How RXBar Got Started

Peter Rahal recounts the founding story of RXBar, which he started with his childhood friend Jared.

"In Chicago around 2010-2012, there was an emerging tech scene with Groupon, but if you were doing anything outside of information technology, you were considered a loser. There was no attention or love for a food brand.

We just wanted a good job and an opportunity to be successful. I had a background in food which was helpful on the supply chain side, and Jared was my total counterpart - very level-headed, reliable, and organized. I'm more of the creative type.

I always like to trivialize innovation. As an entrepreneur, you have all these ideas. I read an article in Inc magazine and sent it to Jared saying, '$10,000, we can do a nutrition bar.' It was some bad article, nothing to it really. Just a low-status, inspirational thing about low-cost ways to start a company.

We started making bars in my mom's basement. We got a 5-quart mixer, then a 20-quart vertical mixer. We didn't know how to form or package the products, so we had to figure that out.

I was doing CrossFit at the time, which became our distribution channel. It was very clear - I looked at Whole Foods and traditional food retail and had no idea how to get there. But CrossFit gyms were popping up in 2012-2013 with no competition. You weren't allowed on the shelf if you weren't paleo. It was the perfect example of an uncompetitive, small market that was growing like crazy. We could build distribution there and make the product at home.

So we just went for it. We burned the boats and jumped off the bridge to figure out how to fly."