Ryan Rouse

Growth advisor to consumer businesses with a focus on every line of the P&L | Previously, Co-Founder at Factor Meals (acquired), CEO at Highkey

Growth-minded CPG leader with deep experience across finance, brand building, and operational leadership.

After more than a decade in finance—culminating in an eight-year tenure at Merrill Lynch—I co-founded Factor_, a ready-to-eat meal delivery company that went on to be acquired by HelloFresh for $277M in 2020.

I joined HighKey Snacks as Chief Marketing Officer and later CEO, guiding the low-sugar snack brand through rapid expansion and an acquisition in 2024.

I'm currently the President of MALK Organics, a fast-growing, near nine-figure brand redefining the plant-based milk category with its commitment to clean, organic ingredients and uncompromising quality.

And I write a newsletter about what it really takes to grow—your company, your mindset, your tolerance for chaos:
​
​• The unfiltered truth about building a brand
• Why “strategy” isn’t always strategic
• What to do when everything feels on fire
• Mindset shifts that keep you sane(ish)​
• Founder mistakes, market moves, and lessons I’m still learning​
​
​Part playbook, part perspective shift.
For anyone trying to grow something—and keep their head on straight.

Sign up using the link here (or below my profile pic above): https://ryanrouse.me/

Vice President | Partner

Data driven investors in early stage consumer brands. 

We just launched a line of coconut-based creamers and they absolutely slap.

(Shout out to my kids who would cringe hard at that.)

No gums, no oils, no natural flavors. 

Just real, recognizable ingredients and a texture so creamy it'll make your coffee blush. 
​
🥥 Available in 3 flavors: Vanilla, Sweet Cream, and Unsweetened (for the purists)​
🥥 USDA Organic, non-GMO, glyphosate residue-free​
🥥 Clean label, full flavor: proof you don’t need additives to taste good ​
​
Hitting refrigerated shelves across the US as we speak. 

You should try them. For real.

Being direct is becoming synonymous with being rude. 

Which affects our ability to move things forward faster in business. 

You can be direct and respectful at the same time. 

And if you create an environment where people practice both, it has a big impact on how quickly you make decisions and get things done. 

Because the message being delivered is how things move forward in business.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you'll love my emails. No BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

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Work-life balance is a lie.

At least the way most people talk about it.

I've done all the "resolutions."

Tried blocking my calendar perfectly. Promised myself I'd be done working at 5:30 every day. Swore I'd never check email after dinner.

All had the same (lack of) success rate that new years resolutions have. 

Because life doesn't care about your color-coded calendar.

Sometimes work demands more. A launch comes up. You're in back-to-back calls, reviewing decks late at night, burning the candle at both ends. 

Other times, family demands more. Gymnastics meet on a Thursday afternoon 4 hours away. Your wife is out of town. The dogs need to go to the vet in the middle of the day. 

The goal isn't equilibrium at all times. 

It's understanding which side needs you more at any given time. And being there when it does.

No guilt. 
No apology. 
No pretending you can split yourself perfectly down the middle.

Entrepreneurs should think in two time frames:

30 years
90 days

I read this in a book by the legendary Dan Sullivan over a decade ago and it hurt my brain.

Because the more common advice is to regularly map out 1/3/5 year plans.

But the older I get and the more time I spend in early stage companies, I've moved more and more towards his away of thinking.

Cast a long term vision.
Execute what's in front of you.

It can be as simple as that.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails. No BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

Social media will have you believe if you haven't made millions by 30, you're late.

It's bullshit.

Warren Buffett made 99% of his wealth after 50.
Ray Kroc was 52 when he started McDonald's.
Vera Wang was 40 when she entered fashion.
The list goes on and on...

Know what those extra decades give you?

Pattern recognition. You've seen enough cycles to know which ones matter.

Scar tissue. You've failed enough to know it won't kill you.

The pressure to achieve young is manufactured. 

By people selling courses. By media celebrating outliers. By your own impatience.

You're not late. The game is longer than they tell you.

Good thing too. 

Because big moves develop over decades.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails. No BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

I used to think being intense was the problem.

It's not.

Letting other people control that intensity is.

I'm wired hot. Always have been.

It's helped me build things, push through walls, and get results most people won't.

But I also let it burn bridges I didn't need to burn.

The shift came when I stopped waiting for someone else to tell me to dial it down.

I learned to own the dial myself.

Still intense. Still emotional.

But now I decide when to turn it up and when to pull it back (most of the time, not perfect).

