EPISODE SUMMARY

Jennifer Liao is the co-founder and President of MìLà, a company that has stormed onto the food scene with their revolutionary approach to delivering Chinese cuisine directly to consumers.

In this episode, we get an insider's look at how MìLà achieved significant milestones, expanded its manufacturing facilities, and skillfully assembled a content and marketing team to broaden its retail footprint. Jennifer gives us the scoop on how they made bold, unconventional decisions that paid off big time.

EPISODE NOTES

Jennifer Liao’s journey with MìLà is nothing short of remarkable. From a grassroots project where they collected orders through Google Forms, it evolved into a successful venture that raised $21.5 million in its second round of funding.

This episode doesn't just serve up the story behind MìLà’s signature frozen soup dumplings; it provides a feast of insights on the ingredients for business growth, fundraising, and the power of community-driven marketing.

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On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:
1. Fundraising Strategies and Investor Relationships
2. Navigating Logistics for Frozen Food Distribution
3. Product-Market Fit Testing
4. Branding and Content Strategy Development
5. Scaling Manufacturing
6. Leveraging E-commerce Platforms

Timestamps
03:37 Experimenting with frozen soup dumplings
06:17 How testing and running ad campaigns on Meta led to MìLà’s rapid growth
14:59 Product-market fit testing, team expansion
20:43 Establishing a team for content and branding
28:00 Getting funded, setting realistic goals, and scaling for success
35:52 The supply chain side of frozen, perishable goods
37:22 Building infrastructure for proactive outreach
38:46 Product innovation, retail expansion

Show notes powered by Castmagic

Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.  

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DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internet
Olivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplement
Castmagic - AI Workspace for Content

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Jennifer Liao - Co-Founder of MìLà
Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Castmagic
Ramon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic