{"podcast":{"title":"Fitt Insider","slug":"fitt-insider-254580","podcast_index_feed_id":254580,"rss_url":"https://fittinsider.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"https://insider.fitt.co","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/4/0/1/0/4010a462593f7c9ad959afa2a1bf1c87/Untitled_design_4.png","author":"Joe Vennare","episode_count":456,"summary":"Fitt Insider is the show where we talk with the entrepreneurs, executives, and investors who are redefining the business of fitness and wellness.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-15T20:17:57.338910+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fitt-insider-254580"},"episode":{"title":"347. Stephen Ellsworth, Founder of poppi","slug":"347-stephen-ellsworth-founder-of-poppi","published_at":"2026-07-13T08:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fitt-insider-254580/347-stephen-ellsworth-founder-of-poppi","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fitt-insider-254580","url":"https://fittinsider.libsyn.com/347-stephen-ellsworth-founder-of-poppi","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/fittinsider/347_-_Poppi.mp3?dest-id=1477619","summary":"Today, I'm joined by Stephen Ellsworth, founder of poppi. Originally launched at farmers markets as \"Mother Beverage,\" poppi rebranded in 2020 and scaled rapidly before being acquired by PepsiCo for nearly $2B. In this episode, we discuss cultivating consumer obsession. We also cover: How 2.5 years at farmers markets became the ultimate R&D Why the $50M revenue milestone matters Landing a deal on Shark Tank Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider Website: www.drinkpoppi.com/ Stephen's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephenellsworth_/ - The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities. Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/ Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/ Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/ Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:49) Background and poppi origin story (02:40) Mother Beverage to poppi journey (04:50) Two-year R&D at farmers market (06:20) Shark Tank and capital inflection (08:12) Rebranding decision and strategy (11:00) 2020 timing and category alignment (12:40) Intuition-driven product development (13:40) COVID acceleration (14:45) $50M inflection point (16:20) Founder preferences: zero to one vs. scaling (17:50) Product obsession and team building (18:40) 15–20% better formula (20:00) poppi playbook and thinking differently (21:50) Democratizing better-for-you foods (25:30) PepsiCo acquisition concerns (28:45) Large incumbents vs. innovation (31:00) Post-acquisition emotions (35:15) Preferment vs. retirement (37:30) What's next (39:15) Conclusion","meta_description":"Today, I'm joined by Stephen Ellsworth, founder of poppi. Originally launched at farmers markets as \"Mother Beverage,\" poppi rebranded in 2020 and scaled…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2398,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fitt-insider-254580/episodes/347-stephen-ellsworth-founder-of-poppi/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fitt-insider-254580/347-stephen-ellsworth-founder-of-poppi.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}