Meeting Title: Element x Brainforge Project Kickoff Date: 2026-03-31 Meeting participants: Shivani Amar, Greg Stoutenburg, Jasmin Multani, Uttam Kumaran, Advait Nandakumar Menon, Awaish Kumar
WEBVTT
1 00:00:10.050 ⇒ 00:00:11.210 Shivani Amar: Hi, Greg.
2 00:00:11.210 ⇒ 00:00:12.860 Greg Stoutenburg: Hey, Shivani, how’s it going?
3 00:00:13.120 ⇒ 00:00:16.930 Shivani Amar: Good, how are you? I’m in the same room as Robert and Utham today, so that’s nice.
4 00:00:17.010 ⇒ 00:00:17.970 Greg Stoutenburg: No kidding.
5 00:00:18.110 ⇒ 00:00:18.870 Shivani Amar: Yeah.
6 00:00:19.220 ⇒ 00:00:21.660 Greg Stoutenburg: Cool, the, dynamic duo over there.
7 00:00:21.920 ⇒ 00:00:22.695 Shivani Amar: Yeah.
8 00:00:25.230 ⇒ 00:00:28.619 Shivani Amar: Put them on a health kick. He didn’t eat any of the pastries I brought.
9 00:00:28.620 ⇒ 00:00:29.770 Greg Stoutenburg: Who’s on health kick?
10 00:00:29.860 ⇒ 00:00:35.830 Shivani Amar: Yeah, with them on a health kick, and so the pastries are just sitting here.
11 00:00:36.030 ⇒ 00:00:41.430 Greg Stoutenburg: Oh, he just… he probably just doesn’t want you to admit that he ate, like, a whole dozen cookies on the flight last night.
12 00:00:43.390 ⇒ 00:00:44.060 Greg Stoutenburg: Black.
13 00:00:45.830 ⇒ 00:00:47.030 Greg Stoutenburg: Black coffee.
14 00:00:47.030 ⇒ 00:00:57.930 Shivani Amar: That’s two black coffees. Really? She said this is a non-working flight. She said this is a non-working flight? Wow.
15 00:00:58.070 ⇒ 00:01:02.699 Shivani Amar: I said one minute.
16 00:01:02.930 ⇒ 00:01:21.150 Shivani Amar: Hi everybody, nice to meet you. So I’m, I’m Shivani, I’m on the team at Element, and I’m excited to get to know you guys today. And I’m in the same room as Otham and Robert, which is great.
17 00:01:21.150 ⇒ 00:01:21.560 Greg Stoutenburg: Ow.
18 00:01:22.570 ⇒ 00:01:29.569 Shivani Amar: Where are you all? I’d love to, like, do quick intros, maybe, so I can get a feel.
19 00:01:32.080 ⇒ 00:01:34.030 Shivani Amar: Jasmine, do you want to go first? Sure!
20 00:01:34.030 ⇒ 00:01:54.520 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, let’s start from the West Coast, then. Hey, Shivani, I’m Jasmine. Currently I’m part-time with Brainforge, but excited to launch full-time on Monday. Very, very excited. Right now I’m based out of LA, but I’ve done a stint in New York for some years, and then I realized I hate
21 00:01:54.520 ⇒ 00:02:06.099 Jasmin Multani: the cold, and I can’t, I can’t even walk without crying in the snowstorm, so I came back to California, to my true roots, and I’m staying there for now.
22 00:02:06.550 ⇒ 00:02:08.539 Shivani Amar: Nice, did you grow up in LA?
23 00:02:08.800 ⇒ 00:02:21.359 Jasmin Multani: I grew up in Orange County, so about an hour out of LA, North Orange County, not South Orange County, there’s a huge difference, about 10 minutes out from Disneyland, so.
24 00:02:21.360 ⇒ 00:02:22.380 Shivani Amar: Okay.
25 00:02:22.380 ⇒ 00:02:24.330 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, yeah. How about you?
26 00:02:24.330 ⇒ 00:02:25.660 Shivani Amar: I grew up in the Valley.
27 00:02:26.200 ⇒ 00:02:27.490 Jasmin Multani: Oh!
28 00:02:27.490 ⇒ 00:02:29.010 Shivani Amar: Yeah, yeah.
29 00:02:29.210 ⇒ 00:02:33.739 Shivani Amar: Yeah, where’d you go? Where’d you go to high school? Oh, no.
30 00:02:34.170 ⇒ 00:02:39.800 Shivani Amar: Okay, okay, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, you know the Valley well? Okay, great, yeah, I’m from the Valley.
31 00:02:39.800 ⇒ 00:02:41.539 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, yeah, so, like, Simi Valley…
32 00:02:41.540 ⇒ 00:02:42.190 Shivani Amar: Totally.
33 00:02:42.190 ⇒ 00:02:46.499 Jasmin Multani: Sherman Oaks, yeah. Okay, cool, California people, nice.
34 00:02:46.500 ⇒ 00:02:52.300 Shivani Amar: Yeah, and I’m… I… where do you live in LA now?
35 00:02:52.300 ⇒ 00:02:56.449 Jasmin Multani: Santa Monica. I’m a 10-minute walk from Erewhon. That was…
36 00:02:57.530 ⇒ 00:02:59.180 Shivani Amar: That is critical. Okay, gotcha.
37 00:02:59.180 ⇒ 00:03:11.209 Jasmin Multani: I needed to, like, be in walking distance to restaurants, and just a calm area, so it worked out. And I have in-unit laundry, so that was the… that was the deal breaker.
38 00:03:11.210 ⇒ 00:03:21.470 Shivani Amar: Sounds like you’ve got a great place. I, my brother lives in Sherman Oaks. He lived in Culver City before, but he lives in Sherman Oaks. I have, like, a two-and-a-half-year-old nephew in Sherman Oaks, so I try to come home pretty.
39 00:03:21.470 ⇒ 00:03:21.950 Jasmin Multani: Oh, boy.
40 00:03:22.270 ⇒ 00:03:24.729 Jasmin Multani: God, you have to, or else there…
41 00:03:26.820 ⇒ 00:03:35.529 Shivani Amar: His name is Rian, but lately I’ve been calling him Rionosaurus, because he just gets on the screen with me, and he goes, he’s just been doing that, so…
42 00:03:35.530 ⇒ 00:03:36.420 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, yeah.
43 00:03:36.420 ⇒ 00:03:45.600 Shivani Amar: I come home to LA not in free… like, in the winter, I spend some time there, so it’s, like, nice to have you on the team, and maybe one day we’ll co-work in LA, so we’ll see.
44 00:03:45.600 ⇒ 00:03:46.690 Jasmin Multani: Me too.
45 00:03:46.690 ⇒ 00:03:48.880 Shivani Amar: And…
46 00:03:49.270 ⇒ 00:03:57.319 Shivani Amar: Okay, so you live in Santa Monica, and then, like, what is your background a little bit? Like, what have you been doing prior to joining Brainforge full-time?
47 00:03:57.320 ⇒ 00:04:16.070 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, so, I like to joke that I’ve had a lot of left turns in my career. So, I started off as a neuroscience, undergrad, loved the brain, loved behavior, did a stint in research, and then I published a paper, and then I was like, wow, this was a lot of work for very little emotional payout.
48 00:04:16.070 ⇒ 00:04:16.630 Shivani Amar: Yeah.
49 00:04:16.630 ⇒ 00:04:30.770 Jasmin Multani: I had an honest conversation with my PI, and I was like, I don’t think I want to do PhD, it’s not for me, and he looked me dead in the eye, and he was like, the only reason I’m a professor is because I couldn’t get a consulting job 20 years ago.
50 00:04:30.770 ⇒ 00:04:31.350 Shivani Amar: well.
51 00:04:31.350 ⇒ 00:04:49.940 Jasmin Multani: I just had to make this path work, but you’re in a different era, you’re in a different generation, so just… there’s no shame in trying to do something new. Like, no one here is gonna hate you for it. So thankfully, I had really good early mentors that just gave me my blessings. And from there, I went on LinkedIn aggressively.
