The Man in the Arena" — Eddy Connors, Co-Founder & CEO of Goodie Bag | EP. 54
An American founder is taking the surplus-food market away from a 1,700-person Danish incumbent — one independent restaurant at a time. Eddy Connors is Co-Founder & CEO of Goodie Bag, the marketplace app that connects people to local shops' unsold food at 60-70% off, fighting food waste and food affordability at once. CU Boulder Leeds grad, Techstars alum, $1.3M pre-seed, 350+ partner shops after launching New York City in April 2026.Eddy and Goodie Bag are the definition of a Barbarian: taking on the entrenched incumbent head-on, not invited, not welcome, and not stopping. Part business case study, part Bitcoin philosophy. Why scale isn't a moat when value is hyperlocal. Why the real product is customer acquisition, not discounted disposal. Why "proof of work" — the friction that can't be faked — is the moat in food and in money alike. Plus the public-benefit-corp model, transparency vs. greenwashing, the Wisconsin university pilot, and a lean AI-native operating stack.On food waste: roughly 40% of all food produced in the US is thrown away across the supply chain, while millions of Americans can't afford quality meals. Goodie Bag closes that gap directly — customers get fresh, quality food from local pizzerias, bakeries, and markets at around a 66% discount, food that would otherwise have hit the trash within hours. That's why sales are growing: persistent inflation has made ~80% of Americans deal-hunters, the discounts are real and on good food (not scraps), every order also drives new foot traffic for the small business, and the model spreads by word of mouth in tight local communities. Good food, big savings, less waste, stronger local shops — all in one transaction.David, Goliath, and proof of work — applied to lunch.Hosted by Mark Connors (Risk Dimensions) & Bill Mann (Harmoniq Insights).Full show notes: https://newbarbarians.riskdimensions.io/nbp/ep54-EddyConnors================================================================TIMESTAMPS================================================================00:00 Cold open — barbarians at the TradFi gate01:55 Macro setup: sticky oil, PPI high, 30-year breaches 5%04:00 The affordability gap — 40% of US food wasted06:20 Origin: Bronxville to Boulder to Goodie Bag07:40 Tier-2/3 strategy; 70% of US restaurants are independent09:00 The Danish Goliath: Too Good To Go, 22 countries16:31 Incumbent raids Goodie Bag markets — zero partners switch18:45 The real product is customer acquisition, not surplus25:07 Public benefit corp, B-Corp greenwashing, transparency27:59 The Bitcoin parallel: long game, trustless transparency35:19 The plan: Wisconsin pilot, 100K users, $1M NYC target46:00 Satoshi's "proof of work is the only way" — friction as moat58:46 Eddy's close: download Goodie Bag, code "barbarians"
