Starting a business from scratch is hard enough, but Rebel Cheese co-founder Kirsten Maitland did it by borrowing against her home, only for COVID to hit three months later. With no outside investors and everything at risk, she pivoted from a physical restaurant to an online business, learning e-commerce, logistics, and marketing on the fly. Years of relentless work eventually led to a Shark Tank deal with Mark Cuban that fueled massive business growth. In this episode of How We Profit, Kirsten breaks down how she scaled Rebel Cheese into a $20M+ business with over 60% profit margins while retaining 90% ownership.
In this episode, Hala and Kirsten will discuss:
(00:00) Introduction
(03:34) Inside Rebel Cheese's Business Model
(07:26) Revenue Streams and Shipping Challenges
(14:52) Kirsten's Path to Entrepreneurship
(23:10) How Shark Tank Fueled Business Growth
(27:30) Rebel Cheese’s Branding and Marketing Strategies
(33:26) Making Sales and Doubling Revenue in CPG
(49:24) Using AI in Business to Scale Operations
(1:00:28) Founder Pay, Equity, and Ownership
(1:07:20) Entrepreneurship Lessons for Startup Founders
Kirsten Maitland is the co-founder and CEO of Rebel Cheese, an artisanal plant-based cheese brand based in Austin, Texas. She bootstrapped the business from scratch, landed a $750K deal with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank in 2023, and has since scaled to a $40 million valuation, now on pace to generate $21 million in revenue this year. Kirsten is also a passionate advocate for AI-powered business tools, having built her own shipping audit tool that recovered $400,000 in overcharges.
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Resources Mentioned:
Kirsten’s Company, Rebel Cheese: rebelcheese.com
Kirsten’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kirstenmaitland
Rebel Cheese Instagram: instagram.com/rebel.cheese
How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger: bit.ly/DrMG-HowNot2Die
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Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, Passive Income, Solopreneur, Networking