52 00:04:50.220 ⇒ 00:05:03.779 Jasmin Multani: reached out to people on LinkedIn and found a footing into DoorDash. Very, very low, but I was able to, hang on to someone who was a good mentor. Also, he was…
53 00:05:04.130 ⇒ 00:05:07.450 Jasmin Multani: first 300, 200 at DoorDash, so…
54 00:05:07.460 ⇒ 00:05:08.260 Shivani Amar: Yeah.
55 00:05:08.260 ⇒ 00:05:11.929 Jasmin Multani: really got the best of the best there.
56 00:05:12.260 ⇒ 00:05:20.950 Jasmin Multani: And from DoorDash, I worked a bit with Robert on consulting, and then I pivoted over to TikTok, where I was working on…
57 00:05:21.500 ⇒ 00:05:41.919 Jasmin Multani: data security, trust and safety, so very huge pivot from DoorDash’s new verticals, that I helped build out. Like, at DoorDash, I was there when it was just convenience and groceries, and as net new verticals, were added on, we had to figure out, like, okay, what are the products that are fitted for convenience and groceries? How do we
58 00:05:41.920 ⇒ 00:05:49.439 Jasmin Multani: effectively fit that to flowers, alcohol? What is the divergence? And how do we make this decision within a quarter? And how do we make
59 00:05:49.790 ⇒ 00:06:02.430 Jasmin Multani: loose-end? How do we make the tech loose-ended enough so that down the line, as these, verticals mature in big GMVs, what is the lift to make sure that
60 00:06:02.550 ⇒ 00:06:17.089 Jasmin Multani: specific products are, fitted to those customer needs. So a lot of headaches with retention, arguing with data scientists, hey, you did not track retention the way I asked you, right? If someone has.
61 00:06:17.090 ⇒ 00:06:17.480 Shivani Amar: Yeah.
62 00:06:17.480 ⇒ 00:06:19.240 Jasmin Multani: grocery order.
63 00:06:19.400 ⇒ 00:06:30.229 Jasmin Multani: And they… they’re still gonna come back for restaurant, because our restaurant pipeline is really great, but we care about grocery retention. And sometimes the arguments would be like, well.
64 00:06:30.360 ⇒ 00:06:46.480 Jasmin Multani: that’s nice, we’re gonna launch this in, like, relaunch this experiment in three quarters, so I’d be like, okay, now I know how to delegate things over to, the hard tech folks, and how much I need to lean in with my, business mindset, business ops mindset.
65 00:06:47.620 ⇒ 00:06:48.669 Shivani Amar: Thank you.
66 00:06:48.670 ⇒ 00:06:49.750 Jasmin Multani: Oh! Yeah, yeah.
67 00:06:49.750 ⇒ 00:06:57.580 Shivani Amar: Awesome. Helpful overview, and excited to have you on the team. Oes, your haircut is looking fresh.
68 00:06:58.150 ⇒ 00:07:04.330 Shivani Amar: Over there. Looking good.
69 00:07:04.330 ⇒ 00:07:20.999 Shivani Amar: Yeah, yeah. I know we’ve been working together for a while, Wish, but anything you want to share around, like, early experiences working on the element side, or learnings, or anything about your background that you want to share that we haven’t gotten to, like, touch base on?
70 00:07:22.000 ⇒ 00:07:26.739 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I have been working as a data engineer for almost 9 years now.
71 00:07:27.470 ⇒ 00:07:29.140 Awaish Kumar: I have worked…
72 00:07:29.250 ⇒ 00:07:36.160 Awaish Kumar: Like, most of my time, I have worked, like, on startups and the growth stage companies, leading to IPO.
73 00:07:37.060 ⇒ 00:07:42.559 Awaish Kumar: Before joining Brain Forge, I… I’ve been working with a gaming company, and…
74 00:07:42.700 ⇒ 00:07:45.470 Awaish Kumar: And then, data analytics summary.
75 00:07:45.700 ⇒ 00:07:52.870 Awaish Kumar: In Canada, And, before that, I’ve been with the Oyo Vacation Home.
76 00:07:53.140 ⇒ 00:07:57.530 Awaish Kumar: Which is kind of a subsidiary of Oil Rooms in India.
77 00:07:57.670 ⇒ 00:08:03.019 Awaish Kumar: So I’ve been with them for, like, 3 years. I was in Copenhagen.
78 00:08:05.020 ⇒ 00:08:10.050 Awaish Kumar: Like, part of a pricing team, 8-way vacation home, so each…
79 00:08:10.310 ⇒ 00:08:17.140 Awaish Kumar: kind of, I was supporting the pipelines, where we had data scientists, and each night, we, basically…
80 00:08:17.860 ⇒ 00:08:23.299 Awaish Kumar: Dynamically figure out new prices for each of the properties they had.
81 00:08:23.710 ⇒ 00:08:40.130 Awaish Kumar: Like, 40,000 properties, in portfolio, and for all of them, for 300… like, for 3… next 365 nights, we will, like, our machine learning models will figure out new dynamic pricing based on the demand, and then we upgrade those prices.
82 00:08:40.299 ⇒ 00:08:44.240 Awaish Kumar: And, like, I was basically supporting as a data engineer there.
83 00:08:44.400 ⇒ 00:08:50.460 Awaish Kumar: working with GCP and, like, the Google Cloud platforms, and it… and AWS, and…
84 00:08:50.650 ⇒ 00:08:53.630 Awaish Kumar: Yeah. Nice. Lots of text there.
85 00:08:53.750 ⇒ 00:08:56.490 Awaish Kumar: I started off… Yeah, go ahead.
86 00:08:56.640 ⇒ 00:09:05.400 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I started off my career as a kind of software engineer, then moved into data soon after that, and then, yeah, moved to Copenhagen.
87 00:09:06.620 ⇒ 00:09:08.980 Shivani Amar: Nice. Did you like living in Copenhagen?
88 00:09:10.190 ⇒ 00:09:14.290 Awaish Kumar: Yeah, I was there for 3 years, it was the, like, best place I’ve been so far.
89 00:09:14.520 ⇒ 00:09:32.390 Shivani Amar: That sounds… that sounds pretty awesome. I’m glad you got a Copenhagen chapter… a chapter in a beautiful place. How cool. Thank you, Awish. Anything reflections-wise on, like, early days of getting to know some stuff about Elements business that you want to share with the group, or…
90 00:09:33.960 ⇒ 00:09:41.780 Awaish Kumar: Like, like, it has been exciting, in a sense that we, have a lot of
91 00:09:42.280 ⇒ 00:09:46.130 Awaish Kumar: Ecom data, like, most of our clients we have worked with might have…
92 00:09:46.380 ⇒ 00:09:58.990 Awaish Kumar: a lot of them have e-com data, but, like, some of them have retail, so we have… but here we are… we are, like, working on Walmart element, and we are also, sorry, Target, and also
93 00:09:59.250 ⇒ 00:10:06.399 Awaish Kumar: Looking to, like, have data from more retail side, so seeing all that omnichannel is,
94 00:10:07.830 ⇒ 00:10:12.850 Awaish Kumar: kind of exciting, and how that will… basically, it will be exciting to see how that
95 00:10:13.020 ⇒ 00:10:23.639 Awaish Kumar: The foundations we have built, how that will help business teams, now that we have a strategy team… strategy team on board, how basically we convert them into exec
96 00:10:25.030 ⇒ 00:10:29.190 Awaish Kumar: actionable insights that you can actually Action on.
97 00:10:29.600 ⇒ 00:10:30.250 Shivani Amar: Yeah.
98 00:10:30.640 ⇒ 00:10:48.569 Shivani Amar: Okay, I’m excited too, Aish. I think we’re, like, we’re trying to do very high-level project planning in this room today, like, the highest level we can possibly go, just to understand, like, where does this work take us, and so I can share more about that, later, but thank you for your work so far, and looking forward to continuing to work with you.
99 00:10:48.570 ⇒ 00:10:51.939 Shivani Amar: Avic? Is that how I pronounce it?
100 00:10:52.540 ⇒ 00:10:54.340 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, you can call me at Rape.
101 00:10:54.490 ⇒ 00:10:59.259 Shivani Amar: Advait? Okay, okay, how do you say it? Am I saying it okay?
102 00:11:00.540 ⇒ 00:11:06.959 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Oh, yeah, it’s correct. It’s… you can call me Advait, or Advait, like, whatever’s easier for you, but I go by Advait.
