I built a $2,000,000,000 business on vibes
Episode of My First Million · August 24, 2026 · 1 h 16 min
Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth tells Sam Parr and Shaan Puri how a farmers market vinegar drink became a $1.95 billion PepsiCo exit.
Summary
Allison Ellsworth, co-founder of the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, joined Sam Parr and Shaan Puri to trace the company's path from a farmers market stand selling apple cider vinegar drinks under the name Mother Beverage, through a Shark Tank deal with investor Rohan Oza, to a rebrand and March 2020 relaunch as Poppi. She described revenue growing from roughly $3 million in the first year to over $500 million before the sale to PepsiCo, and attributed much of the growth to being an early founder-led brand on TikTok and to treating brand awareness as the company's primary KPI.
Ellsworth argued that positioning matters more than niche health claims: the same liquid that struggled as a gut-health product succeeded once it was framed as soda. She said the best CPG products are only 10 to 15 percent better than an established norm rather than radically novel, and that embarrassment is the most underexplored emotion in entrepreneurship. She also said Poppi was intentionally unprofitable until shortly before the sale, raised roughly $70 million, sold on Amazon from day one as an awareness play, and bought its first Super Bowl slot on the remnant market five days before the game.
On the sale, Ellsworth explained that beverage brands realistically have only three potential acquirers — Keurig Dr Pepper, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola — and that a single distribution partner unlocks stadium, restaurant and international contracts that 180 separate distributors could not. PepsiCo offered to buy 100 percent of the company and to hire Poppi employees; due diligence took about six weeks. She said 99.9 percent of employees held equity.
The conversation also covered post-exit life: financial and estate planning advice she recommended founders seek at $5–20 million in revenue, taking chips off the table before the sale, giving her children Fidelity accounts, a month-long million-dollar family trip through Tuscany, Lake Como, Montenegro and Scotland, and the loss of purpose after a ten-year mission ended. Puri described feeling relief rather than excitement after his own exits. Ellsworth confirmed she is starting another company to be announced in the fall but declined to say what it is, while the hosts guessed at cleaning products, oral care and GLP-1 adjacent categories.
Chapters
- 0:19
From Mother Beverage to Poppi
Ellsworth recounts starting the drink in her kitchen for her own stomach problems, the farmers market years, and the revenue ramp after the March 2020 relaunch.
- 3:20
The dominoes: TikTok and brand-first thinking
Ellsworth explains how being one of the first founder-led brands on TikTok let Poppi reach markets outside coastal hubs, and why brand awareness was the top KPI.
- 8:03
Shark Tank and the Rohan Oza deal
Ellsworth describes standing in line for Shark Tank at $500,000 in revenue and what Oza's network, capital and brand consultant brought to the company.
- 10:25
Cash burn, Amazon and Super Bowl ads
Ellsworth says Poppi raised about $70 million, stayed unprofitable by design, and bought its first Super Bowl slot five days out on the remnant market.
- 18:13
Positioning, embarrassment and listening to consumers
The group discusses brand as a moat, Poppi's evolving tagline, and how consumer complaints prompted a root beer reformulation.
- 27:11
What's next and where the white space is
Ellsworth argues protein and creatine are too crowded, teases an unannounced new company, and says good ideas come from personal need.
- 31:52
Wellness detours: lymphatic massage, Nello, Orion, Preston Lane
Ellsworth shares post-surgery lymphatic massage, magnesium powders, a temperature-regulating sleep system and clean cleaning products she now buys.
- 35:42
The 10-15% better rule
Ellsworth contends that successful CPG brands are only slightly better than the nostalgic norm rather than ten times better.
- 43:02
Getting rich and talking to kids about it
Ellsworth advises early estate planning, taking chips off the table, and describes explaining the public $2 billion headline to her children.
- 50:36
The PepsiCo M&A process
Ellsworth explains why beverage brands need one of three distributors, how talks restarted at $500 million in revenue, and the six-week diligence.
