Brandjectory

0:00Tom Malengo:Welcome to the Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. This is the podcast to discover stories behind your new favorite CPG brands. Each episode brings you behind the scenes of the brand and founder story, learn what sets them apart in the marketplace, and their strategy going to market. We talk about plans for growth, practical advice for an emerging brand founder, and where to shop products that are making waves in food, beverage, wellness, beauty, and beyond. You'll also hear from industry experts, brand builders, investors, and operators you should absolutely have on your radar if you're building a CPG brand today.

0:44Tom Malengo:I'm your host, Kelly Bennett, a Brooklyn-based brand strategist with a front row seat of what makes an emerging CPG brand stand out. Whether you're building a brand of your own or love supporting what's next, you're in the right place. This podcast is brought to you by Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is the go-to platform built for creator-powered retail activations. They are connecting everyday creators with CPG brands to generate shelf-level awareness, drive in-store momentum, and generate authentic content in markets that matter the most. Go to hummingbirds.com for all the details and let them know I sent you.

1:30Tom Malengo:Now, let's dive into the new episode. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today, I have an industry expert who's worked with hundreds and hundreds of emerging CPG brands. Tom Malingo is the co-founder of Brandjectory. And Tom, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for having me here. I really appreciate it. Yes, and I'm excited to hear from your point of view. You've been in CPG for many years and how you work with brands now. But before we dive into Brandjectory, I would love if you could walk us through, I know this could be a whole other episode, but top level of just your career within CPG.

2:16so so that's thank you and really appreciate being here and and again just happy to connect with folks that uh you know that need help in in starting a cpg business so i'm just excited to be here but yeah so you know um i'm susan my wife susan bryantan and i um uh we had our separate careers outside of cpg i was at a national bank for 30 years the last 20 of that at the c level Susan was in advertising, marketing, publishing, fundraising for nonprofits, event planning for nonprofits.

2:53About, I don't know, I guess a dozen years ago now, somebody, you know, a lot of management changes. Somebody asked me if I, you know, if I wanted to take it, you know, take a package and move on. And I happily said yes. Susan and I began our career in CPG. But it's interesting how we got there because we were the type that back in the 1980s were trying to eat healthy for our life. We had already figured out there was a way to eat healthy. But if you think back to the 1980s, if you weren't a disciple of Yule Gibbons and spent your day boiling pine needles, you know, eating healthy was about bran and salad.

3:30That's what people knew about eating healthy. And as the 90s came about, you know, we started to see the products develop, the Annie's and the Amy's and the Barbara's and the Pamela's. It was a time when pirate booty was considered healthy because it was not a corn pop. It was a veggie pop. And we just got really excited about that. And so it changed our whole nature. Susan had gone to school in California, so she knew about Whole Foods. We didn't get a Whole Foods in Cleveland, Ohio until 2003. But anytime we were on the road, we were stopping and loading up the car. We had a natural grocers about 30 miles south of us in Cleveland, and we'd white knuckle our way down there in snowstorms just to get our food for the week.

4:09and it was just really exciting to start understanding how products were developing that would be beneficial for us, not just in our health today, but if you eat better at 30, you'll feel better at 50. If you eat better at 50, you're going to feel better at 70, that whole thing. Right. And then we started going to trade shows just for kicks. We wanted to go and find the new products, okay? So we were going to Expo East and Expo West, and we were just learning the products and having fun and meeting people. And so when we had that chance for a second career, we said we wanted to be in food. So we moved to Scottsdale to get away from the wintertime.

4:44And we started advising, investing and consulting with young brands. And we did that for a while. We had this great network of people. We had met through trade shows. We knew the brands. We had followed the industry. We had followed the product development. We were just really excited about that. And then we kind of shifted to say, well, so many brands need this. So many brands need business expertise. They need contacts. They need to be engaged with people. They need to learn from the best in the industry. What can they do to make that happen? And we said, why don't we try to create some kind of, I'll call it platform roughly, some kind of platform, some kind of process that keeps brands engaged on a long-term basis with industry experts, with the best people in the industry, hearing what's going on in the industry on a current basis.

