I'm Victor Macias, and I make corn chips.

I'm the Santana Snacks founder, and Santana is my company now. I started it in 2023 in my hometown of Santa Ana, California, to make the chips I grew up with, inspired by Mexican antojitos. They are premium organic corn chips made with three ingredients. You can find them at Mother's Market, Lassen's, Thrive Market and Instacart. Shop Santana Snacks

I'm a first-generation Mexican American. I studied entrepreneurship at Cal State Fullerton and graduated in 2009.

Santana is my second food company. The first was Nui Foods. In 2016, my friend Kristoffer Quiaoit and I started baking low-carb cookies in his mom's kitchen. We had no baking experience. Two Kickstarter campaigns raised more than $100,000 together. In 2018 we landed a deal on Shark Tank, and the episode aired on ABC on November 25, 2018. Guest shark Alex Rodriguez offered $300,000 for 25%, and we said yes on the show.

Then Nui grew faster than our operations and cash could support, and we ran out of runway. Costs and expectations went up after the show, cash got tight, and we were losing money on each order. In the end we shut down. I filed for bankruptcy. I took three lessons from it: know your unit economics, do not grow by discounting, and protect quality as you scale. I use all three at Santana. Read what happened to Nui Foods

Before Nui, I built Male Standard, a men's lifestyle website. It let me travel and meet people I would not have met otherwise.

I mentor founders through the Cal State Fullerton Center for Entrepreneurship, where I serve on the board. I also serve on the board of Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN).

I speak to students and founders too. I have spoken at the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business, the Cypress College Entrepreneur Summit and Cal State Fullerton, among many other places. In New Delhi, I gave opening remarks at Beyond Barriers 2024, a program that supports women entrepreneurs. Want me at your event? See Speaking and Press and request a quote.

Featured on Shark Tank, CNBC, Business Insider and Inc.

Mucho amor, Victor

Quick facts

  • Victor Macias is the founder of Santana Snacks, a premium organic corn chip brand made with three ingredients, started in 2023 in Santa Ana, California.
  • Santana Snacks is sold at Mother's Market, Lassen's, Thrive Market and Instacart.
  • He co-founded Nui Foods, a low-carb cookie brand, with Kristoffer Quiaoit. Nui landed a deal on Shark Tank (Season 10, Episode 6, aired November 25, 2018).
  • Nui's two Kickstarter campaigns raised $100,682 in total ($21,495 in 2016 and $79,187 in 2017).
  • He also co-founded Male Standard, a men's lifestyle website.
  • He is a Cal State Fullerton entrepreneurship graduate (2009) and serves on the board of the CSUF Center for Entrepreneurship and Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN).
  • He has spoken at UC Irvine, Cypress College, Cal State Fullerton and Beyond Barriers 2024 in New Delhi, among many other events.

If you would like to get in touch, visit the Contact page.