- 58:15
Post-exit purpose and the million-dollar trip
Ellsworth and Puri discuss loss of purpose after an exit, and she describes a month-long family vacation she would not repeat.
- 1:03:45
Real talk on asking for advice, and fun as fuel
Puri and Ellsworth argue most people seek validation rather than answers, and she rejects the idea that seriousness equals success.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth argues that being a digital-first brand on TikTok let Poppi reach secondary markets faster than the usual coastal rollout.
“when you're a true digital first brand, you can really break through and go to more places quicker”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says Poppi's number one KPI was brand awareness and that brand considerations overrode data on decisions like the Costco variety pack.
“our number one KPI was brand awareness. How do we truly build a long-lasting generational brand with every ounce of every decision that we did?”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth attributes her confidence to years of failing and embarrassing herself publicly rather than to innate self-assurance.
“I'm confident because I failed and made a total fool of myself for so many years to kind of figure out what works and how to be confident”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says Shark Tank genuinely wants founders to get deals and that a good idea with proof of concept will do well on the show.
“they absolutely want people to get deals. They want people to be successful and they have such good intention”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says Poppi was intentionally unprofitable until just before the sale, reinvesting all of roughly $70 million raised into brand building.
“I don't think we were profitable until like right before we sold, but it was intentional”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says Poppi was never a DTC company and used Amazon from day one primarily as an awareness channel despite poor margins there.
“We were 100% on Amazon from day one, which was a decision we made as a board to do that. And it was such a good decision, but you don't make a lot of money on Amazon as a beverage”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says a Super Bowl spot costs $6 to $11 million in media alone and requires production and roughly seven follow-up linear exposures plus real distribution to be worth it.
“you hit people at the Super Bowl with a Super Bowl ad. You've got to hit them about seven more times with more linear ads”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says the Super Bowl ad tripled Poppi's awareness overnight and reclassified the product as a soda by saying so 17 times.
“After the Super Bowl, we said we were a soda 17 times in that Super Bowl ad. Afterwards, everyone calls us a soda”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says Poppi bought its first Super Bowl slot on the remnant market five days before the game after seeing its evergreen brand film.
“We bought the Super Bowl five days before the Super Bowl. Literally”
- Shaan Puri
Puri argues positioning is an underrated founder skill that most entrepreneurs skip before rushing to sell.
“I think positioning is super underrated. I don't think most founders know how to do positioning at all”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says embarrassment is the most underexplored emotion in achieving success and holds people back from trying.
“I think embarrassment is the most underexplored emotion when it comes to being successful in life”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says Poppi reformulated and repackaged its root beer after consumers said it tasted horrible, then publicly posted the negative comments.
“our consumer was telling us it tasted horrible. And we were like, maybe we should listen to them. And we changed the packaging. We changed the entire flavor”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth, who says she is severely dyslexic, rejects the idea that business books and meditation routines are necessary and instead follows culture.
“I'm like severely dyslexic. You could not like pay me to read a book”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth argues winners in CPG are usually first or second to market and that crowded categories like protein and creatine are hard to enter now.
“usually winners are the first to second to market. It's really hard for like even a third to market to be successful unless you do it different”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says the best brands are only 10 to 15 percent better than the established norm rather than radically new niche products.
“I think that we make the best brands and the best businesses are 10 to 15% better than the established norm. It's not the niche products”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says the marketer's goal is to move buying power from the head to the heart by tapping nostalgic emotion rather than listing ingredients.
“how do you get to the consumer and you move the buying power from the head to the heart so they're emotionally connected with your brand”
Linked moment · 44:24Skip to 44:24 using a listen link in the info box.
Allison EllsworthEllsworth advises founders at $5 to $20 million in revenue to begin estate planning and move shares into trusts well before any exit.
“if you're anywhere between the five to 20 million range of revenue for your company, you should be having these conversations”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says her life did not change the day the money arrived; she spent it on Zoom calls.
“I sat on Zoom call the rest of the day. You know, and the next day I woke up, and we still had to be on Zoom calls”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth relays her financial advisor's view that one never regrets upgrading life earlier, and says taking chips off the table before the sale was important.
