Retail Math Every CPG Founder Needs, with Margo Diewald of Adeptation | Surpass Commerce

CPG pricing math for founders: every $1 you add to cost of goods sold means charging $5 more at retail. Margo Diewald, founder of Adeptation, has worked on more than 25 M&A transactions and led a $150 million pricing program. She walks through retail math layer by layer, how to decide where limited inventory goes, when deductions are worth fighting, and how one of her clients sold out a QVC allotment in seven minutes on air. She also explains why EDI and product dimensions sit in her “boring but important” bucket, and closes with the story of the dad who taught her to ask “what if you succeed?” 0:00 Meet Margo Diewald and Adeptation 1:15 What makes a CPG brand acquirable 2:07 Pricing with tariffs: the $1 to $5 rule 4:10 Retail math: who takes which margin 5:49 Customer research and the value of perfect information 7:18 Freight costs and predictability 8:57 Buffer inventory and the end cap bet 13:36 Deductions and chargebacks 15:47 When to implement an ERP 16:40 Starting a CPG brand from scratch today 18:33 From farmers market to multi-channel retail 19:50 Selling out on QVC in seven minutes 24:13 Why brands stall: packaging on the shelf 28:22 Founder blind spots, EDI and product dimensions 32:21 Insource vs. outsource 41:16 The airport layover that started Adeptation 46:07 Small bets and putting it in writing 52:59 Her dad, a growth mindset and her second book Subscribe for more conversations with the people building consumer brands. Learn more: Adeptation: https://sparkadeptation.com/ Surpass: https://surpass.biz/ Follow us LinkedIn:   / surpass-solutions-inc   Instagram:   / surpasscommerce   X: https://x.com/SurpassCommerce TikTok:   / surpasscommerce   Threads: https://www.threads.com/@surpasscommerce Facebook:   / surpasscommerce   #CPG #RetailMath #ConsumerGoods #EDI #SurpassCommerce #SurpassEDI #Adeptation