Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jason Ramin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jason thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

Asking for help was never really a controversial topic for us. Both Matt and I have been lucky to be surrounded by a community that is constantly looking out for each other. So much of our success is due to help provided by friends, family, and even complete strangers. We will always be incredibly grateful for everyone who has helped us along the way and have vowed to “pay it forward” as much as possible by helping any other aspiring entrepreneurs in our circles whenever there is a need.

One episode in particular comes to mind, when we were starting to grow out of our initial warehouse (my home garage). This was during the period that my cofounder Matt and I would write a hand-written note on ever single box that we packed and shipped out. As we started to grow, this became more and more difficult to do.

One day we decided to ask our friends to come over the garage on a Sunday and help us knock out a bunch of packages all at once. To our surprise, we had so many volunteers that we had to schedule them out throughout the day. Even our parents showed up! They were paid only in pizza, good music, and fun memories. We ended up packaging and signing close to 1000 boxes that day and saved ourselves so many hours of work.

Thankfully, we have now grown out of the garage warehouse and have a great 3PL handling our shipments every day but we will never forget the infamous Pinch Packing Day Extravaganza!

Jason, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in Los Angeles with a passion for marketing and Taco Bell. I never paid any attention to my gut health. I always figured I was “ok” in the bathroom and it was normal to have a leg or two fall asleep in there before you’re finished.

One day at work I saw my best friend Matt stirring up a huge glass of this radioactive looking Metamucil and I started to laugh. I always thought that stuff was for grandma. But Matt convinced me to try it for a week and my mind was blown at the improvements I had.

Over time, we became more conscious about what we were consuming. It was surprising—and frustrating—that a pure, high-quality daily fiber supplement free from unnecessary additives was nowhere to be found. So, around eight years ago, Matt and I teamed up to create what we believe is the world’s best fiber supplement.

Neither of us had prior experience in manufacturing or e-commerce; both of us came from marketing consulting backgrounds, which meant we were starting from square one. We spent a full year gathering insights, working with top-tier food scientists, and consulting dietitians and doctors to craft a unique blend that became Pinch Magic Fiber.

In doing so, we helped spark the premium prebiotic fiber movement, shifting away from traditional options like Metamucil or basic psyllium husk. Our mission has been to bridge the “Fiber Gap,” educating others about the fact that only 5% of Americans meet daily fiber recommendations. We’ve crafted our product to deliver potent, pure fiber alongside all-natural ingredients.

While Pinch started as a solution for daily digestive health, it’s been adopted by diverse communities—from those dealing with complex gut health issues, like Crohn’s or IBS, to elite athletes and Special Operations personnel aiming for peak performance. The feedback we receive from these customers has been beyond rewarding, and it continues to fuel our commitment.

Pinch remains a family-and-friends-operated business, allowing us to stay customer-focused without the pressure of outside investors. We sell directly through our website, which lets us deliver a top-notch customer experience. And, importantly, every review we showcase is 100% genuine, as we’ve never paid or incentivized customers to share their thoughts.

Today, our labor of love continues to thrive, with tens of thousands of loyal customers and incredible feedback that reaffirms our vision.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

After our initial launch, Pinch was off to a great start and getting feedback about the product in a way we never expected. While we were initially hoping to simply help the average dude “poop better”, it turns out the formula we created was helping people with significant digestive issues in ways that other brands like Metamucil could not. People who had been using other brands for 40 years, were switching to Pinch and never looking back.

Our excitement was palpable and we confidently dug deep into our own pockets to manufacture our next batch. Soon after the second batch was blended, we tested the final product before putting it for sale and noticed something was off. While the batch tested to meet minimum safety standards in the lab, our own individual testing uncovered that something was off with this batch. The formula did not taste right, did not blend right, and did not look right. So we put the sale of the new lot on hold while we investigated.

Soon thereafter we discovered our manufacturer had swapped out one of the key ingredients with a cheaper material without notifying us. We were left with a decision to make: sell a subpar product to people whose trust we had earned or risk selling out of Pinch for a while and lose 10’s of thousands of dollars, while we fix the problem. We chose option B.

We did indeed sell out of Pinch. People were pissed. We lost a lot of money and were in major trouble. But at the end of the day, we found a much better manufacturer, got things up and running as quickly as possible and relaunched stronger than ever.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When we were developing Pinch and nailing down the flavor, we always used a shaker bottle to mix it with water before drinking. This worked like a charm. What never really occurred to us is how others may default to another method of mixing: stirring with a spoon. So upon launching we started getting a bunch of complaints that Pinch doesn’t dissolve well and clumps up when using a spoon to stir it.

I must admit: we freaked out a bit. We just dumped a bunch of money into a product that people are going to use incorrectly and will never come back. So within the first month of launch we decided to tackle this issue head on:

1. We updated imagery and copy on our website immediately to include the shaker bottle method
2. We partnered with Blender Bottle and started selling our very own branded bottle alongside Pinch on our website
3. We printed marketing inserts with very clear suggestions on how to best mix your Pinch and included them on every customers first order.

All of these pivots allowed us to not only avoid complaints, but we also had a nice little ancillary product to increase our average order size!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pinchmagic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinchmagicfiber/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pinchmagic/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pinchmagic