How Peaky Blinders Actor Matthew Postlethwaite Is Disrupting the Beverage Industry With Proda

What this episode covers

Matthew Postlethwaite is best known for his role in Peaky Blinders, but these days, he's spending less time on set and more time disrupting the beverage industry with Proda, a protein soda with 10 grams of protein, zero sugar, and the taste of an actual soda. It started with his grandmother. She was losing her hair from protein deficiency, so Matthew sent her protein shakes. She barely touched them. Too thick, too chalky, made for gym bros, not for her. That frustration became the catalyst for Proda. One problem: Matthew had never built a beverage before. So he opened ChatGPT, asked it who the best beverage entrepreneur in America was, picked up the phone, and called him. That call led to a partnership with Jeff Church, the co-founder of Suja Juice, and over 1,000 hours of formulation before a single can hit shelves. Proda launched 19 months ago and is now in 500 Sprouts locations nationwide across seven SKUs, with expansion into the cold section and major endcaps across every store. Matthew breaks down how he balances acting with working 16-hour days on Proda, how he generated 170 million impressions without paying a single influencer, and why he plans to produce one film per year with Proda woven into the storyline as a long-term marketing strategy. He explains: Why protein doesn't have to taste like chalk and how Proda is redefining functional beverages How ChatGPT led him to his co-founder and why that partnership changed everything The 512 iterations on one flavor that still isn't ready for market Why Sprouts jumped at Proda before other retailers How he generated 170 million impressions by sending product to his network without paying anyone His #1 advice for actors and creators launching companies Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Peaky Blinders to Building Broda Protein Soda 00:00:52 The Peaky Blinders Experience: Working with Cillian Murphy 00:07:34 The Founding Story: When Grandma Couldn't Consume Protein 00:09:35 Finding Jeff Church: Using ChatGPT to Find a Co-Founder 00:07:34 What is Broda: The World's First Protein Soda 00:11:32 Product Development: 19 Months and 512 Iterations 00:13:11 Target Customer: From Gym Bros to Cool Grandmas 00:17:05 The Sprouts Launch: 500 Stores and Three Distribution Points 00:19:39 The Celebrity Advantage: 170 Million Impressions Without Paid Influencers 00:23:50 Fundraising as an Actor: Getting the Meeting vs Closing the Deal 00:25:35 The Content Strategy: Producing Films with Broda Front and Center 00:27:52 Advice for Celebrity Founders: Passion, Self-Awareness, and Smart People 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_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Matthew Postlehwaite Proda: https://drinkproda.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewpostlethwaite/ 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.

PodParley-generated summary based on available episode metadata and transcript content.