In the past year, Patrick Schwarzenegger has been one of the most influential investor within Consumer Products. Following being successful with his initial purchase, Blaze Pizza, Schwarzenegger has been an early participant in the big successes of the moment like Super Coffee, Olipop, and Liquid IV. In his most recent investment, Schwarzenegger is now playing the position of founder, working along with mother Maria Shriver to launch MOSH which is the Brain Brand. I spoke with Patrick to talk about the reasons the company got into investing in consumer goods and the reasons why launching MOSH had always been an main ambition for him.
Dave Knox: Before launching MOSH you were engaged as an CPG investor. How did you come to be in the investment side of companies?
Patrick Schwarzenegger: Really I began my career as an investor because I was a dissatisfied customer. I was raised in a home that didn’t allow us to eat junk food. We did not consume Cocoa Puffs and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Starbucks Frappuccinos with 40 grams of sugar. My dad was very aware of the food he served us as children and also about the food put into his body. And when I began fitness I was amazed at the few alternatives were available that were tasty however, they were also healthy and good for your health. I decided to get out and search for products that offered customers an alternative that was healthier for them. It was something that was healthier and less sugary, with higher protein and more natural ingredients.
The investment process began by accident. The first venture I made was known as Blaze Pizza. I had no knowledge about investing, or running the business. I had no idea. However, I was the intern of a person known as John Davis. He was a film producer and I knew that I wanted to pursue film as a business. And he was just getting from a company known as Wetzel’s Pretzels. They were like, “We’re going to start to work on the Chipotle for pizza, the Subway for pizza. And we want it to be very transparent with where we get the ingredients and allow the customers to pick the ingredients and have it made right in front of them.” Then I was like, “This is perfect. This is exactly what I want to do. The company then grew to over 400 stores. And I thought, “Wow, this is easy. I’m gonna do this forever.” Then, I sold the company and put the entire amount into other companies. The process wasn’t as simple as the company was however, it’s been an enjoyable time ever since.
