How Actress Jennifer Garner and John Foraker Built a $724M Baby Food Brand That Just IPO'd

John Foraker is the co-founder and CEO of Once Upon a Farm, a fresh organic baby and kids food brand co-founded with Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner that recently IPO'd at a $724 million valuation on the New York Stock Exchange. John wasn't one of the original founders. Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz started the company in 2015, and John came on as an early angel investor after spending nearly 15 years as CEO of Annie's, taking it public in 2012 and selling it to General Mills for $820 million. When Jennifer Garner's team reached out in 2017, she and John met for what was supposed to be a 30-minute call. It lasted four hours. By the end, they both said the same thing: I'm in, if you're in. Jennifer Garner isn't the type of celebrity co-founder who shows up for the photo shoot and disappears. She's on weekly leadership calls, she has buyer phone numbers saved in her phone, and she follows up on sales calls at 11pm from a makeup chair on set. John breaks down why he chose to go public instead of selling to a strategic buyer despite years of acquisition interest, how they went from 300 to 10,000 distribution points in a single year, and why building a public benefit corporation with a mission to drive systemic change in childhood nutrition has been central to every decision they've made since day one. He explains: How Jennifer Garner became a co-founder and what made her the authentic fit for Once Upon a Farm Why word of mouth is still the number one discovery channel for the brand after nine years How they went from 300 to 10,000 distribution points in one year and why that strategy is too risky for most brands Why going public was the best path to stay independent and execute their mission rather than selling to a strategic buyer His number one advice for founders working with celebrity co-founders: cultural fit and long-term commitment matter more than anything else Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Jennifer Garner to a $724M IPO 00:01:08 The Founding Story: When Two Founders Met and Created Once Upon a Farm 00:02:20 The Jennifer Garner Partnership: Finding Authentic Celebrity Product Market Fit 00:04:56 The Mission Statement: Building a Public Benefit Corporation 00:08:09 Leveraging Celebrity Platform: How Jennifer Shows Up Every Single Day 00:11:55 Product Development: From Baby Food to Age 12 and Beyond 00:14:24 The IPO Journey: Four Years of Preparation and a Government Shutdown 00:19:19 The Celebrity Brand Landscape: What Makes Some Succeed and Others Fail 00:22:43 The Jennifer Garner Model: Joining Existing Companies vs Building from Scratch 00:24:01 Retail Strategy: Going from 300 to 10,000 Doors in One Year 00:25:38 What's Next: Fresh Organic Meat Products and 2027 Innovation Pipeline 00:26:54 Advice for Celebrity Brand Founders: The Marriage Analogy and Long-Term Commitment HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc John Foraker Once Upon a Farm: https://onceuponafarmorganics.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-foraker-0061732/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.