103 00:11:07.580 ⇒ 00:11:08.940 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Admit. Admit.
104 00:11:08.940 ⇒ 00:11:09.909 Shivani Amar: Then that’s what we’re going with.
105 00:11:09.910 ⇒ 00:11:10.260 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah.
106 00:11:10.260 ⇒ 00:11:12.819 Shivani Amar: Yeah, yeah.
107 00:11:14.210 ⇒ 00:11:17.299 Shivani Amar: Do you want to share a little bit about your background?
108 00:11:18.350 ⇒ 00:11:31.490 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Sure. So, I have about 4 to 4 and a half years of experience as a data analyst and engineer. So, I come from a consulting background as well, and I recently joined Brainforge.
109 00:11:31.520 ⇒ 00:11:46.039 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I came to the States to pursue my master’s in 2023, so I am based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. I graduated from the University of Cincinnati, if you have heard of it. So, yeah, that’s my background.
110 00:11:46.060 ⇒ 00:12:00.540 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I started as a BI analyst with Tata Consultancy Services back in India, so I was working with a global airline loyalty client, and then upgraded to a data engineer role as well to help some of the migration stuff.
111 00:12:00.540 ⇒ 00:12:13.199 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Then, here, after I graduated, I worked with a similar startup who’s into consulting here in Cincinnati. So we were really helping, like, small to medium-sized businesses, even family businesses, just…
112 00:12:13.200 ⇒ 00:12:30.070 Advait Nandakumar Menon: understand the potential of data and modernize the existing reports and whatnot. So, that’s a little about me. So, I just got onboarded to Element and slowly learning about you guys, the project, and everything. So, yeah, excited to work… to be working with you.
113 00:12:30.340 ⇒ 00:12:34.239 Shivani Amar: Yeah, awesome. And, I think…
114 00:12:34.340 ⇒ 00:12:46.559 Shivani Amar: if you’re… I know I always say this, I’m sorry, I wish, but for the folks who are based here, if you want to drop me your address so you can actually try the product, like, just let me know, and then I can… I can send it to you. Did yours arrive?
115 00:12:47.980 ⇒ 00:12:49.359 Greg Stoutenburg: I haven’t gotten mine yet.
116 00:12:49.700 ⇒ 00:13:01.939 Shivani Amar: Okay, let me check on my… let me make my little list. It’s very tasty. Very salty. Cool, and then I feel like I’ve gotten to know…
117 00:13:01.960 ⇒ 00:13:12.619 Shivani Amar: you, Greg, with them, obviously, so anything quick you want to share? Otherwise, we can kind of go into the, the intro a little bit for the other folks?
118 00:13:12.620 ⇒ 00:13:16.280 Greg Stoutenburg: Let’s do it, yeah. I’m excited. The deck preview that you…
119 00:13:16.440 ⇒ 00:13:19.899 Greg Stoutenburg: stuck in there the other day. I was like, I need to see more of this, it looks great.
120 00:13:19.900 ⇒ 00:13:30.060 Shivani Amar: Okay, great. We’ll just get a feel for the brand. Okay, let’s do this. So, guys, welcome to Element Life. Let me put this in slideshow mode. So.
121 00:13:31.180 ⇒ 00:13:41.780 Shivani Amar: I guess to back up for a second, I used to work in… and introduce myself, I used to work in healthcare services. So, I started my career in consulting, and then I worked at
122 00:13:41.970 ⇒ 00:13:56.130 Shivani Amar: a hospital system. I worked at a dialysis company, I worked at a maternity healthcare clinic system, I worked at a mental health care company, and so I’ve been, like, moving my way through, like, often working with clinicians
123 00:13:56.170 ⇒ 00:14:15.570 Shivani Amar: And one of the things that I say, which is kind of like this sort of sad, jaded perspective, but is just where I’ve reached in that… in that part of my career, and maybe one day I’ll come back to that industry, is that often what I felt like was we’re, like, trying to make people feel better, but the way to do that is by putting more
124 00:14:15.790 ⇒ 00:14:23.929 Shivani Amar: work on the clinicians, and, like, something about that, like, in my core, like, I was, like, I always felt at odds, so I’m like, I’m trying to advocate for, like.
125 00:14:23.990 ⇒ 00:14:42.049 Shivani Amar: more access, but I’m trying to shorten appointment times, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing to shorten appointment times, right? It’s not, like, purely bad if you’re trying to also increase access to patient care. But I think, like, clinicians get frustrated, and there’s, like, so much dynamic of, like, impacting the clinician experience in order to, like, make more patients be able to be seen.
126 00:14:42.880 ⇒ 00:14:52.340 Shivani Amar: And I was like, I’m ready for an industry shift. And I, went to college, actually, with the founder of Element, and I, like.
127 00:14:52.730 ⇒ 00:15:16.650 Shivani Amar: randomly reconnected with him. I wasn’t even necessarily looking for a job at that time. Like, I was looking for a job for myself, but I wasn’t even thinking that this was in the realm of possibility. I was trying to introduce him to somebody else in my network, and then he was kind of like, actually, we’re looking for a bizops person, like, so what are you up to? And at my previous job at Brave Health, I oversaw kind of, like, the data function. I don’t do SQL, right? Like, but, like, it’s like, I’m more, like.
128 00:15:16.730 ⇒ 00:15:35.879 Shivani Amar: I think of myself as more, like, what does the business need? What are the questions that the business needs answers to? And then, like, how do I help be the person that’s, like, really caring and upholding, like, the fidelity of the data and the source of truth? Like, how can, like, somebody in the business, like, really, like, hold that up and make sure that the data team is, like.
129 00:15:35.930 ⇒ 00:15:40.269 Shivani Amar: Working in service of delivering the, like, best possible insights for the business.
130 00:15:40.650 ⇒ 00:15:45.880 Shivani Amar: And so, he was like, I think we need something like that, and I was like, okay, great, and then I started a month later.
131 00:15:46.240 ⇒ 00:15:57.099 Shivani Amar: And then, I was pleasantly surprised my first day to hear, like, the Element Mission, because I think it was just, like, such a whirlwind, but to hear that it’s really, like, about amplifying a committed community of health seekers.
132 00:15:57.250 ⇒ 00:16:09.350 Shivani Amar: And, like, the Element brand that we know is really, like, focused on hydration, but when you think about, like, how Element started, you’ll see on people’s LinkedIns, like, people who are early Element, they were working at
133 00:16:09.350 ⇒ 00:16:30.559 Shivani Amar: something called Proton, which was almost like a studio, a venture studio, where you could think about, like, what products can we, like, create with health leaders. So whether it’s, like, sleep-related, or this-related, or that-related, like, eye care related, like, what do we want to do? But then Element just became such a big brand that we’re like, okay, we’re all gonna go all in on Element, basically. And so you see a shift from people saying that they worked at Proton.
134 00:16:30.560 ⇒ 00:16:33.429 Shivani Amar: to working just ex… like, just at Element.
135 00:16:33.780 ⇒ 00:16:51.299 Shivani Amar: So, I mean, like, when I joined, I don’t even know if I fully understood, like, the health link being, like, a common thread, and it was just, like, really, like, helpful for me, and made me feel better about being a part of this mission. And as I’ve started working here, I’m one of the people that maybe was, like, least aware of, like.
136 00:16:51.300 ⇒ 00:17:02.990 Shivani Amar: the product, and it’s, like, relative to the rest of the team, but I have friends who run marathons where Element has played an important role. I have friends who, like, get cramps, and Element plays an important role in their lives, so…
137 00:17:03.080 ⇒ 00:17:11.470 Shivani Amar: people are really committed to their fitness and things like that. I’m, like, so happy that I’m working in a brand that is, like, helpful to, you know, like, helpful in their lives.
138 00:17:11.660 ⇒ 00:17:18.250 Shivani Amar: And I think the… the goal here is not just, like, like…
139 00:17:19.240 ⇒ 00:17:34.700 Shivani Amar: sell product. It’s also, like, increase awareness around, like, metabolic health, and, like, a lot of the partnerships that we have, and, like, the podcasts that we, like, you know, pay for partnerships on, and they talk about Element are, like, very health-related.
