Advice Line with Katlin Smith of Simple Mills

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Guy Raz and Caitlin Smith of Simple Mills coach three founders on practical growth decisions: choosing scalable products, finding manufacturing partners, and focusing scarce marketing dollars. The advice centers on meeting customers where they already are, using resilience and flexibility to bridge early funding and operational gaps, and not forcing a product or channel before the business model is ready.

Main Topics: Simple Mills growth and brand evolution (Priority: 5/5): Caitlin reflects on turning a kitchen experiment into a major natural foods brand, now sold in tens of thousands of stores and expanding across product categories. Funding and resilience in early-stage food startups (Priority: 5/5): Caitlin explains how difficult it was to finance Simple Mills and stresses persistence, creativity, and talking to everyone when raising capital. Product innovation and what to launch first (Priority: 5/5): Caitlin outlines a product framework: solve a real consumer problem, fit brand ingredient standards, and ensure taste; this helps founders decide what to build and what to shelve. Manufacturing and scalability for upcycled pretzels (Priority: 5/5): Scott from Upcycle Foods gets guidance on finding a co-manufacturer and on potentially starting with a simpler, more scalable product before attempting a difficult pretzel process. Founder risk, job security, and going all in (Priority: 5/5): Tim from Grumpy Dad Sauce asks whether to double down on his sauce business or keep a job; the advice is to commit strategically while still ensuring a flexible income bridge. Marketing on a limited budget (Priority: 4/5): Marissa from Sweet Paws asks where to focus ad spend; the advice emphasizes niche podcasts, retail-adjacent marketing, and channels where the customer already is, rather than broad paid social. Leadership lessons from long-term entrepreneurship (Priority: 4/5): Caitlin closes with advice to embrace learning, accept not knowing everything, and move faster—lessons drawn from more than a decade building Simple Mills.

Key Arguments: Early-stage founders need resilience because fundraising and operations are often grueling and unpredictable. When seeking investors, founders should talk to everyone; chance encounters can turn into key financing relationships. A good innovation pipeline must solve a real consumer need, fit the company’s ingredient philosophy, and taste great. For manufacturing, it is easier to succeed when the product fits existing equipment and processes rather than forcing a custom workflow. Founders should choose the first product that is easiest to scale, even if it is not the ultimate long-term flagship. Going “all in” can be smart, but founders must still ensure a practical income bridge if the business cannot yet cover household expenses. With limited marketing dollars, spend as close to the point of purchase as possible and consider targeted, trust-based channels like niche podcasts. Simple Mills’ experience suggests that customer acquisition through broad social advertising has become less efficient and more expensive. Brands with a strong, specific story—like Grumpy Dad Sauce or Sweet Paws—can use that narrative as a platform for content and outreach. Leadership growth comes from learning, not from trying to have all the answers at the start.

Data Points: Simple Mills retail presence: almost 30,000 stores - Guy notes the brand is widely distributed across the country. Simple Mills category leadership: number one largest natural cracker, cookie, and baking mix brand in the natural channel - Caitlin describes the company’s current market position. Simple Mills acquisition value: almost $800 million - Guy says Flowers Foods announced plans to acquire Simple Mills. Funding search anecdote: 10th and 11th page of Google - Caitlin recalls how deeply she searched for contract manufacturers. Upcycle Foods sales: $5,000 to $6,000 this year - Tim reports current revenue before scaling. Tim’s projected sales: about $25,000 next year - Tim estimates revenue if expansion targets are met. Sweet Paws revenue: approaching $200,000 - Marissa gives the current scale of the pet products business. Sweet Paws marketing budget: $5,000 to $8,000 - Marissa explains the limited budget available for the new product launch. Simple Mills original demo output: about 600 muffins in 3 hours - A clip from Caitlin’s original How I Built This interview recalls demo preparation. Manufacturing minimum mentioned by Tim: 100 case minimum - Tim describes an earlier co-packer requirement he could not meet. Job and income need: 20% to 30% of where he needs to be - Tim says the business is not yet covering family needs. Simple Mills founding timeframe: started in her early 20s / over a decade ago - The episode frames Caitlin’s origin story and growth timeline.

Pivotal Quotes: "Innovation, part of innovating, part of being an entrepreneur, all of it is failure is part of the game, too." — Caitlin Smith: She explains how founders should think about product development and deciding when to move on. "I think resilience is probably one of the largest things you got to have to get funded." — Caitlin Smith: Advice to Scott on the difficulty of early-stage financing. "I think the question I don't think is, should you go all in or not? You should go all in." — Guy Raz: Guy advises Tim that commitment should be real, while still building a bridge for household income.

Implications: Founders should prioritize scalability, customer proximity, and focused execution over cleverness alone. The episode suggests sustainable growth comes from matching product, process, and channel—then layering ambition once the business proves itself.