OverviewCPG Blueprint · Wisconsin

Build Your Wisconsin
CPG Brand.

A 6-week Founder Selection Sprint plus a year of expert backing for Wisconsin CPG founders. Zero equity ever. Top graduates unlock up to $35,000 in non-dilutive cash + a $25,000 low-interest loan—backed by the WEDC. Rolling applications. Cohort closes October.

Apply Now
Lee Veldkamp, Program Builder

A Note Before You Apply

If You're Reading This,
You're Ready to Build.

Hey. I'm Lee. Over the last 10 years I built a brand with 20+ employees teaching people how to use essential oils safely. I've had major wins—and plenty of failed CPG experiments along the way.

I'm running this program personally to give Wisconsin founders the institutional support and direct "operator" advice I wish I had when I was starting out. We don't fund business plans; we back operators who execute.

If you can execute, the program is FREE. Show up, do the work, get refunded—and get a shot at $35K in non-dilutive capital.

What's Inside

Four Parts. One Year. $60K On The Table.

01

The 6-Week
Sprint

02

The
Funding

03

The Year
of Support

04

The
Mentors

Part 1 of 4

The Sprint Is the Audition.
The Year Is the Partnership.

We use the first 6 weeks—the Founder Selection Sprint—to find the 6 founders capable of 9-figure scale. Six weekly tests. Real execution. No theory, no business plans. If you survive the sprint, you unlock a full year of dedicated support and non-dilutive capital.

100% remote. Start when you're ready. Move at your own pace through the 6 weekly challenges—submit your work, get scored, advance. Your job: prove you're an operator, not a planner.

CPG founders building

The 6 weekly tests

  • Week 1 — The Problem Test (Validation). Validate that you're solving a massive, high-value problem for a specific audience.
  • Week 2 — The Shelf Test (Positioning). Prove the "wow" factor and master positioning to create instant shelf desire.
  • Week 3 — The Identity Test (Brand Story). Beyond the logo—write the "Back of Pack" copy that connects with your ideal customers.
  • Week 4 — The Profit Test (Economics). Use "Napkin Math" to prove your unit economics work at 9-figure scale.
  • Week 5 — The Channel Test (Distribution). Identify your "Lead Domino" distribution channel to reach $1M+ in revenue.
  • Week 6 — The Final Pitch (The Ask). Present your ROI case for how you'll turn a grant into 10x growth.
Building
Team meeting
First sale

“Week 4. My margins finally made sense.”

— Sprint Survivor

Cohort 1

“Six weeks reset my whole brand.”

— Sprint Survivor

Cohort 1

“I built this. In Wisconsin.”

— Sprint Survivor

Cohort 1

Part 2 of 4

Up to $35K Cash + $25K Loan.
Zero Equity. Ever.

This is real capital—designed to give ambitious Wisconsin founders the immediate financial leverage to build a successful, scalable consumer brand. Backed by the WEDC. The state of Wisconsin wins when you win. We don't take a piece of your business.

Over $100,000 in total cash awards distributed across the cohort. Top 6 brands earn the first round. Top 2 of those unlock the second round—plus a low-interest loan to scale into a full-time business.

Cash award stack

The capital stack

  • Top 6 (Sprint Survivors): $10,000 cash grant. Validate your product and grow your momentum.
  • Top 2 (Final Round): +$25,000 cash + $25,000 low-interest loan. Total $35K cash + $25K loan—the runway to find your repeatable channel and go full-time.
  • The terms. All cash is non-dilutive grant money. No equity, ever. The $25K loan is a separate growth instrument for Top 2 winners only. Backed by the WEDC.
  • More capital later. Direct access to additional funding and investment firms when you're ready for the next level.
Cash
Documents
Build

“$10K. No equity. No loan. Just cash.”

— Sprint Winner

Top 6

“I keep 100% of my company.”

— Sprint Winner

Top 6

“$35K let me go full-time.”

