Brainforge LMNT sync

Date: February 24, 2026 Source: Granola Meeting ID: 3e8050f3-32a1-4ac4-a1c0-9208c71501a1 URL: https://notes.granola.ai/t/3e8050f3-32a1-4ac4-a1c0-9208c71501a1

Participants:

Summary

E-commerce currently flat, exploring revenue revival strategies
Hiring Director of Innovation to expand beyond drinks
- Potential products: gummies, metabolic health solutions
- Example concepts: dry bone broth packets, kids’ popsicles (no food dye/sugar)
- LMNT started as venture studio, electrolytes became dominant focus
Distribution expansion needed
- Current gaps: Wegmans, HEB, other major retailers
- Walmart unlock would enable broader product rollout
Real estate expansion plans
- Purchased building in Bozeman for HQ (not leasing)
- Retail concepts in development (Austin music venue example)
- CEO James plans 30-year tenure, no exit strategy
- Share buybacks provide liquidity vs. PE/acquisition route

Holding excess inventory from retail transition
- Minimum 8 weeks stock planned, some products at 55 weeks
- Millions in potential losses from unsellable product
- New to sparkling water, went overboard on certain SKUs
2026 OKR planning issues
- Revenue target 450→700M not pacing correctly
- Plans felt top-down rather than data-driven
- Team rewriting OKRs mid-year due to unrealistic projections
Supply chain visibility gaps
- Dan has supply/demand model but data foundation lacking
- Need better forecasting for 2027 planning

Original plan: slow rollout through July, supply chain by September
New urgency: data foundation needed for October 2027 planning
- Phil wants “sturdy” contribution margin data by product line
- Goal: hand new VPs “keys to a clean car” with ready data
September target for data-enabled planning
- Revenue stakeholders prioritized over CX data modeling
- Supply chain data critical for business planning
Shivani concerned about maintaining quality while accelerating

Current team feels ad-hoc, need senior resources
VP layer being hired to reduce Shivani as bottleneck
- VPs should communicate directly with Brainforge leadership
- Need education on data tables and dashboard requirements
Andrew (potential hire) could start April
- Would handle maintenance requests and VP relationships
- Allow Brainforge to focus on high-leverage modeling work
Communication filtering needed
- No direct VP-to-junior analyst communication
- Uttam/Robert level for VP relationships, filtered junior work

Core focus areas for September:
1. Revenue generators (E-commerce, retail, wholesale)
2. Supply chain data
3. Executive/finance reporting (will emerge)
Out of scope: CX data, real estate data, HR platforms
Maintenance workload will increase with each new “customer”
- Each business unit becomes ongoing client
- Need internal ticketing system for transparency
E-commerce Looker replacement decision pending

Weekly sprint structure with Monday planning, Thursday wrap-up
Shivani wants Linear access for early ticket review
48-hour SLA for metric fixes (with realistic queue management)
Documentation standards need improvement
- Churn definition example: cumulative vs. point-in-time clarity needed
- Rest & assess weeks for documentation focus

Shivani: Draft 2-page proposal for Phil by tomorrow morning
- Goal: data-enabled 2027 planning by September
- Include resource requirements and leadership engagement needs
Uttam/Robert: Revise timeline options extending to September
Tomorrow 10 AM: Review proposal draft and finalize approach
Brainforge to own Shivani’s four-box planning during India trip
Andrew hiring discussion with Phil (non-solicit considerations)