Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi

from Austin Next · host Jason Scharf

Poppi is a fashion brand that happens to be soda. Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder of Poppi, joins us to walk through the operating choices behind turning a vinegar problem into a modern soda badge. It’s how you build, scale, and exit a consumer brand. It’s another signal that Austin’s flywheel is real and accelerating. Highlights01:48 Dark days, PMF before funding08:05 Farmers market to Whole Foods14:50 Rebrand beat Shark Tank awareness24:58 Poppi as Fashion33:46 Make healthy default via taste38:54 AI palate mapping46:48 Austin needs cross-sector collisions51:40 What's Next Austin?Guest LinksStephen Ellsworth: Instagram, LinkedInPoppi: Website, X, Instagram -------------------Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedInEcosystem Metacognition Substack

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 3, 2025

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Did Austin Turn Soda Into Fashion? | Stephen Ellsworth, Co-founder, Poppi

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