With fearless energy, a little luck, and great connections, Matias Muchnick was able to pitch to top-tier investors and take his business to new heights. However, Matias says that there’s more to building a sustainable business than your investors and revenue.
Getting in front of high-level investors and achieving unicorn status are great accomplishments, but they shouldn’t be your end goal. Your business should always be looking for ways to change the world.
That’s exactly what Matias is doing with his company, NotCo. Although he’s achieved unicorn status and has been backed by top investors like the Bezos Expedition, Matias cares more about how his products are disrupting the industry and bringing positive change.
NotCo combines AI technology and human knowledge to develop and scale plant-based foods. Instead of asking why plant-based, they’re asking why not? While catering to consumers’ needs, NotCo is reinventing the food industry by avoiding animal products and protecting the planet without compromising flavor.
And it doesn’t stop there. Matias and his team are constantly looking for ways to improve and expand their reach. They’re continuing to train their algorithm and ensure that it meets consumers’ changing needs. Their brand has launched in seven countries, with its most recent launch in the North American market. Through the challenges, they’ve kept two key things in mind to succeed: the consumer and their vision.
In this episode of the FutureWork Playbook, Matias joins host Natalie Pierce to talk about how he took his company, NotCo, from startup to successful venture. He discusses the mindset that every founder should have, how he scaled NotCo and continues to disrupt the industry, and the must-read book for founders in any industry.
💡 Meet Your Host 💡 Natalie Pierce | Gunderson Dettmer | LinkedIn
💡 Featured Guest 💡 Name: Matias Muchnick
What he does: Matias is the Founder and CEO of NotCo, a food tech company that combines AI and human knowledge to quickly and accurately develop and scale plant-based foods that appeal to the mass market. Previously, Matias founded Eggless Company, which developed plant-based foods, and Chooz, an app created to incentivize healthy living. Matias received his bachelor’s degree from the Universidad de Chile and went on to further his education at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and Harvard Business School.
Organization: NotCo
Connect: LinkedIn
🗝️ Key Points 🗝️ Top takeaways from this episode
★ Unicorn status is more than just a title. You shouldn’t be striving to reach unicorn status because it will make your brand look good. You should be striving to disrupt your industry and make a difference in the world. And if you reach unicorn status along the way, that’s just an added bonus. More founders should be focusing on using their brand to positively change the world.
★ Focus on the consumer. When launching your brand in different markets, it’s important to not only focus on what consumers love about certain products but also focus on what they don’t love. Once you know what they don’t like, you can continue developing your product to fit their needs.
★ Every founder needs to read The Hard Thing About Hard Things. This book, written by businessman Ben Horowitz, shows you the truth about founder life. It talks about the difficult side of building a startup, both from a personal and professional standpoint. Anyone who’s thinking of starting a business should read this book, analyze themselves, and ensure that they’re ready to traverse this path.
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