Founder + Funder: Anabel González, Founder of Good Bacteria and Hayden Williams, Partner of BrandProject
The Startup CPG Podcast
Startup CPG
4.9 • 642 Ratings
🗓️ 9 May 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Anabel González, founder of Good Bacteria, and Hayden Williams, Partner at BrandProject, for the podcast's first-ever founder and funder episode—a behind-the-curtain look at what the investment process actually looks like from both sides of the table.
Good Bacteria is the first rotating probiotic system delivering a new blend of prebiotics, probiotics, and a postbiotic each week. Dr. formulated with clinically studied ingredients, it's designed to expose your body to different microbes over time to build up gut resilience—a smarter, science-backed approach to gut health that actually fits into your daily routine. BrandProject is an early-stage consumer fund partnering with founders building standout consumer-first brands, investing pre-seed and seed with check sizes of $500K–$3M and a hands-on, operator-minded approach.
Anabel shares how a postpartum healing journey led her to a Johns Hopkins doctor via cold LinkedIn outreach, over 200 investor cold emails, and ultimately a pre-launch investment from BrandProject—a fund she had specifically targeted because of their portfolio. Hayden walks through what drew him to Good Bacteria before there was even a product in hand, how he validated the science, and why Anabel's personalized cold outreach stood out in a sea of generic pitches.
Together, they cover:
- How a postpartum healing journey became the founding story of Good Bacteria
- Why Good Bacteria was originally a beverage—and how it pivoted to a rotating probiotic system
- What 200+ investor cold outreaches actually looks like, and how the BrandProject introduction happened
- What BrandProject looks for in pre-launch founders when there's nothing but a deck and a story
- Why Anabel invested in brand and story before product—and why that was the right call
- The diligence process: validating the science, the market, and the founder's operating instincts
- The "sense of inevitability" principle—and why the best founders make investors feel the train is leaving the station
- What a healthy founder-investor relationship actually looks like day to day
- How many people from a company should be involved in fundraising—and who
- Good Bacteria's product roadmap: four products coming, a master brand in the making
Whether you're a founder preparing to raise, trying to build the right cap table, or just want to understand what investors are really evaluating before they write a check, this episode is essential listening.
Episode Links:
Anabel Gonzálezon LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anabelg
Good Bacteria: https://www.itsgoodbacteria.com
Good Bacteria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodbacteria/
Hayden Williams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howillia/
BrandProject: https://www.brandproject.com
BrandProject on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brandproject-lp/
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If there's one thing at any stage that you as a founder want to convey is a sense of inevitability for what you're doing and that whether or not this investor who you're talking to, they can get |
| 0:21.2 | on the train or not get on, but it's leaving the station. And so if you ever feel like as the |
| 0:25.9 | investor, if I don't say yes, they're out of standstill. Things are not moving forward. As a founder, |
| 0:32.0 | every interaction you have with investor, hopefully things have been moved forward and you get the |
| 0:37.0 | feeling that this is going. |
| 0:38.8 | This is, this train that's leaving the station and whether I invest or not. So I better move |
| 0:42.4 | quickly because those founders who are able to raise when there's that sense of inevitability |
| 0:47.8 | about what they're doing. |
| 0:50.5 | Hey, everybody. I'm Hannah Ditman, Operations and Finance host of the startup CPG podcast. |
| 0:56.1 | And today I'm excited to be joined by Annabel Gonzalez, founder of Good Bacteria and Hayden Williams from Brand Project for a founder and funder episode. |
| 1:06.5 | Good bacteria is the first rotating probiotic system delivering a new blend of prebiotics, probiotics, |
| 1:13.0 | and a postbiotic each week. It's doctor formulated to support digestion, reduce bloating, |
| 1:18.5 | and strengthen whole body resilience. It's a really thoughtful next-gen approach to gut health |
| 1:23.2 | that actually fits into your daily routine and definitely one to try for yourself. |
| 1:28.2 | A simple supplement for optimal gut health without the work and complexity of overmanaging your diet. |
| 1:33.7 | I'm a huge fan. Sign me up. |
| 1:36.4 | On the investor side, Brand Project is an early stage consumer fund partnering with founders |
| 1:41.2 | building standout consumer first brands. |
| 1:45.8 | They invest early and bring a hands-on approach across product, brand, and growth, showing up as true partners to help |
| 1:51.1 | companies scale into enduring businesses. Hayden deeply understands the founder journey because he's |
| 1:56.9 | been there himself. In this episode, we break down the full investment story of good bacteria. |
| 2:02.5 | What stood out early, how conviction was built through diligence, and what both sides |
... |
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