School of Hard Knocks Podcast Poppi Founders | How They Built Poppi Into A $500 Million A Year Soda Company In 4 Years (Then Sold For $2 Billion)
Apr 2, 2026
Stephen Ellsworth, co-founder who ran operations and scaling. Alison Ellsworth, co-founder who led creative and marketing. They recount launching a cider-vinegar soda from the kitchen. They talk validating at farmers markets and Whole Foods, turning viral TikTok into rapid $500M growth, rebranding, strategic fundraising, building a team as a married pair, and navigating a $2B sale.
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Sold Cars And Maxed Cards To Start
- Year one they invested about $90,000, maxed credit cards and sold both cars to buy bottles and open a manufacturing facility.
- That early financial risk came from conviction that apple cider vinegar soda was the future.
Bring On Operators Early
- Hire experienced operators early for functions you can't learn fast enough as founders.
- Allison moved from running all marketing to hiring a CMO to handle traditional media and let her focus on brand and creative.
Hire For Values And Skillset
- Culture-fit matters more than personality alignment; hire for shared values and needed skillsets.
- Early hires with startup grit lacked certain operational skills, so they later prioritized values plus competence and fast removals.