A five-person team of Stevens entrepreneurs recently imported a popular packaged Egyptian corn puff snack, and rebranded it as “Corny’s.” According to Jasmine Mina, the team decided to bring the snack to the US because “the American market is shifting towards healthier snack alternatives.” The group conducted more than one hundred interviews with potential customers, all of which gleaned valuable information. “We found that customers are not pleased with the existing healthy alternative snacks because they are unfulfilling, unappetizing, and are nutritionally unsatisfying.” Corny’s offered a solution to all three problems, as it comes in a full bag with five different flavors available, for only 70 calories. The puffs are baked with all natural ingredients rather than fried, and taste the same, if not better.
Through these customer interviews, the team discovered that the product resonated with on-the-go people with active lifestyles, such as young professionals and college students. Team leader Anthony Montufar said “That’s where we came up with out slogan, ‘full bag for a full you.’ Most snack bags these days are 35% air, and [our] team decided to use clear packaging to show customers upfront exactly what they’ll be getting. Customers are paying for a full bag and getting just that.”
Rebranding Corny’s wasn’t easy. “We had to rapidly prototype, interview customers, and change the prototype based on customer insight,” explains Andre Eisenmann, “Then we would go back out and use the concierge method to see how happy customers were upon delivery. These were all important concepts from the Lean Startup Machine.” The Lean Startup Machine, according to Nayad Manukian, was invaluable to the project. “The Lean Startup Machine helped our team validate that we have a viable product. We determined the need for our product in the industry, and through customer interviews, developed our unique value proposition, ‘Full bag for a full you.’ The Lean Startup allowed us to make assumptions, test them through customer interaction, and analyze the results so we don’t waste money building the wrong business.”
As a group, decisions and responsibilities were made as a team, as each decision affected the whole project. “Last semester, we met twice a week for eight hours and worked through everything, made decisions, and divided up interviews,” says Laura Garbarini. “Then, we would gather the data, sit over coffee, and carefully analyze all of the data. This semester, we had a different game-plan, as we had to make a website, run social media campaigns and get the product from a supplier halfway around the world. We had to clearly delineate responsibilities – and it’s worked out well. We’ve jumped many hurdles together as a team, and through it all we’ve become family.”
While not yet available on the market, Corny’s can be ordered via the groups’ website, www.getcornys.com. You can also follow the group on social media, under the username “getcornys” on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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