Raised $12M Water Brand

Mike Cessario shares how Liquid Death's unconventional approach to water branding led to successful fundraising despite skepticism.

"We raised around 12 million total right now. Everyone was like 'this is such a silly idea' when we raised all this money. But I always reference Reid Hoffman's podcast Master of Scale - he says truly innovative ideas are almost comical at first. If it makes a lot of sense right now, it probably means there's 4 other companies that have been working on it for 5 years already.

In a category where all products are perceived as the same - people aren't assuming 'I only drink Fiji because it's got 0.75 more electrolytes than Smart Water.' Most people assume water is the same. It's more of a brand play. We believe if we can make you laugh, we have a better chance of you giving us your dollar than the faceless brand next to us who's trying to shout about electrolytes.

Since launching in Whole Foods the day the pandemic started, even with 80% decreased store traffic, we've had insane growth and we're now the fastest growing water brand in Whole Foods."