It's been the difference between intensity being an advantage vs. a liability.

Self-awareness isn't about changing who you are.

It's about controlling how you show up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails - no BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

Your mood is not private.

It's broadcasting to everyone around you.

Show up to a meeting stressed, and watch what happens.

People tense up. Conversations get shorter. Ideas stop flowing.

Show up calm, and the opposite happens.

People relax. They think clearer. They bring solutions instead of panic.

I used to think emotions were personal.

Something I could feel without affecting anyone else.

I was wrong.

Every time I showed up frustrated, my team got quieter.
Every time I showed up anxious, my team got nervous.
Every time I showed up scattered, my team got confused.

They weren't reading my words.

They were reading my energy.

And matching it.

As a leader, your emotional state isn't just yours.

It spreads.

Like a cold. Like a yawn. Like panic in a crowded room.

The question isn't whether your emotions are contagious.

They are.

The question is: which ones are you spreading?

Because your team is catching whatever you're carrying.

—

I write emails. Unfiltered takes from 12+ years building brands.

It's free. Subscribe (or don't):

https://ryanrouse.me/

Most CPG leaders think scale comes from distribution.

It doesn't. 

It comes from obsession with the consumer.

Here's a few things to focus on:

- Own one emotional job
↳ Stop trying to be everything. Find the single moment your product owns in someone's life and dominate it completely.

- Build for the shelf, not the deck
↳ Your brand needs to work in 0.3 seconds at eye level. If it doesn't pop in-store, your strategy deck is worthless.

- Let data inform, not decide
↳ Numbers tell you what happened. Instinct tells you what's next. The best leaders use both but trust their gut on the big bets.

And a few to avoid:

- Chasing every retail door
↳ Bad distribution kills brands faster than no distribution. Be selective. Own where you show up.

- Innovation theater
↳ Line extensions aren't innovation. Stop launching SKUs that confuse your consumer and dilute your shelf presence.

- Forgetting you're selling to humans
↳ Your consumer isn't a demographic. They're someone's mom, someone's kid. Build for real people, not personas.

The brands that win don't follow "category playbooks".

They create their own (that everyone else tries to follow for the next decade, unsuccessfully).

So I'll ask directly: what truth about your consumer are you ignoring because everyone else in your category is ignoring it too?

"The consumer isn't a moron. She's your wife." - David Ogilvy


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you'll love my emails. No BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

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5 things founders get wrong about employee motivation:

(From someone who got all 5 wrong)

1. Expecting owner-level commitment from employee-level equity.

You own 40% of the company. They own 0.1%.
You'll make millions if it works. They'll make rent.

Stop acting surprised when they work less hours.

2. Thinking your sacrifice is their baseline.

I worked for no salary for three years. Maxed out credit cards. Emptied my 401k. 

That was my choice. Not theirs.

Your personal bet doesn't become their obligation.

3. Using guilt instead of respect.

I used to send passive-aggressive Slack messages when people left on time. "Must be nice to have work-life balance."

Real asshole moves.

Then one of my best employees quit.

In his exit interview, he said: "Ryan, you chose to mortgage your house for this company. I didn't."

He was right.

4. Believing more equity will change how people work.

I once gave someone more equity expecting it to change their output. It didn't.

That's because everyone has a "work MO." A default gear.

If they're a killer, they'll be a killer.
If they do the bare minimum, they'll do the bare minimum.

Equity won't flip that switch.

(It will help retain the killers, tho.)

5. Confusing presence with productivity.

The person cranking until 9pm isn't always your best performer.

Sometimes they're just slow. Or inefficient. Or avoiding something at home.

Judge output, not hours.


The fix isn't complicated.

Find people who give a shit about doing good work.
Pay them well.
Respect their time.

They won't work until 10pm unless it's truly necessary.

But when it is necessary, they'll be there.

Because you hired people who are wired for it. 

And earned their trust.

—

I write emails. Unfiltered takes from 12+ years building brands.

It's free. Subscribe (or don't):

https://ryanrouse.me/

I've never been the smartest person at any company I've been at.

But I'm always the fastest.

At Merrill Lynch, I was 1 of 75,000 employees. Could've been the best analyst on the floor. Still replaceable.

At a startup? Different game.

My superpower wasn't an MBA or some fancy framework.

It was knowing how to find shit fast.

When my co-founder at Factor_ asked "How do other meal delivery companies handle returns?"

Everyone else: "Let me schedule some calls."