“you're never going to regret living the life that you want earlier”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth explains Poppi ran 180 separate distributors and needed one of the three big beverage buyers to access stadium, restaurant and international contracts.
“we were the official soda of the Lakers and could not be sold in the stadium because it was a Coke contract”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says PepsiCo offered to buy 100 percent of Poppi and hire its employees, and that nearly all employees held equity.
“they offered to buy 100% of the company”
- Shaan Puri
Puri says selling a company brought relief rather than excitement because M&A processes can collapse at any moment.
“So I'd say definitely felt relief more than excitement, which was surprising”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says losing a ten-year purpose overnight was a real loss, comparable to retiring Olympic athletes.
“I had a 10 year purpose. And then overnight, it was gone. It was a lot of loss for me”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth says people who approach her for advice rarely ask an actual question and that she will give advice but not do the work for them.
“I'm always willing to give advice. I'm not willing to do the work for you”
- Shaan Puri
Puri argues most people's problem is not strategy or circumstance but a lack of seriousness about what they say they want.
“most people just are – decidedly unserious about the things that they're doing in life”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth describes a month-long trip with about 20 family members to Tuscany, Lake Como, Montenegro and Scotland and says she would not recommend it.
“We went to Tuscany, Lake Como, Montenegro in Scotland”
- Allison Ellsworth
Ellsworth rejects the idea that seriousness equals success, arguing fun is fuel against burnout.
“we were taught that being serious equals being successful. And then we were kind of taught that like fun is a distraction”
People
In the conversation
- Sam ParrEntrepreneur, founder of The Hustle and Hampton, co-host of My First Million
- Shaan PuriEntrepreneur and investor, co-host of My First Million, former Twitch executive
- Allison EllsworthAmerican entrepreneur, co-founder of the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, which was sold to PepsiCo
Discussed
- Rohan OzaBeverage investor and Shark Tank guest shark who invested in Mother Beverage/Poppi
- Stephen EllsworthCo-founder of Poppi and Allison Ellsworth's husband, who ran innovation and supply chain
- Eric RyanSerial CPG founder behind Method, Olly and Welly
- Michael SeibelY Combinator partner and former CEO whom Puri once cold-emailed
- Charli XCXPop musician who appeared in Poppi's second Super Bowl ad
- Peter ThielInvestor and author of Zero to One
- Josie RushingAustin-based Brazilian lymphatic massage practitioner recommended by Ellsworth
- Mark CubanInvestor and Shark Tank panelist cited as an example of a high-value advisor
- Andy JuddPoppi's chief marketing officer during the Super Bowl buys
Topics
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From the publisher
Sam's database on how long it takes to become a millionaire: https://clickhubspot.com/elkv Episode 855: Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) and Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) talk to Allison Ellsworth, the founder of Poppi. — Links: • Poppi - https://drinkpoppi.com/ • Josie Rushing - https://josiesrushing.com/ • Orion - https://orionsleep.com/ • Nello - https://drinknello.com/ • Preston Lane - https://www.onprestonlane.com/ • Blue Land - https://www.blueland.com/ — Check Out Sam's Stuff: • Hampton (joinhampton.com): My community for founders. Average member does $25m/year. Many of the guests are members. Get after it...apply: http://joinhampton.com/mfm — Check Out Shaan's Stuff: • Shaan's weekly email - https://www.shaanpuri.com • Visit https://www.somewhere.com/mfm to hire worldwide talent like Shaan and get $500 off for being an MFM listener. Hire developers, assistants, marketing pros, sales teams and more for 80% less than US equivalents. • Mercury - Shaan uses Mercury across all of his companies. you can too: http://mercury.com/ Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column, N.A., Members FDIC • I run all my newsletters on Beehiiv and you should too + we're giving away $10k to our favorite newsletter, check it out: beehiiv.com/mfm-challenge My First Million is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by HubSpot Media // Production by Arie Desormeaux // Editing by Ezra Bakker Trupiano /
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.