Ugly Talk: CPG Founders, What Worked, What Didn't & the 2027 Outlook

Ilay Karateke is the co-founder and CEO of BEZI, a maker and purveyor of labneh, a Middle Eastern creamy yogurt dip with a fun third-culture take on flavors. Istanbul-raised and New York–based, Ilay is an ex-McKinsey consultant turned labneh entrepreneur. While at Columbia Business School, she spent her summer internship on a farm, milking cows and making cheese from scratch. Four years after graduation, she decided to follow that dream. Launched in September 2024, in 2 years BEZI landed on shelves at Whole Foods, Erewhon, and Target, earning multiple national food and design awards. Ilay is on a mission to make labneh “a thing” in America.

Liv Truesdell started her career in consumer investment banking, working with food & beverage companies, which ultimately led her to launch FROST Buttercream. FROST is an all-natural Italian Meringue Buttercream made with real butter and egg whites, with ~57% less sugar than a leading buttercream and no palm oils, artificial dyes or preservatives. After hundreds of iterations, Liv created a new premium, refrigerated frosting segment in a category unchanged for ~71 years. FROST launched in NY/NJ retail in 2025, has since expanded across the country, and won the Startup CPG Shelfie Award within its first six months.

Aaron Sager traded rocket ships for chocolate chips. A mechanical engineer who previously worked at SpaceX, he founded Caltein to bring better taste and texture to protein snacks. He formulated the company’s signature butter shortbread protein cookies himself, recruited bakers from Reddit, and grew an apartment kitchen experiment into a brand sold in hundreds of stores nationwide. Along the way, he’s tackled everything from product development to production and retail sales. His biggest discovery so far: building a cookie empire might be harder than building a rocket.

Sam Rockwell is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Happi Co., a modern food company creating culturally relevant frozen meals, desserts, and snacks. Happi Co.’s portfolio includes Laughing Tiger, an authentic pan-Asian frozen meal line, as well as private brand partnerships and licensed products distributed nationally. Sam is also the Co-Founder of Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, a culturally iconic ice cream brand developed in partnership with entertainment icon Snoop Dogg and Lil Baby. Most recently, in 2026, Sam co-founded SlapSnacks with UFC President Dana White, a disruptive frozen snacking brand designed to reinvent the legacy Hot Pockets category with bold, high-protein offerings. Sam began his entrepreneurial journey while a student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Business, where he graduated with honors with a BBA in Risk Management and Insurance. While in school, he co-founded WaffleWaffle, which grew into a national retail business and ultimately evolved into Happi Co., the company’s current operating name. Under Sam’s leadership, Happi Co. has generated over $100 million in sales, launched multiple brands, and built strategic partnerships with leading retailers including Walmart, Kroger, Sam’s Club, Costco, Meijer, Wakefern, Albertsons/Safeway, 7-Eleven, Restaurant Brands International, and many more. In 2020, Happi Co. led the development of One Bite Frozen Pizza, one of the first celebrity-led frozen food brands in the U.S., launched in partnership with Barstool Sports. The product line was developed under license by Happi Co. and served as a key proof point in bringing cultural relevance and personality into the frozen aisle. Outside of work, Sam is an instrument-rated pilot with over 3,500 hours of flight time and often serves as Happi Co.'s and Dr. Bombay’s corporate pilot. He is also a former semi-professional soccer player and avid fitness enthusiast.

As a fractional CMO, Glenn Johnson works on a scalable basis with founders who are tired of bad execution, broken strategies, and agencies that just don’t get it. Whether launching from scratch or fixing a brand, packaging, and positioning that fails to translate, Glenn steps in to repair what’s broken and build what’s next. Operating as Chief Storyteller, Creative Director, and Brand Strategist, he bridges high-level strategy with hands-on execution. From naming, logo design, and packaging to pricing architecture and true ICP targeting, Glenn nails how your brand looks, feels, and scales. A former Madison Avenue VP/Creative Director specializing in luxury and bespoke audiences, Glenn is the trusted sounding board founders rely on to turn complex ideas into scalable brand equity. “Moderating Ugly Talks for me is about unpacking the messy truths and hard lessons of entrepreneurship—sharing insights in an engaged and entertaining way.”