"The Climb" with Michael Fisher: Growing a Candy Brand 10x in 12 Months
About this episode
Michael Fisher discusses the rapid growth of his candy brand Rotten and the challenges faced along the way.
Michael Fisher is the founder and CEO of Rotten, a sour gummy candy brand launched in 2023 that's a better-for-you product, but also with fun, nostalgic 90s kids-cartoon branding. This episode is part of "The Climb," our series featuring founders in the early stages of building their brands. Expect to hear about: – Candy-First Brand: Why he rejected looking like a “diet candy” and built a weird 90s cartoon universe around Dr. Rotten. – Learning CPG from Scratch: Spending 2.5 years recipe testing, running focus groups, and launching a Kickstarter before selling a bag. – TikTok to 6,000 Doors: Using DTC and social to validate demand, then scaling into ~6,000 retail stores. – 1,000% YoY Growth Pains: What broke with rapid revenue growth, and how Michael resolved supply chain issues. – From Solo to Team of 6: Shifting from doing everything himself to hiring operators and learning to lead. Find Michael on: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-fisher1/
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