Advice Line with Seth Berkowitz of Insomnia Cookies
In this episode of the Advice Line, Seth Berkowitz, founder of Insomnia Cookies, provides insights into business growth, brand relevance, and consumer behavior for various callers with unique business challenges. The conversations highlight strategies for engaging target customers and adapting to market changes.
Summary
The episode features Guy Raz and Seth Berkowitz addressing calls from entrepreneurs seeking guidance on their businesses. Seth Berkowitz shares his experience with Insomnia Cookies, emphasizing the importance of understanding and earning consumer love as a prerequisite for growth. He discusses strategic decisions such as resisting franchising to maintain quality control and innovation within the brand.
The first caller, Kahindo Matene, runs a luxury fashion brand rooted in her Congolese heritage and is looking for ways to rebuild her customer base after losing significant wholesale business. Seth advises focusing on her best-selling products, understanding her target audience's purchasing habits, and leveraging local events to build brand awareness.
The second caller, Tara Gilman, makes sauna hats and seeks to establish her brand as synonymous with the sauna culture. Seth encourages Tara to educate potential customers about the benefits of her product while exploring partnerships and influencer collaborations to build visibility.
The final caller, Carol Deshawn, sells clear stadium bags and accessories, discussing the challenge of marketing to buyers who are not the end-users. Seth suggests directing marketing efforts toward the students using the products, proposing creative marketing strategies to create relevance among the younger demographic before recommending an exploration of direct-to-consumer sales channels.
About this episode
Today’s callers: Kohindo from New York is looking to reboot her African-rooted fashion brand after losing a few key retailers. Then Tara from San Diego considers avenues to educate consumers about the benefits of her wool sauna hats. And Carol from Houston wonders whether to market her collegiate purses and accessories l to students or their gift-giving family members. Plus, Seth lays out his ambitions to quadruple Insomnia’s locations and become a global chain — without turning to franchising. Thank you to the founders of Kohindo, Sauna Societé, and Desden for being a part of our show. Be sure to listen to Insomnia Cookies’ founding story as told by Seth on the show in 2024. This episode was produced by Casey Herman with music by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Annlie Huang. You can follow HIBT on X & Instagram and sign up for Guy's free newsletter at guyraz.com and on Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Key Insights
- Seth Berkowitz emphasizes the idea that businesses need to earn growth based on consumer love and market relevance.
- Kahindo Matene discusses her pivot from various sales channels to a focus on direct-to-consumer as she rebuilds her brand.
- Tara Gilman mentions the rise of sauna culture and the need for educational marketing to promote her sauna hats.
- Carol Deshawn highlights the challenge of targeting two different audiences: the buyers (moms and grandmothers) and the users (college students).
- Seth suggests that understanding consumer behavior provides the best insights for strategic growth decisions.
- Tara Gilman expresses success in making personal sales through in-person events and pop-ups but struggles with online marketing.
- Carol Deshawn's business benefits from unique licensing deals with universities to create game-day products, positioning her well in the market.
- Seth encourages exploring partnerships with complementary brands to enhance the visibility and sales of their products.
Topics
Transcript
Guy Raz 0813-0183 Hello and welcome to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz. This is the place where we help try to solve your business challenges. Each week, I'm joined by a legendary founder, a former guest on the show who will help me try to help you. And if you're building something and you need advice, give us a call and you just might be the next guest on the show. Our number is 1-800-433-1298. Leave us a one minute message that tells us about your business and the issues or questions that you'd like help with. All right, let's get to it. Joining me this week is Seth Berkowitz. He's the founder…
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to AccessMore from How I Built This with Guy Raz
Sweet Loren’s: Loren Castle. How A Recipe Makeover Built a National Cookie Brand
Lauren Castle built Sweet Loren's from a passion project born during her cancer recovery into a national cookie dough brand sold in over 30,000 stores. Through deliberate, slow scaling and a pivot to allergen-free products based on customer feedback, she grew the business from $350,000 in year five to a projected $100+ million in annual revenue.
Advice Line with Tara Bosch of SmartSweets
Tara Bosch, founder of SmartSweets, joins Guy Raz to advise three emerging entrepreneurs on their business challenges: a marshmallow brand scaling to retail, a sustainable swimwear label building brand identity, and an experience subscription box seeking product-market fit. Tara emphasizes understanding customer motivations, niche targeting, and the importance of clear long-term vision.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: Tim and Karrie League (2023)
Tim and Carrie League founded Alamo Drafthouse Cinema by combining a movie theater with a full restaurant, starting with a failed venture in Bakersfield before finding success in Austin. Their innovative concept of serving food and drinks during movies became a national chain through unconventional expansion driven by community focus, creative events, and strategic partnerships.
Advice Line with Nick Green of Thrive Market
Nick Green, CEO of Thrive Market, joins Guy Raz on the Advice Line to help three entrepreneurs tackle business challenges: Mercedes Smith (Blackstrad Concert Attire) seeking balance between product quality and speed, Danny Walsh (Peak State Coffee) asking about funding a mission-driven business, and Rhea Jane (VoiceBack) looking to scale awareness for an app serving people with speech loss.
10 Years of How I Built This: A Decade of Innovation, Risk and Reinvention
A 10-year anniversary episode of How I Built This featuring host Guy Raz and Jamie Siminoff (Ring founder) reviewing memorable moments from 600+ founder interviews. The episode explores themes of fear, failure, decision-making, fundraising challenges, and the role of luck versus skill in entrepreneurial success.