Sterling Jones: From Mom's Kitchen to Every Costco, $100M in 3 Years, JoJo's Chocolate, CPG

Sterling Jones was a BYU sophomore with no major when his mom, Jody "JoJo" Jones, started making protein-packed dark chocolate bark on a cookie sheet while fighting cancer. Twelve years later, JoJo's Chocolate has done over $100 million in revenue in the last three years alone and sits in every Costco in the country. The co-founder (former CEO, now Chief Growth Officer) tells John and Tyler how it actually happened: selling out a CrossFit booth with $1,500, a KSL article that dumped 100 orders on them in 105° Arizona heat, sleeping in his car to pitch San Francisco yoga studios, cold-emailing five retail buyers a day, and the Costco "yes" that took a full year to land. Then the hard part — over-hiring after a raise, cutting the team from 20 to 6, losing money at $20M in revenue, and the board bringing in a new CEO over him. Sterling is candid about how much that hurt, the Steve Young story that snapped him out of the self-pity, and how JoJo's doubled to $40M and got profitable. Along the way: how slotting fees and end caps really work, FBA vs. FBM, why 300 Sprouts stores moved less chocolate than 15 Costcos, the Kirkland store-brand threat, and when a startup actually needs a CFO. His number one piece of advice for CPG founders: just start. (00:00:00) Cold open: 100 orders and a 105° chocolate run to the post office (00:02:50) Sterling's bio: co-founder, ex-CEO, now Chief Growth Officer (00:03:52) $100M in 3 years, every Costco, thousands of grocery stores (00:05:48) Icebreaker: CPG this-or-that (00:12:58) Build online first, then go retail (Magic Spoon) (00:15:03) How shelf space really works: slotting fees & end caps (00:17:47) Bootstrapping vs. fundraising (00:21:39) The intro-to-entrepreneurship class that changed everything (00:27:54) JoJo's is born from mom's cookie-sheet chocolate bark (00:31:38) The KSL article, 100 orders and the 105° post-office run (00:35:08) Amazon: FBM vs. FBA (00:39:16) The Costco buyer said yes — then the year-long wait (00:41:13) 300 Sprouts vs. 15 Costcos: the volume math (00:45:55) The Kirkland threat: store brands explained (00:47:09) Cold-emailing 5 buyers a day and getting to Issaquah (00:52:01) JoJo's cancer returns — "let's spread her name" (00:54:12) Over their skis: 20 people down to 6 in six months (00:55:41) The board brings in a new CEO (00:58:24) "Did that hurt your feelings?" Steve Young and the self-pity party (01:00:15) Doubling to $40M, profitable again (01:04:07) When to hire a CFO (01:06:09) The #1 piece of advice: just start Learn more about us: https://startupignition.com/links Apply to be a guest on the pod: https://startup-ignition-podcast.paperform.co/ Follow John & Tyler: https://x.com/trich_ https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrichards/ Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@StartupIgnition Follow on X: https://x.com/startupignition Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupignition/ #StartupIgnition #SterlingJones #JoJosChocolate #CPG #Entrepreneurship