What if your financing strategy was as clean and simple as your ingredient list? We sit down with Hector Gutierrez of JOI, the plant base brand built on “just one ingredient,” to unpack how a concentrated product, a flexible channel mix, and disciplined cash flow turned a pre-pandemic seed round into a profitable, resilient business. From the early days of almond paste sold B2B to cafés to a brand platform that spans DTC, Amazon, foodservice, and select retail, this is a masterclass in using the right capital at the right time.

Hector walks us through the investor dinner that galvanized their seed raise, the overnight shift when foodservice collapsed and e-commerce exploded, and the systems they put in place—3PL, Amazon, Shopify—to capture demand. We dig into the real numbers behind growth capital: merchant cash advances, Amazon and Shopify lending, AR financing, and how to decide between fixed or percentage remittances. The tactical takeaway is clear: map your cash cycles by channel, prioritize suppliers to protect inventory, and let your model decide the instrument.

We also get personal about the psychology of fundraising. Scarcity vs abundance, valuation vs dilution, and why “raise because you can” can backfire if the fit isn’t right. JOI’s approach favors profitability as leverage, retail as a credibility and awareness play, foodservice as a margin engine, and DTC as a data-rich community channel. With new products rolling out, partnerships with Whole Foods and Target, and foodservice formats designed for speed, JOI proves that resilience is a strategy you can scale.

If this helped you think differently about capital, channels, or unit economics, follow the show, share it with a founder who needs it, and leave a quick review so more builders can find these conversations.

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/

Keith Kohler launches his new podcast "How I Financed It" with a candid conversation featuring Ora Organic co-founders Ron and Will, who share their decade-long journey from maxed-out credit cards in the beginning to sustainable profitability today.

The founders reveal how their personal motivations—Will's frustration with supplement transparency during his "junk food vegan" days and Ron's family health challenges—fueled their mission to create plant-based, organic supplements with traceable ingredients. Their financing path unfolds like a masterclass in entrepreneurial resilience, starting with $150,000 from friends and family, progressing through SBA loans, and leveraging a Shark Tank appearance to secure a million-dollar convertible note.

What makes this conversation particularly valuable is the founders' transparency about pivoting when necessary. They explain why they scaled back retail operations despite initial success, focusing instead on direct-to-consumer channels where their marketing dollars worked harder. When the pandemic dried up equity markets, they resisted the common advice to "take a hatchet" to their business, instead making incremental efficiency improvements that preserved growth while achieving profitability.

The conversation offers a wealth of practical financing wisdom rarely shared so openly. Will admits he would have "started with the finance side earlier," focusing on profitability from day one, while Ron emphasizes maintaining relationships through difficult times. Their recent equity financing marks not an overnight success but the culmination of calculated decisions, strategic pivots, and unwavering commitment to product quality.

Whether you're bootstrapping your first venture or navigating growth challenges in an established business, this episode delivers invaluable insights into financing options beyond the traditional equity path. Connect with Keith on LinkedIn at Keith Kohler1 to continue the conversation about financing strategies for your business journey.

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/

Margarita Womack never intended to build a frozen empanada empire. Eight years ago, she was a PhD scientist with Colombian roots who simply wanted to help a friend secure a visa through a small catering business. Today, she's the founder of Maspanadas, with over 50 employees, a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and nationwide distribution.

This candid conversation reveals the complete financing journey behind Maspanadas, from kitchen table experiments to multi-million dollar fundraising. Womack shares how she bootstrapped initially through catering and farmers markets, discovering empanadas were her bestsellers and pivoting the entire business model. When expansion required capital, she turned first to family, securing $150,000 to take over an existing manufacturing facility – the first step in a financial journey that would eventually include convertible notes, SBA loans, and a seed round that dragged on for nearly three years.

The pandemic brought both crisis and opportunity, forcing Maspanadas to pivot when it lost most of its food service business overnight. Womack's science background proved invaluable as she methodically tested and validated each business decision, expanding into private label manufacturing while gradually building retail presence. Through it all, she invested "every single cent" her family had, even using her home as collateral for equipment loans.

What makes this story particularly powerful is Womack's honesty about the personal toll of entrepreneurship. As a mother of three balancing multiple roles, she dispels the myth of "having it all," instead describing how she learned to focus on one priority at a time while building a company that now provides opportunities for dozens of employees, many of whom are immigrants like herself. She's even established a foundation to help employees with financial literacy and accessing community resources.

Ready to start your own entrepreneurial journey? Learn from Margarita's experiences navigating the complex world of CPG financing, and discover why persistence, adaptability, and community might be even more important than the money itself.

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/