Hilary Coles is the co-founder of POCA, a better-for-you coffee and matcha syrup, and a co-founder of Hims & Hers. At Hims & Hers, she helped redefine the modern healthcare landscape by pairing design-led branding and consumer intuition with a sharp instinct for cultural moments. Over nearly eight years, she helped grow it from an idea into a 2,000-person public company.
With POCA, short for “pocket café,” Hilary is bringing that same eye to sweetness. POCA is a pocket-sized, zero-calorie flavored syrup with a boost of fiber, made to sweeten coffee, matcha, or any snack without the sugar crash, aftertaste, or bloating of typical sugar-free options. Launched in February 2026 with co-founder Emily, POCA is built around the joy of the “little treat” and the small rituals that make a day feel good. It’s a deliberate pushback against an over-optimized, biohacking-obsessed wellness culture.
In this episode, Hilary shares why she left the company she co-founded and took a year to rediscover herself. She explains why POCA leads with joy instead of fiber, and why its sachet format is both a design choice and a margin strategy. She also talks about how limited flavor drops are driving early growth, and she gives an honest look at building a cap table of operators as a second-time founder.
In this episode:
From Hims & Hers to POCA: why Hilary left the company she co-founded, the year she took to figure out who she was without it, and how a lifelong love of sugar became Polka.
Building smart from day one: why she chose sachets for margin and portability, why Polka leads with indulgence over function, and how limited flavor drops drive DTC, TikTok Shop, and the new Amazon launch.
Fundraising as a second-time founder: building a cap table with Offline Ventures and operator angels, treating investors as partners, and her advice to question everything and never copy someone else’s playbook.