Founder Preview: The Next Popcorn is Popping Off…But It’s Not Popcorn

The Spark: When did you launch, and what made you say "I need to build this"?

Honestly, it started with a late-night study session and a snack from someone's bag — which, when I think about it, is a very MBA way to start a company. The three of us — UJ, Rishi, and I — were all friends from the same Notre Dame MBA program. One night, deep in finals prep, UJ pulled out a bag of popped water lily seeds he'd brought from home. One bite, and we were completely hooked.

UJ had already started developing the idea and had a pitch lined up. Rishi and I went along mostly to cheer him on. The pitch went incredibly well, and as we were walking out, John Henry, the Director of Student Startups at Notre Dame, casually mentioned there was a sustainability competition happening that same day, starting in about an hour. Rishi and I looked at each other and thought, why not? So the three of us walked in as a team, and we walked out as winners. That moment crystallized something we had all been feeling: there's a real gap in the U.S. snack market. NutriPop was born, and the rest, as they say, is history — and it's still being written.

The Launch: When did you launch and how did you create pre-launch buzz?

We officially launched in the latter half of 2026, but the work started long before that. Our pre-launch strategy came down to two things: community and samples. Lots and lots of samples. On the community side, we leaned hard into the Notre Dame network — and if you know Notre Dame people, you know they show up for each other. But our real secret weapon was getting the product into people's hands. We've been boots on the ground at every event we could get into, from Notre Dame to IU to Chicago, handing out samples to anyone willing to take one. There's no algorithm that replaces the moment someone takes their first bite and their eyes light up. When the product is this good, sampling is basically our best marketing.

The First 100: How did you find your first customers?

Connections, pure and simple. Between our event sampling, personal outreach, and a very enthusiastic friends-and-family circle, the word spread organically. I have to give a special shoutout to my parents and my best friend — they have told literally everyone they know about NutriPop. That's the thing about a product people genuinely love: you don't have to push them to talk about it. They just do. Our first 100 customers didn't come from ads or a big marketing push. They came from real moments, real conversations, and real reactions to something that genuinely surprised them. That's the kind of growth we're most proud of.

The Advice: What would you tell a first-time founder in their first 90 days?

Just start. Seriously. Start before you feel ready. We look back and wish we had started even earlier during our time at Notre Dame. Use your university's competitions, accelerators, and mentors. Enter pitches even when you feel underprepared. Your student status is actually a superpower — people genuinely want to help you in a way that gets a lot harder to find once you graduate. And beyond resources, trust your gut and say yes to things impulsively sometimes. I joined a sustainability competition on a whim, one hour before it started, just because it seemed like a fun way to spend a Saturday. That impulsive yes is the reason I'm a co-founder of NutriPop today. Opportunities don't always show up looking like opportunities — sometimes they look like a casual comment in a hallway after a pitch. Your first 90 days don't need to be perfect. They just need to happen.

The Reality Check: What is the hardest part of this journey that people don't see on social media?

Beyond the glamorous world of paperwork, filings, and legal fine print that nobody puts in their Instagram highlight reel, the hardest part is something much quieter and more personal. It's showing up every single day. When NutriPop is your side hustle and not yet your full-time life, there's no one holding you accountable. After a long day of everything else, you have to find the energy to care just as much as you did on day one. The wins are easy to push through. It's the losses, the slow days, the unanswered emails, and the moments of self-doubt that really test you. Social media shows you the competition wins and the happy customers. It doesn't show you the Tuesday night at 8pm when you're exhausted and questioning everything but still open your laptop anyway. That daily decision to keep going is the real work of building something. It's also what makes it worth it.

The Milestone: What has been your biggest "we made it" moment so far?

There have been two kinds of milestones, and both have meant the world to us in very different ways. The big, tangible one: we won $25,000 through the AgriNovus Velocity accelerator's Food is Health track in June 2025. Before that win, our victories had all been within the Notre Dame ecosystem — but this was different. This was the outside world saying "we believe in what you're building." But honestly, the milestone that gets me every time is much smaller. Someone walks up at a sampling event, tries a bite, and immediately turns around and asks "wait, where can I buy this?" No marketing, no convincing — just a real person who wants more. When that keeps happening, you realize you might actually be onto something real.

The AI Trend: How have you used AI to help your business grow?

We use AI the same way we use any other tool — practically, and where it actually makes sense. For a lean early-stage startup, it's been genuinely helpful for drafting emails and writing social media captions faster. When you're wearing fifteen hats at once, anything that saves you thirty minutes is a win. But we're deliberate about where we don't use it. Our branding and design work is done by a real human — our amazing design intern Quesalis, who brings a creative eye and genuine care to the visuals that represent NutriPop. The soul of a brand matters, and we think that comes through best when there's a real person behind it.

The Horizon: What should we be excited to see from NutriPop in the next six months?

First and foremost, we're working on expanding our retail presence across the Midwest. Getting NutriPop onto more store shelves means more people stumbling across it, picking it up out of curiosity, and becoming the next person who can't stop thinking about it. We're also growing our e-commerce presence so that no matter where you are in the country, you can get your hands on a bag. And of course, we'll be out in the wild doing what we love most: sampling. More events, more cities, more moments where someone takes their first bite and immediately asks where they can buy it. That never gets old.

The Shop: Where can readers find NutriPop?

There are two ways to get your hands on NutriPop. You can find us on Amazon by searching "NutriPop," or shop directly at snacknutripop.com. Either way, your first bag is just a few clicks away.

The Connection: Where is the best place to follow along?

Come hang out with us! You can follow our journey on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok — we're @snacknutripop across all three.