Prepare yourself for an incredible tale of entrepreneurship. It features a hardscrabble upbringing, relentless optimism, negotiations with Amazonian tribesmen, and some bold guerrilla (“gorilla”?) marketing stunts.Barnana has been making organic banana snacks since 2012. The founders call bananas “Mother Nature’s energy bar”—hence, the name.When they started, they didn’t have much money of their own. So, they had to build a business that appealed to investors.Today, co-founder Nik Ingersoll reveals exactly how they did that. You don’t get into 20,000 stores (including heavyweights like Whole Foods and Costco) without money. But as Nik explains, it doesn’t have to be YOUR money. In fact, one of the most valuable parts of this episode is Nik’s story of how he used “lean startup” principles to raise Barnana’s first round of funding.Also, ever wondered how much it actually costs to make that healthy snack you’re munching on? Well, Nik breaks down Barnana’s supply chain and profit margins in detail—from working with distributors/middlemen, to using brokers to get Barnana’s products into stores, to getting certified as “organic.”And he shares some great ways he’s generated free publicity over the years, including the launch of this farcical new product.This is one of our best episodes yet. Tell us what you think, and subscribe to the show so you won’t miss an episode.

In This Episode We Cover:

Nik's background and how he has been hustling since he was a kid

Starting various businesses and founding Barnana

How he taught himself to code

Taking on a huge undertaking by starting a massive retail business

Barnana's crazy supply chain

Working with organic products

How he raised capital creatively

Figuring things out one part at a time

Channel strategy

Best advice for anyone who wants to get into the food retail business

And SO much more!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Biz Survey

Myspace

Forbes 30 Under 30

BiggerPockets Business Podcast 09: The Secret to Starting a Risk-Free, Debt-Free Business QUICKLY with Alan Donegan

Amazon

KraveJerky

RXBar

Alibaba

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/bizshow19

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