Dr. Juan Salinas – Wild Business Growth Podcast #289: Food Scientist Bodybuilder, Founder of P-nuff

Keep training and getting better. That’s the story of this week’s Wild Business Growth podcast guest, Dr. Juan Salinas. Juan is the Founder and CEO of P-nuff. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

• Episode Summary & Player
• Full Transcript
• Show Notes
• Wild Business Growth podcast Summary

Episode 289: Dr. Juan Salinas – Food Scientist Bodybuilder, Founder of P-nuff

Dr. Juan Salinas, the Founder and CEO of P-nuff, joins the show to share his journey from bodybuilder to creating the peanut protein puff and ripping off his shirt on Shark Tank. Hear what Mark Cuban is like in real life, how to find the right mix of ingredients, how to get distribution in major retailers, how sports and fitness help you as an entrepreneur, and the best food from Honduras. This episode covers everything from protein to extruders. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• Where did the idea for P-nuff come from
• How do you make healthy and tasty snacks
• So corny
• How do you focus more on the business
• What is Juan’s workout routine
• Let’s Max!
• Was he on the Michael Phelps eating regimen
• Roatán

Connect with Juan at Pnuff.com and on social media @PnuffCrunch.

Enjoy the shoooooow! Check out the show notes below for much more detail. You can also find the full transcript here.

Show Notes

• Intro & Shark Tank
  • [0:28] Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool
  • [0:37] Connect with Juan at Pnuff.com and on social media @PnuffCrunch
  • [2:52] ShopRite Hoboken
  • [2:58] Shoutout, Vincent!
  • [3:54] How did Juan get the courage to take his shirt off on Shark Tank
  • [6:08] “How to Get Shredded: 4 Fit Tips from a Former Competitive Bodybuilder“
  • [6:42] Indiana University (IU)
  • [6:57] What is Mark Cuban like in real life
  • [7:52] Emails
  • [8:02] Mavs (Dallas Mavericks)
  • [9:37] Go Hoosiers!

• The P-nuff Story
  • [9:44] Where did the idea for P-nuff come from
  • [10:11] Nestlé
  • [10:25] PowerBar
  • [11:04] R&D (Research & Development)
  • [11:25] 50g Protein Bar
  • [13:30] Post
  • [14:09] Extruder, Cheetos
  • [14:53] “Identifying Plant Based Snacks with Complete Protein“
  • [15:30] Holy Trinity
  • [15:49] How much experimentation was there getting the right mix of ingredients
  • [16:24] What was the “aha” moment for P-nuff
  • [18:09] How do you make healthy and tasty snacks
  • [18:26] Entrepreneurs
  • [19:02] Stevia, Monkfruit
  • [19:33] How do you know when a flavor is tasty enough for consumers
  • [21:00] So corny
  • [21:59] Nabisco, OREO
  • [23:18] Focus Groups
  • [24:09] Shoutout, Andrew!
  • [25:22] Katie Thomson – Wild Business Growth podcast #283: Baby Food Dietitian, Co-Founder of Square Baby
  • [26:10] Eric Roy – Wild Business Growth podcast #240: Water Optimizer, Founder of Hydroviv
  • [26:43] How do you get distribution in major retailers
  • [27:01] Food Entrepreneur (Foodpreneur)
  • [27:19] Real Estate
  • [28:41] Whole Foods
  • [29:08] Trade Shows
  • [29:57] How do you focus more on the business
  • [30:18] Startup
  • [30:40] Sales
  • [31:41] The Wild Business Growth podcast is on YouTube! Subscribe @MaxBranstetter to watch full video interviews with Wild entrepreneurs like Juan
  • [32:41] Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter and receive How to Edit Your Podcast in Audacity. It’s where podcasting meets entrepreneurship – and terrible puns
  • [32:42] Such an honor speaking at Podcast Movement ’23 in Denver! Sign up to grab the slides from my session at MaxPodcasting.com/PM23

• Inspiration & Creativity: Fitness
  • [33:11] How does fitness help you as an entrepreneur
  • [36:05] Stress
  • [36:42] TY and FY
  • [36:53] Shoutout, Dana!
  • [37:11] Flow State
  • [37:29] Two-a-Days
  • [37:41] CLE
  • [38:12] What is Juan’s workout routine
  • [38:54] Let’s Max!
  • [39:24] Tabata, Peloton
  • [40:02] Mr. America
• Rapid-Fire Q&A (or just Q&A)
  • [41:03] What did Juan learn at the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
  • [41:56] Was he on the Michael Phelps eating regimen
  • [42:11] Mike Tyson eating routine
  • [42:39] Breaststroke
  • [43:10] Roatán, Honduras
  • [43:44] Baleadas
  • [43:58] Hoboken
  • [44:35] What’s the best part of being in food science
  • [46:00] Connect with Juan at Pnuff.com and on social media @PnuffCrunch
  • [47:44] What are Juan’s Final Thoughts
  • [48:27] Follow the Wild Business Growth podcast and tell a friend about the podcast. And show love (or roast me) by leaving 5 stars on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify
  • [48:36] The Wild Business Growth podcast is on YouTube! Subscribe @MaxBranstetter to watch full video interviews with Wild entrepreneurs like Juan
  • [48:53] Check out the Wild Business Growth podcast on Goodpods, where you can see what your favorite people are listening to
  • [48:55] Connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter (aka X), and Threads @MaxBranstetter and TikTok @WildBusinessGrowth
  • [48:57] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool
  • [49:02] Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter and receive How to Edit Your Podcast in Audacity. It’s where podcasting meets entrepreneurship – and terrible puns
  • Theme music: Freestyle Percussion Magik – “Jungle Tribe” – provided by Jamendo

What is the Wild Business Growth podcast?

Wild ideas. Wild growth. Every Wednesday morning a new entrepreneur joins the Wild Business Growth podcast to share the wildly creative and unusual ways they grew their business – and teaches you how to do it, too. Hear the minds behind WordPress, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Drybar, NFL RedZone, Big Mouth Billy Bass, the voice of Bart Simpson, and more Wild stories. Hosted by Max Branstetter (that’s me), Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting.

How do you start a podcast?

Interested in starting a professional-sounding podcast for your brand, but don’t want to deal with the time commitment of all those behind-the-scenes details? I’ve got you covered. Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool.

Thanks for listening to Dr. Juan Salinas on the Wild Business Growth podcast. To hear more Wild stories like this one every Wednesday morning, follow the Wild Business Growth podcast and tell a friend about it. And hit the gym with them. Until next time, Let your business Run Wild…and Bring on the Bongos!!