5:31Every month, here's what's going on. Here's what's happening. Here's what investors are thinking for the rest of the year. Here's what investors are thinking for next year. Get them that information so they can develop products and ideas and companies that actually will work within the industry. And that's what led us to form Brandjectory. And that's what we're excited to be able to deliver today.

5:51Tom Malengo:That's really interesting how your passion for food led you down this path. And you being in the 80s and 90s and seeing the growth within the industry and seeing the waves, so to speak, before it really has hit the masses. Sure, yeah. I'm sure has been also a really interesting perspective that you bring to the table because you've seen so much happen within this time period too. Yeah, and you've also seen when those new products – okay, I'm going to say this. It sounds a little negative, but the delta between conventional and natural organic healthy was a lot wider 25 years ago. It might have been a lot wider 10 years ago.

6:41Now they've started to merge together a little bit. In order to grow, some of the more natural organic products may turn to a little bit more conventional structure and ingredients or production. And likewise, conventional products tend to move down to the healthy side. So the two have started to merge and they're a little bit more closely. And it's a little harder to be distinctive, I think, with a new product when you may have something that's well known on the shelf starting to move in that direction, too. And I think it makes it harder on people today than it was in the 90s or, you know, in the early 2000s.

7:17Tom Malengo:That's a really fair point because coming from my career background was building a plant-based restaurant and this was 10 years ago where within the plant-based world doing that was still pretty new and doing it in a market where it was really new to have a plant-based restaurant. It was in Las Vegas where you wouldn't necessarily think about healthy eating when you're in Vegas but But then I feel like just being vegan really stood out where today if you're just trying to do a vegan restaurant or bring a vegan product, it's not going to have the same cachet because there's so many more options, which I find as a brand strategist an exciting time too because it really pushes you to think to those next steps of differentiation.

8:09You need to find the white space that's available. To your point, we live in Scottsdale. a great restaurant city, but there's every healthy, organic, plant-based, grass-raised, you know, I mean, you know, if you're trying just to eat healthier, you can go out to a restaurant in Scottsdale and you will find some kind of option that suits your diet simply because that's become more standard and it's more, even in fine restaurants, it's become more, you know, available.

8:39Tom Malengo:That's a great point. I'm curious too of how you started working with CPG brands as an investor and now you are helping essentially crowdsource that information and insight to emerging brands. What for your side of the street have you been really curious about or still really curious about that catches your eye from a investor point of view of an emerging CPG brand? I think for an investor, I still think the thing that moves most investors, you know, I guess there's two things. One, is the product in a white space? Is it somewhere where it's going to be differentiated from the rest of everything that's out there?

9:22I get excited. I see excitement about products that don't meet the norm, you know, and while everybody claims, oh, this is exciting, it's got protein, or this is exciting. And, and I can speak to the differences of a very well known bar and a less known bar, both that have high levels of protein, one that claims to be clean and quite isn't. And, you know, and the other one that doesn't really talk all about that clean, but really is. Okay. So, you know, there's these find differences of where the white space is being created. And I think investors really find that exciting. But I think the other thing that comes down for investors right now, and for a long time and still is, is the quality of the founder.

10:01And does the founder know how to build a business? And does the founder know how to reach his market, his or her market? Okay. You know, so many founders, they're like, oh, it's H-E-B, or oh, it's Central Market, or oh, it's, It's, you know, I'm going to get into Walmart. Is that where your shopper is? Do you know how to touch your shopper? Do you know how to reach your shopper? And that founder who knows his or her target audience and where they are and how to reach them and how to touch them and why they're going to connect with them, that's the founder that investors want to deal with. Because those are the founders that can drive their product, their company to a good margin and see profitability coming.

