On this episode of The Studentpreneur Show, we speak with Jason Goodman, a current business owner and Cornell student. Jason and his peers worked on the idea to develop a delicious and healthy snack while in a product-development class. Together, they created Grabanzos, a crunchy, chocolate-covered snack. In this interview, Taegan and Jason discuss how to work with retailers, what you can do as a business owner to encourage communication between employees, and the importance of curiosity when building or working with a start-up.
What is Grabanzos?
Grabanzos is a crunchy chocolate snack that also happens to be good for you.
Created in a product development course at Cornell University in January of 2017, Grabanzos has now become a perfected favorite snack with retailers and national shipping. They currently offer milk chocolate and dark chocolate flavor options.
How did Jason Goodman and his team start Grabanzos?
Jason, CEO of Anthithesis LLC, was part of an assigned group that created the Grabanzos snack in a course. After earning the highest recognition for their creation the team continued to snack on these tasty treats. Then it hit them. Other people would love to snack on Grabanzos too!
Shortly after their realization, Jason gathered the team and they created the Antithesis LLC. They also quickly joined the eLab accelerator at Cornell University. Through their work with eLab, the Antithesis team iterated the formula of the product multiple times, developed their systems, conducted customer interviews, and identified the real problem their company and product solves. All of this work laid the foundation for officially launching their product to the public in April of 2018!
Since the launch, they’ve done well! In the last quarter, they had 9 retailer partners and now they have 30! Online sales are also growing, and many who purchase once return for more.
Grabanzos also offers a trial pack online for customers to see if they like the product (and which flavor you prefer) before investing in multiple packs.
Managing Partnerships with Grabanzos
As with most products, Grabanzos works with retailers in addition to their online storefront.
They have experienced a lot of luck in working with retailers. Jason shares that retailers have been generous to include Grabanzos in their product line. The Antithesis LLC team members also do their best to support the retailers who carry their product through several marketing efforts. They offer sampling events and encourage consumers to shop at those specific shops. They truly see it as a mutual relationship.
What has been more challenging is finding suppliers. Making the product is much more challenging. The product is made from a “novel chickpea dough.” In this process, they have learned that while chickpeas are great, the bean can also easily morph its taste and texture if not handled correctly. Those creating the product have to take great care at every step of the way to ensure the final product will consistently taste great.
Jason Goodman also shares that the support they’ve received from the community has been fantastic. From Cornell University and the accelerator eLab to the local entrepreneurship incubator, Rev, Antithesis has made countless connections, expanded its network, and received limitless wisdom for creating a strong business.
How to manage being a CEO and a Student
Jason Goodman is both the CEO of Antithesis and a graduate student (graduating in spring 2020). Balancing both isn’t always easy, but he has proven it is possible.
From serving both roles (CEO and student), Jason offers some advice to others:
- Find a good team to provide you with sanity checks and reality checks. At different points, you NEED to delegate the work.
- Take the leap! Jason shares that “you learn and lot and get a lot of help when you just try.”
- Specific to the food science industry, it’s important to remember that food is cheap to test. Try testing it locally (possibly at a local farmers market or local shop) to see if people enjoy your product.
In addition to his team, Jason reaches out to the network they created in their community for guidance on making tough decisions and direction for their goals. Jason takes leading and managing his team seriously. So with sound advice, he speaks with his team and together they dialogue about their overall goals then turn them into quarterly and monthly goals and objectives.
What prepares a person to be a great CEO?
From our time with Jason, we learn that his prior experience at several different companies informed him as to the best management and leadership styles. It’s important to create space for communication, he says. So once a week his team conducts mandatory one-on-one meetings to talk about work. This gives space for everyone to talk openly about what is going on with their work so they can remain engaged and problem solve quickly.
He also notes that keeping the goals clear and in front of mind helps the team know what they are working towards and gives a sense of purpose.
Speaking of goals, they are currently working to offer larger bags, new flavors, and aim to get to a place where the back end production is no longer something they are hands-on with. How quickly he shared these goals is indicative that the team really does review these objectives regularly.
Jason Goodman shares that he has a lot of great influences that have helped him in his role:
- He was inspired by one of the startups he worked for before. Seeing that it’s possible there gave him hope for Antithesis.
- The Lean Startup really helped him.
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things has also been helpful.
- The How I Built This podcast.
With the help of these influences, Jason has learned a lot including:
- How hard entrepreneurship is for everyone. This process builds resilience and makes you stronger.
- Make the little mistakes so you don’t make the big mistakes.
He also shares that he’s learned “you don’t have to be a super genius to start a startup, you just have to be super curious.”
Speaking of being curious, when looking at potential team members, Jason shares that the following are most important to him (and likely any startup company):
- curiosity
- willingness to learn
- willingness to try things
The job will change so the people he hires need to be flexible. A question he often asks applicants is what podcasts they are listening to, books they are reading, or different hobbies and projects they’ve experimented with. All of this shows, according to Jason, their eagerness to take chances, grow and flexibility as a project evolves.
All in all, being a business owner has been so exciting for Jason Goodman. He shares so much wisdom and a lot about his experiences in this episode that you definitely want to listen!
You can tell he’s passionate about Grabanzos and his team. It’s the most fun he’s ever had even while it’s also the hardest thing he’s ever done.
Useful links and mentions:
Listen to the full Studentpreneur Show episode HERE!
Website: https://grabanzos.com/
Order a trial pack for $5: https://grabanzos.com/products/trial-pack
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Grabanzos/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grabanzos/
You can read about other great studentpreneurs like Jason on our blog HERE!
