Ecommerce

Will Nitze is the Founder & CEO of IQBAR, a Boston-based brain and body nutrition company. After studying psychology as an undergrad at Harvard, Will became fascinated with the human brain and how it functions. Then, in his mid-20’s he experienced chronic failings with his own brain – including daily headaches – that he traced back to his high-carb diet. By eliminating staples like bread and pasta from his regimen, he staged an astounding cognitive recovery!In 2017, after failing to identify ready-to-eat products that matched his new regimen, Will began tinkering in his apartment kitchen on a protein bar optimized for brain and body nutrition. After countless iterations, he launched a successful crowdfunding campaign and incorporated IQBAR. While the product line has evolved over the years, Will’s mission of empowering “doers” through better nutrition has never wavered. IQBARs are now sold in 7,000 US locations and on all major Ecommerce platforms. In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:00] Intro[01:09] What are IQBAR products[01:52] Will’s realization about food[05:02] Before formulation and product development[07:21] Get valuable info from competing founders[09:47] What initially worked won’t always work[11:14] Other benefits to talking to competitors[12:51] The challenges in moving to the next step[16:09] Persevere because bad things will happen[17:45] Sponsor: Electric Eye https://electriceye.io/[18:05] Sponsor: Mesa https://apps.shopify.com/mesa[18:49] Sponsor: Gorgias https://gorgias.grsm.io/honest[20:16] Sponsor: BeProfit https://beprofit.co/[21:47] Sponsor: Klaviyo http://klaviyo.com/honest[22:34] IQBAR’s go-to-market strategy[25:57] From crowdfunding to D2C[26:29] Doing things that don’t scale[28:43] The insane benefits of Amazon[30:31] Selling on Amazon is super contextual[31:21] When to consider D2C-first/D2C only model[32:42] Luxury products vs commodity products on Amazon[33:16] Providing a specific shopping experience[34:58] All platforms have risk, you just need to choose[36:39] The true importance of your product[37:34] Product quality is a multiplier[38:19] Scaling with an MVP is a recipe for disaster[38:49] Where to find WillResources:Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/HonestEcommerce?sub_confirmation=1Connect with Will https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-nitze/Plant based protein bars for your brain and body https://www.eatiqbar.com/Listen to the Y Combinator podcast https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/tag/podcast/Scale your business with https://electriceye.io/Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store https://apps.shopify.com/mesaLevel up your customer support https://gorgias.grsm.io/honestVisit https://beprofit.co/ and use code HONEST15 to get an exclusive 15% off any plan for the lifetime of your planGet started with a free account at http://klaviyo.com/honestIf you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!Review Link: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1447700156Honest Ecommerce is a weekly podcast, community & educational resource providing online store owners with honest, actionable advice to increase their sales and grow their business. Visit http://honestecommerce.co/ for more information.If you like our videos, consider subscribing & joining our FREE Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/honestecommerce/Or get all our content sent directly to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter: https://honestecommerce.co/pages/subscribe