Jaime Schmidt

@rachelwilkinsb @jenblum84 Haha I’m down!

More ways for us to get injured @jenblum84 P.S. @jaimeschmidt I envision this in your future :)

One of my favorite books. Giving one to every new hire to inspire entrepreneurship, and try to communicate the grit needed to build something special. Recently built a whole new team where 3 team members are actually former founders too! Over 35 years of founding experience across the 4 of us. Plus a couple other team members with more traditional backgrounds that seem to just get it. I hope they love this book as much as I do. @jaimeschmidt @chriscantino

@_kylepeters Love this idea, Kyle. Thanks for sharing Supermaker with your team!

@chriscantino Poach or be poached, baby

Oh sh*t. @jaimeschmidt lighting em up at her pball league 😂

@JimKlossKat @chriscantino I’ve got middle 😽

@chriscantino @jaimeschmidt Does she need a mixed partner? I have short paws and have to play the right

@jonmmiles @EyeforRetail_ @Supermaker Thank you!

@EyeforRetail_ If anyone is doing this path, buy and read @Supermaker by @jaimeschmidt. The book is essentially this tweet, plus deep dives and comedy. She sold to Unilever after starting at Farmer's Markets.

Great CPG companies can start small too. Without any funding at all. But it takes patience. A long term view. And you need to love what you are doing. In tech, the pain of the VC funding world turning upside down in the last couple of years has made many entrepreneurs gun shy of VC funding. Smaller, more agile teams building products and even bootstrapping have become the hot new thing. In CPG, something similar has happened. Funding much harder to get than in 2021 when lots of investors chasing opportunities came over from tech and invested in CPG at inflated valuations. Only pureplay CPG investors are left, and there are much fewer of them. So how can you start your dream CPG business with little to no investor funding? The answer lies in being self-sufficient and doing it yourself. This is not as crazy or unachievable as you might think. Providing you are willing to put your ego to one side and do the work for your goal. Product development – this is the most fun part and should be owned by you anyway. Packaging – starting small means using stock packaging. You can differentiate by looking further afield beyond local suppliers for unique shapes and formats. Manufacturing – the leanest, most self-sufficient way to start will be to do this yourself. Start in your kitchen, your garage or a commercial kitchen that you can rent for a short time. Once you see some sustained success and you are stretched beyond capacity, you can find a small production facility to co-pack. Or not, perhaps you will determine that keeping your recipe and production methods in house is important and you will find a way to grow by self manufacturing in a larger facility. Distribution – start with farmers markets, local stores, anywhere you can deliver yourself. When you reach a size where this is unsustainable, hire a driver to do some deliveries, or find a small local distributor. You don’t need to be with UNFI or KeHE on day one. Sales – no one can explain your product with more passion than the person who has spent years dreaming, months researching and developing, and was up until midnight the previous night making. Your enthusiasm should be infectious. Once you refine the key messages, you will be in a good place to hire a sales rep when you grow a bit larger. Marketing – In these early days, there is no better marketing than standing there at the farmers market speaking directly to potential customers. Or performing sampling and demonstrations in local grocery stores. You will also build deep relationships with the early retail customers that will last a lifetime. They don’t forget that effort from the early days and they want you to win. In fact, they will become your advocate against competitors coming in. Once you get started down this path, the next step will become evident. It might be that a bigger retailer with 20-30 stores asks for your product, or a bigger distributor who has a couple of hundred relevant stores they can put your product in. This will set off a panic that you can’t fulfil the orders. But you will find a way. You might need to make the leap to a small production facility. And so it continues. When you put one foot in front of the other and move forward, you can then see a little bit more of the path ahead. But if you stay at home thinking about the path, it will never appear. Just get started. If this is really what you want, a lack of funding shouldn’t hold you back.

Getting @jaimeschmidt dialed in for her league match You wish your girl had hands like this

@mrethansong Thanks for hosting me, Ethan! Love your show

Latest episode of the Pop Up Report with @jaimeschmidt - some great insights on building brands, fostering communities and timing the market. thepopupreport.com/p/e38-pop-up-c…

Lighting up Times Square for Women’s History Month 🔥 What an honor to be celebrated and to see my face alongside these other badass women. Thank you DealmakeHers for recognizing our work. Happy International Women’s Day! 🌸

@ryan_caradonna @MajorLeaguePB @PPAtour @Maddropspc @RanchersPB Haha see you on the sidelines!

@jaimeschmidt @MajorLeaguePB @PPAtour @Maddropspc Love it. Congrats Jaime! …Although I guess we are now rivals 😁 Go @RanchersPB !

Guess who’s joined the big leagues? 🙋‍♀️ So pumped to announce my fund’s investment in @MajorLeaguePB & @PPAtour, whose merger was made official today 🔥 That’s not all—we are now part owners of the @Maddropspc major league team. LET’S GO! 🏆 I never would’ve imagined myself so deeply invested in a sport on a personal, and now professional, level. But that was before pickleball 💙💚

@drgurner @heyalexfriedman Thanks, Julie! 🙏

@heyalexfriedman It's fantastic. I think honestly most would not want to make themselves a target. I'm inspired by people who have done some phenomenal things & talk about them - if you don't follow @jaimeschmidt, her book is so approachable and fun. A solid exit as well. amazon.com/Supermaker-Cra…

This woman is awesome for sharing this. Only raised $200k and walked away with $9m post tax on a $25m sale. Many founders raise millions, sell in the $25-$50m range and walk away with very little and def not enough to retire on. Know your economics if you want to fundraise!

@itsmargieramos @VinnyLingham Thank you! Love to hear it

6 years ago today, I signed a deal that forever changed my family’s lives. The business I’d started in my kitchen and bootstrapped over 7 years sold for $100M+ 🤯 This was beyond my wildest expectations and not something I had set out to accomplish. I simply had an idea I believed in, one I was excited to keep showing up for every day. If you’re a founder in the trenches, remember this: You don’t need an end goal or to look too far ahead. Trust yourself. A love for your work and belief in what you are building is your greatest competitive advantage. ❤️

@itsmargieramos @Tallowedandfree Thanks for the support, Margie! Wishing you all the best with your biz.

@danlarrydavid @SfwGreg supermaker.com/book

@jaimeschmidt @SfwGreg Link to book ?

@mauraball Love everything you’re doing, Maura, and the niche you’ve carved out for yourself 💖

@jaimeschmidt Thank you for inspiring me to chase my dreams and never to give up!

@jasminedotsmith Happy you enjoyed it, Jasmine ☺️

@jaimeschmidt I enjoyed your book and finished with a new perspective about my own entrepreneurial journey. Thank you for sharing your story in such an honest way.

@drgurner Thank you, Julie ❤️ Your endorsement of my book means a lot!

@jaimeschmidt Admire your journey, and your openness with it - warts and all. Your book "SuperMaker" was fantastic and so accessible. Great stuff.

@VinnyLingham We went deep! So fun

@jaimeschmidt It was so great having you on my show and hearing your story! youtu.be/PI9rLLbB0Fo?si…

@chriscantino Proud of us 💞

That’s my wife :) Helping Jaime grow Schmidt’s and now support entrepreneurs in taking their own big shots has been the privilege of my life My fave product? Gotta be the Charcoal Magnesium