Kal Freese, Taika: Future of DTC, intersection of Web3 and CPG

EPISODE SUMMARY

Most beverage companies are really sales and marketing companies that outsource the product development. And as a result, they can move very fast in the product development…but I think the result is that many of those products are kind of mediocre… it's a little bit [the] same as a tech company that has an outsourced tech team building your core thing. YC is pretty vocal that that's not a good way to go. You have to have that in house to be able to move fast and build something great…R&D [is] one of our core competencies, and one of our first hires was a full-time food scientist.

EPISODE NOTES

Kal Freese, co-founder of Taika chats with Blaine & Ramon about launching the functional coffee brand & how Taika leverages opportunities in Web3 to power brand, community, & product growth.

Kal is a lifelong entrepreneur, YC alum, and multiple time VC backed founder who has always had a deep passion & appreciation for coffee. When he was 21, Kal opened a coffee shop in Helsinki and became a champion barista ranked no.9 in the world. Kal wanted to create the perfect coffee that provided people with energy but didn’t make them feel wired or jittery. He ended up creating Taika, a functional coffee made with adaptogens including L-theanine, lion’s mane, and ashwagandha.

There are many resources on the internet to learn about Web3. Some of the people and resources that Kal recommends checking out include:

1. Gaby’s Web3 Reading List
2. Tim Ferris’s podcast with Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant
3. John Craven’s twitter spaces
4. Club CPG
5. Emily Elyse Miller of OffLimits
6. Snaxshot by Andrea Hernández

Watch the full episode here:

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Kal Freese  - CEO of Taika

Ramon Berrios - CEO of Trend.io

Blaine Bolus - COO of OmniPanel