Lafayette Julius
Good afternoon, everyone. I like to thank you guys for joining us for another edition of the Atlanta Startup Podcast. Today, we’re excited to introduce one of our finalists from the Startup Runway cohort, Erin Croom. I’d also like to introduce a co-host, Rodney Morris also an Associate at Valor Ventures, and myself, Lafayette Julius. Rodney, would you like to introduce yourself?
Rodney Morris
Thank you, Lafayette. My name is Rodney Morris, an Associate here at Valor. We would just like to take the time out to congratulate you Erin for actually being a finalist in the cohort of a very competitive class. You beat out other applicants for this for the spot in the cohort. So first of all, congratulations. And the first question is, tell us about Small Bites.
Erin Croom
Thank you so much for having me on. Small Bites is a social impact venture and our mission is to help children discover love and eat their fruits and vegetables. What we do is we create monthly subscription boxes that have all the turnkey tools in there for teachers and parents that make it really easy and fun to teach nutrition and education to kids.
Lafayette Julius
Nice. Great. Especially being a parent, I know that keeping kids healthy is a hard task to do. Especially providing the fruits and vegetables is definitely a wonderful way to get them introduced to different foods. Let’s talk about your Startup Runway experience. What did that do for you as a founder and for Small Bites as a company? Would you recommend it to other founders?
Erin Croom
I would absolutely recommend it to anyone, it’s a great experience, practicing your pitch and talking about what you love. A lot of times when you’re working on a business, or at least for me, I’m in my little bubble of people that understand what we’re doing and speak the lingo. It’s really critical to get your ideas and vision in front of an audience that may not be familiar with you. It was a great source of validation to get chosen to pitch. That was great. I also really loved hearing, not just from the advisors and the other VCs that came on, but from the other finalists, getting to hear their pitches, getting to hear their questions. It does form a sense of community where you can get a sense that there’s a lot of people going through very similar activities as you even if your products are very different. I had a great experience.
Lafayette Julius
Great. Since COVID, we had to switch to the virtual pitch even versus the actual in-person event, was that a better or worse experience for you?
Erin Croom
I will say that the pitch was pre-recorded, so you really could practice it as much as you wanted, which is a good and a bad thing. I think I really did miss the energy of being in a room and getting people’s immediate reaction to your pitch. I always really loved that. However, it was still very personable. It was still great practice. When we were in the boardroom, it still felt I felt very connected to everyone. I think that’s the beauty of being able to do things virtually is that you don’t miss as much as you think you would. I think it just is what it is, and it was still a great, really great experience.
Rodney Morris
That’s great feedback. I definitely agree that in-person experience in Startup Runway is a lot different than feeling the energy in the room, but we like to ask founders that question just to give feedback to continue to make the program better. So thank you for that. Leading to that boardroom situation and just speaking to the VCs that were there, we’d like to know what did the VCs say to you that landed and what advice did you get from your board room scenario that stuck with you?
Erin Croom
Sure. My main question was looking at exploring equity versus debt. And as we were planning our next fiscal year and the growth we wanted to have, I had to make a big decision. This was a real-life decision that I needed their help with. I gave them different scenarios for where we needed to expand. I talked a lot about the pros and cons of both. I think, where we landed is that the advice I got was the expectation for the return for equity is just going to be a lot higher than what you get for debt. I did end up receiving a $75,000 interest-free loan from Invest Atlanta and Spanx later in the summer, which was part of a Center for Civic Innovation pitch, which is great. It’s really helped me with a very specific decision and the next step to get to where we needed to go.
Lafayette Julius
Well, that’s amazing. Just tapping into the network and being able to reach that amount is great. I think that’s a great way to drive into Small Bites’ traction. What kind of customer that Small Bites actually attracts?
Erin Croom
To tell you a little bit more about our product, we have two products. When the one that we have been building for the last, or the first two years, is our taste test box. It’s sort of like a meal kit but it goes to schools, clubs, after-school clubs, and preschools. It’s got everything that a teacher needs or an educator needs to lead a hands-on taste test which is fruit and vegetable-based. It gives kids an experience and an opportunity to try it in a really risk-free environment and some really fun step-by-step instructions, as well as a recipe to go home with mom and dad. We’ve been shipping those for about two years, maybe two and a half years. Those go out to schools, clubs, after school programs, preschools, and we’ve reached about 143 different schools and clubs. Since we started, we’ve reached 15,000 kids. We have served over 50,000 bytes of fruits and vegetables. The great thing about that is that those fruits and vegetables are sourced from local farms here in Georgia. We also source them and at least 50% of those farmers are women or people of color. It’s really important for us to have those farmers front and center so that those children have a relationship with farms. In terms of our clients, the end customers are kids, ages 4-18, and about 75% are at or below the poverty line. We do find ways to find sponsorships and leverage federal funding so that those schools and clubs can receive these pants on tasteless boxes.
Lafayette Julius
That’s pretty amazing, Erin. I think what you’re doing to drive momentum into those communities is very important especially to eat better and take care of yourselves. I think you guys are implementing some things to the youth and kids to overcome fears or just psychological blocks of trying nutritious food. That’s pretty amazing and that’s a great way to kind of dive into you as a founder and entrepreneur. I know Rodney has some more questions also but I guess I can ask this one. Being a founder myself, you know that before great success comes, obviously, you’re met with great defeat. What are some of those things that you can give entrepreneurs and startups advice? Things that you’re currently overcoming as a founder for Small Bites to continue building this product?
