Listen "Ryan Rouse: Scaling Factor and Now Taking MALK from $40M to $100M"
Episode Synopsis
Ryan Rouse is a co-founder of Factor (a ready-to-eat meal delivery brand sold in 2020), and has also served in executive roles at Serenity Kids and Highkey. Today, he's President at MALK Organics, a plant-based milk brand leading the dairy-alternative space.Expect to hear about:– Leaving “Safety”: Why Ryan walked away from a lucrative finance career after the 2008 financial crisis reshaped how he viewed risk and ownership.– Building Factor: Co-founding Factor, bootstrapping through the early years, and how him and his partner grew the business despite capital pressure.– A Hard Tradeoff: Why Ryan sold his equity in Factor early to support his family, and how he made peace with that decision after the brand sold for $277M three years later.– Finding His Edge: How Ryan realized his strength isn’t in zero-to-one startups, but in scaling fast-growth brands in the $40M-$200M stage.– The MALK Journey: Why scaling MALK from $40M to $100M has been one of the most rewarding opportunities of Ryan's career. Find Ryan on:LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrouse/ Twitter/X – https://x.com/MaalkMan
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.