Copyright Inc. Magazine
Jen Zezsut, GOODLES’ founder, put her strategy simply to Inc.’s Rebecca Deczynski on a Tactical Steps for Purposeful Growth panel (watch the full discussion below) for National Entrepreneurship Month: “We can’t outspend them, but we can out-weird them.” GOODLES’ marketing department doesn’t run the branding and advertising alone. Every department, including operations and finance, offers creative input. Their creative sessions run more like a Saturday Night Live writer’s room than a corporate meeting, Zezsut says. Jokes become product names and viral stunts to promote the GOODLES brand. “We crowdsource everything,” Zezsut says. “Sometimes the ops team drops a product name into Slack—and it ends up on the shelf.” This creative culture, baked throughout the company, often means a lack of consensus. But Zezsut says that consensus makes the company nervous, because true creativity comes from tension and debate. Despite tripling in size, GOODLES claims “zero regrettable attrition.” The reason? They treat silliness as the glue of their company culture. Karaoke nights, ridiculous Slack threads, and spontaneous creative stunts are all as vital as financial dashboards, Zezsut says. GOODLES was turned down by 100 investors who said the idea of adult mac and cheese wouldn’t work, Zezsut says. But they stayed firm because the alignment was clear: great product, great brand, great team.
