Built to Scale: Lessons from a Founder Who Sold
In this Founder Fundraising Journey episode, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Zoë Sakoutis, Co-Founder and CEO of Bittman’s and founder of Blueprint, to trace her path from bootstrapping a cold-pressed juice brand to a full acquisition, and now to raising capital again for a whole grain sourdough brand. Zoë’s first business was a dog grooming shop in the basement of her family’s optometry center at age 12. She went on to found Blueprint with roughly $5,000 borrowed from her brother, scaled it profitably without outside capital, and sold it to Hain Celestial after five years, staying on for two more. Since then she has started other brands, advised founders, and angel invested, and four months ago she launched Bittman’s with Mark Bittman, starting with whole grain sourdough bread shipped nationwide to your door. Hannah and Zoë dig into what the acquisition process really looked like behind the scenes, why four production facilities, 10-year leases, and 120 employees complicated the deal, how discovering high pressure processing (HPP) unlocked retail for raw juice, what changes after the deal closes, and how fundraising for Bittman’s has shifted her perspective now that she is back on the founder side of the table. Listen in as they discuss: How a dog grooming shop at age 12 foreshadowed Zoë’s entrepreneurial career How Blueprint scaled profitably on a $5,000 loan from her brother with no outside capital Why a call from Howard Schultz signaled that the cold-pressed juice category was about to get crowded Why Zoë chose a full acquisition over a minority investment, and the “bird in the hand” thinking behind it What diligence really feels like, and how leases, facilities, and 120 employees complicated the deal How discovering HPP gave raw juice a kill step, extended shelf life, and opened the door to retail Why founders should think about their likely acquirer from day one, including whether to own or outsource production What it is like to stay on after an acquisition and watch someone else run your brand Why Zoë learned to hold a clear thesis while pitching, so she doesn’t “sell five different companies to five different people” How to explain team building in a fundraise, from staying lean to leveraging AI Want to connect with buyers, investors, and industry experts in real time? Join our free Slack community with over 40,000 members. Get access to exclusive events and trade shows where you can meet buyers and investors in person, plus free resources and more. Just text CPG to 833-605-7002 and we’ll get in touch. Episode Links: Zoë Sakoutis LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/Zoë-sakoutis Bittman’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bittmans Bittman’s Website: www.bittmans.com Bittman’s Instagram: @bittmans Contact Zoë directly: [email protected] Don’t forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit www.startupcpg.com. Show Links: Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top) Join the Startup CPG Slack community (40K+ members and growing!) Follow<a href="https:
