Her protein packed business went viral and she made $20k in 1 month. It’s now on track for $1 million this year: “It’s pretty much non-stop”

This Q&A features Caroline Dai, the company’s founder and CEO TofuGo snacksa company selling high-protein tofu snacks. The entrepreneur, who splits her time between Seattle and Vancouver, left her full-time position at Deloitte in 2024 and has since become an investor in several companies: Aura Finance, Vessl Prosthetics and Benny. TofuGo launched this March and went viral on social media, reaching $20,000 in monthly revenue. Now the business is on track for $1 million this year. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What was your day job or main job when you started your business?
Before founding TofuGo, I worked in strategy and finance. I have always loved consumer brands and business. I was always snacking on protein bars or drinking protein drinks at my desk. There was still a huge gap in the protein snack aisle: Everything was sweet and processed. I decided to build a savory protein snack made from whole foods.

When did you start your business and where did you get your inspiration for it?
I officially launched TofuGo in March 2026, but the idea started much earlier. I grew up on Szechuan style douganwhich is a tasty pressed tofu snack that is incredibly popular in Asia but almost non-existent in mainstream North American food aisles. Every protein snack I’ve seen in the US has been either a sugary protein bar or a jerky. I wanted to create something spicy, high protein, portable and stable that reflected the flavors I grew up with and made this product mainstream. This became TofuGo – “the world’s fastest tofu”.

Push past rejection, find a maker

What were some of the first steps you took to get your business off the ground?
The first step was to find out who would produce the shelf-stable tofu snack. I spent months sourcing manufacturers, testing recipes and perfecting packaging. Most of the co-producers said no at the beginning because they have no experience with shelf-stable tofu snacks. So I faced a lot of no’s in the beginning. I also focused on branding early on because I knew this product had to stand out visually to get people interested enough to try tofu in a completely different format.

Are there any free or paid resources that you found particularly helpful in starting and running this business?
I was part of a startup accelerator called League of Innovators. It is a free platform for young entrepreneurs to meet industry mentors, get education and connect with other founders. It was very helpful, especially seeing how other young founders excelled. One famous alumna to come out of the program is Tara Bosch of SmartSweets. The other founders were honestly the most valuable resource. Interviews with the founders at CPG taught me more than any course or textbook ever could.

Trade shows like Expo West have also been incredibly helpful because I get to see brands position themselves in real time, meet buyers and understand where the industry is going.

Consumer brands learn by shipping

If you could go back on your entrepreneurial journey and change one process or approach, what would it be and how do you wish you had done it differently?
I would worry less about perfection before launch. In the beginning, I thought that every detail had to be perfect before I launched the product. But consumer brands learn by shipping. You learn from customer feedback, not endless revisions in isolation. Speed ​​matters a lot more than most startup founders realize.

About this particular business, what do you think is particularly challenging and/or surprising that people going into this type of work should be prepared for, but probably aren’t?
Food logistics is brutally complex. People see a snack brand and think the hardest part is creating the taste. In fact, supply chain coordination, inventory management, warehousing, shipping costs, and retail operations almost immediately become massive parts of the business.

Another surprising thing is how much education matters. Many consumers have never seen tofu positioned as a salty, high-protein snack before, so telling the story is as important as the product itself.

Can you think of a specific instance where something went terribly wrong – how did you fix it?
One of the first problems was that some people thought our soy BBQ flavor was chocolate or a sweet snack instead of a salty tofu snack. Because we were creating something in a category that people hadn’t seen before, we realized that consumers rely a lot on quick visual assumptions from packaging.

All of this motivated me to invest more time on social media, to spend time educating people that this is tofu in a form they are not used to. Instead, it’s a tasty protein snack. We also created salty flavor profile visuals that were educational. It really made me think about clearer messaging and language.

They make $5,000 a week and $1 million a year

How long did it take you to see consistent monthly income? How much did the side hustle make?
Soon after launch we started to see traction. Our social media went viral two weeks after launch and led to strong momentum.

Early media coverage brought tons of traffic to our website and confirmed that there was real demand for salty protein snacks and shelf-stable tofu products. We soon saw $5,000 in weekly revenue and reached $20,000 in a month. We are projected to reach $1 million in sales in the first year based on our growth in both the US and Canada.

What does growth and revenue look like now?
Growth was very fast for such an early food brand. We have expanded rapidly across the US and Canada through DTC, online marketplaces and retail conversations.

What has been most rewarding is seeing how excited people are about TofuGo. Repeat purchase behavior and word of mouth have been incredibly encouraging.

Founders need to ‘context switch’

How much time do you spend daily, weekly or monthly working on your business?
Honestly, it’s pretty non-stop. I would say 60 hours a week. A typical week can include everything from production calls and logistics to partner interviews, content creation and customer support.

One of the biggest surprises about being a founder is how quickly you have to constantly switch contexts. You can go from P&L discussions in the morning to making Instagram videos in the afternoon.

What do you enjoy most about running this business?
I love building something that is culturally meaningful while solving a real consumer problem. Seeing people respond with “Finally, a salty protein snack” has been incredibly rewarding because it validates the original vision of the brand. I also love how creative consumer brands are – packaging, storytelling, community and product come together in one experience.

What is your best specific and actionable business advice?
When I first started, I was a little nervous about posting on social media. I pushed myself hard because I told myself I am the best ambassador for TofuGo. I realized that as a founder, momentum matters a lot psychologically. After one of our posts went viral two weeks after launch, I became significantly more motivated and confident in my business. It was also a moment of encouragement, I said to myself: I’m good at it! It reminded me that consistency online can create opportunities very quickly, especially for consumer brands. My advice is to get in front of the camera early because there is no better brand ambassador than the founder.

This Q&A features Caroline Dai, the company’s founder and CEO TofuGo snacksa company selling high-protein tofu snacks. The entrepreneur, who splits her time between Seattle and Vancouver, left her full-time position at Deloitte in 2024 and has since become an investor in several companies: Aura Finance, Vessl Prosthetics and Benny. TofuGo launched this March and went viral on social media, reaching $20,000 in monthly revenue. Now the business is on track for $1 million this year. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What was your day job or main job when you started your business?
Before founding TofuGo, I worked in strategy and finance. I have always loved consumer brands and business. I was always snacking on protein bars or drinking protein drinks at my desk. There was still a huge gap in the protein snack aisle: Everything was sweet and processed. I decided to build a savory protein snack made from whole foods.

When did you start your business and where did you get your inspiration for it?
I officially launched TofuGo in March 2026, but the idea started much earlier. I grew up on Szechuan style douganwhich is a tasty pressed tofu snack that is incredibly popular in Asia but almost non-existent in mainstream North American food aisles. Every protein snack I’ve seen in the US has been either a sugary protein bar or a jerky. I wanted to create something spicy, high protein, portable and stable that reflected the flavors I grew up with and made this product mainstream. This became TofuGo – “the world’s fastest tofu”.