When Jamie Colvin, an Olympic gold medalist for shot-putting, launched Protein Power Plates, in 2013, he envisioned it as a macho alternative to salad bars and smoothie shops for the health-conscious. He’d originally intended to open a steak house—a “Valhalla for carnivores”—but when his sister Mila, a recent business school graduate and an associate at a New York venture capital firm, pointed out that her young professional friends were less interested in fancy sit-down restaurants than in “fast casual” spots where they could get their choice of freshly made meals—pick-your-own meat, vegetables, and carbs—in half the time and for half the price, he took her advice and shifted gears. Together they pitched the idea to the partners at her company, who agreed to give them seed funding.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2022 issue of Harvard Business Review.