An Interview with Prind's Matteo Caloia
UChicago founder, CNVC 2025 finalist
Matteo is a third-year at UChicago and the co-founder of Prind, a CNVC 2025 finalist.
This interview is lightly edited for clarity. Thank you to Eitan Fischer for your help.
Background
Diego Scanlon: Matteo, welcome to Windy Founders. I want to start off with a question that might seem a bit vague and broad, but it's intentionally that way, so interpret it however you want. What led you here, and where is here?
Matteo Caloia: First interpretation of here is UChicago for me. What led me here is actually soccer. I was recruited here for the soccer team, and at the time of getting recruited and in the two years before college, I just viewed myself pretty much as a soccer player. With my day-to-day, I would just spend most of my energy on soccer. I'm kind of glad in a lot of ways because (Kai) Walshy, co-founder of Prind, and I met through the soccer team, along with some of my best friends. But that chapter has closed and yet it brought me to such a spectacular place (UChicago) where you meet so many incredible people and can pursue every endeavor, and athletics is just one of them.
DS: So here is UChicago, but I’ll interpret here for you as Prind. So where are you with Prind? What did you just come out of, what are you going into?
Note: (P)rind repurposes parmesan rinds into a nutrient-dense, three-ingredient superfood snack. Packed with health benefits supporting muscle, bone, and heart health, (P)rind caters to busy, health-conscious consumers seeking affordable convenience without compromise. It upholds the artisanal quality of Italy’s finest parmesan, delivering flavor with a positive social impact.
MC: Prind is an extension of me, and I mean that in every way. I think that it’s a phenomenal opportunity to meet and engage and create a community. I’ve worked in food service and I’ve seen the best and worst sides of it. And Prind itself comes from a really difficult point in my life, after a car accident. But it also combines a lot of beautiful things. My Italian heritage, my mom and grandmother's love for cooking. And what we do is we repurpose the rinds of Parmesano and we turn them into snacks. We do that because the rind has half the moisture than the cheese, and double the protein. It’s packed with calcium, it’s got no carbs, no sugar, and four all natural ingredients. So, it’s a way to give access to people who usually don’t have access to a really high quality food in a convenient, snackable fashion.
Prind at UChicago and CNVC
DS: So let's combine those two definitions of here: UChicago and Prind. You went through CNVC, and before we talk about that experience and that outcome, I'm curious to hear why you decided that CNVC was the path forward. Would you interpret that as where you started taking Prind seriously? And why CNVC?
Note: CNVC is an undergraduate student startup accelerator at the University of Chicago.
MC: I really like that question because I think as humans, we're really bad at recognizing biases, and one of those is in retrospect, you give meaning to a lot of things. I want to make it clear that CNVC was just as much a blessing as it was my choice to do. I applied and was really passionate.
And that goes to show how much changes in a short amount of time. When we applied, Prind was definitely very much an idea — it was very fun, very, very lighthearted in the sense that I wouldn’t consider it my life like it is now, but I think that the fact that Walshy and I got into it for the right reasons is why we have any traction. It’s because we were motivated to actually create change in this world, and we feel that snacking, especially in the US, is fundamentally flawed. So having such a pure purpose has led to everything.
And in terms of taking it seriously in CNVC, it’s very much a gradual thing, right? And it’s supposed to be that way because I think as much as we really believed and felt the pressure of the vision since day one, the energy we got from the one minute pitch on the day you get into CNVC, was unreal. It’s gradual in the sense that as more people start believing, then it becomes more real, in a sense.
DS: So CNVC itself, I’ll start pretty broadly and then go a bit deeper, but was it helpful or was it not? And maybe this is me framing the question and I shouldn’t be doing that, but it seems that one common critique of CNVC is that it’s a pitch competition rather than a business one. Their prescribed focus is not on necessarily real growth metrics and growing the business, but vanity ones. And so maybe the question is, to what extent was CNVC valuable for you and for Prind?
MC: I’ll take that as two questions, the first one being was it helpful for us. Truth be told, last quarter was the best quarter of my life here at UChicago, and a large part of that was because of CNVC. I'm not even talking about the unreal and unrealistic progress that Prind made, starting from very much in the idea stage when we started CNVC to now, selling in physical stores and having the quality of customers we have now. CNVC is super helpful for that. For nine weeks, you are just surrounded by really impressive people, you have access to incredible coaches. I mean, I’ve never had a class with seven other teachers, and that's what CNVC is.
The assignments are all geared for actual tangible progress for your business. So it's not any busy work. So no, I think CNVC is class. And the critiques, I'm personally biased as we are, and my bias is actually that yes, it does favor, because of the nine week structure, people who can present their business idea in a more eloquent and articulate way. But what it puts at foremost is traction, which I think is the one important thing; that’s what differentiates a business. I think for that reason, CNVC is super high quality as an incubator.
DS: So maybe the question is how did CNVC push you to grow? It seemed like, at least when I saw you during the program, a lot of the assignments that they had you do weren’t necessarily related to you getting more customers (traction). And so CNVC might have been important for your financial models or for setting up these different business plans, but at the end of the day, was a 10 page business plan really important for growing the amount of customers that were going and buying Prind?
MC: That’s a great question, and I don’t think that it directly was sometimes, but indirectly it was. It didn’t give us complete freedom, but the structure helped us predict and think about things we wouldn’t have otherwise. For example, it made us articulate our go-to-market strategy. And very much so in early stage entrepreneurship, anyone who has done or is planning on doing entrepreneurship will realize that you are very much living day by day. And that’s a beautiful thing because you feel completely present and those 24 hours mean so much to you. But CNVC helped in that sense.
Dealing with criticism and tech vs CPG
DS: So we can now go to the latter end of CNVC, that is during the final pitch. One judge said that he found the texture to be too hard, and he was complaining about that. So I think it'd be interesting to hear how CPG companies responds to negative user feedback. And so maybe the first question of a two part question is, how seriously do you take his feedback or how much merit does his comment, or any individual comment, have?
MC: Yeah, another great question, and I’ll start with the latter part: how seriously do we take it? I have a document and every single time that someone talks to me about Prind and gives me descriptive improvements or feedback, I write it down. That's how seriously we take it: directly and to the utmost seriousness. Because at the end of the day, we are a CPG, consumer packaged good. The consumer is first and foremost.
His comment about it being too hard made Walshy and I laugh because at the start, the one big complaint we were getting was “they’re chewy, they’re too soft.” So that’s to show you a 360, right? And the Cinderella is what everyone wants, the in-between, but it’s really hard to tame. And I think as long as we keep the mentality we do and we keep taking people's feedback seriously, it's much more difficult to fail because you're adjusting and adapting to a lot of people and in the end it's, it's for everyone's benefit.
DS: For the second part of the question, there seems to be, and this is a long one, there seems to be some difference between software and CPG as it relates to negative feedback and particularly at the early stages where software has the flexibility to be changed quickly. And so early stage investors, knowing that the software can be changed, tend not to look at the product as much as they do the theme and the team. And so do you think this focus on theme and team is the same for CPG as it relates to the flexibility of the product? And you can say, yeah, food science exists and you're able to change these CPG products and you can improve branding and packaging and all these things. But is it important, and maybe this is the core of the question, is it important that the product is right at such an early stage?
MC: It’s important to show that it’s feasible. What I mean by feasible is you have to be providing some sort of value to the market. And I want to kind of test the definitions you are using there because, for example, the way we see Prind, we are a solution to a fundamentally flawed industry in the US. We are not a cheese pop brand, right? We don't see ourselves as that. So of course there's more flexibility for us because as long as a snack provides health, it tastes good, it's affordable, it's convenient, and it's sustainable, then it's a Prind product. So our definitions are more broad.
With that being said, yes, at the start, there is a bit more rigidity than software, but I think that's a benefit because it's more tangible. It's something that you can actually work with, and it's easier to get feedback. Everyone has an opinion with food because everyone eats it every day. Meanwhile, software is more nuanced, you're making it for someone in a certain situation. So yeah, I think there are trade-offs.
CNVC Results and moving forward
DS: So let’s go to the end of CNVC. You got second place and you got 95k. I think there’s something to recognize here of we all strive for first, especially when you’re part of a soccer team that won the national championship. So, what was the feeling in the moment, a few hours after that moment, and what’s the feeling now?
MC: You were there, you saw the video, but yeah, huge disappointment, which came with just raw emotions. Prind’s our life. We invest everything into this. So when you’re ranked, regardless of what criteria it is, you feel extremely disappointed when it’s not first. We deserved it, in my opinion. I’m going to stand on that. We deserved first. But I’m very glad we didn’t win because now we’re in NVC, and we have a point to prove. We’re going even harder than before. But it’s very important, and this is something that I got talking to my sister after the finals, talking to you, and my other friends, is to have clarity, to be grateful. You have 95k of real money that people invested in you, you have a certain amount of angel investors that went out of their way to invest in you, you have a team of people that came and watched while wearing Prind merch at CNVC.
So it’s not about me. It’s not about my disappointment in that moment. It’s about them. And it's very important to have that mentality because those are the people who got you to that place. So the perfect summary for that night was, at the end of CNVC when they were awarding the checks, utter disappointment, but I was in my apartment with Walshy, five minutes of pure emotions and then we went down and we had a pizza with Luc (Scipio del Campo), who’s been unreal, and Jona (van Oord) from Rise Reforming; just a testament to how incredible the culture is at CNVC as he was a competitor but now is a lifelong friend.
DS: So it seems like you’ve taken that defeat in stride and it’s really changed your focus and determination now. But is there anything related to the outcome of CNVC or the whole process that you would have done differently? And is that even a question worth asking?
MC: I’d stop you at the first part of the question. It hasn’t changed anything, and it’s actually given us clarity that at the end of the day, people will always have opinions. What matters to us is Prind and the success of Prind, and if that aligns with CNVC and NVC, good. But, we’re never going to sacrifice; it’s not a signaling thing. I’d rather be in the position we are now with Prind ready to grow, ready to launch, and the new stores we’re going to launch with the new flavors and new packaging, actually focusing on the business, rather than: we won first place in this competition. This is a journey that’s just getting started in our eyes. We’re not here for accolades or static achievements.
Work life balance and regret
DS: It seems that CNVC, but I guess the journey of building Prind and a startup more broadly, especially when you're in school, requires an immense amount of time. And seeing that you're simultaneously a student, and a 20-year-old boy in college, and a teammate on our school soccer team, how have you balanced everything? What have you sacrificed or had to give up to get everything you wanted out of Prind?
MC: Sacrifice is a weird word because I feel like sacrifice comes with disappointment or regrets, and I don’t have any of those. As I said before, Prind’s my life. Spring break was California with Walshy at his parents’ house, but every morning we were in Panera and Starbucks on Zoom calls and refining our business model for NVC. I came back a day early just so we could cook and fulfill the hundred orders we had during the break and also so we could prepare for Foxtrot on Tuesday. So that is our day to day. What you were saying before, how do I balance it, you don’t. It’s not a balance. There’s no such thing as work-life balance because my life is Prind and school has time for it, and you just make time for the things that matter. Prind, for the first time ever, has made me disappointed in having to sleep because I feel like there’s so many things to do. But when you have a purpose, there really is a way. Last quarter, I ended up with the best grades I’ve gotten, and I think that’s a testament to when you really have pressure and a purpose, all else gets done. I’ve maybe not been as present as I wanted to with my friends and my family. So that might be a sacrifice in a sense. Yesterday, my roommates wanted to get dinner together at Medici, but I had to say “no, sorry, I have to cook.” Those happen every day. But I think as long as you have the reason why, you don’t count them as sacrifices.
DS: So maybe more broadly, do you believe in regret?
MC: Do I believe in regret? I think regret, and feeling sorry for yourself, are probably the stupidest feelings you can have. They don’t really lead to any progress in my eyes. I think the best decision is the one you make. That doesn’t mean that there are some decision I wouldn’t have made differently, but just listen to yourself when you’re saying “if I was the person I am now…” To become the person you are now, you have to have made that decision, so it’s impossible for you to change it.
DS: There’s some saying that the irony of life is that you have to live it moving forwards, but it only makes sense moving backwards.
MC: You make it make sense. I could come here and tell you that I knew from day one I’ve always believed Prind and had this conviction, which I have to a certain extent. But it’s also gradually taken more importance, as it should.
Conviction and saying no to consulting
DS: So related to that conviction, I know you were engaged in consulting recruiting in the past year, both before and during CNVC, and I'm pretty sure at one point during CNVC, you had an interview with an MBB and you decided not to prepare for it, and I don’t even know if you took the call. Can you talk about, especially for your college peers, the conviction or thought processes that led you to take this risk on a startup, to put everything aside and go all in, especially in a school and in an environment like UChicago, which is so heavily focused on pre-professional.
MC: I had a first round with McKinsey before the start of CNVC, and thankfully that didn’t go as planned. And I say that because I wouldn’t be where I am today. And don’t get me wrong, those are incredible opportunities and there’s a reason why so many people are attracted to them. Some of my closest friends are going to Goldman and places like that, and I admire them. There’s a reason why it’s very selective to get into there. But I feel like there is nothing in the world I would rather do than Prind. “The hours” are much worse, but they’re also so much better. As I see it, things in life can either give you energy or take it away from you. And the corporate environment for me, at this moment or at the firms I’ve explored, isn’t for me. I’m an extremely passionate guy and I want to give my all into something.