— Top 2 Finalist

Cohort 1

Part 3 of 4

A Year of Back-of-House Support
for Brands That Win the Sprint.

Sprint winners unlock a full year of expert backing—the same operating support I run my own portfolio brands on. This isn't a course you watch alone. It's hands-on, monthly, and built around the specific bottleneck in your business this month.

By the end of the year you'll have a brand with proven unit economics, a repeatable distribution channel, and the institutional support most CPG founders never get.

Founders in a war room session

What you'll get

  • The Scaling Playbook. Instant access to the on-demand CPG course—every step from local to national.
  • The War Room. Monthly group calls (founders helping founders) + a separate monthly expert call to answer your hardest questions.
  • Build Weekends. Focused 6-hour deep-work sessions where we build your business alongside you.
  • The Weekly Accountability Email. One thing to ship this week. Reply when it's done. We track every founder, every week.
  • The Door Openers. Direct access to the people you need—hiring help, retail shelf space, distribution networks.
  • More Capital. Direct intros to investment firms when you're ready for the next round.
War room
Build weekend
Distribution

“The War Room kept me unstuck every month.”

— Year-1 Founder

Cohort 1

“Build Weekends saved me a year of mistakes.”

— Year-1 Founder

Cohort 1

“Door Openers got me on a real shelf.”

— Year-1 Founder

Cohort 1

Part 4 of 4

Built by Operators,
Not Professors.

You're not learning from a textbook. You're learning from the front lines—from founders who've actually scaled CPG brands in Wisconsin. Lee runs the program personally. The mentor bench includes operators who built the fastest-growing brands in the state.

Plus connections into Wisconsin's rich CPG ecosystem—Sargento, Johnsonville, and the network of icons that built this state's consumer brands.

Mentor session

The bench

  • Lee Veldkamp — Program Builder. Founder of multiple 7-figure brands. Runs the program 1:1 with every cohort. Not a professor—a practitioner.
  • Adam Kroener — Co-Founder of Carbliss. The fastest-growing CPG brand in the nation. Active community member helping founders make the leap from "local favorite" to "national powerhouse."
  • Wisconsin CPG icons. Network access to leaders from Sargento, Johnsonville, and beyond. This is the rolodex Wisconsin founders never get.
  • SCORE Mentor matching. Connection to a SCORE mentor for ongoing 1:1 support outside the program.

The Pre-Accelerator Philosophy

Zero equity.
Total control.

The Choice

VC-Backed vs. Wisconsin-Backed.

Same goal. Wildly different terms.

The Old Path

VC-Backed CPG

  • ×Give up 20–30% equity for cash
  • ×Pitch decks, board meetings, dilution math
  • ×End result: investor in control
  • ×Wisconsin? Move to NYC or LA

The Dilution Treadmill.

The New Path

CPG Blueprint

  • ✓Up to $35K cash. Zero equity. Ever.
  • ✓Real execution sprints, real mentors
  • ✓End result: you keep 100%
  • ✓Built in Wisconsin, for Wisconsin

The Operator Path.

At a Glance

The Deal, on One Page.

6 wks

Selection Sprint

$60K

Top Capital ($35K cash + $25K loan)

0%

Equity Taken

Oct

Cohort Closes

The $100 Performance Bond.

We don't want your money. We want your focus. The $100 deposit exists solely to filter out the uncommitted and ensure we're only backing founders ready for 9-figure scale.

The refund: If you show up and do the work (completing 5 of the 6 weekly challenges), we refund your $100 immediately after the Sprint ends.

The result: If you execute, the Selection Sprint is FREE. If you flake, you lose your seat and your deposit. That's the deal.

Are You Ready?

Build Your Brand.
We Bet On Builders.

Application takes about 10 minutes. Rolling applications—cohort closes October. Limited to 50 founders. We'll review every application personally.

Apply Now

Questions? Email Lee directly