Jones
TopicsRegulation, Fundraising, Product Development
Terms in this episodeAngel investor, Burn rate, CAC, Cohort, Friends and family round, MOQ, MVP, Payback period, Pre-seed, Runway, Seed round, Series A
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About
In this episode, I sit down with Hilary Dubin and Caroline Huber, co-founders of Jones — a modern nicotine-cessation company built for people trying to quit vaping.
Jones combines FDA-approved nicotine mints, a form of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), with an app that provides behavioral support and community. Hilary and Caroline started the company after struggling to quit nicotine themselves and realizing how outdated, stigmatized, and incomplete the existing NRT category felt — especially for younger users.
We talk about how their personal experiences shaped the product, what it takes to build a regulated physical product alongside software, and why behavioral support is just as important as the nicotine replacement itself. We also get into manufacturing constraints, FDA economics, fundraising stress, and the realities of building a business in a tightly regulated space.
This was an extremely transparent conversation about building a real company in what I consider to be a critically important category. I learned a lot from this one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.