Building One of the Fastest Growing CPG Companies in History | Peter Rahal of David Protein, Medici Brands & RXBAR

September 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Peter Rahal sold RXBAR for $600 million, owned 90% of the company with his co-founder, and found himself a very young man with roughly a quarter billion dollars in cash. What followed was a miserable year as an investor, a period of false starts and self-discovery, and eventually the founding of David Protein and Medici Brands—which he claims is the fastest growing food company in history, on track to do $300 million in revenue in its second year. This conversation covers the operating principles, psychological drivers, and strategic decisions behind that trajectory.

The Miserable Detour into Investing

After the RXBAR exit, Rahal did what many founders do: he started a family office and began investing. The appeal was obvious—intellectual exercise, great lifestyle, no organizational responsibility. But he quickly realized he was "uniquely unsuited" for it. The fundamental problem was feedback loops. In building a business, you make a decision and get immediate feedback. In investing, you develop a thesis, make a bet, and wait five years to find out if it worked. Worse, he discovered that the most important skill in private investing is "charisma or whale hunting"—finding the obvious deal and then chasing men for an allocation. That felt passive and degrading to someone used to "being in knife fights."

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of David Senra

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (00:02) **Post-Exit Identity Crisis & The Failed Pivot to Investing** - Peter Rahal describes the temptation and misery of becoming an investor after selling RXBAR for $600M.
2 (03:48) **The Emotional Toll of Inactivity** - Rahal details the internal monologue of regret and the realization that he must return to operating.
3 (09:34) **Returning to the Core: Humility & the Protein Bar** - Rahal explains how he overcame the ego-driven desire to do something "more impactful" and returned to his domain.
4 (11:42) **The Scope of Ambition: David vs. Nestle** - Rahal frames his new venture, David Protein, as a wedge to build the most important food company of the 21st century.
5 (13:40) **Brand-Building Philosophy: The Brand as a Human Being** - Rahal outlines his six-month process for defining the David brand identity.
6 (15:18) **The Values of David: Intelligence, Beauty, & Discipline** - Rahal connects the brand's values to the story of Michelangelo's David and his own personal philosophy.
7 (22:57) **The Engine: Resentment, Anger & Pain Tolerance** - Rahal reveals the deep personal driver behind his relentless operating style.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Peter Rahal is the co-founder of RXBAR, David Protein, and Medici Brands. After selling RXBAR for $600 million, he tried investing and quickly discovered he was miserable watching other people run companies. He explains why he returned to protein bars, why founders must deeply understand their products and how he plans to build the most important food company of the 21st century. Peter describes the intelligence, beauty and discipline behind David's brand, how growing up with dyslexia shaped his competitive drive and why he channels anger and resentment into company building. He also details his approach to hiring former founders, building a culture of truth seeking and humility and treating the organization itself as a product. Peter walks through the acquisition of his critical ingredient supplier, Epogee, the supply agreements that protected his business and what he would change about communicating the decision to other entrepreneurs. He shares why he chose Greenoaks as an investor, why speed matters more than maximizing a fundraising valuation and how he is building a decentralized organization where leaders master their products, confront problems and earn their autonomy.

Made possible by

Ramp: https://ramp.com

AppLovin: https://applovin.com/senra

Deel: https://deel.com/senra

Chapters

(00:00:00) Life after selling RXBAR for $600 million

(00:07:29) Going all in and burning the boats

(00:11:48) Building the most important food company of the 21st century

(00:13:49) How a brand is like a human being

(00:21:07) Why Peter always chooses the hard path

(00:28:17) From zero to $300 million in two years

(00:29:59) Why Peter started selling frozen cod

(00:32:51) The organization is the product

(00:36:56) Why he recruits former founders

(00:41:15) Buying his supplier and victimizing his competitors

(00:51:56) How Neil Mehta and Greenoaks earned a spot on the cap table

(00:55:47) How Peter fundraises

(01:00:31) Running a business is like a river

(01:04:16) Why the company is named Medici

(01:06:28) Bureaucracy is not inevitable

(01:11:48) Why Peter has 25 direct reports

(01:16:06) Peter's principle of reactionary leadership support

(01:17:45) On divine discontent and loving the fight

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices