From RXBAR'US$440M Exit to US$194.1M Run-Rate: Peter Rahal on Building David

Key points

Key takeaways from the David Senra interview with Peter Rahal, founder of David and Medici Brands (September 2026):

Why he's not an investor. After selling RXBAR for $600M — of which he and his co-founder owned 90% — Rahal tried investing for about a year and found it unbearable: "handcuffed in the back seat while someone else is driving." He concluded the long feedback loop and passivity made him a miserable investor.

Headline numbers. David is two years old and Rahal expects the business to do around $300M in revenue this year across protein bars, frozen and ready-to-drink lines — a pace he says would normally take a decade and makes it the fastest-growing food company he knows of.

Owning the ingredient. David was 90–150% of the output of Epogee, maker of EPG, a fat substitute delivering the taste of fat without the calories. Six months in, Rahal bought the company (half equity, half cash) to remove the dependency; customers without supply agreements were cut off, and an antitrust suit against him was dismissed three times.

Brand as a person. David's identity is built on Michelangelo's David — intelligence, beauty and discipline — with the brand treated as a human being: it has parents, values and friendships, including a partnership with Andrew Huberman. Six months went into defining it; consistency over time, he argues, is what builds great brands.

Organization as product. A deliberately flat company with around 25 direct reports and decentralised P&Ls, staffed heavily with former founders. Four processes carry it: selection, onboarding, promotion and termination, organised around truth-seeking, humility and entrepreneurship.

Fundraising without an auction. Rahal refused to auction the round — speed and investor alignment mattered more than maximising valuation, even at the cost of "maybe an extra $100M."

What drives him. Labelled disabled for dyslexia as a child and overhearing teachers ask whether he was stupid, he channels the resulting anger into company-building: "excellence is the capacity to take pain."

Cod as marketing. David put boiled cod at the top of its protein-to-calorie comparison chart for honesty, then began selling $55 frozen cod online — "product as marketing," a communication tool rather than a product-market fit play.

Read more: David Senra — YouTube · Show notes