Good morning. Karim Sadik-Khan is the new finance chief of Liquid Death, the company announced on Tuesday. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $1.4 billion, the beverage brand known for its edgy aluminum cans that aren't filled with alcohol—instead, it's water, sparkling water, or iced tea with fruit juice—last year hit $263 million in retail-scanned sales through registers and expanded to 113,000 locations across the U.S. and U.K.
Sadik-Khan, most recently CFO for spirits provider Beam Suntory North America, where he worked on Jim Beam’s IPO in 2011 and the acquisition of Jim Beam by Suntory in 2014, said what drew him to Liquid Death was the way it resonated with customers. “It’s a new brand-building model, and that’s what really pulled me in,” Sadik-Khan told me on Tuesday.
Liquid Death CEO and founder Mike Cessario, a former marketing professional, goes big when it comes to ad campaigns. For example, this summer, consumers who purchase Liquid Death have the chance to win a $400,000 two-seater, retired fighter jet. The pilot is not included. (In the 1990s, Pepsi attempted a contest to give away a jet, but didn’t come through, which was documented in the Netflix series Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?)
Finance, historically, has viewed marketing as a cost center, but Sadik-Khan shared with me his personal philosophy on the matter: “My view is that a bad CFO just says 'yes' or 'no.' And it’s very easy to say ‘no’—that doesn’t add value."
He added that he's found the most success in his career through building teams and removing barriers to execution. Working with partners, from CEOs to sales and marketing, as CFO, it's crucial to understand everyone's objectives and try to find the answer that “wins for all parties, that makes sense, is efficient, affordable, and also reduces risk,” Sadik-Khan said. “What I like about Mike is I think he has a really strong sense of that.”
You can read more of my conversation with Sadik-Khan and why the company is winning big with Gen Z here.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
