| Metric | 2024 (Jul-Dec, 6mo) | 2025 (Jan-Oct, 10mo) | YoY signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $15,377 | $72,757 | ~4.7x annualized growth |
| Gross Margin | 66.6% | 62.6% | Slight compression as wholesale grew |
| Operating Expenses | $6,070 | $50,949 | ~8.4x — outpaced revenue |
| Net Income | +$3,950 | -$9,087 | Profitable to slight loss |
| Channels | Squarespace only | + Faire + Airgoods + Shopify | Wholesale infrastructure built |
Jesse ran a profitable business in 2024 by spending almost nothing. In 2025 he scaled revenue ~5x and expenses ~8x — Meals, Travel, and Office grew much faster than revenue. This isn't a broken business. It's a founder who can sell but hasn't installed cost discipline. That's exactly the gap operating partner + KPIs + monthly review fills. Add capital + discipline and the unit economics already work.
| Channel | Total 2025 | % of rev | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faire (wholesale) | $21.3K | 29% | Ramped from $0 in Jan to $3-4K/mo by year-end |
| Squarespace (DTC) | $20.3K | 28% | Steady DTC; migrating to Shopify |
| Other Sales | $22.9K | 31% | Direct wholesale, events, pop-ups. Needs detail in diligence. |
| Airgoods + Shopify + Shipping | $8.3K | 12% | Aggregator + DTC migration in progress |
| Line | Total | % of rev | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| COGS | $27.2K | 37.4% | Healthy for premium CPG |
| Office Expenses | $12.8K | 17.6% | Inc. $4.2K merchant fees, $5.9K supplies |
| Meals & Entertainment | $11.5K | 15.8% | High; needs breakout (buyer entertainment vs personal) |
| Advertising & Marketing | $5.4K | 7.4% | Modest; growth lever |
| General Business | $4.8K | 6.6% | Software, subscriptions |
| Contract Labor | $4.0K | 5.5% | Single contractor or events? |
| Vehicle Expenses | $3.8K | 5.3% | Founder-as-driver pattern; flag as personal |
| Travel | $3.6K | 4.9% | Buyer pitches? |
| Commissions & Fees | $3.4K | 4.6% | Faire + sales fees |
| Channel | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DTC (Shopify) | Live | holamijachips.com, 2,000+ verified customer reviews |
| Wholesale (Faire + direct) | Live | 95 active doors across indie retail + local accounts |
| Bubble Goods, Foundation Foods, Airgoods | Live | Niche / clean-label aggregators |
| Thrive Market | Onboarding | Online clean-label aggregator; could 5x revenue at scale |
| Good Eggs, Jimbo's, Irvine Ranch, Nude Market, Elroy's | Onboarding | SoCal premium / clean-label grocery; high-LTV demographic |
| Whole Foods, Sprouts, Erewhon, HEB, Bristol Farms | Not yet | The next-wave unlock |
Hola Mija ramped 4.7x in 2024 → 2025, ended 2025 near breakeven at ~$87K rev with 62.6% gross margin and an accelerating wholesale ramp. Faire went from $0 in January to $3-4K/mo by year-end, and 6 premium accounts (Thrive, Good Eggs, Jimbo's, Irvine Ranch, Nude, Elroy's) are onboarding right now. The brand is working at small scale, profitably. The bet is "can we accelerate retail wins from 95 doors to 250+ doors and ship a second SKU."
Hola Mija is a sub-scale brand sitting on a category tailwind, with the founder already in market. Capital + brand muscle + retail access can compound this into a real exit category in 24-36 months. The chip is commodity. The brand and SKU expansion are the moat.
| Brand | Outcome | What we learn |
|---|---|---|
| Siete | PepsiCo, ~$1.2B (2024) | 10-yr build, multi-SKU Latino pantry. The dream exit. Won by going broad, not deep. |
| Masa | Series A $14M (2024), $20M+ ARR yr 2 | Tallow chip market leader. Premium single-SKU. Direct competitor. |
| Boulder Canyon (B&G Foods) | Tallow line launched 2024 | Incumbents are entering. Category going mass. Window is open but closing. |
| Late July (Campbell's) | ~$100M+ rev acquisition | Floor exit for a clean-label tortilla chip brand done well. |
| Lever | What's needed | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Premier retail distribution | Whole Foods, Sprouts, Erewhon, Bristol Farms, HEB. Direct buyer relationships, regional first then national. 18-24 month grind. | Kyros / Neww network |
| 2. Capital to fund inventory + retail entry | Slotting fees, demos, co-op marketing, working capital for retail PO cycles. $50K initial growth capital, plan reserves of $300K+ follow-on. | Kyros |
| 3. SKU expansion (chip is wedge, not destination) | Chips → salsa → tortillas → queso → seasoning. 4-6 SKUs in 24-30 months. Brand-as-pantry, not single-product. This is the Siete playbook. | Jesse + Kyros R&D |
| 4. Brand build-out | Identity refresh, content engine, retail-grade packaging, GTM playbook, ad creative. Neww's full creative stack deployed against the brand. | Neww |
| Phase | Window | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 — Close the pipeline | 0-90 days | Lock Thrive + Good Eggs + Jimbo's + Irvine Ranch + Nude + Elroy's onboarding. Diligence with Jesse closes. Cap table set. Brand audit + retail-grade packaging briefed. Target: 95 doors → 150 doors, $8K/mo → $20K/mo run-rate. |
| Phase 2 — Premier doors | 3-12 months | Whole Foods regional + Sprouts regional + Erewhon (LA-native, fastest given Hola Mija's home market). Brand refresh ships. Second SKU in R&D (salsa or tortilla). Target: $300-500K ARR. |
| Phase 3 — Multi-SKU + national | 12-24 months | Whole Foods national. Second SKU at retail. Third SKU in R&D. Target: $2-4M ARR, 500-1,000 doors. |
| Phase 4 — Exit-ready | 24-36 months | 4-6 SKUs at retail. Target: $8-15M ARR. Inbound from strategics (PepsiCo, Conagra, Campbell's, Mondelez). Decision: Series B or sale. |
Implied valuation: $400K post-money at the $120K / 30% entry. Against $87K 2025 revenue, that's 4.6x trailing — fair for a near-breakeven CPG with 4.7x YoY growth, 62.6% gross margin, and active door pipeline. The follow-on tranche ($10-15K for +10%) is structured cheap to protect the 40% target if performance is on track but Jesse needs time. This is a 6-month operator bet with a clean exit checkpoint via the next raise, not a 24-36 month hold.