Me: Ordered from 3 competitors. Submitted returns. Pulled their policies. Built a framework. Done.

Couple of hours, tops. 

Founders already know how to find answers. That's how they got this far.

They're not asking you because they're lazy. They're drowning.

The employee who says "I researched this, here are three options, I recommend X because Y" - and did it FAST - becomes indispensable.

The one who says "I don't know, what do you think?" becomes overhead.

At early stage companies, resourcefulness and urgency beat credentials every time.

No waiting. No deferring. No "I was waiting for you to give me the go ahead."

Run. It. Down. 

And do it quickly. 

Leaders will notice. 

Trust me.

—

I write emails. Unfiltered takes from 12+ years building brands.

It's free. Subscribe (or don't):

https://ryanrouse.me/

I used to think winning arguments made me smart.

It didn't.

It made me insufferable.

Healthy debate has respect and curiosity.

Ego-driven arguing has neither.

One sharpens you.

The other isolates you.

In healthy debate, you ask questions to understand.
In ego-driven arguing, you ask questions to trap.

In healthy debate, you say "I hadn't thought of that."
In ego-driven arguing, you say "Yeah, but..."

In healthy debate, you admit when you're wrong.
In ego-driven arguing, you double down.

In healthy debate, you want to learn something.
In ego-driven arguing, you want to be right.

Here are some things that helped me:

1. Pause before responding. Ask myself if I'm trying to understand or trying to win.

2. Repeat back what I heard. "So what you're saying is..." Forces me to actually listen.

3. Find one thing I agree with first. Even in disagreement, there's common ground.

4. Ask "What am I missing?" Instead of explaining why I'm right.

5. End conversations with "That gave me something to think about." And mean it.

The shift won't be immediate.

But people will start engaging with you differently.

Conversations get richer.

Ideas get better.

Relationships get stronger.

If you catch yourself needing to have the last word, you're probably arguing from ego.

If you walk away from a conversation thinking differently, you're probably debating with curiosity.

Took me way too long to learn the difference.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails - no BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

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"Ryan - I LOVE your newsletter. 

Thanks for being real and authentic man! I'm sending your recent email on brand marketing to my whole team its spot on!"

Got this message the other day from the CEO and co-founder of a multi-hundred million dollar brand that I have a tremendous amount of respect for. 

I don't have the largest audience or newsletter subscriber base. And it's easy to get caught in the cycle of chasing numbers. 

But that's not the point. Not for me. 

I just wanna to talk about real shit in a way that's relatable and authentic to who I am. 

And hope it's useful and thought provoking to other people. 

So when I get messages like that it helps ground me in that truth. 

Sign up for free below. 

Or don't. 

https://ryanrouse.me/

In consumer, your customers don't care how smart you are.

They care that their order arrives on time.

That you're in stock when they need you.

That your quality doesn't fluctuate batch to batch.

They're not buying your IQ score.

They're buying your ability to deliver on expectations - some general to the market and some specific to your product and promise.

That's all execution.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails - no BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.

This Picasso quote gets twisted constantly.

People think it's about tactics. 

But it actually means master the fundamentals so deeply that innovation becomes instinct.

In business, I see this constantly:

The CMO who never ran a P&L trying to "disrupt" pricing strategy.

The founder who skips unit economics to chase viral growth.

The exec who wants to "break the mold" before understanding why the mold exists.

The best leaders I know spent years in the trenches.

Learning why things work before reimagining how they could work better.

They got creative because they got good first.

Master the boring stuff first.

Then go be an artist.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails - no BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

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The most frequent question I get from entrepreneurs is "What advice would you give your former self?"

My answer: Pace myself.

They blow me off.

Not to my face, but I can tell.

I get it though.

I did the same thing when I was in their shoes.

Thought I was different.

That I could outwork the system.

That entrepreneurial fire made me feel invincible.

Until it didn't.

If you're putting in 80 hours a week consistently, it's not a matter of if you're gonna burn out, it's a matter of when.

Because you can't sustain that for the time required to play the long game. 

(Which is the only game in town.) 

Find your sustainable pace now before you're forced to. 

You're running a marathon, not a 100-yard dash.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails. No BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

Hard work is table stakes, not a flex. 

Your competitors work hard. 

It's necessary, but not sufficient. 

You also need to think in ways others don't. 

Most people default to putting in more hours because thinking hurts. 

It's easier to stay busy than to sit with a problem until you crack it.

I wish success in business was just about working harder. That would be simple. 

But the world doesn't give a shit about your hours.