140 00:17:35.530 ⇒ 00:17:51.760 Shivani Amar: we have a person named Tia Claire that, like, is going to be in some of our advertisements. She’s, like, 2 million Instagram followers, and she’s won, like, the CrossFit Championship, I think, like, 8 or 9 times, and she’s pregnant right now, and, like, the Instagram footage of her just, like, still, like, doing, like.
141 00:17:52.010 ⇒ 00:18:01.860 Shivani Amar: like, really solid weightlifting is just, like, super inspiring, and, like, it’s been fun to be a part of this organization and to realize, like, the impact that we’re having.
142 00:18:04.200 ⇒ 00:18:22.370 Shivani Amar: it was… this concept was developed by Rob Wolf, so he was… like, he opened one of the first CrossFit affiliate gyms, but he’s also, like, a… he has science background, and his thought was, like, people need more salt to feel better, but we don’t want to have, like, bad ingredients in it, so we’re doing zero sugar, and, like.
143 00:18:22.370 ⇒ 00:18:33.259 Shivani Amar: it… basically, the CEO, James Murphy, like, was looking to work with different leaders in health to say, what kind of products can we launch, and so Element, as I said, ended up being, like.
144 00:18:33.530 ⇒ 00:18:45.289 Shivani Amar: the biggest product, and then we kind of, like, have focused on that. Rob still joins all of our all teams, and, like, comes to the onsites and stuff, but is, like, one of the, like, thought leaders that led to the product being developed.
145 00:18:47.060 ⇒ 00:18:53.789 Shivani Amar: this is just, like, a little bit… so it’s, like, founded in 2018, you have the CEO, James Murphy,
146 00:18:54.020 ⇒ 00:19:03.759 Shivani Amar: And… we’re maybe about 50 employees now. I think that’ll grow a lot. We’re in a pretty heavy growth mode, and we can talk about what that looks like in the business.
147 00:19:03.790 ⇒ 00:19:25.409 Shivani Amar: But these are your founders, that you have here, and our headquarters are in Bozeman, Montana. So it’s like a funny… it’s like… this product is really popular in Bozeman because Bozeman is filled with outdoorsy people. Outdoorsy people who love to ski, who love to bike, who love to be hiking and, like, in the outdoors, and so Element is, like.
148 00:19:25.430 ⇒ 00:19:26.310 Shivani Amar: kind of…
149 00:19:26.790 ⇒ 00:19:41.080 Shivani Amar: beloved brand in Bozeman, Montana, and similarly, we’re opening our first retail location, this year in Big Sky, Montana, which is where a lot of people, like, pass through for hiking, skiing, things like that.
150 00:19:41.480 ⇒ 00:19:47.360 Shivani Amar: And when… one note about Element, I guess, is that it’s a very profitable business.
151 00:19:47.530 ⇒ 00:20:06.189 Shivani Amar: And so, we sell salt, and we have figured out a way to, like, sell to a lot of people, and so it’s a healthy P&L. And so that means that we can, like, run experiments a little bit to, like, increase brand awareness, which might be having physical locations in some places around the country. They might not be, like.
152 00:20:06.610 ⇒ 00:20:22.210 Shivani Amar: a place where we’re, like, pushing to sell product, necessarily. It might be more about, like, people, like, experiencing the brand, getting a feel for it, and hopefully buying product on their own, like, in the future. It doesn’t… it’s not a place where we’re just saying, like, buy a 30-pack and then walk out. It’s like…
153 00:20:22.210 ⇒ 00:20:26.990 Shivani Amar: the place in Big Sky is meant to be a place where folks can just hang, co-work, maybe do…
154 00:20:27.100 ⇒ 00:20:35.750 Shivani Amar: classes, listen to talks, breathwork, yoga, like, things like that, and get a feel for, like, what is Element all about. So that’s just, like, a little taste of…
155 00:20:35.800 ⇒ 00:20:49.709 Shivani Amar: the Montana component of the brand, which… I’m a pretty city-based girl, so I always find it funny when I’m, like, in Bozeman and trying to navigate the Montana culture. It’s a bit different for me.
156 00:20:50.900 ⇒ 00:21:06.819 Greg Stoutenburg: If I could interrupt your presentation, one of the things that, you know, you spoke about, like, you know, the value of salt and, you know, P&L. One of the things that I think speaks to that, as well as just, like, the company’s, like, honesty and goals, is that they, I’ll link it right here, they publish on the website how to make it.
157 00:21:06.820 ⇒ 00:21:13.939 Greg Stoutenburg: Which I think is… I just think that’s incredible, like, that the company’s selling something to be like, and actually, here’s how you do it yourself at home for…
158 00:21:13.990 ⇒ 00:21:14.920 Greg Stoutenburg: Cheaper.
159 00:21:15.310 ⇒ 00:21:15.710 Shivani Amar: Exactly.
160 00:21:15.710 ⇒ 00:21:16.699 Greg Stoutenburg: That’s impressive to me.
161 00:21:17.040 ⇒ 00:21:19.639 Shivani Amar: I think that it’s,
162 00:21:19.830 ⇒ 00:21:33.539 Shivani Amar: I think it just, like, speaks to the ethos of the… the, like, we just want people to feel better, and, like, if you can’t afford it, or you don’t… you don’t want to buy it from us, like, you can make it yourself, but, like, we’re in the business of trying to make people feel… feel better day in, day out.
163 00:21:33.540 ⇒ 00:21:34.760 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah, that’s so cool.
164 00:21:34.760 ⇒ 00:21:53.289 Shivani Amar: Thank you for connecting that. And then, this 3-in-1 work structure is something that we do at Element, and it’ll play a little bit into, like, how we work together, like, across this team, but the 3-in-1 work structure, like, James, this is James, like, on the right here.
165 00:21:53.970 ⇒ 00:22:03.090 Shivani Amar: James, when I first spoke with him, was like, I’m pretty anti-hustle culture, and what he means by that is, like, he believes in really methodical thinking.
166 00:22:03.220 ⇒ 00:22:13.339 Shivani Amar: He believes that clarity of thought, feeling good in your nervous system, feeling good in your body are, like, critical to actually also doing good work, and, like, just being a good human. So…
167 00:22:13.690 ⇒ 00:22:28.590 Shivani Amar: This 3-in-1 work structure has a… we have three-week sprints, which is not probably dissimilar to what you guys do in, like, data land of, like, having, you know, 2-week sprints or whatever, and being able to track your work. We have sprints, and then we have a week called rest and assess.
168 00:22:28.760 ⇒ 00:22:45.519 Shivani Amar: And it’s not just a week off, I’m in my Rest and Assess week right now, but the rest and assess week is meant to be a time where we’re like, what worked well last sprint? What, like, didn’t go well? And I get pretty vulnerable in my assessment brief, and I can, like, show you that and, like, how we communicate, but…
169 00:22:45.520 ⇒ 00:22:59.819 Shivani Amar: basically in the last assessment… sorry, in the last sprint, the feedback that I was getting from my boss was around… he was like, I feel like I’m drowning in memos, we were trying to make the decision about the Brainforge proposal, right? Like, about, like, okay, like, are we ready to ramp this team up?
170 00:23:00.090 ⇒ 00:23:04.850 Shivani Amar: And he’s like, I feel like I’m drowning in memos, and I need, like, a very clear, like.
171 00:23:04.880 ⇒ 00:23:28.180 Shivani Amar: very clear and concise communication, like, a one-pager on why we’re, like, increasing the cost, a one… and, like, I was kind of swirling. I was like, here’s, like, another thing, here’s another thing, here’s, like, another part, here’s another this. He’s like, there’s no rush on communicating with me until it’s, like, polished. And so, like, the 3-in-1 work structure is meant to not just be, like, a place where you’re like, okay, I’m just gonna chill. Most people try to make it, like, at least, like, a three-day weekend, where they’re like.
172 00:23:28.180 ⇒ 00:23:43.970 Shivani Amar: I’m gonna try to kind of, like, have, like, a little bit of a rest pocket. But otherwise, what you’re doing is you’re trying to, like, touch base with teammates async, and say, like, okay, I’m thinking in the month ahead, I’m trying to achieve ABC, does that feel aligned with you? Are we all working towards the same goal this month?
