SDH159: How to Disrupt a Market with a Clear Purpose with Katerina Schneider, Founder of Ritual

How do you spice up a monotonous market with your product? How do you gain the resources for these innovations? Today's guest, Katerina Schneider, wanted to bring a new spin to the vitamin industry by providing transparency about ingredients in her women's vitamin line, Ritual. When she was pregnant with her daughter, Katerina's  conscious about what she put in and on her body was even more heightened. Already health-conscious, she began to take a deeper look into the ingredients in her family's foods , body products, and cleaning supplies. She found  they were filled with poor quality ingredients, and  a lot of those ingredients were in her prenatal vitamins, such as: blue coloring, titanium dioxide, carrageenan and other questionable products tested on rodents and humans. She started to ask her friends and peers about the vitamins they took and if they knew better quality brands. She discovered most people did not pay attention to the ingredients and never really saw a difference in brands. She even noticed how hard it was to find all the ingredients in vitamins and where they came from. She decided should start her own vitamin line. And she wanted her product to be based an evidence based company that was rooted in science. She hired Dr. Luke Bucci, head of research for the Airborne vitamin, to be a part of her team. They spent a year looking at studies on vitamins on the market and narrowed their nutrients to nine ingredients.  Some of those ingredients include: a fourth generation folate from Italy that women can process and utilize, vitamin D3 from lichen instead of sheep's wool or Omega 3 from algae instead of fish oil. Ritual's vitamins also have a vegan capsule that is made of non-GMO corn protein instead of TALE shellac protein and PDP! All of Ritual's ingredients and nutrients are listed on their website and informs consumer's of their origins and features interviews with the company's suppliers. What sets Ritual apart even more is their in-house team of scientists that are available to answer questions from consumers about their vitamins, and nutrition in general through their social media platforms. Join us with a healthy boost of entrepreneurship  and learn more about Ritual! In this episode you will... Know how to set your product or business apart from others in your market Figure out how to find quality ingredients for your product Learn how to set a price point and a selling strategy Discover how to create a customer service and marketing strategy that appeals to your target audience Understand how to develop a strong pitch for investors Learn to create innovation from the "noes" INSIGHTS "Going through childbirth makes you a stronger founder [and] leader; you feel like you can take on anything and there's more purpose behind what you do." -Katerina Schneider "As a founder you have to be a really good storyteller. It's what inspires investors..hiring a team, and gets you through the hard times. Having a story that tells your vision really well is really important." - Katerina Schneider "We're not just a vitamin company. We're really going to transform women's lives and make them feel their best every single day." -Katerina Schneider "All the 'noes' that we got forced us to create something radically different. One of our values at the company is  'we like noes.' It means it's never been done before." -Katerina Schneider "You have to start a company when you think you'll be excited about your idea 10-20 years from now. You start a company for the long haul.There's a lot of highs [and] lows, but unless you're so passionate about what you're constructing, it's not worth it. It's that passion that drives you every single day.If you don't have that long term conviction and interest, I don't think it's worth starting a company." -Katerina Schneider RESOURCES Ritual Website Ritual Facebook Ritual Instagram Ritual Twitter Katerina Schneider LinkedIn Katerina Schneider Twitter The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz