HeyJaredCPG Talent Exchange
The private briefing for CPG sales, marketing, and ecommerce leaders. Off-market hiring intelligence, failed shortlist patterns, and market reality straight from the desk of Michael McGowan
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 11
- Latest publication
- Sep 29, 2026
- Audience
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 7, 2026
Latest issues
Are We Hiring the Best Candidate or the Best Interviewer? (opens the original)
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I came across a piece from recruiting expert Dr. John Sullivan about hiring early-career talent. His argument is straightforward: companies constantly complain that they cannot find enough young talent, while simultaneously rejecting those same candidates for weak handshakes, poor eye contact, nervous body language, and awkward small talk.He backs it with numbers from a CareerBuilder survey of hiring managers. 68% said failure to make eye contact was a top reason for rejection. 38% said failure
Why Careers Stall in Your 40s (opens the original)
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For the first ten or fifteen years of a career, the formula is pretty obvious. Get experience, get promoted, take a bigger job, make more money. Maybe change companies and jump a level. Coordinator becomes Manager, Manager becomes Senior Manager, then Director. When things are going well, it feels like the progression will just keep going.Until it doesn’t.Join 1,100+ CPG sales, marketing, and ecommerce leaders who read CPG Talent Exchange every week.<form class="subscription-wi
What I Got Wrong About the Builder Problem (opens the original)
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Last week’s piece on why legacy CPG breaks the builders it hires got more replies than anything I have published. Many agreed with me, but some of the better feedback pointed out angles I had overlooked.<img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="1040" src="http
The “We Want a Builder” Fallacy (opens the original)
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In 2015, Hershey acquired Krave Jerky for $220 million to capture a high-growth, artisanal snacking category. Five years later, after trying to force tender meat snacks through chocolate DSD channels and trimming niche SKUs for mass velocity, they sold the brand back to its founder. Terms were not disclosed, but the founder described the price as a fraction of what Hershey originally paid.In 2016, Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion to master DTC subscriptions. In 2023, after attemp
Everyone Wants Experience. Nobody Is Creating It. (opens the original)
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A client calls looking for a VP of Sales. They want fifteen years of CPG experience, deep Walmart or Target relationships, a track record of progressive promotions, and proven team-building capability. Ideally, they want someone who spent their formative years at a blue-chip multinational learning the fundamentals, followed by time at a challenger brand where they learned how to operate without an army of resources.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/
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