Summary
Overview
Krishna Kalyanin, founder of Catalina Crunch, shares his journey from Penn graduate with type 1 diabetes and epilepsy to creator of a $100+ million keto-friendly cereal brand. After struggling with limited breakfast options on a ketogenic diet, he began experimenting in his NYC apartment kitchen with protein powders and alternative sweeteners. What started as bags of homemade cereal for friends evolved into a direct-to-consumer business and eventually a major grocery store brand. His story illustrates the challenges of food manufacturing, ingredient innovation, and scaling a CPG brand from a home kitchen to a 125,000 square-foot facility.
Personal Health Crisis Leads to Dietary Transformation
Krishna's entrepreneurial journey began with two life-changing diagnoses. During a college visit to Penn in 2009, he collapsed on campus and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes with blood sugar over 1,000. Later, he was also diagnosed with epilepsy, which led him to discover the ketogenic diet—a high-fat, high-protein, low-carb approach originally developed in the 1920s for treating epileptic patients. These health challenges forced him to completely transform his relationship with food and ultimately inspired his business idea.
- Krishna passed out during a Penn campus visit and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes with blood sugar over 1,000
- He was later diagnosed with epilepsy, which introduced him to the ketogenic diet
- The ketogenic diet was first developed in the early 1900s specifically for treating epileptic patients
- Krishna began eating eggs every day for breakfast and snacking only on nuts to manage his conditions
" I passed out as we're walking around campus. I go to the emergency room and one of the first things they do is test my blood sugar, find that it's over a thousand. And that's when they diagnosed me with a type one diabetes. "
" The ketogenic diet was first invented, quote unquote, in the early 1900s, and it was for the purpose of treating epileptic patients. "
From Failed Tech Startups to Kitchen Experiments
After graduating from Penn in 2013 and briefly working at a hedge fund, Krishna pursued entrepreneurship with numerous failed attempts at tech startups, including a recruiting platform and car insurance company. Despite knowing how to build software, he struggled to find traction. Meanwhile, to cope with his restrictive diet, he began experimenting with baking using protein powders and alternative sweeteners, trying to recreate familiar foods. This hobby would eventually become more successful than any of his tech ventures.
- Krishna left his hedge fund job after about a year to pursue entrepreneurship full-time
- He launched over 20 different apps, websites, and services that failed to gain traction
- His Chrome extension 'Escape My Bubble' got 100,000 signups but couldn't sustain momentum
- He started baking with protein powder and alternative sweeteners to recreate foods he couldn't eat
" I quickly realized if you're going to have the motivation to succeed, you're going to have to really believe deeply in what it is that you're doing. Because otherwise, when the going gets tough, you just want to throw in the towel and move on to the next idea rather than double down and really figure out how to overcome the challenge. "
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