Rashid Ali, Co-Founder & CEO of Chomps, he told us something I can’t forget:

👉 “Our moms were our best customers.”

That’s how Chomps started.

A frozen steak business that couldn’t scale. No traction. Just moms buying to keep the lights on.

Then one day — Trader Joe’s calls.

At the time, they were doing only ~$400K in sales. The order was so big they needed to raise $1M in a single weekend just to deliver.

That was the turning point.

Today, Chomps is valued at over $1B.

But here’s the kicker — as Rashid put it:

💡 “It was an 8-year overnight success story.”

The biggest takeaways for me from this conversation:

1️⃣ Failure is data — the wrong customers showed them who the right ones were.

2️⃣ The biggest breaks often arrive when you’re barely hanging on.

3️⃣ Resilience beats speed — billion-dollar brands are built brick by brick.

From moms as their only customers → to Trader Joe’s → to $1B.

That’s not just a brand story. That’s a founder’s playbook.

👉 For other entrepreneurs: what was your own “mom was my only customer” moment?

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Step past the Red Velvet Rope.

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