Yanni Hufnagel isn’t your typical founder. He’s a former basketball coach that brings energy and motivation to the business world in a way we haven’t seen before.

Yanni found his niche with the refreshing lemon water drink, Lemon Perfect, now the fastest growing enhanced water brand in the US. From seeing his product stocked in major chains like Whole Foods and CVS, to bringing Beyonce on board as an investor, Lemon Perfect has taken the beverage market by storm.

Having crossed more than $100mn in revenue, Yanni is now pushing towards a billion dollar valuation. He sat down to chat with us about his early journey, the importance of relationships in building a retail brand, and the impact of bringing major celebrities like Beyonce on board when scaling.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Trailer

01:35 The Initial Idea for Lemon Perfect

05:34 Fractional Resources: Running a Brand as a Solo Founder

08:47 Why Athletes Make Great Entrepreneurs

12:00 Wins & Losses in Year 1: The Pivot Away from Refrigerated

15:50 Tips for Getting Into Retail

21:27 The Impact of Celebrity Endorsements

24:34 Why Building a Beverage Company is a Streetfight

26:22 How Beyonce Became an Investor

29:06 The Next 24 Months

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- Twitter: https://x.com/happystackhq

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happystackhq/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happystackhq

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Check out the HappyStack website:

https://www.happystack.com/

We connect the world's best DTC brands with the software they need to scale efficiently.

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Check out Yanni & Lemon Perfect:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yhufnagel/

https://www.instagram.com/yanni/

https://x.com/yhufnagel

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#ecommerce #podcast #founder #business #makemoneyonline #lemonperfect

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