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The Startup CPG Podcast

#105 Equity Crowdfunding Insights: How Ghost Town Oats is Cultivating Community & Opportunities with Ezra Baker

The Startup CPG Podcast

Startup CPG

Startup, Food, Business, Beverage, Cpg, Entrepreneurship

4.9 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Last time we talked about equity crowdfunding on the show, many of you let me know that you wanted more equity crowdfunding content. When I saw that Ghost Town Oats had launched their second Wefunder campaign, I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to talk more about equity crowdfunding and to introduce you to Ghost Town Oats if you aren’t familiar. Ghost Town Oats is the first Black-owned, queer-owned, barista-owned oat milk company. Ghost Town Oats was developed by three baristas, Michelle R. Johnson, Eric Grimm, and Ezra Baker, who were a part of oat milk’s initial rise to fame in some of the first shops to carry it. Having been unpaid ambassadors while also seeing its marketability skew towards the upper economic class of society, it was time to flip the script: make a premium oat milk of their own and create a brand that appealed to a broader audience. They formulated Ghost Town Oats for incredible taste, steaming capability, and versatility, and the reviews are in: it’s a hit! They reached $1 million in revenue 10 months after launch, they’ve already produced over 1 million units of oat milk, and they are already carried in over 500 coffee shops. Our guest today is Ghost Town’s Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder Ezra Baker.


Listen in as Ezra shares about:

  • How Ghost Town Oats got started during the pandemic
  • Their first Wefunder equity crowdfunding campaign in 2022 where they raised over $210,000 from almost 500 investors in less than a week and NBA all-star Jimmy Butler was a lead investor
  • Their second and currently ongoing Wefunder campaign, from what they learned from the first campaign to how it works to set up a campaign
  • How they distribute to 500+ coffee shops and what’s next for Ghost Town in the foodservice channel
  • First hires for Ghost Town and how they plan ahead for their next hires
  • Press opportunities like Good Morning America
  • And more

Get your ticket to the Expo East Mic Drop party for a chance to win a spot on the podcast: https://tinyurl.com/4nafz284

This episode was sponsored by Settle. Go to https://www.settle.com/startupcpg
This episode was sponsored by Graphite Financial. Go to graphitefinancial.com/cpg

Episode Links:

Mic Drop Party at Expo East Giveaway:

  • Enter the giveaway to win a spot on this podcast and The Dish by buying your ticket to the Mic Drop party in Philadelphia on September 21, 2023 here
  • Note: Giveaway only available to CPG brands and must be present at party in-person to win. If you already bought a ticket, you’ve automatically been entered!

Settle Links:

  • Settle website
  • Find out your Settle financing power here

Graphite Financial Links

  • Graphite Financial website
  • Download a free financial model template, chart of accounts template, and more here
  • Listen to our episode with Graphite founder, Paul Bianco, episode #96 here.

Show Links:

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Growing your brand to a new distribution channel? Need to maximize your purchasing power and scale

0:05.5

faster? Time to settle now, pay later. Settle is an all-in-one cash flow management solution

0:12.1

built for growing CPG brands. Settle working capital offers flexible short-term financing

0:18.1

with competitive rates and faster access to the financing you need

0:22.1

with credit eligibility reviews in just one to three days. The number one reason customers like

0:28.3

Branch, Dagnie Dover, and Starface love Settle, transparent terms. No surprises, just upfront

0:34.6

clarity on financing terms with a set pay schedule. Settle takes a

0:39.1

holistic approach to credit reviews because sales don't tell your whole story. Also, it's non-dilutive

0:44.7

capital. You built your brand. You keep ownership. Ready to scale to what's next? Get started for

0:50.5

free at Settle.com slash startup CPG.

0:54.7

That's settle s e t-t-t-l-e.com slash startup CPG.

1:00.9

Hey, listeners, would you like the chance to be featured on this podcast and on Startup

1:05.4

CPG's live LinkedIn show, The Dish?

1:08.5

If you buy a ticket for our mic drop party at Expo East by August 31st,

1:13.6

you'll automatically be entered for a chance to win a spot on both shows. The Dish is our

1:19.0

conversational LinkedIn live show hosted by Jenna Mopsvitz and I'll join as well for a special

1:24.2

episode that'll be featured on this podcast across all podcast players.

1:29.0

The mic drop party is the evening of Thursday, September 21st during Expo East in Philadelphia.

1:34.4

During the party, we'll be featuring backpack brands and some of the incredible party guests

1:38.2

signed up so far include retailers like Kroger, Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, media companies,

1:44.8

and VCs.

1:49.8

It's a karaoke venue, so get ready to sing, or just come to network and sample the backpack brands, which will be announced in Slack.

...

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