Erin Croom
Well, I’ll tell you this, we had to pivot hard since the pandemic. When I thought about diversifying our market, I thought, “Okay, we’ve got K12 schools, we’ve got preschools, we’ve got after school programs. We’re diversified and that’s great.” And the pandemic hit, and 100% of our clients, were not meeting in person anymore. That was another part of our board discussion. There were so many parents that were like, “Well, how do I get this kit at my home?” And we don’t ship to homes. Our focus is on getting them to these schools, clubs, and after-school programs, and that’s our business model. I was pretty rigid about changing and this pandemic hit, and we’re like, “Okay, well, clearly, we can’t reach the kids in school anymore. So how do we reach them?” We have developed a new home kit, it’s launching next week. I’m super psyched about it and they are super hands-on friendly and we can ship them anywhere in the US. We’re not bound to our farm-to-school taste test boxes, we’re really focused on the southeastern region because we put fresh food in there and it kind of needs to stay within the southeast. But with our new home kit, we really paired it down to make them take out the perishable products, make really fun hands-on activities that are inside, and we can ship everywhere. So that’s been really fun. I guess, to answer your question, the advice I would give is, just to be ready to pivot. But stick to your mission, stick to your vision. If a pivot doesn’t help you do that, then it’s about the pivot. I felt really fortunate that our overhead was really low. We were able to take the time and space to really understand the new market, and hear from parents and do market research and really develop a beautiful product that we know it’s going to work on before just throwing something together and throwing it out there.
Lafayette Julius
It’s fascinating how you use the word pivot especially to hit reset during this time during a pandemic. That was a great way to keep believing in your mission and doing some dirty work, too. Keep balance and build Small Bites. So that’s great, congratulations to you on that. Rodney, do you have anything you want to add to Erin’s journey as a founder?
Rodney Morris
Erin, you’re definitely building something that’s very much needed for the community. Kudos to you for actually providing resources for people to be healthy. As we all know, actually, eating healthy is quite expensive, so your product is definitely needed. I like to say that helped as well. I’m just interested to know. What’s the mission? I mean, in the passion for you to actually build this product. I know, every founder kind of has their own story about why they’re building what they’re building. I’m interested to hear what’s the driving factor for you?
Erin Croom
You mentioned eating healthy is expensive. I would agree that a lot of times, fresh fruits and vegetables can be more expensive than something that’s like fast food or processed alternatives, but the alternative is poor health is even more expensive. So much of what our country is struggling with right now is the health care and poor quality of life that results from poor eating habits. When you ask what drives me, prevention drives me. I love the idea of investing in kids and adults at a time when they are open to trying new things, at a time when they are excited about fruits and vegetables. We’re not pushing nutrition and health with these kids, what we’re pushing is the beauty of great food that is grown by incredible farmers and the adventure of trying new things and exploring new foods that they can add to their diet for really building a foundation for their entire lives that they can come back to. We want kids to be proud of the things that they put together for lunch, and snacks, and dinner. We want them to share that with their family. We know that these things have a real impact not just in their life, but on their whole family’s life. We know when kids have an opportunity to taste and try new things, that they’re not just likely to eat it, but they’re likely to love it. All of our work is really evidence-based. What we know about how kids come to try and eat and love fruits and vegetables, we’re really trying to build that foundation of love for good food, for the best food, right? Because healthy foods shouldn’t just be for some kids, right? It should be for all kids. Eliminating that barrier of this perceived idea that, “Oh, well, kids don’t like broccoli. Kids don’t like kale. Kids don’t like sweet potatoes.” That’s just simply not true. I believe that when we invest high-quality tools with our kids, with our teachers and parents, and we make it fun, we make it exciting, we connect them to the community and to the farmers that are growing their food, you can make a real difference. You can make a difference in the quality of their life. You can make a difference in their long-term health and that has a direct impact on their income for years to come. That’s what drives me.
Rodney Morris
Got it. Thanks so much for that in-depth answer. That’s a lot to unpack. We really love it when that shows. I definitely want to highlight that you did raise 75k from Atlanta ventures. Congratulations on that. We’d love to see when our finalists from our cohort go on to actually raise some capital. I think that’s very important for the program of what we’re doing. Definitely congratulations on that. We definitely want to see it following the journey. I’m passing back to Lafayette and seeing if he had any other questions to ask.
Lafayette Julius
Erin, I admire the value that you’re adding to the next generation. I think that’s purposeful and it’s very impactful that you’re doing it. You’re giving kids back their individual power and that means a lot, especially as a founder. I think that’s something that you’ve been focusing on and it’s been showing. That’s pretty amazing. I think Small Bites is not small, but they’re doing some big thinking. I think big ideas can lead to some big action. Congratulations on that. How can people reach out and get a box at Small Bites? Do you want to give your information, let everybody know how to find you?
Erin Croom
Absolutely, you can find us on our website, www.smallbites.club. We’re also on Instagram and Facebook, @Small BitesClub. We’ll be launching our new farm to home exploration kits at the end of November. If you want to purchase one for your family, for a loved one, or if you want to sponsor a kid, they’re all great ways to support local farmers and great kids. We would love your support.
Lafayette Julius
We appreciate you, Erin. Thanks for motivating those out there. I want to thank Rodney also for co-hosting with myself and that has been a wrap of another Atlanta Startup Podcast. We appreciate you for tuning in.
Erin Croom
Thanks so much. Thanks, Rodney. Thanks, Lafayette
Lisa
The Atlanta Startup Podcast is produced by Valor Ventures as a service to the startup and investor community. We couldn’t do it without the support of our sponsors–Atlanta Tech Park, the global innovation center, and Write2Market, Atlanta’s favorite tech, and healthcare marketing firm. If you’d like to get your information on the Atlanta Startup Podcast, our share a message with our listeners, visit us online and check out our affordable rate card. All advertisements here are tax-deductible donations to the Startup Runway Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is connecting underrepresented founders to their first investor.
