#42 Rasa: On Adaptogens and Building a Better Coffee Alternative | Lopa van der Mersch, Founder & CEO

In Episode #42, we explore adaptogens and building a better coffee alternative with Lopa van der Mersch, Founder and CEO of Rasa. We cover the concept of energy intelligence, the importance of herb sourcing and trained staff to Rasa’s success, and how branding and product quality breeds customer loyalty.  “Right now my question is, is this something that I and only I can do? And I'm prioritizing even more not just for time, but also my energy, and the amount of bandwidth that it takes.” – Lopa van der Mersch EPISODE GUIDE (LINKS, QUOTES, NOTES, AND BOOKS MENTIONED) https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/lopa-van-der-mersch1-outlier-academy-show-notes  FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/lopa-van-der-mersch-outlier-academy-transcript  CHAPTERS This episode is our guide to adaptogens and building a better coffee alternative. In it we cover: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:54) – Rasa as a company and an adaptogenic blend (00:09:53) – Lopa’s background and the creation of Rasa (00:14:23) – The concept of energy intelligence (00:19:16) – The Rasa product line (00:29:19) – The importance of herb sourcing and trained staff to Rasa’s success (00:34:27) – How branding and product quality breeds customer loyalty (00:38:05) – The challenges and rewards of being a founder ABOUT RASA Rasa is a coffee alternative, tea-like beverage with a blend of powerful herbs and adaptogens. When Rasa launched just a few years ago, they weren't sure how successful their coffee alternative would do, but in no time, they were scaling quickly. And today, they do more than $5 million in annual revenue. And they're just getting started.  💌 FREE NEWSLETTER https://www.outlieracademy.com/newsletter 🎙 LISTEN ON iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/outlier-academy/id1523851182 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/58edVNgqaPNaCSGSxM6pef?si=88f37a5d20434775 Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1523851182 ABOUT OUTLIER ACADEMY Learn timeless lessons on work and life from iconic founders, world-renown investors, and bestselling authors. Outlier Academy is the forever school for those chasing greatness. Past guests include Gokul Rajaram of DoorDash, Scott Belsky of Benchmark and Adobe, Joey Krug of Pantera Capital, Mark Sisson of Primal Kitchen, Luke Gromen of The Forest for the Trees, and Brian Scudamore of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Website: https://www.outlieracademy.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/outlieracademy ABOUT DANIEL SCRIVNER Outlier Academy is hosted by Daniel Scrivner. Over the last 15 years, Daniel has led design teams at Square and Apple, turned around a $3M+ ARR SaaS business, and invested in more than 100 companies. He launched Outlier Academy in 2020 to learn from the world’s best founders, investors, authors, and peak performance experts. Website: https://www.danielscrivner.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danielscrivner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices