Episode 9: Cereal Entrepreneur with Leanne Linsky, Founder/CEO Plauzzable

"I ate Count Chocula every day for breakfast. I'm not kidding. Every day. From when I started chewing food until I was twenty-one."

Leanne Linsky, comedian turned entrepreneur and founder of live online comedy platform Plauzzable, on the cereal that defined her childhood and the letter she wrote to General Mills when there weren't enough marshmallows.

In this episode of Founders Fridge, host Heidi Knoblauch talks with Leanne about building a platform that lets comedians perform for live audiences online, going back to school for a master's in innovation mid-pandemic, and why she still needs to eat dinner at five o'clock sharp.

Leanne grew up in the Midwest, forty-five minutes outside Chicago. Meat and potatoes. Green Giant frozen corn, which was the only vegetable she'd touch. Dinner at the kitchen table every night, no TV allowed. She'd hide the vegetables she hated under her plate as if her mom wouldn't notice. Now she's mostly plant-based, her husband does the cooking, and their fridge is stocked with tofu, salsas, and Impossible chicken nuggets. She doesn't follow recipes. If it's not intuitive, why bother? She's a better baker anyway... she used to wake up early in New York, make brownies before work, and bring them to the office. She never ate them herself. She just liked how they made her apartment smell.

When things are going well at Plauzzable, they hit the fish market for scallops and king crab legs. When things aren't? Chips and salsa. Salty, savory, satisfying.

Listen for:

• The Count Chocula story (and the disappointing General Mills coupon)
• Why Leanne gets distracted cooking ("Oh wait, did I have the oven on?")
• The rice cooker Mexican dinner that's become a weeknight staple
• How a move from New York to LA traffic sparked the idea for online comedy

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