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Brand Launch

Where will your product land?

Your guide for the journey from product to shelf — and how to have a strong start once you’re there.

Book a discovery call (opens Google Calendar in a new tab)

or email intro@brandlaunch.market

The journey

The Brand Growth Cycle

Every stage of growth is a real place to land — a strong local brand is a success story, not a stepping stone. You choose how far to go, and everything Brand Launch recommends is calibrated to that choice.

At every stage, the same cycle

  1. Get ready
  2. Get introduced
  3. Execute on the shelf
  4. Earn the reorder

Then again at the next stage.

  • Get ready. Close the gaps that matter most, ranked by how much they move your readiness score.
  • Get introduced. Warm introductions to the right retailers and vendors. Both sides agree before you're connected.
  • Execute on the shelf. Placement, pricing, point-of-sale, and staff education, so your product sells once it's there.
  • Earn the reorder. Read what's moving, keep buyers engaged, and build the track record that opens the next door.

  1. The question: Will strangers pay for this?

    What this stage asks of you

    • Feedback from strangers, not just friends
    • Your true cost, and a price that works
    • Why it's different, in one sentence
    • The business basics set up right
    • Money for the first real production run

    How Brand Launch helps

    This is where many brands begin. Your Brand Story session turns what you've built into a story buyers remember, and your Brand Readiness Assessment checks what decides whether retail will work — especially your costs and pricing. Every gap comes with a next step, often a direct introduction to the right partner for formulation, sourcing, co-packing, packaging, content, or legal.

Where will your product land?

Book a discovery call (opens Google Calendar in a new tab)

Why readiness matters

Most brands don’t fail for lack of a good idea.

What separates the products that last from the ones that don’t? Readiness.

NIQ BASES research found that products deemed ‘not ready’ in pre-market consumer testing fail 80% of the time when brands launch them anyway — while products that perform strongly see 30% greater year-one sales.
Source: NielsenIQ BASES R&D analysis (2021).

Big brands test before they launch. Most small brands rarely get that read — they find out on the shelf. And across almost every brand that doesn’t make it, the same gaps show up:

  • No real path to retail without a distributor already backing them
  • Underestimated costs and cash flow timing that quietly drain the business before it gets traction
  • No structured guidance on what to actually do next, at each stage
  • Not knowing which services you actually need, at which stage
  • Landing a retail account, then not knowing what to execute once the product's on the shelf
  • No real consumer feedback before — or even after — the product launches

Brand Launch exists to change which side of those numbers you land on.

How it works

From product to shelf, step by step.

Brand Launch is a commercialization partner for emerging CPG brands — connecting you with the right retailers, vendors, and resources to move from product to shelf without the hurdles, guesswork, and overhead that make this process brutal for small brands.

  1. Step 1: Brand Intake & Story

    The foundation everything else is built on

    It starts with an intake form (about 20–30 minutes), then a real conversation. The form covers the basics so our time goes to what matters. Your 90-minute Brand Story session surfaces the real story — why you started, what's been hard, and where you're trying to go. You'll receive a Brand Narrative Document, plus 10-second, 60-second, and 3-minute versions of your story.

  2. Step 2: Brand Readiness Assessment

    The roadmap the rest of the work runs on

    A detailed written evaluation of your entire business: packaging, pricing, production capacity, certifications, brand story, shelf positioning, and more. Your readiness score shows how close you are to retailer introductions, and each prioritized gap is ranked by how much it moves that score — so you always know what to work on next.

  3. Step 3: Vendor Network

    Matched to what you need, when you need it

    When you need a manufacturer, a designer, a logistics partner, or marketing help, Brand Launch identifies the right partner for your situation and makes a warm, direct introduction — with context shared on both sides before you're ever on a call together. Every connection is based on your current gaps and stage.

  4. Step 4: Retailer Introductions

    The right place, at the right time

    Outreach begins shortly after you meet the readiness threshold — not on a fixed date. First independent natural stores, specialty grocers, boutique wellness shops, and co-ops; later, regional independents; eventually, regional and national chains, with documented sell-through and a track record. If early introductions aren't converting, positioning, pricing, or timing gets revisited — not just repeated.

  5. Step 5: In-Trade Execution

    Match & Anchor Partners

    Because getting on the shelf is not the finish line

    Guidance on shelf placement and pricing, point-of-sale materials, retailer and staff education, demo and sampling planning, and ongoing account management — drawn from hands-on retail execution across hundreds of key accounts.

    Getting on the shelf isn’t the same as staying there: roughly 1 in 4 new CPG items is pulled from shelves within its first year.Source: NielsenIQ (2021).

The Founding Partner Program

A small cohort, working with the founder directly.

Founding Partner brands go through the full Brand Launch process with the founder directly — receiving a market intelligence brief†, retailer introductions, vendor connections, strategic guidance, and honest feedback on their brand story.

†Match & Anchor Partners

This isn’t just a consultation or an info packet. It’s an ongoing partnership: we walk side by side to find the path that fits you best, avoid the common mistakes, and make the difference you want to make.

6Founding Partner slots, total.

  • Build Partner

    For brands at the “I have a product, now what?” stage, building toward retail readiness.

