In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Craig Dubitsky, Co-Founder and CEO of Happy Products — a modern beverage brand reimagining how coffee can make us feel. Craig is one of CPG's most iconic brand builders, having created category-defining household staples like eos and hello. With hello, he built the fastest-growing oral care brand in North America before its acquisition by Colgate, where he went on to serve as Chief Innovation Officer. His newest venture, Happy Products, was co-founded alongside Robert Downey Jr. and launched in partnership with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) — the largest grassroots mental health organization in America.
Craig brings decades of hard-won experience across brand building, capital management, fundraising, and navigating strategic partnerships through acquisition. In this episode, he shares the lessons that shaped him, what founders should have in place before embarking on a fundraise, and the mental models he uses to build things people genuinely fall in love with.
Craig and Hannah dig into the full arc of building a brand from zero: why advisory boards are one of the most underused fundraising tools, how to pitch investors without your hat in hand, and why the obsession with valuation and dilution often misses the point entirely. He also unpacks what made hello attractive to Colgate, why "exit" is the wrong word for what happens when a strategic acquires your company, and why everything costs more and takes longer than you think — no matter how many times you've done it.
Listen in as they cover:
- Craig's winding career path: derivatives trading, relocation startups, Method, eos, hello, Colgate, and now Happy Products
- Why Happy isn't a coffee company — it's in the "Happy business," with coffee as the delivery system
- How NAMI ended up on Happy's cap table from day zero — and what makes that different from typical purpose-driven brand partnerships
- Why the magic of a brand is harder than the math — and why getting the magic right usually takes care of the math
- The advisory board strategy: how to stack the deck before you have traction, revenue, or a full team
- What investors actually want to see: identified manufacturers, cost of goods, margin assumptions, retailer interest, and team
- Why founders who obsess over valuation and dilution are asking the wrong questions
- The story of hello's first toothpaste bottle — a packaging pivot that almost never happened, and why it's a masterclass in listening to the market
- What made hello irresistible to Colgate: cross-channel distribution, strong repeat, brand differentiation, and a team that could execute at pace
- Why Craig calls the Colgate deal an "entrance," not an exit
- His most important piece of capital advice: always plan for it to cost more and take longer
Whether you're a first-time founder or on your fourth company, this episode is a masterclass in building with intention, raising with humility, and creating things people want to have in their lives forever.
Episode Links:
- Happy Products: happyproducts.com
- Craig Dubitsky on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/craig-dubitsky-40612
- Happy Products on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/we-are-happy-products
- NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness): nami.org / 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
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Show Links:
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- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
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