Food Entrepreneurs Share Lessons Learned at 3.20 Fail Friday

Join us for our second Fail Friday featuring founders from Rick’s Picks, Dig Inn, REDWOOD new york and Entrepreneurist on March 20 at 7 PM at Force Brands HQ.

It’s not easy being a food innovator. There’s no road map for reinventing an industry. So, in partnership with Force Brands: FoodForce | BevForce, we cooked up the Fail Friday series to celebrate failure in all its glory. Our goal is to lower the barriers to success for entrepreneurs by creating a safe space for you to learn from one another and grow together.

Join us this friday and hear stories of failure and lessons learned from 4 leading food and food tech entrepreneurs. By popular request following the first event, the stories will be followed by a brief Q&A with all of the presenters. And as always, there will be lots of time for networking, so make sure to bring your business cards. Seats are limited, so RSVP today.

Confirmed Rockstar Fail Friday Speakers

Zak Normandin – founder, REDWOOD new york. Zak is an award-winning product designer & passionate brand expert, having branded more than 50 consumer products sold in Target, Whole Foods, and grocery stores worldwide. Inspired by his three young children, he also created the healthy kids snack brand Little Duck Organics, where he brought the company to successful exit in 2014. Formerly a U.S. Coast Guard marine engineer involved in humanitarian efforts, Normandin now leads the creative agency he founded: REDWOOD new york.

Jennifer Love – Business Navigator + CEO, Entrepreneurist. Entrepreneurist is a fast-track strategy incubator that combines invaluable tools and results-driven mentorship. She has over 15 years building and working with consumer (CPG) brands. In July 2014, the Small Business Digest featured Jennifer’s ‘Sweet Success’ on the cover of the magazine. On a given day, Jennifer may be found serving as a judge for events like Startup Weekend, on stage speaking to a variety of audiences, advising a client behind the scenes of Biz Fix with Marcus Lemonis, preparing a client for Shark Tank, or working with entrepreneurs and leaders in her JLove Business Camp. Read more about Jennifer here.

Adam Eskin – Founder, Dig Inn. Adam began his career in finance and has been operating in the restaurant industry for over 7 years. While his financial background brings an analytics approach to the business, Adam and his team are on a mission to bring Farm-To-CounterTM food to the masses and is not afraid to think big.

Before Dig Inn, Adam was a private equity associate at Wexford Capital and an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Adam graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University and enjoys yoga, Thai boxing, and spending time with his wife, Amanda, and their Yorkshire Terrier, Max (the Dig Inn mascot). He tweets (sometimes) @adameskin.

Rick Field – Founder & CEO, Rick’s Picks. Rick grew up making traditional pickles with his family in Vermont , and after a career in TV production decided to make his passion for pickling into a business. His pickles are distinguished by their exceptional quality, with an unusual array of varieties and flavor profiles. Rick’s Picks, with offices on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, makes fourteen varieties of shelf-stable pickles. The pickles are hand-packed and all natural, made in season with produce from local farmers. They bring innovation to a category that hasn’t seen much change in a long time.

Food & Drink

We will be serving cocktails before and after the speakers share their stories sponsored by Leblon Cachaça, as well as beer.

We’ll also have local, artisanal snacks from Farm to People.