It rewards people who create the most value. 

Value comes from seeing what others miss. 

From connecting dots in ways that seem obvious after but weren't before.

From working hard *and* smart.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails. No BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it's free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

Most people think they're either risk-takers or they're not.

But that's not really how it work.

Risk isn't something you have a fixed capacity for.

It's something you build tolerance to.

Like lifting weights.

You don't walk into a gym and deadlift 400 pounds because you "have it in you."

You start small. 

Then add weight over time. 

Each rep expands what you can handle next time.

Risk works the same way.

The person who quit their corporate job to start a company didn't wake up one day with superhuman courage.

They made a series of smaller bets first.

A side project. A conversation. A decision to stop playing it safe in one area of their life.

Each one stretched the muscle.

So if you think you're not a risk-taker, you're probably right.

But it's not because you can't be.

It's because you haven't trained that muscle yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you liked this post, you might like my emails - no BS musings from 12+ years in the trenches building brands.

You might not, but it’s free so WGAF:

https://ryanrouse.me/

90% of the dietary ideologies are the same.

• Avoid processed foods 
• Reduce sugar
• High quality protein
• Healthy fats

Yet we still have tribal wars amongst the different groups on which philosophy is "best".

It'd be really cool (and powerful) if they joined forces to get as many people as possible to follow the 90% that they agree on rather than argue (with each other) about the 10% that they don't.

The Standard American Diet is still the most widely followed "diet". 

That's the enemy.

Has “Head of” as a title created more clarity or confusion?

I think the latter.

Because it’s used as an analogue/replacement to another, more commonly used, title.

Director in most cases. But not always. 

Some companies use it to replace VP. 

Which begs the question - why not just use the tried and true titles?

This is about the person in the role for me. 

People can look at their background and understand their trajectory. 

I realize Director or VP is not the same everywhere, but it’s more uniform across companies because they’ve been in existence for so long. 

“Head of” is new, and I’m just not sure what the benefits are that outweigh the added ambiguity. 

But what do I know.

You think everyone knows what you do.

They don't.

When you're deep in your business every day, the solution feels obvious. 

You live it. You breathe it. You can't imagine how anyone wouldn't get it.

But your target audience? 

Assume they're seeing it for the first time.

So you have to be clear, not clever.

Clear about what you do.
Clear about who it's for.
Clear about why it matters.

Assume the first time someone sees your message, they're distracted. 

The second time, they scroll past. 

The third time, maybe they pause. Maybe. 

So repetition is necessary.

Most brands don't say it enough.

Different ways. Different angles. Different stories.

If you're sitting on something great but struggling to get traction, ask yourself:

Am I explaining this clearly enough? 

Am I saying it often enough?

Will Nitze

Founder, IQBAR (iqbar.com) 🍫+💧+☕️

🍫 Founder/CEO, IQBAR (iqbar.com)
🎙️ Co-Host, "Eating Glass" Podcast
🎓 Harvard BA

Founder/CEO

We make superior brain + body fuel. IQBAR® plant protein bars, IQMIX® hydration sticks, and IQJOE® instant coffees are packed with the functional compounds you need to win your day.

Overheard on The Matterhorn in Zermatt during lunch:

“Would you like vodka in your soup, sir?”

Merry Christmas.

No alternative text description for this image

The answer is not to minimize wrongness.

It's to minimize the COST of being wrong.

So you can cycle through many, many wrong answers without dying.

That's the highest-odds path to getting to the *right* answer.

The alternative is buying a lottery ticket.

Run faster, Run longer, and/or Run in unique directions...

1/3 gives you a fighting chance.

2/3 gets you above 50% odds of making it.

3/3 creates an inevitability of success.

"Grass roots" growth sounds romantic.

It isn't.

Most of us are playing an old-school, economies-of-scale game.

Which means we start in a painful (i.e., un-romantic) unit economics hole.

The best (and, arguably, only) path out?

Volume.

And then a careful *leveraging* of that volume.

The best way to achieve volume?

Taking big swings early.

To me, that's romance.

The path to The Goal is the inverse of The Goal.

Reduce optionality so you can later maximize it.

Concentrate bets so you can later diversify them.

Channel negative emotions (jealousy, comparison, anger) so you can later jettison them.

Etc.

Of course this only works if you...

1. know *when* to flip the switch (timing is everything)
2. are able to *actually* flip that switch (many refuse to)
3. *avoid psychological disaster* along the way (which is mostly a function of how you execute on 1 and 2)

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