Why This Company Decided Not to Hide its Biggest 'Weakness' Sometimes a startup's perceived weakness is really its biggest asset.

Most protein bars have an image on their wrapper. Gatorade, PowerBar and Nature Valley show the food itself, often coated in chocolate. Clif Bar shows a rock climber. But Exo's packaging is minimalist, with no image. That's because its founders feared drawing too much attention to its special ingredient: crickets.

It's not as if Exo hides anything -- "cricket powder" is on the package, though in a smaller font than "protein bar." But when it launched last year as part of a boomlet of cricket-selling startups, nobody knew what Americans would swallow. So Exo was understated. Then paleo diet and CrossFit enthusiasts embraced crickets, Exo netted $4 million in Series A financing and Exo became a leader in this burgeoning industry.

Now Exo thinks it's time for a new strategy: Flaunt those bugs. "It's what makes us stand out," says cofounder Greg Sewitz. "It's what makes retailers knock on our door instead of the other way around."