Startup lessons from the sauce aisle 🥄 | Liam White (Dr. Will's)

Real food, real risks, real rewards

Daniel Ionescu

Apr 27, 2025

Transcript

📺 Watch now on Substack or YouTube | 🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

— Millennial Masters is sponsored by Jolt ⚡️ The UK’s top web hosting service

The healthy eating revolution is here, and Liam White is on the frontlines.

The ex-banker turned co-founder of Dr Will’s is taking on Big Food with a simple mission: better ingredients, no shortcuts, no ultra-processed junk.

In this episode, he breaks down what it really takes to build a challenger brand, stay ahead of the health trends, and scale without selling out.

This one’s packed with real-world tactics (and maybe a little bit of secret sauce).

🔗 Find Liam on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok

Takeaways from Liam’s episode

1️⃣ Your first product won’t be perfect

Dr Will’s’ early recipes were too healthy for mass appeal. Liam learned to tweak, taste and iterate without compromising the brand’s mission.

2️⃣ Founders who show up win

Liam personally hits supermarkets, talks to staff, answers customer DMs and drives TikTok reach by being visible, something big brands can’t fake.

3️⃣ Crowdfunding is part marketing, part money-raising

Offline investors bring credibility, and a passionate army of small investors becomes your loudest voice.

4️⃣ Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint

Liam reminds his younger self: patience, resilience, and small daily wins matter way more than instant success.

5️⃣ Outsource the right things, but stay painfully close to quality

Dr Wills partnered with a UK manufacturer early but stayed hands-on daily to protect their ‘secret sauce.’

📚 Liam‘s book recommendations

Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh — Liam highlighted Tony Hsieh’s obsessive focus on customer service as a big inspiration. Hsieh built Zappos around delighting customers and eventually sold to Amazon, another customer-obsessed giant.

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight — The memoir of Nike’s founder resonated with Liam for showing the messy realities of scaling a brand, not just the glamour. He especially connected with how Knight balanced growth with constant financial risk.

Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken — Liam pointed to this book as a turning point for the broader consumer shift away from ultra-processed foods. He said it had a huge impact on mainstream eating habits and customer awareness.

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker — Liam referenced this book when talking about his personal habits. It made him double down on sleep quality, recovery, and daily routines as a foundation for long-term resilience as a founder.