Rebuilding a $600M Company From Scratch

Peter Rahal is the Founder and CEO of David. Before David, he built RXBAR in his parents' basement with $10k and sold it to Kellogg for $600M.

We get into why he basically rebuilt the same company again, how buying his own ingredient supplier made a food business venture-backable, why RXBAR's paleo positioning was a trap, the EPG fat technology behind David, how GLP-1’s have changed diet trends forever, selling cans of fish as a marketing weapon, the lawsuit that got him 120M impressions in a week, and why he studies fashion houses instead of food companies.

Thank you to Numeral, Flex, Amplitude, and Merge for supporting this episode.

Numeral: Sales tax on autopilot numeral.com

Flex: Premium banking, 60-day credit, 0% APR home.flex.one/referral/bananacapital

Amplitude: AI analytics amplitude.com

Merge: Every model, one API merge.dev/turner

Timestamps:
() David: Tools to increase muscle, decrease fat
() Making nutrition evidence-based, not ideological
() $300M revenue in year two
() Why he rebuilt the same company again
() Do what you're already good at
() In food, the only edge is brand
() The RXBAR playbook and $600M exit
() RXBAR's original positioning was too fragile
() Designing David from first principles
() Why people don't eat protein bars
() Building a multi-brand company that lasts
() How EPG made David venture-backable
() The Medici name and structure
() Food entrepreneurs are Luddites
() Why Big Food can't innovate
() Beverage is a better business than food
() Deciding which products to launch
() GLP-1's ended diet trends forever
() Looking good is the new status symbol
() Sleep first, exercise second, nutrition third
() Brand is just a unique human being
() Humor travels
() Marketing is finding mispriced attention
() When to bail on a marketing trend
() What makes a good meme
() Why David sold cans of fish
() How to navigate a lawsuit
() 120M impressions from a lawsuit
() Lessons from Bezos and Brad Jacobs
() Why the best brands are fashion and beauty
() Women set culture

Referenced
David: davidprotein.com
EPG / Epogee: epogee.com
Whoop: whoop.com
Oura: ouraring.com
Fort: fort.cx
David Rumors TikTok: tiktok.com/@davidprotein/video/761685541587521…
Founders Podcast: founderspodcast.com
How to Make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs: amazon.com/How-Make-Few-Billion-Dollars/dp/B0C…

Follow Peter
Twitter: x.com/PeterRahal
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/peter-rahal-037bba43

Follow Turner
Twitter: twitter.com/TurnerNovak
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/turnernovak

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Rebuilding a $600M Company From Scratch | Peter Rahal, David

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