind, practical guide for entrepreneurs looking to ride the skate ramp. -- WILL LISMAN, VP?GM Amplify Snack Brands ""In this book, James Richardson crystallizes how to build a great brand and business in food/beverage, and he relies on lessons learned from intimate observation of both 'unicorns' and steady growth brands. His lessons are simple: focus on velocity; know more about your category than your retail buyer; keep everything simple; avoid unnecessary category expansion, etc. Read this before your next round of funding, and you may just make it your final raise."" -- TJ McINTYRE, CEO of Bobo's Baked Goods ""James is a keen observer of the consumer, and his insightful recap from the lessons of the 'unicorn' brands in CPG over the past decade is a great read. As an investor and an operator in CPG for the past 25 years, I haven't read any other book that so clearly captures these valuable lessons and factually challenges the ways that CPG brands were built decades ago. James' writing is entertaining, yet sharp, and will have you hooked whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, or operator."" -- APU MODY, angel investor, former CEO of Lenny & Larry's, and president of Mars Food Americas ""Wow! Ramping Your Brand is a thoughtful, insightful, and detailed review of what it takes to become a meaningful and lasting brand in today's challenging landscape of consumer packaged goods. James' decades of experience within the CPG industry shines brightly, and the readers of Ramping Your Brand are provided valuable, specific, and relevant perspective and advice on how to build and then scale their brands. This is a must-read for anyone and everyone involved in creating, building, operating, or investing in CPG brands and businesses, if only to provide relevant context or to challenge your current thinking."" -- RODNEY J. CLARK, managing partner of Aspect Consumer Partners"

This is the book I wish I'd had twenty years ago -- JOHN FORAKER, CEO of Once Upon a Farm and former CEO of Annie's This book provides an excellent framework to build a consumer brand in the 2020s. -- MICHAEL MAUZE, general partner of VMG Partners Every entrepreneur needs to read this book before launch. And each year thereafter! -- ANDY WHITMAN, managing partner of 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners The industry insights alone make this book worth its weight in gold. But far more valuable is how James Richardson forces you to stop, think, and be intentional about your growth. -- JOHN SORIAL, founder and managing partner of Tadah! Foods and 2019 Shark Tank winner There hasn't been one book yet that can be a Founder's Bible ... until now. Read it and carry it around with you wherever you go. You will find yourself referencing it quite often. -- GREG FLEISHMAN, co-founder of Foodstirs and Purely Righteous Brands, former vice president of marketing of Kashi/Kellogg Ramping Your Brand is packed with insights on the art and the science of incubating and scaling emerging CPG brands. James Richardson has synthesized and democratized over a decade of invaluable learnings into a one-of-kind, practical guide for entrepreneurs looking to ride the skate ramp. -- WILL LISMAN, VP?GM Amplify Snack Brands In this book, James Richardson crystallizes how to build a great brand and business in food/beverage, and he relies on lessons learned from intimate observation of both 'unicorns' and steady growth brands. His lessons are simple: focus on velocity; know more about your category than your retail buyer; keep everything simple; avoid unnecessary category expansion, etc. Read this before your next round of funding, and you may just make it your final raise. -- TJ McINTYRE, CEO of Bobo's Baked Goods James is a keen observer of the consumer, and his insightful recap from the lessons of the 'unicorn' brands in CPG over the past decade is a great read. As an investor and an operator in CPG for the past 25 years, I haven't read any other book that so clearly captures these valuable lessons and factually challenges the ways that CPG brands were built decades ago. James' writing is entertaining, yet sharp, and will have you hooked whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, or operator. -- APU MODY, angel investor, former CEO of Lenny & Larry's, and president of Mars Food Americas Wow! Ramping Your Brand is a thoughtful, insightful, and detailed review of what it takes to become a meaningful and lasting brand in today's challenging landscape of consumer packaged goods. James' decades of experience within the CPG industry shines brightly, and the readers of Ramping Your Brand are provided valuable, specific, and relevant perspective and advice on how to build and then scale their brands. This is a must-read for anyone and everyone involved in creating, building, operating, or investing in CPG brands and businesses, if only to provide relevant context or to challenge your current thinking. -- RODNEY J. CLARK, managing partner of Aspect Consumer Partners

Author Information

Dr. Richardson is founder of Premium Growth Solutions, a strategic planning consultancy for early stage consumer pack-aged goods brands. As a professionally trained cultural anthro-pologist turned business strategist, he has helped over 75 CPG brands with their strategic planning, including brands owned by Coca-Cola Venturing and Emerging Brands, The Hershey Com-pany, General Mills, Kraft Foods, ConAgra Brands and Frito-Lay as well as emerging brands such as Once Upon a Farm, Mother Kombucha, Bobby Sue's Nuts, Rebel cream-ery, Zaca recovery and others. He also hosts his own podcast-Startup Confidential. His thoughts appear regularly in industry publications such as Foodnavigator.

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