STOCKED: The Multichannel Breakthrough

Founder Lessons from Sam Moss, in Conversation with Spotify’s Kitty Gould

When you picture innovation in food, you probably think of lab-grown meat or fancy meal kits, not frozen cubes of curry.

But that’s exactly where Sam Moss, co-founder of STOCKED, found his breakthrough. In a conversation hosted by Kitty Gould at Spotify, Sam shared the candid story behind how a simple home-cooking frustration turned into a fast-growing food business - and what every founder can learn from the journey.

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From Batch Cooking to Business Idea

Like many good startup stories, STOCKED began with a personal pain point.

At university, Sam spent Sundays batch cooking meals to save time. But storing food in bulky Tupperware and plastic bags was messy, wasteful, and inconvenient. The lightbulb moment came from an unexpected source: his mum.

“She used to freeze food in ice cube trays when I was a kid,” Sam recalled. “I thought, what if you could do that for adult meals?”

The result: frozen meal blocks - nutritious, chef-made portions that could be mixed, matched, and cooked straight from the freezer.

Soon after, Sam teamed up with Charlie Gilpin, a chef with a flair for creative recipes, and together they launched STOCKED, reimagining what frozen food could be.

Building From the Kitchen Up

Every founder remembers their scrappy beginnings and Sam’s was quite literal.

“We started in my mum’s kitchen,” he laughed. “Just two of us, some silicone trays, and a freezer full of blocks.”

Those early months were about testing, learning, and improving. Friends and family were the first customers, and real feedback shaped the product.

One customer, a single mother managing her child’s keto diet, told Sam that STOCKED’s flexibility changed how she managed mealtimes. That kind of feedback became their north star.

“It reminded us that we weren’t just selling convenience but we were helping people simplify daily life.”

The Trade-Offs Every Founder Faces

In the early days, Sam wanted STOCKED to be perfect. Compostable packaging, fully organic ingredients, all sustainably sourced.

Reality, though, forced hard choices.

“You quickly realise you can’t do everything at once,” he said. “We had to choose between chasing ideals and keeping the business alive.”

Their guiding rule became clear: never compromise on taste, but be pragmatic everywhere else.

The Power of Showing Up: Dragons’ Den and Beyond

Appearing on Dragon’s Den was a huge milestone for STOCKED.

While it didn’t lead to a flurry of immediate sales, the exposure gave the brand credibility, opened doors to retail partnerships, and provided a “halo effect” that still pays off today.

“If you get the chance to go on, do it,” Sam told the audience. “The visibility and validation are priceless.”

Marketing That Builds Trust, Not Just Traffic

STOCKED’s marketing started with paid performance campaigns - mostly on Meta - but Sam knew ads alone wouldn’t build a brand.

So they layered in organic growth, community engagement, and authentic storytelling:

• They built a lively Facebook community.

• Sam and Charlie stayed the “faces” of the brand.

• They replied personally to customer messages — for three years, Sam even answered WhatsApps himself.

“It might sound unscalable, but it built trust,” he said. “Customers could cancel their subscription over WhatsApp and, weirdly, that honesty made them stay longer.”

Lessons from the Early Days

Sam’s candour about mistakes was refreshingly honest.

“We were a bit naïve at the start,” he admitted. “We focused too much on operations and too little on the business model.”

Here’s what he’d do differently:

• Launch a subscription model sooner – retention is easier than reacquisition.

• Invest in digital marketing earlier – data is your best growth feedback.

• Plan scaling before it happens – not after.

• These lessons came the hard way, but learning fast became part of STOCKED’s DNA.

Finding Focus with EOS

As STOCKED grew, so did the chaos. To bring order to the sprint, Sam and Charlie adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) - a simple but effective business framework.

Every week, the team holds a focused 90-minute meeting to review:

• Progress on key metrics (the “scorecard”)

• Top 3–4 strategic priorities

• Specific problems to solve that week

“EOS gave us focus,” Sam said. “It stops you from being busy for the sake of it.”

Managing Doubt (Because Every Founder Has It)

Behind every founder success story is a quiet battle with self-doubt. Sam didn’t sugarcoat that.

“You can have 100 good reviews and one bad one and your brain fixates on the bad one,” he said.

His coping mechanisms?

• A supportive co-founder to share the load.

• A life outside the business to stay grounded.

• A network of cheerleaders - mentors, friends, even loyal customers.

“Founding a business is emotional. You need people who remind you why you started.”

Advice for Founders

As the session wrapped up, Kitty asked Sam what advice he’d give to other founders building from scratch. His takeaways were simple, but powerful:

• Focus ruthlessly. Do fewer things better.

• Find the right co-founder. You’ll need someone to share both the grind and the wins.

• Share your knowledge. Don’t fear being copied - sharing helps the whole ecosystem grow.

• Stay close to your customers. Real conversations are your best R&D.

• Balance the journey. Success means nothing if you burn out along the way.

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STOCKED’s story is proof that innovation can sometimes start in a kitchen instead of a lab.

By staying close to customers, balancing ideals with practicality, and showing up with authenticity, Sam and his team turned a clever freezer hack into a meaningful brand.

For founders, his journey is a reminder that success isn’t about having it all figured out - it’s about learning fast, focusing on what matters, and keeping your purpose at the heart of every decision.

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A full recording of this session is now available to watch.

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Spotify has a division dedicated to Emerging & Scaled business, partnering with small and medium companies to meet their marketing and advertising needs in order to fuel growth.

Check out more information here or, if you are interested in setting up a call with the Spotify team to learn more please email spotify-tfn@spotify.com.