Jason Kane

Alcohol moves through three tiers in the United States, producer to distributor to retailer, and every founder has to work within that system. Here is how it works, who the players are, and how to use it to your advantage from day one.

The Finnish Long Drink tripled in size since 2022 while the broader RTD category hit a wall. Today Mark Anthony Brands acquired it for $325 million. The story of how Evan Burns and his co-founders built a brand worth buying in the hardest environment the category has ever faced is one every RTD founder should read carefully.

Most CPG brands grow by adding products. AG1 grew by refusing to. One product, one price, one channel, $600 million in revenue. The strategic logic behind that decision is one of the most instructive frameworks available to any founder building a functional brand today.