Portfolio Spotlight: Good Greens Bars
Here at LaunchHouse we thrive on the success of our portfolio companies. As a way of showing our respect and excitement for our portfolio companies, we have developed a portfolio spotlight blog to give you a sneak peak into the minds of the entrepreneurs behind LaunchHouse.
Good Greens, one of LaunchHouse’s most successful portfolios, are a healthy gluten free and vegan alternative to unhealthy junk foods. The bars contain an array of antioxidants and probiotics, giving them a variety of health benefits including improved vision, decreased risk of heart disease and strengthening ones immune system.
We asked Keith Pabley, CEO and founder of Good Greens, to answer a series of questions about his experience as both an entrepreneur and a LH portfolio company. Listed below are his unmodified responses.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge to date?
A: With Good Greens, our biggest challenge is running our business in an organized way to keep up with the demand for our product. We were lucky in the sense that people like our product, and we’re selling well – We now are faced with the challenge of manufacturing enough bars to meet up with demand, growing sales in other markets, and providing amazing customer service that has people fall in love with Good Greens!
Q: What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
A: Earlier in my carrer I was hired in a Senior VP for a large staffing company, tasked with growing 3 new business units. I was with them for 4 years moved all over the country, and grew those divisions to $50M in revenue from nothing, but when the CEO was let go, who I was close to, I was “downsized” 3 weeks later. I realized that if I could grow something from nothing for this company, and it was profitable, I could do it for myself. I started my 1st business in 2003, and have been an entrepenture ever since.
Q: What does your company do?
A: We make the world’s best tasting superfood nutrition bars and powders, which provide people with amazing health benefits, but tastes like a candy bar. To hear our story, and get a free sample visit www.trygoodgreens.com
Q: What drove you to become a LH portfolio company?
A: LH provides entrpenures with a network of people that you normally wouldn’t get access to, and these people typically have the same aspirations that you have in growing your business. In our case, the launch house relationships helped us in further fund raising, developing our web business, and helping us get our brand out to the Cleveland market.
Q: Where do you hope to be in five years? Where do you hope to be professionally in five years?
A: In 5 years, Good Greens will either be a $50M business, or we would have been bought by a strategic buyer or institutional investor – and I’ll hopefully still be the Chief Good Maker, or I’ll have moved on to the my next venture
Q: What advice has inspired you? What piece of advice would you share with other entrepreneurs?
A: “Know Thy Self” – You can’t do it all, and you should do what you are good at, and surround yourself with people that are great at the things you aren’t.
Q: Have any entrepreneurs inspired you? If so, who and why.
A: I’m always inspired by entrepreneurs who have the commitment to create something truly great – regardless of what people tell them. Take Steve Jobs, when he started Apple, Microsoft had most of the market share in the personal computer market with their operating system, but he stood true to what he felt the values of Apple were – Simplicity, Elegance, Better Operating System and Innovative Design, and now Apple is one of most valuable companies in the world – Even more valuable than Microsoft.
Q: Has anything from your past stopped you or held you back/motivated you?
A: My past failures are my biggest motivation, because I typically only really learn something when I fail – When I look back at the mistakes I made in previous business ventures, I now know what to do differently to make my current venture a success
Q: Are you currently working on any exciting projects?
A: We’re developing the world’s 1st Superfood Greek Yogurt Bar, which we think will be a new category in the nutrition bar world
Q: How do you/plan to give back to the community?
A: Our Mission is Eat, Feel, and Do Good - so we have set up our company to donate 2% of our net profits to charities that “Do Good”. This year we’ve donated over $5,000 to Team In Training and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Northeast Ohio, to help people beat blood cancer
Q: How has your collaboration with LaunchHouse influenced you as an entrepreneur. –
A: Our collaboration with LaunchHouse has shown me what can be achieved when like minded people get together with a commitment to help each other. Our sales grew from over 1000% from 2011 to this year, and we couldn’t have gotten there without their help or influence.