Dane Harvey: Background and Company
- South African, based in Boston for 5 years; ex-GE (13 years), then UNFI (18 months as turnaround hire)
- Numuti: canned functional drink based on canna, an African botanical with real efficacy as an alcohol alternative
- Discovered ingredient in 2018 via a terminally ill friend’s father in Cape Town
- Rebranded as an explicitly African CPG brand, a category with no current US presence
- Piloted 1.5 years ago; full-time for 5 months; product in market for 3 months
- In \~150 SoCal stores via a distributor secured early; sent first quarterly stakeholder update this morning
- Core team: Dane (full-time) + co-founder (digital advertising/marketing, Nova Scotia) + ex-AB InBev Beyond Beer COO (part-time until milestones hit)
- Advisors cover go-to-market, supply chain, regulatory, and legal
Fundraise and Distribution
- $100K in from founders and first check; split roughly 50/50 between marketing and product positioning
- Saranac Brewing (150-year-old Utica, NY co-packer) agreed to fund working capital for next 18 months
- Target raise: $1.5M total
- \~$200K+ in committed liquidity checks coming in
- $500K reserved for a strategic investor with industry expertise
- Remaining open to VC but cautious on dilution; actively warming up \~4 VCs
- Key near-term pressure: drive rates of sale to protect shelf placement in SoCal stores
Fit for the Backable CEO Program
- Referred by Dan Block via a mutual UNFI contact; hadn’t met Mark before
- Watched Mark’s “Founder to CEO” masterclass; resonated strongly
- Three things that drew him in:
1. Operator credibility: wants mentorship from someone who built from scratch, not just corporate 2. Ruthless prioritization: recognizes he’s saying yes to too much; wants a framework to say no 3. Relationship sequencing: how to build trust with partners, when to ask vs. give
- Joshua flagged he’s slightly earlier-stage than Mark’s typical profile but well-suited given experience and self-awareness
Program Details Covered and Next Steps
- Backable CEO: 12-week incubator launching August (possibly September 1st), max 10 founders
- Weekly 90-min live cohort session with Mark: one concept, one tool, one shift per week
- Bi-weekly 30-min 1:1 coaching calls; WhatsApp direct access to Mark throughout
- Deep onboarding assessment + 1:1 strategy session to set KPIs and define ROI targets upfront
- AI-powered tools and dashboard; all exercises feed into a personal operating system to keep
- 5x ROI guarantee (minimum \~$60K trackable return on $12K investment) or refund
- Pricing: $12K total, split into 3 payments of $4K (deposit, +30 days, +60 days)
- Dane expressed clear interest: “I 100% am keen”
- Cohort is mostly US-based, east coast heavy, with one potential Middle East founder
Next Steps
- Intro Dane to Mark's EA for a scheduling call (Joshua)
Send email with a few time options so Dane can connect with Mark directly and work through KPIs.
- Send Dane program details and website link (Joshua)
He was in the car and couldn't take notes; needs the full overview to review async.
Where they feel stuck
We are relatively new (product < 1 yr) , I fear a strong digital footprint is the area we are yet to break through from a credibility perspective. Not my strong suit so relying on others for execution whilst feeling that traction here will define / shape investor and retail buy-in.
What they've tried
Bringing on a creative talent into the founding team to drive content strategy. Creative less incentivized to work for equity where the company is not yet funded well, which creates the chicken vs. the egg on a digital content perspective.
What would be different in 90 days
Being confident in measuring progress beyond the externally validated metrics and inspiring the team around the traction that is not yet tangible. Being able to find true traction measures beyond revenue.
Anything else
Shifting from 20yrs Corporate Finance to a CPG startup in highly competitive beverage space. First time fundraising. Team consists of 2 close friends that I'm learning operate at all different speeds and measures of success. Only me full time this far.
How they heard about it
Mark's email list