Sabeena Ladha doesn’t bake.
But. 🤔
It’s May 2020.
And we’re in the middle of a freaking pandemic.
So, yeah.
Banana bread is it. And the world doesn’t work the way we think it does.
Everyone!!! Is questioning everything. And starting a business is easy.
Now.
Before you come at me. 👊👊👊
I’m talking about the technologies in place. (Shopify, social media, etc…). Designed to help you (entrepreneur) get from zero to one.
Consumers live on Instagram and shop DTC. (Which means).
There’s a democratization around the whole let’s-start-a-bidness thing.
Okay.
The year is 2018.
And Sabeena works at M13. She’s a VC, BABY.
And the queen of due diligence for M13’s launchpad. 🤝🤝 Which, BTW, is exactly what it sounds like.
It’s a place to “launch” brands internally (duh).
Okay.
M13 partners with a large corp (like Target) to start a CPG brand (like Rae Beauty).
Follow the data, BABY.
Sabeena and M13 build a playbook for repeatable success in CPG.
And this mindset.^
Brings us to Deux.
Sabeena’s own brand. ;)
It’s launched using M13’s thesis/four key metrics. Ideate! Test! Launch! Accelerate!
Don’t go all in.
Launch a website. (Or an IG page). And see what hits.
Sabeena doesn’t just decide the world needs better cookie dough. She pulls data across the industry. And she concepts accordingly.
DM for orders.
Venmo for fulfillment. (All on Insta).
It’s super low risk. And Sabeena sells out. (Proof of concept baby, that’s cool).
So, yeah. She invests 20K.
And she brokers a relationship with grocery store buyers.* Like Erewhon. 🥳 (It’s a huge growth driver for Deux since famous people shop its shelves).
Sure.
A commercial kitchen works just fine for DTC. But Sabeena’s customer lives in the grocery store. And retail is super expensive.
So, yeah.
Sabeena takes her tiny Insta product out of its commercial kitchen. And she brings it to a co-packer. (To meet the MOQs of Erewhon).
Oh. And she raises money/goes on Shark Tank.
🤑
Okay.
Let’s talk about social media. I just love their branding.
😍
And clearly - their consumer does too. You can’t know Deux without knowing Sabeena or her team.
They’re funny! And that shit gets views.
After Robert Herjavec reneges his Shark Tank offer on national television, Sabeena faces backlash. (For negotiating. For what she wears. Etc…).
Her TikTok on misogyny is calculated.
And I wanna disassociate the negative connotation from that term. It gets a million plus views!* (And it spikes Deux’s demand).
Okay.
Sabeena talks about her mentors…
A lot.
She doesn’t start at M13.
She starts at Frito Lay (ironic, she knows). Then she goes to Diamond Foods. Then McKinsey. Then M13. Then her own consulting firm. THEN Deux.
It isn’t what she launches.
It’s how she launches. And who she launches with. (She has a lot of mentors. And it’s how she raises $1M in A WEEK).
Get this. Sabeena moves fast.
She concepts Deux in May 2020. She launches in August. And she invests money in October.
🚀
So take one from Sabeena Ladha. And calculate.
And that’s the skinny.
*Lots of healthy foods start their healthy journey on the shelves of Erewhon (Like GT’s kombucha). Since there are only 7 stores, it’s a lot more manageable than big, bad Whole Foods. And it signals whether XYZ healthy food is a fad or a trend.
*Her viral TikTok. (Super blurry b/c Substack only supports GIFs).