S14E5: Building the Red Bull for Relaxation with Ben Witte, Founder and CEO of Recess

Ben Witte frames Recess as 'Red Bull for relaxation,' building a wellness beverage brand around functional ingredients like CBD and adaptogens to serve a growing demand for sobriety and stress relief. He emphasizes category creation over ingredient marketing, applying Silicon Valley startup principles to CPG, and navigating regulatory ambiguity while timing a cultural shift. The episode covers early experimentation, brand storytelling, and the challenge of selling a feeling rather than a supplement.

To learn how to build a new consumer category by focusing on emotional jobs-to-be-done, not ingredient trends.

1. 01Position the brand around a feeling (relaxation) rather than functional ingredients like CBD or adaptogens to avoid commoditization.
2. 02Apply startup discipline from tech—such as rapid iteration and data-driven go-to-market—to consumer packaged goods for outsized advantage.
3. 03Timing a category-defining idea requires enduring the 'messy middle' when the market doesn’t yet understand the need.