Justin Kolbeck (Wild Type) - Creating the most sustainable seafood, the state of the ocean, and developing fast feedback loops

The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing I Brands - A podcast by Mike Gelb

Categories:

My guest today is Justin Kolbeck, CEO and co-founder of Wild Type. Wild Type is on a mission to create the cleanest most sustainable seafood on the planet, starting with salmon. This is the first founder of a cell based food company I've had on the show and as someone who didn't know much about cell base food or commercial fishing, this was quite eye opening for me. We talk about the current state of the ocean, the supply chain for fish, the process for producing cell based food and their approach to quick feedback loops in trials.Some of the questions I ask Justin:When were you first introduced to cell based seafood and meat?What was your attraction to entrepreneurship? What was that decision making process like? Was it gradual?What was the insight that led you to founding Wildtype foods?Why is this product so essential for the world? What's the current state of commercial fishing?Why do you believe you were in a unique position to found this company?When founding WildType Foods, what was the first step? How did you approach making a cell based salmon product?Why did you decide to start with salmon?What's your go-to-market strategy?How do you imagine your ideal consumer?Is there a difference in taste?How did you approach investors and raise capital?What's one thing you would change about fundraising or venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?