Meet Matt Feldman | Founder, CEO at Moku Foods

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Feldman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The idea for Moku came after switching to a plant-based diet and noticing a lack of good tasting savory snacks that were plant based. There were so many meat sticks and jerkies but none that were vegan so I knew there was potential for a good vegan jerky. So I started testing recipes in my kitchen and partnered Michelin Star Chef, Thomas Bowman and a year later Moku was born.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Defining my skillset and what I’m really good at has often been difficult because on paper, I’m not necessarily great at any one thing. But one area that has set me apart from other founders has been my ability to attract incredible people to back my business and to work alongside me. Having a positive mindset and really believing in myself has gotten me very far.

Some lessons I’ve learned along the way have been to:

1) Don’t take any of this too seriously. We’re not curing cancer so I try to have fun with it.

2) Be patient, very patient. The more stress and pressure I put on things to get done, they often backfire and take longer so I’ve learned the virtue of patience.

3) Trusting people. We’re all human and make mistakes. Rather than count someone out after getting something wrong once, I’ve learned to instill trust in people to come back from mistakes and get the job done.

4) The outside world is a reflection of what is happening internally. When things aren’t going as planned on the outside, it’s a sign for me to shift to inner self and see what I can do to balance body, mind, and spirit.

If there’s one thing I’d want the world to know about Moku is that snacking should not have to come with compromise. It’s possible to eat a delicious, healthy, savory snack like Moku without compromising on taste, health, and sustainability.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them surfing in the morning followed by a tasty breakfast at cafe gratitude. I’d then hop on some bikes and cruise down the Venice boardwalk all the way to Manhattan Beach and grab some lunch at the best vegan sushi spot called Rice. I’d then hit the beach for sunset before going to dinner at Sadtha which is my favorite Thai restaurant in LA.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout goes out to my sister Melanie as she was a great motivator and teacher for me in my entrepreneurial journey. At the time my sister had written a book called Bold, Get Noticed Get Hired which was all about sticking out and getting the attention of the people who matter in the business world. The small tips and tricks I learned from her to get in front of anyone helped me especially when fundraising and getting meetings with the right people in the industry. Thank you Mel!

Website: https://www.mokufoods.com

Instagram: @matt_kainoa

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/feldmanmatt/