In this ongoing series, we are sharing advice, tips and insights from real entrepreneurs who are out there doing business battle on a daily basis. (Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Karl Ziegler is the co-founder and CEO of Roseade Spritzer which launched in 2021. “I wear a lot of hats but in a nutshell, I oversee sales, production, marketing and the financials,” Ziegler told Entrepreneur. Read on to get his advice for entrepreneurs in the alcohol space and to learn how his company became a rising star in the exploding Ready To Drink category.
Give us the elevator pitch for your business.
Roseade is a rosé wine and lemonade beverage that is produced in California with all-natural ingredients. It is 8% ABV and is introducing wine to Gen Z in a fun and delicious fashion. Led by Lenny the Lemon, our smiling lemon logo, we are taking the industry by storm.
Credit: Roseade
What inspired you to launch?
Frankly, I was tired of working for people who didn’t move fast enough or who made poor brand decisions. I had enough of launching “introductory closeouts” — products that I knew were destined to fail and would have to be sold (usually by me) at significant discounts to make them go away. Not sure I had one “aha” moment but I definitely knew I wanted to do my own thing at some point. I always had it in the back of my head, “You will know it when you see it”.
How is it different than other canned alcoholic beverages?
Roseade Spritzer is unique from other Ready-to-Drink canned beverages in a couple of ways. The most noticeable difference is in the flavor profile. There are a lot of sugary-sweet RTDs on the market and Roseade Spritzer is different. It’s more tart than sweet with really nice bright acidity. It’s refreshing and consumers like being able to drink several in a sitting without getting palate fatigue. We were one of the first wine-based spritzers to come into the market in 2021 since the heyday of wine coolers back in the ’80s. We are now one of the category leaders. What also sets us apart is that we are made from 100% all-natural ingredients with top-notch rosé wine, real sugar and real fruit juice. Consumers are always pleasantly surprised to hear we are naturally low in calories and sugar and gluten-free.
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What are the biggest challenges in this industry?
The RTD sector of the wine and spirits industry is hyper-competitive right now as it is the fastest growing across the board. Standing out in the crowd is the most difficult aspect, particularly as a startup when you are underfunded as we had been until this Spring’s successful raise. This is what makes us so proud of the success we have had to date.
Please explain the logo, how it came to be and how important it is to the brand.
Lenny the Lemon was created by our co-founder Lee Smallman and our graphic designer Jack Meirs. Lee started following my Instagram account back in 2018, and that’s where I first saw the logo. As soon as I saw that cheeky little grin and those dope sunglasses I was intrigued, not even knowing what the product was. Once I figured out that it was a rosé wine and lemonade spritzer in Australia, I immediately DM-ed Lee and set up a call and we teamed up. Consumers are immediately attracted to our branding and want to learn more about it. Our branding is what grabs them, and the taste is what keeps them. We are beginning to invest in line extensions and telling the brand story — promoting Lenny the Lemon is key.
Can you talk about your co-founder Lee’s passing and the emotional toll that took on you and the business?
This is never easy to talk about. When Lee and I decided to move forward together and import Roseade cans to the US market in 2020, we spoke nearly every day for hours. We discussed the many details of the company and how we would run it together — he in Oz and me here in California. During this time, we became incredibly close friends, like brothers really. Lee had completed a dozen or so successful production runs in Australia. Lee was always on point, never missing a detail. However, when trying to produce Roseade Spritzer in CA for the first time, mistakes were made and we ended up losing the entire 50,000-can production run. It was around this time that Lee found out that he had a cancerous brain tumor. To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. I just lost the production run that I had self-funded and now was going to lose my business partner and friend. I thought we were finished as a company. I think that a lot of people probably would have walked away at this point. In my case, I dug deep and decided that I was going to fight to keep the brand going until I was totally out of options. I knew that consumers loved the brand and wanting to keep Lee’s legacy alive fueled me through some very difficult times. Lee fought the good fight and lived about 18 months after the diagnosis, 12 more than he was given by doctors. Fortunately, we were able to finally meet in person in October of 2022, about a year before he passed.
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What keeps you energized and motivated?
I have always been a pretty motivated individual professionally, but honoring Lee’s memory by making the brand successful is a key motivator. My wife and son always inspire me to achieve greatness so that I can make them proud. Now, of course, I want to be successful, to make our investors money in this venture and hopefully other ventures in the future.
What advice would you give entrepreneurs looking for funding?
Having been a career sales and marketing professional in the wine and spirits industry, I had the knowledge of how to grow a brand. What I didn’t have prior to starting Roseade USA was any fundraising experience whatsoever. We were able to raise a small amount from friends and family prior to the launch and invested roughly the same amount through our wine and spirits company, Concurrent Wine & Spirits. When we lost the first canning run, which had been self-funded by credit lines, we had to raise money to survive. We were basically perpetually trying to raise from April of 2022 until we closed our last round on May 15, 2024. My wife and third co-founder, Victoria Ash, was hugely instrumental in helping us find our way through the maze of VCs, family offices, angel investors, etc. Without Victoria spending nights and weekends networking and doing research on LinkedIn to identify strategies and potential investors, we never would have made it.
What is your advice on how to prepare for a pitch?
Oh, the pitch deck… the bane of my existence for the last 2 years. I swear we have had 500 different versions of the deck since 2022. Everybody thinks they have the secret recipe for a successful pitch deck. Take their recommendations with a grain of salt. Nobody knows your brand better than you do. You have to be comfortable with the material in the deck and understand it inside and out. Less is more! This took us forever to figure out. Top-line information is all that is needed upfront. Make sure you have professional help with the design, it makes a huge difference in the first impression. Know your numbers and don’t forget that you are the expert on your brand and category. Be confident but not cocky and show them a path to success. Have a clearly stated opening and closing date for funding rounds and stick to it. It can help create a sense of urgency in potential investors. If we could go back in time, we would have raised a lot more money in the beginning, prior to launch. After you have been in the market for a few years, you had better have some sales success otherwise you are facing a tough road.
What is something many aspiring business owners think they need that they really don’t?
This may sound crazy, but I don’t think you need to spend a ton of time on a business plan prior to getting started. Create a framework you can use to stay on track and then be nimble enough to adjust on the fly. As Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” I think that being able to think on your feet, react to changing market conditions, and using your gut instincts are far more valuable to your business than a comprehensive plan that took 12 months to put together. Don’t veer too far out of your lane when starting a new venture. I had years of experience in the industry prior to launching my two companies, so while there were new challenges, I have a core understanding of what we are trying to do. Understand that failures and mistakes are how you improve, and do better the next time.
What is your ultimate goal with this brand?
Through the end of the first six months of 2024, we have already exceeded our sales from the previous FY and are on track to hit our revenue goal for the year. We are very excited to release our first line extension in August, Pineapple Roseade! We opened two new states this year — Idaho and Arizona — and both are exceeding expectations. As I always say about Roseade, it’s just a better day drink!
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