173 00:23:44.110 ⇒ 00:23:57.760 Shivani Amar: And that way, you’re not, like, coming up to somebody middle of a sprint and say, like, I need this from you, and they’re like, whoa, I did not plan to get that done right now, right? And so I think it’s just a unique way of working, and I think James is very pro, like…
174 00:23:58.140 ⇒ 00:24:07.510 Shivani Amar: Experimenting with new… like, being… experimenting with ways of working that, like, build cohesiveness, build transparency, and, like.
175 00:24:08.920 ⇒ 00:24:13.789 Shivani Amar: Create an environment where people can have sustainable careers and not, like, totally burn themselves out.
176 00:24:13.920 ⇒ 00:24:38.890 Shivani Amar: Which I think is really special and makes me feel really excited to work at this company. And it’s just kind of in line with their broader health mission, right? They’re like, okay, let’s practice what we preach. Like, you think about how many doctors smoke cigarettes and, like, and are stressed. Whereas that element, it’s like, how do we all live healthy lives? And, like, part of that is this 3-in-1 work schedule, where, like, during that week off, you should be going to Pilates at noon. Like, you should be, like.
177 00:24:38.890 ⇒ 00:24:42.270 Shivani Amar: But taking care of… doing the things that are harder to do during the three-week sprint.
178 00:24:42.980 ⇒ 00:24:46.269 Shivani Amar: In terms of how we sell product, we have no discounts.
179 00:24:46.500 ⇒ 00:24:48.710 Shivani Amar: So, we are not ever, like.
180 00:24:49.070 ⇒ 00:25:04.009 Shivani Amar: you know, here’s a BOGO, buy one, get one free, like, we don’t, we don’t have anything, like that. And so, you’ll notice that, like, maybe some other CPG brands that you work with, like, have an intense level of scrutiny around data around, like, Black Friday.
181 00:25:04.010 ⇒ 00:25:09.740 Shivani Amar: Like, I need to see how everything is working on Black Friday, and then that means data teams are on, because…
182 00:25:10.200 ⇒ 00:25:21.530 Shivani Amar: it’s, like, a really intense period. We don’t do that. And so, like, part of that means that’s also playing a role in, like, our rest kind of philosophy, that rest is important.
183 00:25:22.760 ⇒ 00:25:28.639 Shivani Amar: So we’re not just, like, all, like, using Black Friday after Thanksgiving to just be, like, on and trying to make more sales.
184 00:25:28.640 ⇒ 00:25:43.120 Shivani Amar: But it’s also just standing up for, like, the quality of the product to say, like, this is just our pricing, and this is what it is. Like, we’re not gonna, like, randomly, like, give you 20% off, and then that’s your… that’s your bar for what you expect to pay for Element, right? It’s like, this is the price.
185 00:25:43.230 ⇒ 00:26:00.160 Shivani Amar: And the way to get a, like, a reduced price is either buying in bulk, right? Eventually, we’ll sell in Costco and things like that, so that’ll be a way for people to buy in bulk, or, like, subscribing. Like, the best deal that we have is probably our insider deal on,
186 00:26:00.250 ⇒ 00:26:14.559 Shivani Amar: on Shopify, where you buy 4 boxes, so, like, 4 packs of 30 counts, and then you get the fourth box included. So, like, that’s, I think, the best deal that somebody can get, and then if you subscribe, you save a little bit more. So there’s, like, some stuff you can get on our, like.
187 00:26:14.760 ⇒ 00:26:26.699 Shivani Amar: on our website, that should hopefully be, like, competitive pricing, but I think it’ll be… the pricing framework of this will all be, like, dynamic and evolve as we add more channels, which I’ll talk about the channels for the business in a little bit.
188 00:26:28.400 ⇒ 00:26:42.180 Shivani Amar: And, while we maintain our pricing integrity, like, integrity, the other thing is that we’re very generous with product sampling. So, like, the way that I’m saying, hey, if you’re US-based and you have an address, I can send you some samples so you can check out the product.
189 00:26:42.470 ⇒ 00:26:57.619 Shivani Amar: that will make me feel good, because then if you’re like, okay, I actually have a connection to this product, I want to do good work for this company, and then we’re, like, all aligned in what we’re trying to do, right? We’re generous with product sampling, and I spend a lot of money on sampling, but it’s not currently been a place where there’s a cap.
190 00:26:57.620 ⇒ 00:27:05.999 Shivani Amar: And we’ll kind of see as we learn more, like, do we need to have caps? Especially as we start getting into the sparkling business, in terms of our product line.
191 00:27:06.080 ⇒ 00:27:19.659 Shivani Amar: those are heavier and harder, like, more expensive to ship, probably. So it’s like, I’m curious where sampling will go in terms of guardrails around it, but right now it’s pretty well… it’s pretty well something that, like, anybody can,
192 00:27:20.490 ⇒ 00:27:22.170 Shivani Amar: anybody can…
193 00:27:22.450 ⇒ 00:27:29.320 Shivani Amar: give samples to anybody they want to, right? Like, there’s not, like, a rule structure around it.
194 00:27:29.890 ⇒ 00:27:44.889 Shivani Amar: And then, no marketing tactics, right? We don’t, like, it’s not like you go on our website and you’re getting hit with pop-ups, and that we’re, like, trying to convince you to do something. Like, I’ve actually been surprised by, let’s see, where is…
195 00:27:45.150 ⇒ 00:27:47.849 Shivani Amar: My screen’s running is paused, hold on one second.
196 00:27:49.040 ⇒ 00:27:50.180 Shivani Amar: So…
197 00:27:59.200 ⇒ 00:28:09.170 Jasmin Multani: While you look for that, it kind of sounds like a lot of the push is gonna be coming from on-ground relationship building and in-person, pushing. Is that the mindset?
198 00:28:09.170 ⇒ 00:28:10.319 Shivani Amar: What do you mean?
199 00:28:10.730 ⇒ 00:28:23.890 Jasmin Multani: Like, with the sampling, it looks like your team is investing more time and resources to make sure that the customer, net new customers, are actually trying the product.
200 00:28:23.890 ⇒ 00:28:24.280 Shivani Amar: rather than.
201 00:28:24.280 ⇒ 00:28:25.910 Jasmin Multani: Spamming them, which is…
202 00:28:26.410 ⇒ 00:28:49.580 Jasmin Multani: I think it’s gonna be refreshing, and that’ll be a good appetite, but also, like, when I would try to push wine samples at my parents’ liquor store, even as recently as last year, what I also noticed was people just drink it, and then go about their day, and grab the thing that they wanted to grab. So, I’d also be interested in how you guys are, developing those samplings.
203 00:28:51.200 ⇒ 00:28:59.639 Jasmin Multani: And just, like, sharing what’s worked amongst vendors who have visited our liquor stores, and which vendors ended up, like.
204 00:28:59.670 ⇒ 00:29:12.440 Jasmin Multani: having a high sale… had a high return in sales, and which vendors, just couldn’t hit that mark, even if they were selling Patron. So yeah, maybe I’ll touch base with you guys after…
205 00:29:12.700 ⇒ 00:29:27.450 Shivani Amar: Yeah, I think this is… we can, like, talk about priorities and stuff, like, I don’t think… I’m more just trying to share the ethos of the company, but I don’t think we have to go too deep on sampling, like, it’s not a high priority item, but I think at least making sure we understand how much sampling was given, and, like.
206 00:29:27.450 ⇒ 00:29:27.970 Jasmin Multani: It’s like.
207 00:29:27.970 ⇒ 00:29:51.789 Shivani Amar: about understanding the conversion or efficacy. Right now, it’s part of our ethos, is, like, if somebody says, hey, I would love to have Element for my bachelorette, we send them product. Like, part of it is, like, being able to be really generous, and so it’s, like, less of a focus area for executives to say, like, is sampling effective, and, like, what’s the conversion rate? It’s more like, this is part of our philosophy of, like, being this brand, is if somebody asks for product.
208 00:29:51.830 ⇒ 00:29:53.300 Shivani Amar: We give them the product.
209 00:29:53.590 ⇒ 00:29:55.339 Jasmin Multani: Wow, okay, okay, that’s great.
