Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our guest for today is the CEO and Co-Founder at Kitu Life Inc., makers of Super Coffee. He and his brother’s company ranked #18 on Inc. 5000 and they also made it to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2019. Let's welcome, Jim DeCicco.
Jim DeCicco came from a humble, blue-collar family. Growing up, he and his brothers became student-athletes. When they were in college, Jim's younger brother Jordan, had to attend basketball practices early in the morning and stay up late at night to study. He wanted a drink that is delicious, healthy, and could sustain his energy for the day. Yet, the only ones available then were loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients. That's when he decided to brew his own healthy coffee and pitched the idea to his brothers to start Super Coffee.
Hoping to expand their brand on a national scale, Jim and his brothers joined ABC’s Shark Tank, in 2018. One of the judges on the show commented that although their coffee is still very healthy compared to other energy drinks out there, the sweetener they used in their coffee left an unpleasant aftertaste. This prompted them to use a different sweetener and came up with a 100% sugar-free coffee with just 70 calories. This new formula has become a key differentiator for their brand.
Let us hear from Jim as he shares how he and his brothers grew their brand to become the number 3 bottled coffee drink in the US, achieved 55M in annual revenue, and 400M in valuation in 6 years.
Top Takeaways:
01:46 How to find meaningful partnerships
04:00 Why Jim felt they had to win New York
06:41 How to get big players and influencers involved in your business
09:07 The mentor who’s had the biggest impact on their business
13:59 Marketing hacks to help accelerate growth
15:42 Why you shouldn’t rely on influencers to drive sales
18:30 How influencers affect consumer confidence
20:18 The Biggest breakthroughs their company had in the past 7 years
26:46 What’s the Big Hairy Audacious Goal for Super Coffee
29:02 What they plan to do next after Super Coffee