From Side Hustle to Snack Empire: How Chomps Co-Founders Built a $1B Brand Without Venture Capital

“If you want to see us work really hard, tell us something’s not possible.” — Rashid Ali, Co-founder of Chomps

In an era when tech startups chase valuations and funding rounds like milestones, the story of Chomps — a better-for-you meat snack brand — offers a refreshing alternative: bootstrapped growth, relentless focus, and gritty execution.

In an interview on Masters of Scale, co-founders Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali unpacked how they took Chomps from a scrappy side hustle to a brand projected to hit $1 billion in retail sales — all while holding off on outside capital for nearly a decade.

Here's how they did it, and what any early-stage entrepreneur can learn from their journey.

1. The Idea Sparked by Pain — and Slim Jims

Pete Maldonado was a personal trainer frustrated by the lack of convenient, healthy protein options. He loved the form factor of Slim Jims — but not the ingredients.

“I grew up eating more Slim Jims than I’d ever like to admit,” Pete recalls. “But I always thought, why isn’t there a better-for-you version?”

That question planted the seed for Chomps — a grass-fed, sugar-free meat stick designed to deliver clean protein without preservatives or junk.

2. From Frozen Failure to Founder's Clarity

Before Chomps, Pete launched a frozen meal company that flopped. He attributes its downfall to scaling too fast and taking money from the wrong investor — a hard-earned lesson that shaped his philosophy moving forward:

“We wanted to make sure we could do this on our own — grow a self-sufficient business that wasn’t reliant on outside capital.”

The collapse of his first startup didn’t deter him — it clarified what not to do.

3. A Poker Game, a Diner, and a Partnership

Rashid Ali was a corporate consultant with entrepreneurial roots. When a mutual friend introduced him to Pete at a poker game, he was intrigued. The next day, Rashid texted Pete offering help — and over breakfast at a diner, Chomps got its second co-founder.

“It truly was a side hustle,” Rashid said. “We designed the company to be DTC so we could support it nights and weekends.”

Their partnership clicked despite — or because of — their differences. Pete moved fast. Rashid played strategic long games. Both shared immigrant roots, a chip on their shoulder, and an obsessive work ethic.

4. The Call That Changed Everything

In early 2016, Pete was walking his dog when he got a cold call from a Trader Joe’s executive. The buyer wanted to stock Chomps.

“I thought I was getting punked,” Pete admitted. But within weeks, Chomps had a PO for 1.1 million sticks.

It was a bet-the-business moment. Rashid did the math: they'd need $1 million in upfront capital to fulfill the order. Instead of selling equity, they raised friends-and-family debt, backed by a PO — including a personal guarantee from Rashid to his brother.

Trader Joe’s gave them 17 weeks to deliver. The sticks sold out in five.

5. Building a Brand With Focus, Not Flash

Instead of chasing more retailers, Chomps doubled down on DTC and Trader Joe’s. They resisted the urge to scale fast, choosing instead to throttle growth strategically.

“People get so excited and just want to go national… but you haven’t tested the product or your infrastructure,” Rashid warned. “We grew gradually while figuring out who we actually are.”

This discipline paid off. When they eventually entered other retailers, their product velocity — the number of units sold per store per week — was off the charts.

6. Listening, Learning, and Rebranding

Chomps’ biggest insight came from listening to data. Usage studies revealed that most of their customers were women — a stark contrast to the hyper-masculine branding of legacy jerky products.

So they pivoted.

Gone was the cowboy aesthetic. In came a friendlier, wellness-oriented vibe — complete with "chompspirations" (motivational messages inside each wrapper). It worked. The brand's resonance soared, especially among health-conscious consumers.

7. Raising Capital — On Their Own Terms

Despite explosive growth, Chomps didn’t raise traditional capital until 2021. Even then, they didn’t need the money — they wanted a partner who had “been there, done that.”

Their diligence process was unusually intense. They interviewed every team member and portfolio company — even founders who had been pushed out — before choosing Stride Consumer Partners.

“Anyone can be a great partner when things are going great,” Pete said. “I want to know what happens when things go bad.”

8. Entrepreneurial Advice from the Chomps Founders

For those building in CPG — or anywhere — Pete and Rashid offered these four pieces of hard-won advice:

From Pete:

• Just get started. It won’t be perfect. Launch anyway.
• Obsess over the details. Know your numbers inside and out.

From Rashid:

• Listen to everyone — but apply it through your own lens.
• Understand your unit economics. Don’t believe the myth that scale automatically improves margins.

Final Take: Brick by Brick, Stick by Stick

From an idea sparked by protein frustration, Chomps has become a category-defining brand — without blitzscaling or billion-dollar funding rounds.

The secret? Patience, precision, and an unshakable belief that they could do it their way.

As Rashid put it:

“We could always see the other side of it. You always had to have that optimism that we’re going to get through it.”