Episode Overview

Podcast: From the Ground Up
Host: Inc. Magazine
Episode Title: How this 18x Inc. 5000 honoree uses tech and popcorn to revolutionize fundraising
Date: October 31, 2025
Guest: Tim Heitman, Founder and CEO of DoubleGood

This episode delves into the extraordinary entrepreneurial journey of Tim Heitman, the founder of DoubleGood and recipient of the Glenfiddich Legacy Award. Tim shares how he transformed a struggling snack business into an innovative, technology-driven fundraising powerhouse that has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list eighteen times. The conversation covers pivotal moments, the role of technology, cultural shifts, and the company’s lasting impact on community fundraising.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. DoubleGood’s Origins and Early Evolution

• Started in 1998, after college
  Tim describes launching DoubleGood as an evolution of an earlier college business:

  • Food distribution background (02:00): Distributed subs, salads, and sandwiches to stores.
  • Sold his first business for a “small but profitable” deal (02:21).

• Sweat equity over capital

  • Startup roots: “DoubleGood was started on sweat equity and not a whole lot of capital.” (02:29)

2. The DoubleGood Fundraising Model

• Platform for youth and community fundraising
  • What is DoubleGood? “DoubleGood is a consumer tech company, and more specifically, a fundraising company... youth organizations, sports teams, schools, nonprofits... sell our really, really good popcorn, and they raise a lot of money with very little effort.” (02:45)
  • Complete customer experience: “We do the manufacturing and the distribution and the technology. And so we're really looking to control every aspect...” (03:04)

3. Pivotal Moment: Focusing on Impact and Joy

• “All In” on Fundraising (03:29 – 05:50)
  • The original business was split among several channels (corporate gifting, e-commerce, wholesale), but fundraising was the only one that consistently felt right.
  • Turning point: Reading a heartfelt thank-you letter from a student shifted Tim’s focus:

    “Thank you for having your [Popcorn Palace] fundraising program. I was able to raise $300 and go from Seattle, Washington, to Washington, D.C., for my band competition... P.S. can you send my 5th grade class free popcorn?” (04:20)

  • “It was just, we’re going all in on this.” (05:05)
  • Decision to pivot away from wholesale and direct all efforts into fundraising, despite industry challenges and internal doubts.

4. Branding and Product Innovation

• Branding, trademarks, and playful product design
  • Fun branding and trademarked flavor names bolster company personality and customer experience (06:08 – 07:21).
  • The company changed its name to DoubleGood and reimagined its identity for a joyous, memorable connection with users.

5. Building and Leveraging Technology

• Investing in a proprietary tech platform

  • No tech people pre-2014: “Before 2014, we had no technical people in the organization. I was the most technical person... which isn't saying a lot.” (07:26)
  • Building for the future: Recognized need to develop “a core competency of building and creating technology” internally to solve issues with handling money, paperwork, and product logistics (07:40).

• COVID-19: Inflection Point for Virtual Fundraising

  • The pandemic forced DoubleGood to pivot to virtual fundraising, leveraging the platform built over five years:

    “We had built this digital platform... just at the end of June in 2020, and it never stopped... You spend your whole, 15 years trying to figure out how to grow a business, and now it's coming in so fast you can't handle it.” (08:14)

6. Sustaining Exponential Growth

• Doubling revenue and scaling challenges (09:03 – 09:48)
  • Jumped from $125 million to $283 million in four years.
  • Leadership and staffing demands changed dramatically:

    “When you grow that fast and you don't have the infrastructure to help grow people, you outgrow your people really quickly … We've had to re-up our leadership team a couple of times...” (09:23)

7. Defining Legacy and Impact

• Purpose over profit: Creating lasting impact
  • Tim frames his role as a long-term steward, not simply a company owner:

    “I don't look at myself first as a founder or owner. I look at myself as a steward for the business because I want the business to last a long time... DoubleGood runs on impact. And success to us is impact. It's not an exit.” (09:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On early company funding:

  “DoubleGood was started on sweat equity and not a whole lot of capital.” — Tim Heitman (02:29)

• On the pivotal fundraising letter:

  “Thank you for having your fundraising program. I was able to raise $300 and go from Seattle, Washington, to Washington, D.C., for my band competition.” — Student letter, relayed by Tim Heitman (04:20)

• On company-wide giving:

  “We were not just going to offer 50% to our fundraising program, we were going to offer 50% to all of our channels.” — Tim Heitman (06:14)

• On the tech pivot and COVID:

  “You spend your whole, 15 years trying to figure out how to grow a business, and now it's coming in so fast you can't handle it.” — Tim Heitman (08:24)

• On legacy and stewardship:

  “I look at myself as a steward for the business because I want the business to last a long time... DoubleGood runs on impact. And success to us is impact. It's not an exit.” — Tim Heitman (09:50)

Key Timestamps

• [01:05] Introduction of Tim Heitman and DoubleGood’s Inc. 5000 legacy
• [02:45] Explanation of the DoubleGood fundraising model
• [03:29 – 05:50] Pivotal story: shifting from wholesale to focus on fundraising
• [06:08] Emphasis on joy, culture shift, and company-wide 50% giving
• [07:21] Investment in internal technology team and platform
• [08:14] Virtual fundraising acceleration during COVID-19
• [09:23] Growing pains: scaling leadership for rapid business growth
• [09:50] Tim Heitman’s philosophy on legacy and stewardship

Episode Takeaways

• Perseverance, adaptability, and aligning purpose with product can reshape a business even after a decade.
• Technology is critical for modernizing legacy fundraising methods and enables resilience in the face of unexpected crises like COVID-19.
• Leadership must evolve alongside company growth; maintaining impact as the core metric fortifies long-term success.
• The story of DoubleGood is a testament to putting community and customer impact at the center of entrepreneurial ambition, and to building a legacy defined by joy, innovation, and service.