Podcast
Unit Economics
Hosted by The Unit Economics Podcast · EN
How businesses actually work. Conversations with founders, operators, and investors about the decisions, economics, constraints, and tradeoffs behind the scenes. Hosted by Josh Stabinsky.
🎧 New episodes every week.
🌐 More at uepod.com
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52episodes
Episodes
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[Rotten] Michael Fisher
Dec 1700:33:49Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we sit down with Michael Fisher, founder and CEO of Rotten, the better-for-you candy brand built for people who still want to indulge. Michael shares how Rotten came to life after years of R&D, early manufacturing trials, and the realization that healthier candy didn’t need to look or feel “health-first” to win consumers.We walk through what it actually takes to build and scale a modern candy brand — from working with food science partners and commercial manufacturers to using Kickstarter and direct-to-consumer as early validation and learning tools. Michael breaks down how Rotten leveraged DTC to iterate quickly on product and messaging before expanding into retail, and why that feedback loop was critical before taking on larger distribution.We also dig deep into retail strategy: how Rotten thinks about velocity, distributor relationships, and syndicated data; the margin pressure that comes with better-for-you ingredients; and the packaging decisions that matter most on shelf. Michael explains how the brand approaches pricing, promotions, seasonal demand like Halloween, and why Rotten has been able to attract customers who had never purchased better-for-you candy before.If you’re interested in CPG, food and beverage, retail expansion, or the operational trade-offs behind building a product that has to win on taste, branding, and economics, this is a detailed look inside the business of modern candy.
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[Alec's Ice Cream] Alec Jaffe
Dec 1000:47:42Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we sit down with Alec Jaffe, founder and CEO of Alec’s Ice Cream — the first certified regenerative, A2-dairy ice cream brand in the country. Alec walks us through what it actually takes to build a modern CPG brand inside one of the most operationally challenging categories: frozen foods.We cover everything from how he found (and rebuilt) a shut-down 4,000 sq. ft. ice cream factory in Sonoma, to the realities of sourcing regenerative A2 dairy, to navigating cold-chain logistics that stretch across farms, warehouses, distributors, and grocery freezers. Alec breaks down the real math behind ingredient costs, why their pints sit at a premium price point, and how he thinks about incrementality when launching new flavors or whole new formats like Culture Cup — the probiotic single-serve cup that unexpectedly blew up on TikTok.If you’ve ever wondered how a small team brings a new CPG product to life — from ideation and benchtop testing to packaging, scale-up, retail resets, and managing a fragile cold chain — this is a masterclass in the operational grind behind the ice cream aisle.
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