#289: Sandro Roco, Founder and CEO of Sanzo, an Asian-Inspired Sparkling Water, on the Ins and Outs of Building a Suc...

Sandro Roco is the Founder and CEO of Sanzo, an Asian-inspired sparkling water company on a mission to bridge cultures by connecting people to authentic flavors. Sanzo uses real fruit, not "natural flavors," and has no added sugar. Sandro, a Queens-born Filipino American, was walking through a popular Asian supermarket in Manhattan’s Koreatown when he noticed a huge gap between the modern, clean labels of the new-age “American” beverage brands and the preservative- and sugar-laden labels of the legacy Asian brands. His goal was simple: celebrate high quality Asian flavors that for decades have been masked by added sugars, artificial flavors and preservatives. Sandro started out as an engineer at a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, worked for two years on a trading floor for J.P. Morgan, and then became head of growth and later chief-of-staff for an online personal styling service. This unconventional career path equipped Sandro with a unique skillset that ultimately led to the founding of Sanzo. Some of the Topics Covered by Sandro Roco in this Episode What makes Sanzo sparkling water different and how Sandro came up with the idea Getting Sanzo started and moonlighting for a year Why Sandro is a solo founder How Sandro was scrappy while approaching manufacturing for his CPG Getting a "scheduled process," or food scientists' approval The importance of developing relationships with distributors and retailers and being prepared before starting those relationships How Sandro made the decision to leave his day job and go full time with Sanzo How Sandro got his first sales Deciding which retailers and distribution partners to work with How distribution has shifted as Sanzo has grown The impact being a child of immigrants had on how Sandro chose to finance his company How he raised 1.3M (from a $600,000 goal) The feedback Sandro was getting from early high profile investors How Sandro has approached building community and how this was reinforced during the pandemic Sandro's eye test rules for packaging design How their packaging design shifted over time Launching D2C during the pandemic How Sandro has gone about product development regarding flavors Sandro's hiring methodology and how the focus has shifted from pain to opportunity What has helped Sandro as a founder and how he steps away from work Why Sandro is passionate about what he does and what's next for Sanzo Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/ Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/ Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212 Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/