Yousuf Ahmed made his way from the music industry via Goldman Sachs to upcycling leftover oats (a byproduct of making oat milk) into what he describes as plant-based and protein-packed upcycled crunch puffs that taste like summer camp and save the world.

When I prepared for the show, I saw that his company, B-Sides, had just announced that their brand design had fallen a bit flat with consumers and that they were about to rethink it all. So here I was about to jump on a call to talk branding with Yousuf, and then that bombshell.

Needless to say, this episode has more of a brand workshop vibe to it, and I personally really enjoyed thinking through the brand on the fly and hearing Yousuf’s very smart and insightful takes on consumers, packaging, and branding.