Turning Customers Into Investors: A Popcorn Brand's Crowdfunding Playbook

Turning Customers Into Investors: A Popcorn Brand's Crowdfunding Playbook

September 5, 2026 · 38 min · Season 4 · Episode 364

About this episode

Hannah Dittman interviews Tal Moore about his journey in e-commerce and the crowdfunding success of his popcorn brand, Popsmith.

In this Founder Fundraising Journey episode, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Tal Moore, founder and CEO of Popsmith, a design-forward stovetop popcorn brand that's landed on Oprah's Favorite Things list and is heading into Williams Sonoma nationwide this year. Tal is a serial e-commerce founder with 25 years in the space, starting as a 12-year-old selling gumballs and candy in elementary school before building and exiting multiple online businesses, including a popcorn equipment store he ran two decades before launching Popsmith. After divesting from his other ventures, he went all-in on building the popcorn brand he always wished existed, one built around the nostalgia of movie nights and the superior taste of kettle-popped corn. Hannah and Tal dig into the real cost of bringing a premium physical product to market, the inventory mistake that nearly sank the business in its first year, how Oprah's Favorite Things bailed them out at the perfect moment, and why equity crowdfunding on StartEngine turned out to be the ideal fundraising path for a consumer brand like Popsmith. Listen in as they discuss: Tal's decades-long path through e-commerce, from candy sales as a kid to…

People in this episode

Host: Hannah Dittman

Guest: Tal Moore

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Popsmith, Oprah's Favorite Things, Williams Sonoma, StartEngine

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