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Kara Goldin knows a thing or two about building a brand around a successful e-commerce strategy. A majority of which is from its website, drinkhint.com. 

Hint founder and CEO Kara Goldin knows a thing or two about building a brand around a successful e-commerce strategy. Approximately 40 percent of the flavored water company’s $100 million in annual revenue comes from online sales, a majority of which is from its website, drinkhint.com. When advising entrepreneurs on how to build a foundation for success online, Goldin encourages them to keep it simple.

“Whether you’re a $500,000 brand or you’re a $1 billion brand, start small,” she said in an interview included in this episode. “Launch a small website… and make it really simple to transact. If you start with ‘the consumer controls your destiny,’ make it easy. Think about your own life. People are really busy. Spend money on photography, (include) a really basic story and make it super-easy to check out. And then spend a little bit of money on ads.”

As part of the interview, recorded at Hint’s headquarters in San Francisco, Goldin also discussed the mission and purpose of its brick-and-mortar retail store, which it describes as an “experiential water bar,” and how it has enabled the company to learn more about its consumers.

Also in this episode: A conversation with James Le Compte, the CEO of To’ak, an ultra-premium chocolate brand based in Ecuador. Le Compte discussed the origins and positioning of To’ak and shared an amazing story of how the company located and identified the rare cacao used in its products.