This isn't a startup book. It's a survival manual.
Every year, thousands of founders launch food, beverage, and wellness brands-driven by passion, purpose, and the dream of building something great. Most of them fail. Not because they didn't work hard. But because they didn't understand the math.
Margins or Death is the no-bullshit playbook for surviving and winning in the brutal world of consumer packaged goods (CPG/FMCG). It strips away the glossy marketing speak and replaces it with hard financial truth, operational reality, and battle-tested strategy. If you're building a product-based business-especially in food, beverage, wellness, or cannabis-this book is not optional. It's mandatory.
Written by veteran operator Steven Dontigny, who has scaled multiple 8 and 9-figure CPG brands across North America, Margins or Death pulls back the curtain on the hidden killers that silently destroy startups. From slotting fees and chargebacks to co-manufacturer chaos and freight erosion-this is what no one tells you until it's too late.
You'll learn:
- Why great products fail when the economics are broken
- How to price, package, and protect your margins at every stage
- What buyers, brokers, and distributors really care about
- How to avoid freight math traps, chargebacks, and production delays
- How to build an operational backbone that scales with you
But this book isn't just for founders.
It belongs on the desk of every business student, accelerator director, investor, and retail buyer who touches the CPG space. If you're teaching startup strategy without trade math and supply chain truth, you're sending students into battle with no armor.
Part of the 'Margins or Death' Series
Margins or Death is Book One in a founder-first business series that includes:
- Launch or Die - What no one tells you about bringing a product to market
- Pitch or Perish - The retail playbook for founders who want to win
Each book delivers raw, tactical insights for surviving and scaling in food, beverage, wellness, and cannabis. Real math. Real tactics. Real war stories.
Why this book matters:
Most business books are written by marketers. This one was written by the guy who had to fix it when marketing fell short. Steven Dontigny has built, scaled, and operated CPG brands in both Canada and the U.S. He wrote Margins or Death not to inspire-but to arm you.
If you're serious about launching or running a CPG brand-and you're tired of fake guru advice-this is your operating system.
Margins or Death isn't motivational. It's operational.
It doesn't ask you to dream bigger. It dares you to survive.
Put it on your shelf. In your syllabus. In the hands of every founder who thinks hustle is enough.
Because it's not.
You Can't Outwork Broken Math
Steven Dontigny doesn't do fluff. After 20+ years scaling beverage and cannabis brands across North America, he founded The Forge CPG to help founders survive the brutal math of consumer goods. His books Margins or Death and Launch or Die are no-BS survival guides for anyone launching into retail's meat grinder. If you're tired of fake guru advice and want real-world playbooks from someone who's actually done it, this is the guy. He lives in New Brunswick with his wife and writes like your margins depend on it-because they do.