210 00:29:55.340 ⇒ 00:30:04.699 Shivani Amar: And so you can see here, like, yes, it has a get yours button here, it has a Get Yours button here, but, like, I’ve gone to the website, sometimes I’m like, so where do I go to, like.
211 00:30:04.930 ⇒ 00:30:20.600 Shivani Amar: start building my cart. Like, you know, it’s not, like, the obvious thing that’s just, like, here are the SKUs that you can start adding, right? Like, you can go down, and there’s get yours written across different places, but I think it’s just, like, helpful to see how we, like, present ourselves as a brand.
212 00:30:21.190 ⇒ 00:30:38.749 Shivani Amar: In terms of product lineup, we’ve got drink mix. These are the thing that we started with, these are the packets, that we can… you can mix in with water. Then, in the last year, we’ve started, selling sparkling beverages. The 16-ounce sparkling have the same amount of salt as a packet.
213 00:30:38.750 ⇒ 00:30:42.670 Shivani Amar: So, that’s kind of, like, equal to a full packet, which a full packet is…
214 00:30:42.670 ⇒ 00:30:45.140 Shivani Amar: For me, personally, like, a lot of salt, so I usually do, like.
215 00:30:45.140 ⇒ 00:30:45.470 Jasmin Multani: Like.
216 00:30:45.470 ⇒ 00:31:02.650 Shivani Amar: half in water. The 12-ounce actually is a half a packet in a 12-ounce can, so that’s like 500 milligrams of sodium, okay? So, when you think about the dynamic, we used to be drink mix only, now we’re sparkling also, and
217 00:31:02.650 ⇒ 00:31:19.989 Shivani Amar: the margin dynamics of these things are gonna be different. Like, the, like, problems in supply chain are gonna be different. Like, how long a drink mix stick can last versus a sparkling can filled with salt. Like, how corrosive is… you know, it’s like, there are just, like, different dynamics, and then obviously shipping
218 00:31:19.990 ⇒ 00:31:29.080 Shivani Amar: Sparkling beverages is just more expensive. It’s heavier, so you need people to order, like, a certain threshold of an amount of sparkling that makes sense, otherwise it’s like.
219 00:31:29.400 ⇒ 00:31:33.090 Shivani Amar: the margin doesn’t work. So…
220 00:31:33.140 ⇒ 00:31:51.889 Shivani Amar: different margin dynamics, but, like, exciting also to have these sparkling beverages be starting to be distributed. Like, eventually, you can imagine we’ll try to distribute them to exist in, like, convenience stores, right? So somebody’s walking in, are they choosing the Gatorade because they just played a game, like a soccer game or whatever, or are they choosing the Element, right? Like…
221 00:31:51.920 ⇒ 00:31:57.860 Shivani Amar: That’ll be part of what we explore. So…
222 00:31:58.070 ⇒ 00:32:12.320 Shivani Amar: like, in terms of just how we built up the brand, like, a lot… this is Tia Clara, the person that I was just talking about, fittest woman on Earth, right? Like, we’ve had, like, some really impressive athletes and teams, like, engage with the product.
223 00:32:12.320 ⇒ 00:32:25.069 Shivani Amar: And so when you think about people committed to health, you think about some people who are at the top, top, and elite of their games, and, like, those folks feel like Element has been a helpful, product for them to… to…
224 00:32:25.090 ⇒ 00:32:29.609 Shivani Amar: Kind of, like, be as good as they are, and, like, to recover, and things like that.
225 00:32:29.970 ⇒ 00:32:45.640 Shivani Amar: We also talk about this category of, of, person that’s an industrial athlete, which is, like, somebody who’s on their feet a lot, or in the sun a lot, and we call those folks, like, the construction workers, the people working on tractors, like, people who are,
226 00:32:45.820 ⇒ 00:32:59.020 Shivani Amar: yeah, like, maybe, like, nurses who are just, like, on their feet all day, right? These are all folks that were like, okay, you could benefit from, like, making sure you’re taking care of your system, since you’re doing some grueling work. And so that’s been, like, a…
227 00:32:59.290 ⇒ 00:33:02.389 Shivani Amar: Kind of important audience for the brand as well.
228 00:33:04.420 ⇒ 00:33:14.590 Shivani Amar: we have a professional bull riding thing that we do every year that we sponsor in Montana, so that’s, again, like, I gotta get some cowboy boots and understand Montana culture, but we can continue on.
229 00:33:14.840 ⇒ 00:33:33.810 Shivani Amar: Nice. Yeah, I gotta get some boots next time I come to Austin. Then, we do something called Give Us Alt, where we, like, again, heavily give product to folks to support in times of crises. So, like, last year, we sent a lot of product, hold on one second,
230 00:33:35.960 ⇒ 00:33:38.920 Shivani Amar: One sec… Sorry.
231 00:33:44.060 ⇒ 00:33:44.639 Shivani Amar: Hmm…
232 00:33:49.280 ⇒ 00:33:50.020 Shivani Amar: Okay.
233 00:33:54.760 ⇒ 00:33:55.640 Shivani Amar: Okay.
234 00:33:55.640 ⇒ 00:34:15.679 Shivani Amar: So, last year during the fires in LA, for example, we sent a lot of products around to firefighters, right? So, like, this is, like, where we feel like people could benefit from the product, we’re like, okay, we’re here, like, we know we have a profitable business, but, like, part of what we take into account is that we want to heavily make sure that, like, we can get it into the hands of people where it can be really beneficial. So that’s just, like, part of…
235 00:34:15.889 ⇒ 00:34:21.499 Shivani Amar: And it builds awareness and, like, good credibility, you know, like, good,
236 00:34:21.790 ⇒ 00:34:41.769 Shivani Amar: just kind of, like, a good reputation out in the market for us to be engaged with community this way. We’re profitable, we’ve been privately held since year one. The interesting thing is James, the CEO, wants to stay the CEO for 30 years, so we’re not, like… this is not a, hey, we need to prove something out so that we can sell this to Coca-Cola, right? Like, that’s not what we’re trying to do here.
237 00:34:41.770 ⇒ 00:34:43.550 Shivani Amar: So,
238 00:34:43.639 ⇒ 00:34:50.629 Shivani Amar: I think that’s just, like, another part of just how we think about working for Element is, like, wanting to be here for a while.
239 00:34:53.120 ⇒ 00:34:59.469 Shivani Amar: In terms of channels where we sell, so this is… where am I on time? Greg? I have, like, 10 more minutes?
240 00:35:01.450 ⇒ 00:35:02.110 Shivani Amar: Is that right?
241 00:35:02.500 ⇒ 00:35:11.879 Greg Stoutenburg: Well, based on the schedule I put on, you have 5 minutes. Well, I do the short meetings thing, so yeah, so 10 minutes.
242 00:35:11.880 ⇒ 00:35:14.280 Shivani Amar: Good. So…
243 00:35:14.600 ⇒ 00:35:31.000 Shivani Amar: channels… we started out as e-commerce. We started out with DrinkElement.com. We started selling at Amazon. We started selling at, like, Walmart.com eventually, so then you kind of have, like, an e-commerce channel that’s building beyond just, like, the Shopify channel, beyond the Shopify, like, store.
244 00:35:31.280 ⇒ 00:35:50.610 Shivani Amar: we added on wholesale partners, so we sell product to gyms, or we have, like, a few different segments of wholesale partners. We have trusted health partners, we have bulk buyers, we have specialty retail, so it can be, like, a grocery store that wouldn’t go through our natural, like, retail channel. Like, we have,
245 00:35:50.610 ⇒ 00:36:00.550 Shivani Amar: King Scoopers or something like that in Denver, that that’s probably, like, buying at a wholesale rate, because then they’re reselling product. So that’s, like, an example of a specialty retail.
246 00:36:00.550 ⇒ 00:36:01.960 Shivani Amar: within wholesale.
247 00:36:01.960 ⇒ 00:36:19.990 Shivani Amar: Then you have retail. Retail is the channel that is for Target, Walmart, Vitamin Shop, Costco, like, those are big retailers that we’re establishing relationship with, and then selling product at a certain rate, and then they’re selling at an MSRP at a defined rate, right?
