Krishna Kaliannan wanted to start a tech company but failed at every attempt.&nbsp;On the side, he was teaching himself how to cook with high-protein, low-sugar ingredients. Not just out of interest, but out of necessity. As a teenager, Krishna had been diagnosed with diabetes and epilepsy, meaning he adopted a keto diet long before it was trendy.&nbsp;Krishna’s home experiments with pea powder and monk fruit eventually became Catalina Crunch, one of the country’s most popular high-protein, low-carb breakfast cereals and snacks.&nbsp;In this episode, Krishna shares how a life-changing health condition sparked an obsession with healthy baking— and a brand that reimagined snacking.What You’ll Learn<ul><li>How to turn a health challenge into a business opportunity&nbsp;</li><li>The art and science of baking with esoteric ingredients</li><li>When to trust partners and when it’s best to take charge yourself</li><li>Why the DTC model is great for some industries and disastrous for others</li></ul>Timestamps:00:06:16 - Dealing with diabetes and epilepsy as a college student00:12:38 - What Krishna learns from his early failures in tech00:22:43 - The first, low-sugar cocoa puffs: “Rocks that tasted like soil.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;00:27:36 - His homemade cereal gets good enough to sell00:32:42 - Naming the brand: classy alliteration and a nod to a Will Ferrell movie&nbsp;00:44:51 - Learning to make cereal like the pros at Texas A&M00:54:43 - Krishna moves from NYC to Indiana to make sure the cereal is made right01:01:04 - Whole Foods, Costco, and becoming a household brandThis episode was researched and produced by Chris Maccini with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our engineer was Kwesi Lee.&nbsp;Follow How I Built This:Instagram → <a href="https://www.instagram.com/howibuiltthis/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@howibuiltthis</a>X → <a href="https://x.com/howibuiltthis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@HowIBuiltThis</a>Facebook → <a href="https://www.facebook.com/howibuiltthis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">How I Built This</a>Follow Guy Raz:Instagram → <a href="https://www.instagram.com/guy.raz/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@guy.raz</a>Youtube →<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNSfrxNEmCruNtjIzxCBHjg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> guy_raz</a>X → <a href="https://x.com/guyraz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@guyraz</a>Substack →<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/guyraz.substack.com__;!!Iwwt!RZoD751oWzUzoqqdJiqaoL6HdJfRHDUO1TKvYJ424d3Udn7-Pw9Nj6nEsauh9zcgEvLjUEc$" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://guyraz.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">guyraz.substack.com</a>Website →<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/guyraz.substack.com__;!!Iwwt!RZoD751oWzUzoqqdJiqaoL6HdJfRHDUO1TKvYJ424d3Udn7-Pw9Nj6nEsauh9zcgEvLjUEc$" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://guyraz.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">guyraz.com</a>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

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Catalina Crunch: Krishna Kaliannan. From Homemade Keto Cocoa Puffs to Breakfast Aisle Breakthrough

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