53. Alex French (Bizzy Coffee) - The Cold Brew Competitive Landscape, Becoming #1 on Amazon, and Some of The Differences Raising from VCs and Family Offices

Our guest today is Alex French, ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexjfrench/ ) founder and CEO of Bizzy Coffee ( https://www.bizzycoffee.com/ ) , the #1 seller of cold brew coffee on Amazon. We discuss Alex's initial approach to entrepreneurship, how they've been able to maintain #1 Best Seller on Amazon, how he approached fundraising and was able to raise, and COVID's effects on Bizzy. Without further ado, here's Alex A couple books that inspired Alex are The 4-Hour Workweek ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307465357?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0307465357&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Tim Ferris and How To Win Friends and Influence People ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671027034?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0671027034&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Dale Carnegie. Here are some of the questions that I asked Alex - * What initially attracted you to entrepreneurship and your early entrepreneurial efforts? * What were some of your learnings when you were at General Mills? * Why did you decide to focus on Coffee? * What was the problem that you saw that you wanted to address or the particular insight? * It seems like you wanted to be an entrepreneur, but didn’t have or know what product to launch. There is no right or wrong way to approach entrepreneurship but I wanted to know if you have thoughts around how you thought about it? * How were you able to validate ideas? * How did you approach your supply chain? What was the hardest part? * How did you approach fundraising? DNVBs have been out of favor with investors, did you get that sense when you were fundraising? * You’ve raised both from VCs and Family Offices, what has been some of the differences when seeking investment from these two groups? * How were you able to grow to become #1 on Amazon? * What are some of the benefits to Amazon and some of the limitations? * In the beginning, how did you think about brand and your differentiation when you were evaluating the market? * How has COVID affected Bizzy? * How are you thinking about post-COVID and the changes in consumer behavior? * What is one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally? * What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders? You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb ( https://twitter.com/MikeGelb ). You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc ( https://twitter.com/ConsumerVc ). Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands