Show Notes
Starting a business from scratch is hard enough, but Rebel Cheese co-founder Kirsten Maitland did it by borrowing against her home, only for COVID to hit three months later. With no outside investors and everything at risk, she pivoted from a physical restaurant to an online business, learning e-commerce, logistics, and marketing on the fly. Years of relentless work eventually led to a Shark Tank deal with Mark Cuban that fueled massive business growth. In this episode of How We Profit, Kirsten breaks down how she scaled Rebel Cheese into a $20M+ business with over 60% profit margins while retaining 90% ownership.
In this episode, Hala and Kirsten will discuss:
()Introduction
()Inside Rebel Cheese's Business Model
()Revenue Streams and Shipping Challenges
()Kirsten's Path to Entrepreneurship
()How Shark Tank Fueled Business Growth
()Rebel Cheese’s Branding and Marketing Strategies
()Making Sales and Doubling Revenue in CPG
()Using AI in Business to Scale Operations
()Founder Pay, Equity, and Ownership
()Entrepreneurship Lessons for Startup Founders
Kirsten Maitland is the co-founder and CEO of Rebel Cheese, an artisanal plant-based cheese brand based in Austin, Texas. She bootstrapped the business from scratch, landed a $750K deal with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank in 2023,and has since scaled to a $40 million valuation, now on pace to generate $21 million in revenue this year. Kirsten is also a passionate advocate for AI-powered business tools, having built her own shipping audit tool that recovered $400,000 in overcharges.
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Resources Mentioned:
Kirsten’s Company, Rebel Cheese: rebelcheese.com
Kirsten’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kirstenmaitland
Rebel Cheese Instagram: instagram.com/rebel.cheese
How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger: bit.ly/DrMG-HowNot2Die
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Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, Passive Income, Solopreneur, Networking
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