  • Match Partner

    For brands above the readiness threshold*, actively pursuing retail.

  • Anchor Partner

    For brands with meaningful capital committed to retail scale in the next 6–12 months.

    Limited to 1–2 brands at a time.

*Readiness is derived from Brand intake & assessment.

Tier options, program pricing, and terms are covered during your discovery call — happy to send them ahead of time, if you’d rather see them first.

Book a discovery call (opens Google Calendar in a new tab)

Who it’s right for

Built for founders who are all in.

Brand Launch is selective about which brands it partners with, deliberately — not because slots are scarce, but because the wrong fit costs both sides more than an empty slot would.

The program works best for brands that:

  • Have a finished or nearly complete product — more than just a concept — and are actively preparing for sales or building toward retail
  • Are in natural and health, functional food or beverage, specialty food, or wellness — the categories where Brand Launch's network and market knowledge are deepest
  • Have a founder who is hands-on and actively running the brand
  • Have enough financial runway to sustain a minimum 3-month engagement and take the process seriously
  • Know that “successful” doesn't have to mean national scale
  • Are willing to share honest feedback, so we can learn together
  • Share a basic commitment to honesty and doing things right, even when a shortcut would be easier

About the founder

Hi, I’m Matt.

I grew up in a small town in mid-Missouri with a love of learning how things work and a strong conviction that anything is possible. I realized quickly that there’s no straightforward path. I changed my major three times, then landed the job that seemed like the “most logical choice.” Six years into the corporate world, I had an itch I couldn’t ignore — that there was something more out there for me.

So I started my own health coaching business, and quickly realized: business is freaking hard. Everyone has advice, most of it conflicts, and no one can tell you the right path for you. I liquidated my retirement fund and took out credit cards because I just knew there was something more. When I seemingly hit the end of that road, I saw that every one of those stages had been shaping me to do what I always believed — to show others that anything is possible.

That’s why I’m here: for the ones who have the vision, know their mission, and have cracked the code on something that helps make the world a better place. I want to make the “how” as smooth as possible, so nothing gets in the way of your vision because of “that’s just the way it is.”

“I believe in a world where people with a real idea that helps make the world a better place actually have a way to bring it to life — without it costing them everything, with room for it to be fun and fulfilling along the way.”
— Matt Jones, Founder

Every side of CPG

The business stuff you probably care about too.

  • Retail

    Working at Walmart.

  • Brand Ambassador

    Representing brands firsthand.

  • Big Brands

    Started my career in a specialized Sales Training Program with Anheuser-Busch, learning national strategy for the biggest brands in the space.

  • Distributor

    Multiple years serving hundreds of regional accounts, from independents to top key account chain partnerships.

  • Small Brands

    Most recently assisted a start-up brand in the CPG health space, witnessing firsthand the gauntlet new products usually face.

  • Entrepreneur

    The reality of one person doing it all — the challenges, the fears, the pitfalls, and the hope as well.

If this is the biggest bet you’ve ever made, you deserve someone who’s actually stood where you’re standing.

Local first

Own local. Own regional.

A strong local brand is a success story, not a stepping stone. The shelf down the street, the co-op across town, the regional grocer your customers already love — each one is a real place to build a brand, and a community around it.

National scale is a choice, not the default. Everything Brand Launch recommends is calibrated to the size and pace of growth you actually want.

For retailers

Local brands your shoppers will love.

  • Pre-vetted local brands, matched to your shoppers
  • Launch support
  • One point of contact
  • At no cost to you

Email about carrying local brandsintro@brandlaunch.market

For service providers

Join a curated vendor network.

  • Warm, qualified introductions to emerging brands
  • Context shared on both sides before you're ever on a call
  • Brands matched to what you do, when they need it

Email about joining the networkintro@brandlaunch.market

FAQ

Questions, answered.

What if my brand isn't ready for retail yet?

That's exactly what Build Partner is for. Your readiness score shows what to work on and in what order, and retailer introductions begin shortly after you meet the readiness threshold — when they'll help you, not before.

How do retailer introductions work?

Fit comes first: your category, price point, ambition, and the store's shoppers. Introductions typically start with independent natural stores, specialty grocers, boutique wellness shops, and co-ops. Every buyer agrees to an introduction before you're connected, so you're never a cold pitch.

What's the commitment?

A 3-month minimum, then month-to-month. Near the end of the first three months, we do a 90-day review together and you get my honest recommendation — continue, change tiers, or pause. After the initial term, either of us can step away with 30 days' written notice.

How is this different from hiring a broker?

Brand Launch works across the whole journey from product to shelf: your brand story, a readiness assessment of your entire business, warm vendor introductions for the gaps it finds, retailer introductions when the timing is right, and in-store execution guidance once you're on the shelf. Every recommendation is calibrated to the size and pace of growth you actually want.

What does it cost?

Tier options, program pricing, and terms are covered during your discovery call. Happy to send them ahead of time, if you'd rather see them first.

Do I have to use the vendors you recommend?

No. Recommendations are there to save you time and trial and error. You're always free to choose.

Where will your product land?

If that sounds like a dream you have — or you support someone with a dream — let’s talk.

Book a discovery call (opens Google Calendar in a new tab)

or email intro@brandlaunch.market