"What's your 24-month SKU roadmap, and which of the 6 onboarding accounts are confirmed vs in conversation?"
If the answer is "focused on perfecting the chip, accounts are early-stage" → this is a $5M cap brand. Pass at any valuation.
If the answer is "chip is wedge, salsa is in R&D, Thrive launches in Q3, Whole Foods buyer is in conversation" → this is a $50-200M brand. $150K is the steal.
Goal: drive doors + DTC revenue hard for 180 days, then run a priced round at a meaningful markup. Every dollar Kyros spends in support compounds into the next valuation.
| Month | Doors / Retail | DTC / Brand | Operations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Close Thrive contract. Confirm Good Eggs, Jimbo's, Irvine Ranch, Nude, Elroy's launch dates. Build buyer pipeline doc. | Brand audit. Shopify migration kickoff. DTC analytics baseline. | Diligence closes. Cap table set. Monthly KPI dashboard live. Cost discipline rules. |
| 2 | All 6 onboarding accounts launched. First 30 days of velocity data captured. | Brand identity refresh briefed. Retail-grade packaging in design. Paid social testing $2-3K. | First monthly board review. Founder salary set. P&L cleanup (close personal expense lines). |
| 3 | Whole Foods regional buyer outreach (NorCal + SoCal). Sprouts category buyer intro. Erewhon LA push. | New packaging shipped. DTC site relaunch. Influencer seeding $5K. | Run-rate target: $20-25K/mo. 150+ doors active. |
| 4 | Whole Foods regional pitch meetings. First 90 days of Thrive velocity for case study. | Second SKU R&D — salsa or tortilla. Retail rough cost. Co-packer expansion conversations. | Raise prep starts. Deck v1. Data room structure. Outbound list for CPG seed funds. |
| 5 | Whole Foods regional verbal commits. Sprouts plan. Pipeline doc updated for raise narrative. | Second SKU prototype done. Brand merch + content engine live. | Raise outreach begins. Term sheet target: $2-3M post on $300-500K ARR. |
| 6 | Whole Foods regional set dates. Run-rate target: $30-40K/mo. 200-250 doors active. | Second SKU launch plan locked. DTC running at 15-20% of revenue with positive contribution margin. | Raise close target. Kyros's 30% marks to $600K-$900K paper. Decision: lead vs follow at next round. |
| Metric | Today | Month 6 target | Stretch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active doors | 95 | 200-250 | 300+ |
| Monthly run-rate | $8K/mo | $30-40K/mo | $50K/mo |
| Annualized rev | $87K | $360-480K | $600K |
| SKUs | 1 | 2 (1 launched, 1 in market) | 2 launched |
| Gross margin | 62.6% | 60%+ | 65%+ |
| Operating burn | ~$900/mo | Breakeven | Profitable |
| Whole Foods status | None | Regional verbal | Regional set date |
If Hola Mija hits $360-480K ARR with 200-250 doors, a Whole Foods regional verbal, and 2 SKUs, the next raise lands at $2-3M post-money based on current CPG seed comps. Kyros's 30% marks to $600K-$900K on a $120K cash basis — a 5-7x markup in 6 months. Add the +10% follow-on tranche if milestones hit and the markup compounds further.
Move forward with the $120K / 30% entry plus $10-15K milestone follow-on for 40% total, with 6 months of Neww operating support. Lock the term sheet. Get under the hood on:
Once diligence is in, the term sheet drops with milestone definitions for the +10% tranche. Two-week target from first Jesse call.
Hola Mija raises a Series Seed at $2-3M post on $360-480K ARR, with 200-250 active doors, a Whole Foods regional verbal, 2 SKUs in market, and a brand refresh shipped. Kyros's 30% marks to $600K-$900K paper from a $120K cash basis — a 5-7x markup in 6 months. Decision then: lead the round at the markup, follow at pro-rata, or take partial liquidity.
Hola Mija ships 4-6 retail SKUs at premier doors nationally, at $8-15M ARR, with inbound interest from strategic CPG acquirers (PepsiCo, Conagra, Campbell's). Kyros's compounded position is worth $4-12M on a $130K cash basis. Latino-founded, Mexican-American pantry brand that built into a category leader before private label arrived. Siete-shaped outcome at a fraction of the build cost.