As for the interview with the MBB during CNVC, I didn’t show up and I didn’t even prepare for it. That’s because it gets to a point where you start acting for yourself, and I knew that even if I were to get accepted, I wouldn’t have taken it. I wasn’t excited for it. I look at my Handshake and I’ve applied to 500 jobs, but at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, am I excited for this? And if the answer is no, don’t even start. You have the most choice before you enter a situation. So use that; don’t apply to things you don’t want.
The future
DS: If Prind isn’t successful, why does it fail?
MC: That’s not a possibility. I think just like with the regret question, I’m not going to dedicate my energy or thought to that because that’s useless. That’s not productive to Prind. The only way it fails is by me answering questions like that and me thinking about things like that. That’s just not a possibility.
DS: Why is that the case? There seems to be many risks that Prind will face.
MC: I’m just not going to entertain this. If you’re trying to get me riled up, this is perfect (in a joking tone). But no, I’m not going to entertain it. We face so many challenges on the day to day, but when there’s a will, there’s a way, and we’ll find it. Walshy and I and all the people who are helping us out are incredible. It’s just that mentality, it’s a different mentality. There are no two possibilities, yes and no. There’s just yes.
DS: So will you entertain the question, if Prind is successful, why does it succeed?
MC: Yes because that’s different and I think I’ve already answered it. It’s staying true to our values, staying true to what started us, and that’s to change the fundamentally flawed snacking industry. We, Prind, think we’re getting ripped off in a sense, because we’re giving something of disproportionate value. In this world, with packaged food, with food in general, people don’t realize that it is one of the very few inputs you have control of that can make a tangible difference in your physical and mental state. People are misinformed, not informed, don’t have access, and end up making decisions without really making them that lead to their detriment, a poorer quality of life. We want to lower those barriers with Prind.
DS: So let’s bring it back to today. It seems like your biggest focus right now might be preparing for NVC and going through that program. If that’s not the case, what might it be? What keeps you up at night, and is it something the audience can help you think about?
MC: NVC is a phenomenal opportunity and we’re going to take it extremely seriously, and our goal is to win. But with that, I think that CNVC really helped put things into perspective and our priority is the business. What that means is getting our orders out, responding to user feedback, we’re planning to launch in Foxtrot and all our focus is going to be on having the best launch possible.
So NVC is going to help us with structure but at the end, what’s most important in NVC is having the most traction, and how do you get the most traction? By actually doing Prind day by day. So that’s our focus in terms of what’s keeping me up at night. A lot of things, to be honest. But not in a scared way, but in an excited way. There’s so many things to do and that’s where the importance of prioritizing comes in. It’s realizing what is actionable in the now and what is actionable in the later and what can other people do because they’re better at it.
For example, I always have a little notebook on my bedside because I start thinking about things, and last night I was thinking about how we can market ourselves to increase engagement from our customers and the people that we want. One thing is getting exposure, and the next is getting exposure to a specific subsection that you believe is interested in your product.
DS: It seems like when you talked about CNVC, you said “it was really valuable and they helped us set up these fundamentals and so even if the focus wasn't necessarily on traction, it helped us gain traction.” Then when you talk about NVC, you’re saying, “no, we're not gonna focus on NVC as much as we are on growing our user base and our traction directly.” So those things seem a bit in tension with each other. Maybe it’s a matter of timing – a month or two ago, you needed that structure that CNVC gave you and now you don’t necessarily need it from NVC.
MC: I want to outline that those two things can happen at the same time. It’s not zero-sum. We’re fully focused on NVC – class starts tomorrow, 6pm, we’ll be there with our notebooks and super focused, giving it our best. What I’m saying is that what CNVC has made us realize is that the best investment you can make for NVC is to work on the business. And if that's not the case, then we will happily accept that, in the sense of: if our outcome for working on the business with a hundred percent focus is negative in NVC, we will have no regrets because our business will be in the best position it can be. And that's the whole point, in my opinion, of an accelerator: it’s to get unsustainable results in a very brief amount of time because of unreal resources and guidance that's being offered.
Love
DS: Last question, and this is a very broad one. What is love to Matteo Caloia?
MC: I think that changes. I used to think love was this thing that you give and people give back to you. But the college experience has actually taught me that love is just what you control. So to me, giving is love. If you happen to receive love, then that’s wonderful. There’s this stigma around it, but you and Eitan (Fischer), I love you guys, I care for you guys. Invest in the people who give love back to you, because you can’t go wrong there. But yes, loving is giving.
DS: Thank you.
MC: Thank you, Diego.
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