10:45You know, the ones that try to build too large or too fast are the ones that, you know, they're, I guess, kind of saying shotgunning the market. Those who understand that process and understand that's what builds a strong business, creating reoccurring business, continuing, you know, creating internal growth with your product. Those are the ones that are going to be successful, I think, from investors' eyes.

11:06Tom Malengo:that's such a great perspective because I feel like in today's business headlines there's a lot of that shotgun mentality of what you're speaking to but also to reposition that from a an investor point of view of saying no I want a founder who has the white space knows who their customer is where they're shopping, how they're going to engage with them, not just this year or next year, but for the many years to come of what it really takes to have a business with viability, right? So I'm glad that you touched upon that because I know so many founders are feeling that pressure of, I have to blow this out of the water tomorrow or it's not going to be successful.

11:54Well, and I'll say that is a big difference. You know, 10, 12 years ago, when Susan first Susan and I first got into the industry. Yes. Revenue growth was still king. OK. And you could spend any amount of money if you could get revenue growth. OK. You know, for any emerging brand. And I'll say we work with brands under 10 million in sales. We think that's our market. OK. But, you know, for any emerging brand, whether you're at, you know, at 100 ,000 in sales or $5 million in sales, the investor wants to know you're spending your money wisely and you are going to make profit. Investors are done, especially early stage investors, are done being part of round after round after round after round of investment and growth.

12:39They know it takes money. They know you're going to have to go back for money, but they want to really look at maybe Maybe it's not the exit. Maybe it's the Series A. Maybe it's the sustainable return of profit. Whatever it is, they're focused more on that than they ever were before. And that kind of started in 22, probably, let's say, 22, early 23. Supply chain drove that. Supply chain issues started to drive that in terms of who could continue to be profitable, who could reach profitability, who was managing their costs well. That's the kind of thing that started that in the process. But today, it's definitely about the focus on profitability, not growth.

13:23Tom Malengo:I think that is, again, a great point. And I appreciate you sharing your expertise in doing this for so many years and just being in the finance world, right? Like having that as your background and bringing that to the table. because again, there's so many flashy points of views in the year of 2025. You know, you hear a TikTok tip or whatever the case may be, but I really like how you're getting right down to the nuts and bolts of what really needs to be in place to build a healthy business. Because that's what we want to do. And it doesn't mean that there aren't brands out there that are always going to have, I'll call it shock value.

14:07Right. It's the TikToker influencer. It's the, you know, it's the celebrity. I mean, you know, if you're a celebrity, start a tequila company, you're golden.

14:15Tom Malengo:Right. I mean, it's that kind of thing. There's always going to be that. But brands, founders can't allow themselves to measure. They can't measure themselves against that. They have to allow themselves the understanding to build a strong business, to build a business first. And those are the outliers, right? Right. Those are always the outliners, but they're the ones that get everybody's attention. They're the ones that say, well, I started a tequila company. Yeah, well, you know, are you on TikTok 24 hours a day? That's the other side of it, you know? And so, you know, if they can build a strong business, if they can transition from product focus to business focus, investors get interested.

14:55Tom Malengo:I like that a lot. For you in Brandjectory, is there anything that overwhelmingly is talked about that you see as a common mistake. And I'm saying mistake, we all make mistakes when we're doing something new and we've never done it before. So not necessarily saying that this makes you a bad founder, but things that are consistently happening that you're like, ooh, I wish emerging brand founders put this more of importance or put this more on their radar and just maybe the advice that you keep giving over and over of a common misstep in the beginning stages. The two pieces of advice, I mean, the one conversation I have is one we've already had.

15:43You need to think about who the consumer is, where they are, and why they are selecting you. There's more products than ever on the shelf. Why does that customer choose you? And most founders, again, from a product focus, They want to say, well, I'm gluten-free. I'm plant-based. I'm this. I'm that. People buy products for three reasons. And this has been consistent from before COVID till now, till whatever. It's taste, functionality, and value. Are they getting some kind of value from that product? Be it feel good or be it actual health value that they can recognize. And those are the three things that continue to drive pricing and purchases in the consumer world.

