Banza: Brian Rudolph. The Chickpea Pasta That Nearly Turned to Mush

September 21, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Brian Rudolph didn’t set out to build a pasta empire. In 2013, he was a recent college graduate working at a Detroit tech startup, dealing with recurring sinus infections that landed him on a cycle of antibiotics and steroids. On a recommendation from his father, he tried an elimination diet and discovered that wheat was triggering inflammation in his sinuses. That personal discovery led him into his kitchen at 5 a.m. each morning, blasting country music and experimenting with chickpea flour, eggs, and a wine bottle for a rolling pin. The result was terrible pasta. But it was also the beginning of Banza, which would become the first chickpea pasta on the market and eventually the fifth-largest pasta brand in the United States.

From a Wine Bottle to a $30 Pasta Maker

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 How I Built This with Guy Raz

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

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (00:03) **Show Introduction & Brian's Background** - Guy Raz sets up the episode, introducing Banza as the first chickpea pasta brand and Brian Rudolph as the co-founder who started tinkering in 2013.
2 (06:15) **The Personal Health Trigger** - Brian's discovery of a wheat sensitivity led him to experiment with gluten-free alternatives, eventually turning his focus to chickpeas.
3 (09:44) **Early Kitchen Experiments** - Brian describes the messy, iterative process of making the first batches of chickpea pasta in his apartment with basic tools.
4 (14:18) **Bringing in a Co-Founder** - Brian convinces his older brother, Scott, to move to Detroit and become his co-founder rather than just an advisor.
5 (15:55) **Early Funding & First Big Break** - Brian raises his first capital via crowdfunding and lands a spot on a CNBC reality show, "Restaurant Startup."
6 (21:40) **The Manufacturing Crisis** - The scale-up from a small Michigan facility to a large California manufacturer goes disastrously wrong, producing mushy pasta.
7 (28:11) **The "Steep It Like Tea" Fix** - Facing an impossible order and a broken supply chain, Brian discovers a workaround to make the subpar pasta edible.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Brian Rudolph started making chickpea pasta in his Detroit apartment because wheat made him feel sick. A decade later, Banza was in more than 25,000 stores, and today, it’s one of the most popular pasta brands in the country. Success was not automatic: The business barely got off the ground because the cooked pasta was turning to mush—and as Banza became known for its health benefits, a food-safety scare sent sales plunging by 30%.

In this episode, Brian explains why he was inspired to create a whole new category, how he turned chickpea skeptics into fans, and how the company rebuilt trust after a public relations disaster.

What you’ll learn

How Brian and his brother Scott launched Banza with only $100,000.
How they learned to stop chasing perfection and to ship something that was “good enough.”
How crowdfunding and reality TV helped Banza land its first retail accounts.
How packaging can become an important growth engine for a new brand.
How transparency can rebuild trust after a PR debacle–but can’t restore it overnight.

Timestamps:

08:15 - Brian uncovers the unexpected culprit behind his health issues: Wheat

09:52 - From Chewy bars and Chipotle to pasta made of… beans?

18:49 - Banza gets a big break on national TV

23:16 - The 192-store order that Banza wasn’t ready for, and why retreating to a smaller manufacturer helped them meet it

30:52 - Banza’s first production run turns to mush when cooked. The solution? “Steep it like tea”

38:44 - The origin of the distinctive orange box

43:53 - Pizza anyone? Banza expands into thousands of stores and launches new products

47:10 - The food safety scare that Brian never saw coming

58:23 - Even in the midst of a crisis, Brian says to “assume positive intent”

This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher, with music by Ramtin Arablouei.

Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Kerry Thompson. Our audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.

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 →