A Former PepsiCo Leader’s Recipe For Entrepreneurial Success

In 2010, while working for PepsiCo, Adam Deremo and his colleagues Matt Schnarr and Dan Tzotzis saw an opportunity to solve a problem. They saw a lot of people looking for a pick-me-up to help them get through the day. But many don’t want to drink more coffee and refuse to try energy drinks. Why? Because they don’t like the taste.

So, the three pioneers landed on the idea of adding the taste of chocolate to a dose of caffeine to create a delicious boost. On the road to growing the business, they successfully pitched on the reality TV show Dragons’ Den.

Such was the beginning of Awake, makers of chocolate bites with half a cup’s worth of caffeine that won $5 million in funding at the end of 2024. Deremo, CEO, shares his story within the food industry to co-found the Mississauga, Ontario, company along with his colleagues, and his winning strategies for launching a new venture.

Please detail your career journey within the food industry. What sparked your interest in the industry, particularly in financial analysis and business analysis of new products?

I had the opportunity to work for two great companies in the food industry: Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo. As a university student, I was attracted to consumer-packaged goods, because I liked the idea of working with brands and products that people use every day.  I connected with Kraft through their campus recruiting process and immediately liked the people, so I chose to join.

I pursued finance because I wanted a role that required me to truly understand the details of the business. I knew that I wanted to launch a company of my own one day and felt that having a detailed understanding of how a business works, and how it makes money, would set me up for success.

While at Kraft, I had the good fortune to start out working on the Walmart and Costco businesses, which taught me a lot about what customers of that caliber require from their suppliers, and how to think through strategies for growing your business alongside your customer. I then moved over to the beverage portfolio, supporting the launch of ready-to-drink Kool Aid in Canada, and the rapid growth of the Crystal Light brand. That experience gave me insight into how innovation can be leveraged to grow a business.

I later moved to PepsiCo, where I led pricing strategy for the Canadian food and beverage business, and then had the opportunity to lead the marketing finance and food service finance teams before leaving corporate to start Awake Chocolate.

I look back on my time at PepsiCo fondly. I was blessed to be surrounded by hardworking teammates and great brands, in a culture that was growth obsessed. It was an amazing training ground for launching a new brand.

What were some of the lessons learned that have enabled you to be successful in your own venture?

There are many lessons learned from my days at Kraft and PepsiCo that have helped us succeed at Awake.  A handful of those lessons have been most impactful:

Execution is everything. There is an old saying at Pepsi that a “B” idea with “A” execution beats the opposite all day long. That has been resoundingly true at Awake. Wherever we’ve had success, whether on college campuses, in convenience stores, on Amazon or at Costco, it has been because we nailed the details. Our team clearly understood the requirements to succeed, what could go wrong, and took the steps required to win.

What gets measured, gets done. It’s a leader’s responsibility to make sure that his or her team clearly understands what success looks like, and I have found that a big part of that boils down to measuring the right things. When the right metrics are available, the team can self-correct and drive performance that accomplishes goals.  At Awake, we adopted the OKR framework, and it has been a great tool for defining what matters, and therefore what gets measured.

Speak with truth and candor. This was a core value at PepsiCo that we adopted on day one at Awake. The more direct you can be, while remaining respectful, the easier it is to confront important issues.

In her very successful book Radical Candor, author Kim Scott talks about the difference between being nice and being kind. She rightly points out that it is often easier to be nice to a co-worker by not being completely candid about things, but in the long run that behavior is not kind because you are preventing them from taking steps towards solving a problem, or towards self-improvement. It makes sense, after all, people can’t possibly solve problems that they don’t know about.   

I also learned some lessons about what big companies get wrong. The most visible example is the speed of decision-making. Contrary to popular corporate belief, it is possible to make decisions without multiple meetings and PowerPoint decks. This is especially true when you’re clear about what matters to your consumer and what metrics you’re trying to optimize for in the business. So, we’re comfortable making decisions quickly with the data we have at hand, knowing that occasionally we’ll need to course correct as we go.

The transition from established corporate companies to entrepreneurship—was that always a goal of yours? Why were you attracted to starting your own business?

I never imagined a career path that didn’t involve building a company of my own, so it was always a goal. I think there are a few reasons why I was attracted to entrepreneurship. 

The first reason is personality—I’ve always been a conceptual thinker with low interest in formality and rules. That drove my schoolteachers nuts. In university, I took the Myers Briggs personality test and discovered that I have an “Innovator” (ENTP) personality type. Innovators are attracted to the search for new possibilities and solutions, and that totally tracked for me. So, it makes sense that I would seek out a career path that rewards finding new ways of doing things in a relatively unstructured environment. That’s pretty much the job description of an entrepreneur.

A second reason I was attracted to entrepreneurship is that I grew up in a home with a business owner, so I had an authentic appreciation for how rewarding—and challenging—that career path could be from an early age. The same dynamic was true for both of my co-founders in Awake, they had entrepreneur parents, so I guess we were all wired to do this from childhood.

Lastly, I have a high sense of alertness to opportunity. This is a feature that most entrepreneurs seem to share, and it is both a blessing and curse. On the one hand, you see openings that others may miss, and that can be incredibly rewarding, both financially and personally. On the other hand, you’re often spotting new opportunities, and it is difficult not to chase them all, which can lead to focus dilution.

That was a real challenge for me in our early days with Awake. Over time, I have become much better at maintaining strategic discipline and keeping the team focused on the few things that really matter, but that was a learned skill. It certainly didn’t come naturally to me.

What lessons have you learned over the past decade leading your own business? Any take-aways for other CEOs—no matter the industry?

I’ve learned so much over the past decade leading Awake. It has truly been the most intense developmental period of my career. Of the lessons learned, a few stand out as most important.

Know when to let go. This is especially true for founder CEOs.  One of the overlooked features of starting your own company is that when you start out, you’re responsible for everything. You’re both the CEO and the mailroom clerk.  As a result, there are a million demands for your time, and if you’re not careful, you get used to the idea that you need to do it all. That kind of thinking becomes very counterproductive as the business grows, and your team grows along with it. 

If you trust someone enough to hire them into the company that you’ve poured your heart and soul into, it doesn’t make sense to stand in their way by refusing to relinquish control. Instead, communicate a clear vision of success, make sure the team has the resources they need to succeed, create an infrastructure that measures performance properly and empower your team to execute.

Your board of directors should be a resource, not an obligation. It’s true that every board has a governance function to play on behalf of the shareholders, but that is far from the only function of the board. As CEO, you benefit when your board members bring knowledge, experience and a network of contacts in areas that position your business to thrive.

Moreover, when you seek out members whose expertise is different from your own, it expands the organizational knowledge your business possesses. And, once the right members are in place, ask for their help when you need it! If they’re not willing to roll up their sleeves, they shouldn’t be on your board in the first place.

The difference between success and failure will probably come down to perseverance. When we were getting started, one of our early advisors said, “This will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think.” That sentiment turned out to be true, but it was understated by a few orders of magnitude. Building a business is massively difficult.

There will be days when it seems impossible, but it isn’t. In those moments of intense difficulty, a steadfast refusal to give up is the most important quality a leader can have. Not only will your perseverance keep the business moving in the right direction, but it may also inspire your team to a whole new level of performance. 

Last, enjoy the ride. Despite being a challenging role, the rewards of being a CEO are immense. Few things in life are more satisfying than watching your team succeed and knowing that you were there to coach and support them along the way. I probably don’t take as much time to reflect on our wins as I should, but in the moments that I do spend reflecting, it makes me very proud.