16:30For a founder, when they start realizing that almost every product that exists out there, okay, I eat beef, I eat fish, I eat broccoli, okay, because there's some value to it. You know, there's some value to me from eating all of those, okay? But it's part of my lifestyle. So everything that touches you when you are eating, when you are consuming is part of your lifestyle from a consumer perspective. And founders need to figure out that they're inside that. They have to be inside that. So whether it's this is healthy for my kids, this is best for my family, this is wonderful for me personally, I like it because it makes me feel refreshed at the end of the day, whatever that is, okay?

17:14That's where founders have to put their heads. And they don't often do that. They focus on it's this product, it's on this shelf. And I will say the other thing that is hardest for founders to get past is I have a good product, investors will find me. Okay, break that one down. They have this tendency to think I created a great product, investors are going to love me. Okay. And they don't understand, they don't understand the process of fundraising. I'm not trying to plug Brandjectory here, but this is what we try to do.

17:49Tom Malengo:No, please, please break it down. They have to understand that getting the investment is as much about getting a good relationship, making that relationship happening, taking advice, getting information from people who know, investors themselves, people who know, people who can explain to them what is going to make that an investable business. Understand that, develop a relationship. The one mistake I hear from brands that I talk to that I say, well, would you like to join Brand Jack? after we go through all kinds of things, talk about their product, talk about what they're doing, share what your trajectory does.

18:25They say, I'm not raising money right now. I don't need it. We're not here for when you're raising money. We're here for getting you ready to raise money. We're here to give you the context, give you the engagement, give you the exposure, let people know who you are. Let people know you made your mistakes when you don't need their money. Let them understand and fix your mistakes when you don't need their money. So when you do need their money, you're in a position to say, not only do you know me and know what I've accomplished, okay, but, you know, I've also talked to these investors and that investor, and I understand what investors want, and I can deliver on that.

18:58These are the kinds of things we try to do through our program. But I think it's just important for founders to think a little bit like investors, to think, you know, what is that investor want to have happen with their money? What does that investor want to see done? And try to build the relationships with investors, whether they're getting the investment or before they get the investment or after they get the investment, where they understand that that investor's focus and their focus matches up so that there is a good long-term relationship.

19:32Tom Malengo:That's a great point. When you're taking angel money, you'll take it from almost anybody. But once you start taking serious angel money, private angel investors who it's their business to invest, you have to be ready to work with those investors. And I think founders sometimes are a little naive on that. Can you, you touched upon so many things I was writing down notes while you were talking. One, I'm so glad that you talked about lifestyle and thinking about bringing a product into someone's lifestyle and how they purchase. Because from a brand strategist perspective, that's one of the key things I work on when building a brand strategy is how is a consumer going to use this product what are they swapping out why are they adding it in how are they going to use it how often are they going to buy it what does it pair well with what else would they maybe need to get to get the most out of this product right I love going into the nuance where I feel like many people can overlook that part and they're like we just want the demo the psychographic the uh you know the age rate and and that's it which you know sure you should have some parameters but really going into the value prop and the lifestyle I'm just so glad that you touched upon that and the second thing that you touched upon that I thought was really great is having that exposure prior to investing as such a great way to understand the lingo the terms have the confidence in the room that you are more discerning over what money you take because you touch upon something else I would love if you could just break that down of if you're raising friends and family early angel investments versus what you were saying of like more serious angel investors that this is their business, not all of that money counts the same, so to speak.

21:32Tom Malengo:And what you're going to have to give up. Right. Yeah, you don't get it for the same reasons. Exactly. So could you break that down? Sure. Again, I think, you know, when you're, you know, one of the things we do tell folks, we have folks that, you know, we're there for brands from pre-revenue to 10 million in sales. Okay. Generally, seed to series A is what we say. We're good for the pre-revenue folks because we talk to them about how to raise money, when to raise money, things like that. That's part of what we do and part of what's in our knowledge base and all that kind of information. But when you're talking to someone who's just starting out and they're trying to raise friends and family money, one of the advices I always give them is treat them like any other investor.

