We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sam Madani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

We had the idea for BOMANI very organically. At the time, we were working high-intensity finance jobs. Like many of our friends, we wanted a pick-me-up before enjoying our nights out. We were frustrated with the limited options that existed: it was either synthetic energy drinks mixed with caffeine or inconvenient espresso martinis that were often filled with sugar. We learned that by using high quality coffee, we didn’t have to add a ton of sugar (or worse, synthetic sweeteners). Our vision was clear: we wanted to create a skinny espresso martini that was delicious, convenient, and had a clean nutrition label. Thankfully, whether it’s at Whole Foods, Ralphs, BevMo, or one of the bars & restaurants that carry our product, customers have loved BOMANI!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

BOMANI is a canned espresso martini. Our original product is a Skinny Espresso Martini. It’s delicious and convenient to drink with a super clean nutrition label: it’s zero sugar, zero carbs, and only 110 calories per can. At 1/2 a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine and 5.7% ABV, BOMANI is the perfect first drink to turn your night on. Today, BOMANI is available on shelves at Ralphs, Whole Foods, BevMo, and more. BOMANI is also available for delivery on Instacart and GoPuff as well as available on the menu at select bars & restaurants.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Recently, we made two major pivots that have had profoundly positive impacts on our business. We learned last summer that although our customers found our packaging to be beautiful, it simply wasn’t eye-catching enough – it was getting lost on shelves!

So, we embarked on a project to wholly redesign our 4packs. To make sure we weren’t being too bashful, we decided we wanted to name the project “Project Mallet.” In other words, it was our goal to make changes with a mallet, not with tweezers.

Project Mallet was a major success, with the new 4packs boosting sales over 50%. However, the job wasn’t done.

By listening to our customers, we learned that people had organically nicknamed BOMANI the “skinny espresso martini.” At the time, our 4pack descriptor read “cold brew coffee cocktail.” We decided to run a test on shelves to see how customers responded.

The data was jarring. Within 4 weeks, sales were up a staggering 257%. Shockingly, this trend grew exponentially – at the end of 6 weeks, sales were up 473%! We knew that it was time to commit all of our branding to “skinny espresso martini.” At the start of June, we had the new packaging in all stores that carry BOMANI.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my Co-Founder Kai through a mutual friend at a pregame for a David Guetta concert in Ibiza. It was total luck – I was traveling with our mutual friend, and Kai happened to be traveling through Ibiza that same day. We instantly connected, and Kai decided to move to New York with me after the summer. Just 8 days after we met, we had signed a lease to live together!

We met Amin in a less glorious environment. It was at a party in New York that we lovingly refer to as the worst party we’ve ever been to. I went straight up to Amin and started joking about how this wasn’t exactly the party of the century. Amin, Kai, and I started spending a lot of time together in social environments. Over time, we realized we had complementary skills and similar values. We wanted to build something together.

Originally, we explored a wide variety of ideas, all the while enjoying our cocktails with some caffeine before our nights out. We realized that the idea was in front of us the whole time – the skinny espresso martini!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drinkbomani.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkbomani/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-madani-58b054a1