Why Growth Breaks Consumer Brands And How to Finance Through It

What happens to your cash when you land a purchase order from Target, Walmart, or Costco?Ben Brachot, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Dwight Funding, joins In The Money for round two to break down the working capital reality that most consumer founders discover too late and the financial infrastructure decisions that separate the brands that scale from the ones that quietly run out of runway.Dwight is one of the most active asset-based lenders to high-growth consumer brands, working alongside companies from their first $2M facility all the way through exits, IPOs, and everything in between. Their portfolio includes Olipop, Chubbies, Birch Benders, and dozens of the most recognizable names in modern CPG.We cover:Why 2026 is shaping up to be one of the busiest years Dwight has seen and what's driving investor excitement back into consumerThe retail-first shift: why today's best founders are launching into Target, Walmart, Costco, and Sephora before building DTCHow Dwight underwrites brands as young as six to twelve months old and what they're actually looking atThe 270-day cash trap: exactly how a retail purchase order locks up your liquidity from inventory build to paymentWhy you are effectively financing your retail customers and how to model for it before you signOlipop: from a $2M facility to $50M and why Ben called the founder to tell them it was time to graduate to a bankThe gross margin warning sign Ben sees before brands break: why "margins will fix themselves later" almost never worksWhy the 13-week cash flow is more than a model, it's a full company operating systemThe founder archetype winning in 2026: first principles thinking, veteran advisors, and no illusions about what retail actually requiresTikTok Shop as a real sales channel, what Ben is seeing from brands building 20-30% of revenue thereWhy treating your lender like a vendor is one of the most expensive mistakes a founder can makeIf you're building a consumer brand and retail is on the roadmap, this episode will change how you think about cash, capital structure, and what it actually takes to scale.