{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Helping Alt-Protein Startups Survive the Winter: Ahimsa\u2019s Consolidation Approach","description":"It\u2019s no secret that the alternative protein startups are struggling these days. A combination of lower revenue, intense competition, and less available venture capital is leading to a contraction in the sector, with countless alt-meat and dairy companies conducting layoffs, declaring bankruptcy, and even folding altogether.  Enter Ahimsa Companies, a newly formed investment group acquiring promising but distressed plant-based brands. This isn\u2019t charity, though. Ahimsa's belief is that, with their consolidation strategy and pooled resources, these brands that are built on a strong underlying product can become profitable under the Ahimsa umbrella. As Ahimsa CEO Matt Tullman says in this conversation, pendulums swing, and many of these companies can be brought to profitability, meaning they could ultimately be sold at a much higher price than their valuation during this period in which plant-based products are in the valley. So far the company has acquired Wicked Foods, Simulate\u2019s Nuggs, Blackbird Pizza, an Ohio plant-based foods manufacturing plant, and more.  Matt is a man of many talents, as you\u2019ll hear in this episode. In addition to being CEO of Ahimsa Companies, he founded and sold his own education tech company, and is also the co-founder and CEO of Outlier Health, the parent company of supplement company Complement and of No Meat Athlete. He\u2019s both a missionary for plant-based lifestyles and a mercenary seeking to combine his passion for plant-based foods with profit.  Discussed in this episode Ahimsa Companies is looking for plant-based startups to acquire. Here\u2019s an analysis of their strategy and history. Interview with Matt in which he describes Ahimsa\u2019s goal by declaring that \u201cwe\u2019ve got to step up and try to help these companies survive.\u201d Story about Ahimsa\u2019s acquisition of the Plant Plant in Ohio.  Both Paul and Matt are interested in AI\u2019s potential to enable human-nonhuman communication, something Noa Weiss discussed on a past episode. Matt recommends reading both The Hard Thing about Hard Things and The Surrender Experiment. Matt also recommends Paul Graham\u2019s essay, Do Things That Don\u2019t Scale. More about Matt Tullman Matt is the co-founder and Group CEO of the Ahimsa Companies \u2013 a private equity firm acquiring and operating best-in-class plant-based food and manufacturing companies. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Outlier Health, the parent company of  Complement and No Meat Athlete, which have served nearly 13 million people just in the past three years. He\u2019s also an investor in health\/food\/bev startups, and a contributor to Inc. Magazine.  Previously Matt founded a ed-tech firm that was ultimately acquired by Stride Education (NYSE: LRN). Matt is most proud of bootstrapping a business that was named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in 2021. He has dedicated his career to growing nutrition-first health companies to help catalyze the movement to a plant-based lifestyle for the mainstream consumer. ","author_name":"Business for Good Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/www.businessforgoodpodcast.com\/","html":"