A born-and-raised Austin founder, Mason is a chemical-engineer-turned-eco-entrepreneur who’s built (and rebuilt) companies around healthier food and a healthier planet. He shares the early wins and hard knocks—from a failed pizza venture in Spain to nearly bankrupting, then turning around and exiting his local-food startup—before launching CC’s Veggie Co. and now Small Potatoes, an acquisition-and-manufacturing platform for better-for-you CPG brands.

We get into luck vs. control in entrepreneurship, mental fitness (meditation, float tanks, intuition), why human health is the true north of sustainability, how to survive cash crunches, what great mentors actually do, and his upcoming framework/book, “The Puzzle,” about presence and self-reflection. Practical takeaways, founder scars, and a hopeful roadmap for building mission-driven business ...