What 3+ Successful Funding Rounds Taught Mezcla's Founder About Raising Capital

In this Founder Fundraising Journey episode, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Griffin Spolansky, Co-Founder and CEO of Mezcla, the plant-based, puffed, crispy protein bar brand that puts taste and texture first, to walk through how he raised multiple rounds of capital and what he would do differently.

Griffin grew up in New York City in a family of entrepreneurs and started bottling and selling his grandmother’s salad dressing at 13. While playing lacrosse at the University of Virginia, he found post-practice protein bars chalky, dry, and boring, and he met his co-founder in an entrepreneurship class, where she was building a granola company inspired by her hometown in Mexico. The two named the brand Mezcla, Spanish for “mixture,” and Griffin began building it as a college student, with no CPG experience.

Hannah and Griffin dig into how he raised small tranches tied to specific revenue goals, why angels came first, how he vetted investors for each round, and what finally resonated with investors as the brand grew. They also cover how to handle rejection, why conservative projections protect your cash, how advisors act as people who “look around corners,” and a Slack community case study on the single thing that helped most with fundraising.

Listen in as they discuss:

• How Griffin went from selling his grandmother’s salad dressing at 13 to launching Mezcla as a college student
• Why Mezcla is “taste first and protein second,” and where Griffin sees white space across aisles
• How he raised $500K, then $2M, then $4M to $5M, with each round tied to an 18-month revenue goal
• Why the first rounds were angels, and why Griffin waited two and a half years before raising venture
• Why raising is a two-way relationship, and how he vetted investors instead of taking any check that came in the door
• How consistently hitting his numbers and sending quarterly updates built trust with investors
• Why Griffin says to nail the product and the positioning, and to look for clear white space
• How he handled hundreds of no’s, and why messaging matters as much as the number of people you reach
• Why conservative projections protect your cash position, and how to train a growing team on your operating model
• How advisors a few steps ahead of you help you look around corners

Hiring: Mezcla is hiring a Director of Conventional Sales and a Director of Food Service Sales. Interested candidates can reach out to Griffin on LinkedIn.

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Episode Links:

• Griffin Spolansky LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/griffinspolansky
• Mezcla LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/eat-mezcla
• Mezcla Website: www.eatmezcla.com
• Mezcla Instagram: @eatmezcla
  
  

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Show Links:

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• Visit host Hannah’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-dittman-011b844b
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email [email protected]
• Episode music by Super Fantastics