22:09Go to them with a pitch deck. Yes, they're going to invest in you because you're their nephew and they're going to invest in you because they were your mentor in college and they're going to invest in you because they were your first boss and they really liked what you did and all those reasons why they're going to get money from Uncle Joe and and Aunt Rose and everything else. That's fine. That's great. But treat them like investors. It's just a good experience to start off with. And treating them like investors, show them a pitch deck, show them a pro forma, show them what's going on. Even the ones who say, I like the product.

22:42Folks go to crowdfunding. Well, a lot of times crowdfunding, you're getting money because somebody likes the product. It might be as much about the business as it is about the product. That's fine. But treat everybody like an investor. When you get to the real angels, the serious angels, okay, you know, they are the ones, they know angel money is, you know, they're going to be looking for protection. They're going to be looking for, you know, that convertible note or that safe note or that, you know, that minimum guarantee, you know, of what their investment is going to turn into. You know, all those kinds of things start to come with it.

23:17Okay. also starts to come with that angel money is the, I want to be engaged with your business. I want to be giving advice. I want to know what's going on. It's a whole lot different than working with angel money from friends and family. Serious angel investors probably right now start to kick in at about$250 ,000 in sales. When the raise is$300 ,000 to$400 ,000,$500 ,000, And that's when the serious private angels start to kick in. You know, the smaller family offices or the smaller angel groups, you know, they won't kick in until there's a million dollar raise going on or, you know, 750 to a million where there's a million in revenue either in the bag or inside or a million trailing.

24:04And, you know, the VCs and the bigger firms, you know, that want to write 500,$750 ,000, million dollar checks. It's probably a$3 million raise, and it's probably$2 million to$3 million to$4 million in revenue. So that's kind of the lay of the land. There's a lot of growth funds, and there's a lot of funds that are willing to talk to people. We rely on that at Brandjectory. We rely on bringing people in from Carp Riley and Power Plant and anybody else who's willing to meet with our folks, talk to our folks, deliver to our folks information. We love that because we feel like we're giving them the path.

24:39where if it's not a bad word to use, grooming them, you know, for what they need to know, what they need to learn, where they need to be, because there's a big difference between getting BC money and even getting that private angel money. There's a huge difference in what that BC wants. And there's a huge difference in when you really start talking about series A rounds or a series B round as to what expected, what's the growth, what's the growth that's expected at that point in time, you know, where are they looking for you to get, things like that. So So that's, I think, the important part that especially angels have to learn is they have to learn how to talk to investors, as we mentioned before.

25:14But they also have to learn what those different parameters are in terms of when will they be interested, what will they be interested, and what will make them interested.

25:22Tom Malengo:So well said. And I think that was a really helpful breakdown, too, for an emerging brand founder who primarily listens to this podcast, who's brand new to all of this, right? There's so many different terms they're learning. So I feel like that was a really great breakdown. Last question before I let you go. I could talk to you for hours. And again, I just appreciate you. I appreciate your generosity of knowledge. Can you break down how a brand can join Brandjectory? How does it work? What they can expect? Sure. I'll give you the hopefully the three or four minute version here. So at Brandjectory, what we offer founders seed the series A, Generally, the kinds of brands you'd find at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Natural Grocers, any specialty store across the country.

26:12We have brands across health, wellness, food, beverage, alcohol, non-alcohol, cannabis, pet, personal care, beauty, intimate care. All those are on brand trajectory. What we offer is education, exposure and engagement with the CPG industry. We have about 800 plus investors in our network. We have some 200, 200 plus experts that we call on for our various virtual meetings. Everything we do at Brandjectory is virtual. So we do everything online. Everything's virtual. We call in for our various meeting options we have every month, which I'll talk about in a second. We have a knowledge base that we've created.