When Ryan Rouse joined MALK in the summer of 2024, the organic plant-based milk brand was already experiencing impressive growth. But the company faced a challenge common to many fast-growing consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands: how to evolve from a scrappy startup into a scaled operation capable of reaching a nine-figure revenue.
Today, MALK is on the verge of that milestone, approaching $100 million in trailing 12-month revenue, thanks to seasoned CPG expert, and now MALK president, Ryan Rouse.
Ahead, Ryan shares valuable lessons for entrepreneurs navigating the precarious path from early traction to sustainable scale.
Taking a corporate detour that pays dividends
Ryan spent 14 years in finance before cofounding Factor, the meal delivery service that HelloFresh acquired for more than $200 million in 2020. That corporate experience, he argues, gave him something many startup founders lack: fundamental business skills.
“There’s a really beneficial baseline of business understanding that comes from the corporate world,” Ryan says. “Basic communication skills, calendar management—those things are not taught in startups, and I think they can be really, really helpful.”
Ryan’s corporate years also allowed him to build financial security before taking the entrepreneurial leap. At Factor, he worked without a salary, using his savings to build the company for nearly four years while raising a young family.
That experience shaped his philosophy: Don’t let your business decisions sacrifice your personal balance sheet. Someone advised him early on not to go into deep personal debt while building Factor. He didn’t follow that advice, and the stress was nearly unbearable. “I was white-knuckling everything,” he says. “Since leaving that, I’ve said to the team here at MALK quite a bit: I’m not doing that again.”
Choosing products with tailwinds
When evaluating MALK, Ryan applied a principle he’d learned the hard way: The product you choose matters more than your execution skills.
“The best operator, the best marketer, the best direct-to-consumer tactician cannot outpace a product that doesn’t deserve to be on shelf,” he emphasizes. “You’ve got a headwind versus a tailwind.”
MALK had that tailwind. The brand offered something the market clearly wanted but couldn’t easily find: organic, clean-label plant-based milk with simple ingredients. While competitors had built the category on the message of “not dairy,” many products contained gums, fillers, and oils that health-conscious consumers increasingly were rejecting.
“The consumer started turning the label around, turning to the back of the label and saying, ‘Actually, the ingredients in here aren’t healthy, necessarily,’” Ryan says. Some consumers felt deceived and abandoned plant-based milk entirely, but others actively sought cleaner alternatives. MALK was positioned perfectly for that shift.
The brand had already secured distribution in major retailers like Target, Kroger, and Albertsons—a feat that typically takes years for better-for-you brands to achieve. Even more telling, MALK was growing rapidly despite obvious operational gaps. “It’s safe to say that a universal truth is that it’s chaos” in early-stage businesses, Ryan observes. “You could look around the room and identify 25 things that should be done better.”
That combination—strong product-market fit despite operational immaturity—signaled massive upside potential.
Shifting the message from absence to presence
MALK’s marketing had historically focused on what wasn’t in the bottle: no gums, no fillers, no oils. While that message resonated with health-conscious consumers, it told only half the story.
“When you’re in it, it’s hard to read the label from inside the bottle,” Ryan says. “The thing that people care most about with food and beverage is what it tastes like. Ours is fantastic.”
The shift seems obvious in hindsight, but it required stepping back from deeply held assumptions. MALK began incorporating taste into its messaging hierarchy and redesigned creative assets to show the product in action—pouring into matcha, coffee, cereal, or simply a glass. The message evolved from defensive (what’s not in it) to confident (what is in it, and how good it is).
This wasn’t about abandoning clean-label messaging. Instead, it was about building a complete value proposition. “What’s missing matters, and we talk about that a lot,” Ryan says. “But let’s also talk about what’s in it.”
Building D2C capabilities without D2C sales
When Ryan arrived at MALK, the company had no email list, no shoppable website, and no systematic way to connect with consumers beyond retail shelves.
“I still believe wholeheartedly that a lot of the direct-to-consumer tool kit can and should be used no matter if you actually sell direct to consumer,” he argues. The team migrated to Shopify and implemented features that retail-focused brands often overlook. The store locator helps consumers find MALK at nearby retailers. Smart Commerce technology geo-locates visitors and presents purchasing options through Instacart, Target.com, Walmart.com, or other retailers where MALK is available and in stock.
"“It reduces friction for that user to be able to add something to their cart,” Ryan says. “It gives them a breadth of availability around them. But also it gives us a data point.”
That last benefit is crucial. Retail-only brands typically lack visibility into how marketing drives purchases. By tracking add-to-cart events, MALK gains insight into consumer intent and can optimize marketing spend accordingly. The data isn’t perfect—consumers might add to cart without purchasing, or purchase later in a physical store—but it’s vastly better than nothing.
The company also started building an email list, creating opportunities to engage consumers directly, share content, and gather feedback. “D2C isn’t only about selling on a sales channel,” Ryan says. “It’s about connection with your consumer.”
Hiring before you think you need to
One of Ryan’s biggest regrets from Factor was waiting too long to hire experienced people in critical functions. The instinct to learn everything yourself is strong, especially for founders who pride themselves on versatility. Ryan certainly felt that pull.
“Founders like to get up learning curves. I’m one of them. I love the journey of getting up a new learning curve,” he says. “However, at some point you have to decide and be aware of if it’s holding you back.” The question isn’t whether you can learn something—you likely can. The question is whether you should, given where the business stands at that moment.
For founders entering new channels or capabilities, bringing in experienced advisers, consultants, or full-time hires can compress learning curves dramatically. “Someone at the table who has experience with that thing so that you’re not dealing with the learning curve 100%—it matters,” Ryan says.
Enjoying the fleeting moments
As MALK approaches nine figures in revenue, Ryan regularly reminds his team to savor the experience. “You will look back at this two- to three-year run that we’re having for the rest of your life and be like, ‘Man, that was fun,’” he tells them. “So try to, to the extent that you can, enjoy it while we have it, because it’s fleeting.”
That philosophy doesn’t diminish the chaos inherent in scaling a business, but waiting for the chaos to resolve before enjoying the journey is futile.
“If you ever think that the chaotic nature of it goes away or that it gets a lot more organized, I think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment,” he says. “But if you can learn to really enjoy that, then that’s the fun part.”
The hard work, the uncertainty, the constant pivots—those aren’t obstacles to overcome before the real reward arrives. They are the reward—if you choose to see them that way. Tune in to Ryan’s full Shopify Masters interview to catch more of his life-changing career advice.
