How Grenade Built a £200M Brand from a £500 Startup with Juliet Barratt

Screw It Just DO It with Alex Chisnall

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4d ago 45:08

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How do you go from a £500 startup to a £200 million brand?

On this week’s Screw It Just DO It, I speak to Juliet Barratt, co-founder of Grenade. If you've ever picked up a Carb Killa bar, you’ve seen the impact of brand, timing, and relentlessness in action. Juliet and her husband launched Grenade during a recession, built it into a market leader, and sold it to Mondelez for a nine-figure sum.

But this isn’t just another glossy success story.

Juliet opens up about the toll of selling your business, what she’d do differently, and why founders need to be laser-focused on product, branding, and fit. She also shares hard-earned lessons about scaling with your partner, the value of mentorship, and what the real road to a global brand looks like. Whether you're building a business, preparing for a raise, or staring down an exit, this is the unfiltered version most founders never hear.

Key Takeaways

Brand is everything. Distinctive packaging and positioning were critical to Grenade standing out in a saturated market.
Timing matters. Launching during a recession forced focus and discipline, but also provided unexpected opportunities.
The exit isn’t always a win. Juliet opens up about regretting their early sale of equity and the emotional cost of parting with the brand.
Founders must protect focus. Know when to bring in professionals, and stay close to what makes the brand work.
Scaling with a partner is hard. Clear boundaries and mutual respect were vital to building Grenade as a husband-and-wife team.

🎧 New episodes of Screw It Just DO It drop every Tuesday & Thursday - so makes sure you follow wherever you listen. You’ll hear real conversations with founders who’ve taken a risk, built something from scratch, and figured it out along the way.

🔥 Want to take things further? Join me in person this October at the Festival of Entrepreneurs on the 8–9th October at the NEC in Birmingham. The Festival of Entrepreneurs is where 5-10,000 ambitious founders come together to learn from the people who've actually done it. I'm giving my listeners free 2-day passes.

Real entrepreneurs, real stories, real strategies – exactly like what you're hearing right now, but live and in person. Go to www.festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk and grab your free pass before they're gone.

https://eventdata.uk/Visitor/FestivalOfEntrepreneurs2025.aspx?TrackingCode=ACHISNALL

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