248 00:36:20.680 ⇒ 00:36:25.650 Shivani Amar: The last one is distribution, which is bucketed into a couple different things, which is
249 00:36:26.050 ⇒ 00:36:43.239 Shivani Amar: This truck is an example of our truck, our distribution truck. So in Austin, Texas, and in Naples, Florida, we have self-distribution, where we’re actually, like, taking pallets of Element around to grocers and to, convenience stores, and actually, like, selling them product.
250 00:36:43.520 ⇒ 00:37:05.680 Shivani Amar: And so, that’s something that we’ll learn more about in time, like, will it be expanding? And in some cities, it might make sense to, like, not build out our own distribution network, but to partner with a third-party distributor. So, in order for us to get into bodegas and things like that in New York, we’re gonna need to partner with a third-party distributor. So they’ll buy product from us, resell it, things like that.
251 00:37:07.440 ⇒ 00:37:24.969 Shivani Amar: we’re forecasting a lot of growth. I don’t know if we’re gonna hit 50% growth this year, but, like, I think, you know, that was written a while back, but, like, I think that we have high hopes for continued growth and expansion of product. We’re looking to hire a director of innovation, so yes, we have drink mix and sparkling
252 00:37:24.970 ⇒ 00:37:32.960 Shivani Amar: But, like, what else could we have, right? So, like, what else does the future hold in terms of what element products there are? And then…
253 00:37:33.280 ⇒ 00:37:41.609 Shivani Amar: Currently, we’re also investing in national brand awareness, so we, like, we’re hiring agencies to get billboards and stuff around the country, because part of this is also, like.
254 00:37:41.730 ⇒ 00:37:48.970 Shivani Amar: I barely knew that much about… I didn’t really know that much about Element when I joined, and it’s, like, building more national awareness of the brand.
255 00:37:49.410 ⇒ 00:37:50.550 Shivani Amar: Okay.
256 00:37:51.300 ⇒ 00:38:13.020 Shivani Amar: this is just to give you a rundown of the channels. Now we get into some kind of, like, boring table slides, but, like, this is just… I can… I can share these tables with you, if it’s helpful orientation, or maybe with them and Robert and folks are, like, getting you onboarded with these topics, but, like, when I… when I hear the word channel, I’m thinking, okay, is it e-commerce? Is it wholesale? Is it retail, is it sales distribution? Like, what does that actually mean? And then, who are the key partners within those?
257 00:38:13.020 ⇒ 00:38:25.609 Shivani Amar: So, like we said, we’ve got Shopify, Amazon, and Walmart.com for e-commerce. We’ve got Target, Walmart, Vitamin Shop, and Costco Canada, but maybe coming soon are H-E-B, Wegmans, Costco US, Sam’s Club, and things like that.
258 00:38:25.610 ⇒ 00:38:29.700 Shivani Amar: And then self-distribution is active in Naples and Austin.
259 00:38:29.700 ⇒ 00:38:47.879 Shivani Amar: Okay? So that’s, like, a little bit around how our channels work. And then I tried to, like, just do a slice of what different stakeholders might be curious about as we embark on this work together. So, like, an executive might want to know how performance is kind of varying across channels, and that could mean…
260 00:38:47.980 ⇒ 00:38:56.080 Shivani Amar: how are sales varying? How is net revenue varying, right? So we have to figure out, like, what are all the data sources I need to be able to answer this question?
261 00:38:56.090 ⇒ 00:39:12.139 Shivani Amar: Have I ingested everything? Have I modeled it appropriately? And then I’m like, am I building the right dashboard to give this stakeholder the right lens of what they’re trying to answer? The right… the right lens for, like, them being able to answer their question regularly.
262 00:39:12.350 ⇒ 00:39:19.409 Shivani Amar: retail… one thing in retail is that we might have visibility in a point of sales. Now, like, I don’t know if folks have…
263 00:39:19.470 ⇒ 00:39:43.610 Shivani Amar: a ton of familiarity with CPG, or, like, are new to certain terms, but one thing in working with me is, like, if there’s ever a term that you’re like, can you define that? I would be happy to make sure that we’re aligned on the definition, because otherwise what’s going to happen is we’re gonna swirl, and we’re gonna… we’re gonna, like, realize that a question that could have been answered earlier is coming out in terms of, like, how the data is actually outputted, or the metric is outputted, and then we have to go back to the root definition.
264 00:39:43.610 ⇒ 00:39:49.599 Shivani Amar: Right? And so anytime, yes, we’re doing a quick overview today, but anytime you’re ever, like.
265 00:39:49.600 ⇒ 00:39:56.510 Shivani Amar: Can I make sure I understand this acronym? Can I make sure that I have, like, we’re aligned on this definition? Please don’t hesitate to ask me.
266 00:39:56.520 ⇒ 00:39:57.670 Shivani Amar: Okay?
267 00:39:57.880 ⇒ 00:40:10.780 Shivani Amar: This is an example of, like, some of the teams that we have and some of the questions that they’re going to be asking, but generally, I just wanted today to be able to be a time to, like, welcome you to kicking off this work together. We’re gonna, like.
268 00:40:10.980 ⇒ 00:40:18.920 Shivani Amar: We’re gonna be hustling, and I’m super excited to be working with you all, and just to give you a little bit of context about the product and the brand.
269 00:40:20.270 ⇒ 00:40:22.170 Shivani Amar: Any questions?
270 00:40:23.810 ⇒ 00:40:24.410 Greg Stoutenburg: Love it.
271 00:40:24.900 ⇒ 00:40:26.320 Shivani Amar: No claps.
272 00:40:26.320 ⇒ 00:40:28.319 Greg Stoutenburg: No blending, okay.
273 00:40:28.320 ⇒ 00:40:31.930 Shivani Amar: Any questions?
274 00:40:32.450 ⇒ 00:40:33.849 Shivani Amar: Poppin’ up!
275 00:40:38.680 ⇒ 00:40:40.550 Shivani Amar: No. Okay.
276 00:40:40.940 ⇒ 00:40:49.399 Jasmin Multani: Wait, quick question, sorry. I was wondering what your, it’s a company of 50 people, so pretty lean.
277 00:40:49.400 ⇒ 00:41:07.810 Jasmin Multani: I’m… most of my initial questions are gonna be, like, on-ground operations first. So, do you guys… what does your sales rep team looks like? Like, how do you guys engage with Walmart, Target? How are you gonna engage with a contract with Costco US, to expand on the ground?
278 00:41:08.320 ⇒ 00:41:09.720 Shivani Amar: So, we have…
279 00:41:09.880 ⇒ 00:41:19.010 Shivani Amar: you know, we have a pretty scrappy team, and you have folks who’ve been at Element for a long time, and I think we’re realizing that we need a bit more structure, a bit more.
280 00:41:19.010 ⇒ 00:41:20.100 Jasmin Multani: Or, like…
281 00:41:20.100 ⇒ 00:41:30.660 Shivani Amar: like, some decision owners, right? Like, I think that that’s been part of the gap as we’ve grown, is that too many decisions are flowing up to the CEO, and like, okay, you give this stamp over
282 00:41:30.660 ⇒ 00:41:49.680 Shivani Amar: approval, so we’re actually hiring a VP layer right now. So I think tomorrow VP of e-commerce starts. I think maybe pretty soon a VP of Retail is starting. And so, yes, we have people right now that engage with Target and Walmart, for instance, but, like, and… and the prospective… prospective,
283 00:41:49.720 ⇒ 00:41:55.720 Shivani Amar: kind of retailers, but I think eventually that team could be, like, there’s a person mapped to two…
284 00:41:55.720 ⇒ 00:42:10.099 Shivani Amar: two companies, right? Like, maybe we have, like, we have more people we’re hiring on the retail ops side. So, right now, we’re running pretty scrappy. I say we’re a team of 50 right now. I’d say within a year, we could be more like a team of 100. Once these VPs come in and.
285 00:42:10.100 ⇒ 00:42:10.490 Jasmin Multani: They say this.
286 00:42:10.490 ⇒ 00:42:17.730 Shivani Amar: This is how this function needs to be built up properly, and, like, make the case for it. We’re gonna be, like, rapid-fire hiring.
