From Supper Club to 12,000 Stores: The Rise of Fly By Jing

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Jing Gao, founder and CEO of Fly By Jing, has built one of the most talked-about food brands in America — starting with nothing more than a Kickstarter campaign and a jar of Sichuan chili crisp. Born in Chengdu and raised across the world, Gao left a career in tech to study under master chefs in China, eventually opening an award-winning restaurant in Shanghai before launching Fly By Jing as an underground supper club. Today, her products line the shelves of over 12,000 retailers nationwide.

Betting on Fear

Gao admits she spent months delaying her Kickstarter launch out of fear. She reframed that vulnerability as a proof of concept — if people wouldn’t back her campaign, relocating to Los Angeles made little sense. After studying successful campaigns and cold-emailing journalists, she went live. Within a single day, she was fully funded, eventually surpassing her goal by several thousand percent and landing her first 1,000 customers.

Building a Brand Without Overcomplicating It

One of Gao’s most valuable lessons for entrepreneurs is to limit layers of innovation. Fly By Jing already challenged Western consumers on two fronts — a textured sauce requiring a spoon and a reimagined idea of Chinese cuisine. It worked, but demanded enormous effort. Her advice is to start with what already exists and add just one level of newness, making it easier for customers to understand and for founders to market without burning through capital.

Throughout her journey, Gao has followed a single guiding principle: trust your own taste. Authenticity, she believes, is the ingredient that resonates universally.