Catalina Crunch: Krishna Kaliannan. From Homemade Keto Cocoa Puffs to Breakfast Aisle Breakthrough
Krishna Kaliannan wanted to start a tech company but failed at every attempt. On the side, he was teaching himself how to cook with high-protein, low-sugar ingredients. Not just out of interest, but out of necessity. As a teenager, Krishna had been diagnosed with diabetes and epilepsy, meaning he adopted a keto diet long before it was trendy. Krishna’s home experiments with pea powder and monk fruit eventually became Catalina Crunch, one of the country’s most popular high-protein, low-carb breakfast cereals and snacks. In this episode, Krishna shares how a life-changing health condition sparked an obsession with healthy baking— and a brand that reimagined snacking. What You’ll Learn How to turn a health challenge into a business opportunity The art and science of baking with esoteric ingredients When to trust partners and when it’s best to take charge yourself Why the DTC model is great for some industries and disastrous for others Timestamps: 00:06:16 - Dealing with diabetes and epilepsy as a college student 00:12:38 - What Krishna learns from his early failures in tech 00:22:43 - The first, low-sugar cocoa puffs: “Rocks that tasted like soil.” 00:27:36 - His homemade cereal gets good enough to sell 00:32:42 - Naming the brand: classy alliteration and a nod to a Will Ferrell movie 00:44:51 - Learning to make cereal like the pros at Texas A&M 00:54:43 - Krishna moves from NYC to Indiana to make sure the cereal is made right 01:01:04 - Whole Foods, Costco, and becoming a household brand This episode was researched and produced by Chris Maccini with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. Our engineer was Kwesi Lee. Follow How I Built This: Instagram → @howibuiltthis X → @HowIBuiltThis Facebook → How I Built This Follow Guy Raz: Instagram → @guy.raz Youtube → guy_raz X → @guyraz Substack → guyraz.substack.com Website → guyraz.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.