From Bark to Bottle: Reinventing a Caribbean Tradition w/ Ana Bautista of Bayjoo

Summary

In this episode I talk with Ana Bautista, founder of Beju, a non-alcoholic beverage brand rooted in Caribbean tradition and innovation. Ana shares her unconventional path to entrepreneurship, starting in the ad tech world before discovering a unique drink from her Dominican heritage—mabi, made from tree bark. What began as a personal curiosity evolved into a modern, health-conscious product with deep cultural roots and a vision to fill a gap in the American beverage market. Despite lacking a background in consumer packaged goods (CPG), Ana navigated every step of building a brand from scratch, fueled by research, networking, and an unshakable sense of purpose.

Over the course of three years, Ana balanced her startup ambitions with a full-time job, iterating her product through countless hours of formulation, rebranding, and trial-and-error. She later took the full-time leap in 2024, working tirelessly to get Beju onto shelves while managing logistics from her home. Ana shares her experience going through the Target Accelerator, her strategy for customer discovery, and her thoughts on raising capital—an option she’s postponed in favor of preserving autonomy and staying true to her vision. Her reflections on managing growth without external funding offer a refreshing, grounded look at startup life.

Throughout the conversation, Ana provides candid insights into the realities of solo entrepreneurship. From packaging and distribution hurdles to maintaining brand integrity through pivots, Ana offers a masterclass in bootstrapped perseverance. Whether she’s hand-delivering orders or negotiating with corporate cafeterias like LinkedIn and Meta, Ana exemplifies the kind of founder who leads with values, cultural authenticity, and unrelenting grit. This is a must-listen for early-stage entrepreneurs seeking inspiration without the startup hype.

Takeaways

1. Start small and validate early – Ana built Beju over three years on nights and weekends, gaining customer feedback before fully committing.
2. Nostalgia can spark innovation – Her product was inspired by a childhood drink from the Dominican Republic, offering a unique edge.
3. Educate the market – Introducing an unfamiliar ingredient like tree bark requires storytelling and persistence.
4. Pre-accelerators and accelerators offer immense value – The Target Accelerator helped Ana refine her branding, operations, and retail strategy.
5. Solo doesn’t mean alone – Ana leaned on interns, advisors, and peers to push her business forward.
6. Networking creates serendipity – Her biggest deals, like pitching LinkedIn, came from warm intros at industry events.
7. Bootstrap with intention – She avoided early funding to stay flexible and reduce stress, only considering capital when the time and team are right.
8. Every step takes longer and costs more – Ana stressed the need to overestimate timelines and budgets.
9. Stay grounded in your vision – Even while making packaging and formulation changes, Ana kept her brand values intact.
10. Know your limits and strengths – She’s open to acquisition if it means broader distribution, showing clarity on what’s best for the brand long-term.

Chapters

• [00:01] Starting with nostalgia
  • Ana shares how her childhood drink “mabi” inspired the idea behind Beju and her curiosity about non-alcoholic beverage trends.
• [03:29] Going solo as a founder
  • Ana discusses launching Beju on her own, her hesitation in finding a co-founder, and why she remains open to the idea in the future.
• [05:11] Entrepreneurship: more work than expected
  • She reveals how the journey has been more intense and complex than anticipated, especially in a self-funded, solo venture.
• [06:59] Joining the Target Accelerator
  • Ana explains the two types of Target Accelerators and how the experience reshaped her product, packaging, and brand strategy.
• [09:14] The full-time leap in 2024
  • After building the company part-time for years, Ana describes the moment she went all-in on Beju and moved to Austin.
• [11:53] Finding product-market fit
  • She explains how pop-ups, surveys, and direct customer interaction helped her hone in on her ideal audience.
• [14:25] Hiring for support
  • Ana brought on interns to help with deliveries and outreach while managing distribution from her own storage unit.
• [16:04] Retail strategy and anchor accounts
  • Ana outlines her goal of landing with a major retailer like Whole Foods and what’s required to get there.
• [18:00] Differentiation and education
  • The uniqueness of Beju’s main ingredient, mabi bark, is a double-edged sword requiring careful consumer education.
• [20:56] A high-stakes risk with LinkedIn
  • Ana took a chance producing a large order for LinkedIn that didn’t pan out long-term, teaching her about contracts and scaling.
• [24:58] Managing pivots without compromise
  • She reflects on how she kept her vision intact through changes in packaging, formulation, and production partners.
• [28:05] Why she chose not to raise capital
  • Ana explains the logic behind staying self-funded and why she’s now considering capital—only with the right partner.
• [33:16] Gospel truth: budget and timeline
  • Her most repeated lesson is simple: everything takes longer and costs more than you think.
• [34:13] Looking toward acquisition
  • While open to organic growth, Ana shares why she wouldn’t be opposed to an acquisition by the right company.
• [36:36] What people don’t ask
  • Ana says people often ask about funding but rarely ask how to stay resilient through constant rejection and uncertainty.
• [39:16] What she’d do with a fresh start
  • She’d focus more on relationships and networking early on, rather than just completing tasks perfectly.
• [40:46] Most indispensable tools
  • Ana credits Google and LinkedIn for most of her startup know-how, networking, and discovery.