287 00:42:18.280 ⇒ 00:42:40.260 Jasmin Multani: Okay, cool, cool, cool. I think, down the line, just as a earmark, it’d be helpful to… for us to also understand what do the in-person negotiations look like, like, from the VP to the retail person. I know that that’s probably private information, but even, understanding, like, are we promising
288 00:42:40.310 ⇒ 00:42:56.109 Jasmin Multani: is Element promising or negotiating, like, projected costs or projected sales, or how they negotiate aisle space in competition with other brands? I feel like those are also questions that come up that could, end up impacting final sales.
289 00:42:57.510 ⇒ 00:42:58.370 Shivani Amar: Cool?
290 00:42:58.370 ⇒ 00:43:07.530 Jasmin Multani: Okay, yeah, just as a FYI, like, those are helpful questions that, like, the data team can, support, with evidence.
291 00:43:07.700 ⇒ 00:43:11.419 Jasmin Multani: So that the negotiation aspect, could be more clean.
292 00:43:12.910 ⇒ 00:43:15.490 Shivani Amar: Sounds good. Anything else?
293 00:43:17.450 ⇒ 00:43:36.979 Greg Stoutenburg: I mean, I think I would just say that this isn’t really a question, but just, like, as an observation, just understanding better the company’s ethos and philosophy is just going to be helpful for doing things like training Blobby to be giving you the insights that are useful to deliver not just good results, but results that are also, you know, consonant with the themes of the brand, so…
294 00:43:36.980 ⇒ 00:43:43.090 Shivani Amar: Oh, I love that, yeah. If it’s like, you’ve given too many samples this quarter, like, that’s not the vibe, ever.
295 00:43:43.090 ⇒ 00:43:44.749 Greg Stoutenburg: That’s not… that’s not blobby.
296 00:43:44.750 ⇒ 00:43:46.450 Shivani Amar: Yeah, yeah, Blobby wouldn’t do that.
297 00:43:46.450 ⇒ 00:43:51.289 Greg Stoutenburg: Sorry, that’s not salty, that’s not salty. Salty wouldn’t do that. Blobby elsewhere, maybe so.
298 00:43:51.290 ⇒ 00:43:52.410 Shivani Amar: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
299 00:43:52.410 ⇒ 00:43:52.950 Greg Stoutenburg: one.
300 00:43:53.150 ⇒ 00:44:00.660 Shivani Amar: This is, like, meant to be just a kickoff about the brand, but I think…
301 00:44:01.320 ⇒ 00:44:06.790 Shivani Amar: In time, we can talk about… I’m pretty…
302 00:44:07.090 ⇒ 00:44:10.020 Shivani Amar: my background is in consulting, I’m pretty, like.
303 00:44:13.520 ⇒ 00:44:15.619 Shivani Amar: direct in how I give feedback.
304 00:44:15.860 ⇒ 00:44:17.840 Shivani Amar: And I…
305 00:44:18.770 ⇒ 00:44:27.850 Shivani Amar: have a certain format that, like, will work for my brain versus not. And sometimes I don’t know it till I see it, and I might say, like, oh, I wanted that format, and, like, actually, that’s very distracting.
306 00:44:27.850 ⇒ 00:44:28.230 Jasmin Multani: Let’s…
307 00:44:28.230 ⇒ 00:44:42.930 Shivani Amar: I’m gonna be iterating on, like, what the outputs look like, but, I care about the axes being labeled appropriately. I care about, like, cleanliness of the data and it not being too overwhelming. I don’t, like, love something with, like, 20 colors on it.
308 00:44:43.340 ⇒ 00:45:02.670 Shivani Amar: And so, you’ll all learn, but I’m just trying to give you a primer that I am, like, in some ways pretty specific, and I don’t necessarily know until I see something and I have something to react to, but just, like, being really thoughtful in the types of deliverables you do to say, like, okay, have I looked this over and it makes sense to me? Have I looked this over and…
309 00:45:02.670 ⇒ 00:45:06.670 Shivani Amar: Like, it’s labeled in a way that is clear, right?
310 00:45:06.870 ⇒ 00:45:31.800 Shivani Amar: before… or saying, I know this is really scrappy, and, like, I’m more just trying to get feedback on this one specific thing, but if you send me something, and I don’t know what angle you want me to give feedback on, and I get overwhelmed because it’s, like, so messy, we’re gonna have… we’re gonna have some back and forth about it, right? And so I think, be very specific with me where you want my input, or say, I think this is really ready for your, like, eyes, because I’ve done my
311 00:45:31.800 ⇒ 00:45:33.880 Shivani Amar: own checks and think it’s in a good place.
312 00:45:33.880 ⇒ 00:45:39.949 Shivani Amar: That’s just, like, a little bit about how we’ll work together, and I think it’s worth sharing now, just to set the stage.
313 00:45:43.110 ⇒ 00:45:46.630 Shivani Amar: Cool. Litham, anything you want to add? I can mute myself, or…
314 00:45:52.890 ⇒ 00:45:54.820 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, this is working.
315 00:45:54.960 ⇒ 00:45:57.429 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, I think on our side.
316 00:45:57.520 ⇒ 00:46:17.480 Uttam Kumaran: for the folks that have been, kind of on this, we’re gonna kind of probably keep a similar structure that’s in linear, but we’re actually gonna ladder it up to a few more, like, business-facing initiatives. I think if you look on linear, it’s really kind of all focused on the type of work, but we’re gonna ladder this up to milestones, and ultimately to
317 00:46:17.690 ⇒ 00:46:25.019 Uttam Kumaran: being able to measure every single one of the OKRs through our, you know, through our system. So I think the business case
318 00:46:25.020 ⇒ 00:46:41.700 Uttam Kumaran: for building a marts ingestion will become really, really clear. And then, yeah, I think I kind of doubled down on Trevani’s perspective. Like, I think compared to a lot of our other clients, you know, and maybe places that you’ve worked in the past, like, there’s a real emphasis on
319 00:46:41.960 ⇒ 00:46:48.370 Uttam Kumaran: You know, reducing distraction, as well as, like, having… making sure that we have a clear perspective on what we’re delivering.
320 00:46:48.800 ⇒ 00:47:06.570 Uttam Kumaran: So that’s just, I think, something you’re going to see us internally sort of shape towards, and how we work with Element. But again, I think it’s what kind of, like, why we stand out, is that I think we sort of morph to what our clients need, and, you know, I think we’re gonna rock it. Everybody on this client is really, really awesome, so…
321 00:47:06.990 ⇒ 00:47:09.340 Uttam Kumaran: I’m super pumped, yeah.
322 00:47:16.990 ⇒ 00:47:19.800 Uttam Kumaran: I think that’s it. So, I think probably…
323 00:47:20.470 ⇒ 00:47:24.830 Uttam Kumaran: I’ll make sure everybody’s in our Slack channel, and people start talking about stuff this week.
324 00:47:26.750 ⇒ 00:47:41.910 Uttam Kumaran: And then I think we’ll… I think after today, this week will kind of be business as usual, but it is rest and assess this week. So this week, we’ll… we’re gonna… we’re already doing a pass with data platform documentation. After today, we should be able to set up, like, sort of the next calendar.
325 00:47:42.180 ⇒ 00:47:46.480 Uttam Kumaran: and then I think we kind of hit Monday, you know, rolling, so…
326 00:47:47.560 ⇒ 00:47:52.519 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, we’re continuing to work on Blobby and stuff like that, so I’ll let Greg sort of send the updates on Slack for that stuff.
327 00:47:55.700 ⇒ 00:47:56.340 Greg Stoutenburg: Cool.
328 00:47:56.340 ⇒ 00:47:57.030 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
329 00:47:57.760 ⇒ 00:48:00.789 Uttam Kumaran: Great. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it.
330 00:48:00.790 ⇒ 00:48:01.470 Jasmin Multani: everyone.
331 00:48:01.800 ⇒ 00:48:02.290 Greg Stoutenburg: Thank you.
332 00:48:02.290 ⇒ 00:48:02.740 Jasmin Multani: year.
333 00:48:02.740 ⇒ 00:48:03.709 Greg Stoutenburg: Thanks for the overview, John.
334 00:48:04.330 ⇒ 00:48:04.870 Greg Stoutenburg: So, yep.
335 00:48:04.870 ⇒ 00:48:05.440 Jasmin Multani: Bye.