Lauren Fleshman and Stephanie Bruce sell Picky Bars - GET PAID ($12 million)

I'm puzzled by how many people can't spell "Picky" and "Clif."

Hopefully Fleshman starts living her life, as she lives so cheaply. Look at the Halls on how to live it up!

Take the Nike!

Take that Nike!!!

OTOH wrote:

econ major wrote:

[quote]Just Askin' wrote:

They sold Prickly Bars for a cool 12 million smackaroos. ... I'm stunned they got 12 million but ...

They paid 12 million to as a marketing ploy to amp up the value.

$12 mil for Prickly bars? They must be effing good, i'm gonna buy me some!

Really, Fleshman internally agreed to $8 mil, she has to pay back $4mil as an out-cleaning fee, the place stinks to high heaven.

It will be sold to WholeFoods/Amazon in a few years anyway.

I’m fascinated to hear more about this made up “out-cleaning fee”!

I'm impressed they got 12 million for the company.

I wonder how much Nick Symmonds would get if he sold Run Gum?

1.2x revenue multiple for 2022, so ~9-10M in revenue last year, probably not profitable, but also likely 90+% founder owned except for early stage friends and family seed money. Great marketers. But took 10 years to get here, have to assume did not take much salary or cash out from the business over that time.

New owner is public, maybe some upside on stock.

https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/18539-laird-superfood-to-acquire-picky-bars-for-12-million

There is nothing proprietary in the product and it is an overpriced me too product. And for that reason I'm out as the shark tank folks say. Good for them for getting paid for a poorly designed product and company. There are so many things that athletes can eat that aren't prepackaged junk to fuel training. This isn't rocket science. You think Kenyans eat picky bars before their training runs?

They are a little pricy, but I like them myself. I remember first buying them from the local running store years ago when they still came in little ziplock bags. I think that was back when Lauren and co. still made and packaged them in her kitchen.

lard arse wrote:

Well, his name has to be in it bc narcissism.

I liked Picky Bars but found them overpriced. Performance wise they weren’t a game changer for me either.

I have literally never seen one. Is it a west coast thing? I have heard of them, mostly here, but never seen one on a store shelf. TBH, not that I look that hard.

I am super impressed and thrilled for these ladies though. Nice work.

For the record: Best Bars HOF, IMO

1. Power Bar, Mixed Berry , I really miss these.

2. Clif Bar, Chocolate Chip, good but 50% are delicious, 50% are sawdust. Why so inconsistent?

3. Clif Bar, Oatmeal Raisin, consistent and as expected usually, does not suffer the "sawdust" problem that Chocolate Chip is plagued by, imo.

I have been a Picky Club subscriber since near the beginning, when they still came in the little ziplock baggies. We love them in my house. They are a great meal replacement when we are traveling or on the go. I always carry one or two in my purse. A Picky Bar with some peanut butter and a banana is my go to pre-marathon breakfast. I think they are delicious, especially the original Mega Nuts flavor and the new mint chocolate. The oatmeal and the granolas are also excellent. If you don’t like these products you must not like food. Good for Lauren, Jesse and Stephanie. They worked hard to build this business and they deserve the reward. Hope the new owners can maintain the quality.

2600 bro wrote:

Surely more than either earned from pro contracts in their lifetime

Most likely, and don't call me Shirley.

SD Dude Bro wrote:

There is nothing proprietary in the product and it is an overpriced me too product. And for that reason I'm out as the shark tank folks say. Good for them for getting paid for a poorly designed product and company. There are so many things that athletes can eat that aren't prepackaged junk to fuel training. This isn't rocket science. You think Kenyans eat picky bars before their training runs?

Kenyans don't drink Gatorade either, but it's worth billions.

I love the fact everyone assumes they were debt free. For all we know they had 10 million in debt

unkle supression, Unit 2 wrote:

1. Power Bar, Mixed Berry , I really miss these.

Me too. The best.

I've never seen a Pickly bar either. Well done to them for doing so well.

Don't know what this product is, but in this post I have seen it referred to as "Prickly Bars", "Picky Bars", "Pricky Bars" and "Pickly Bars". None of those sounds very appetizing.

berry power bar lover wrote:

unkle supression, Unit 2 wrote:

1. Power Bar, Mixed Berry , I really miss these.

Me too. The best.

I loved the banana Power bar. Always soft and chewy. Sometimes I would stack a banana and chocolate together. I miss them!

As for Picky Bars... So much hate! Doesnt matter what % they own, how much they got, dept, taxes etc. They took their idea from the kitchen table to being sold. How many 1000s of others have failed or went nowhere with the same concept?

Really happy for them. Sorry that your envy comes out here. BTW, never had a Picky Bar.

Deal Guy wrote:

1.2x revenue multiple for 2022, so ~9-10M in revenue last year, probably not profitable, but also likely 90+% founder owned except for early stage friends and family seed money. Great marketers. But took 10 years to get here, have to assume did not take much salary or cash out from the business over that time.

New owner is public, maybe some upside on stock.

This is the correct answer. The founders most likely took very little salary. If it's split perfectly in thirds..that's $400k/yr BEFORE taxes, before other owner dilution and highly likely there is a large stock component that is locked up. LT cap gains takes roughly 1/3. So net $266k/yr.

They should have worked at AirBnB.