The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing: Recent Episodes
Mike Gelb
The Consumer VC takes a look into early-stage consumer investing and venture capital. If you are interested in learning about consumer trends, have a b2c business and interested in learning about the fundraising process at the early stage, you have come to the right place. Mike interviews some of the top venture capitalists in the world that focus on B2C and consumer type companies or have a deep track record investing in these categories such as marketplaces, SaaS, social, CPG and non-tech subscription. Mike also interviews founders that are building some of the most disruptive consumer facing companies in the world. The conversation usually includes the insight the founder discovered, fundraising strategy, and the pitch.This podcast also includes bonus episodes. Each bonus episode dives into a particular subject that might not have to due with the fundraise or venture capital, but still would be helpful to founders. For example, a bonus episode on brand strategy or how to construct a board of directors. All bonus episodes will be clearly labeled.For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.com. For updates, you can follow @mikegelb on Twitter.
Israel's next breakout wave isn't coming from B2B. It's being built in consumer.
Most people think of Israel as a cybersecurity and enterprise tech powerhouse. Danny Cohen and Oren Charnoff are betting that the country's next defining chapter is being written by consumer founders, and they're building Sticker Ventures to back them.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Danny and Oren, co-founders of Sticker Ventures, to unpack why Israel is quietly producing world-class consumer companies, how Israeli founders approach distribution differently than their American counterparts, and why they believe the next decade will see more massive consumer exits out of Israel than the previous twenty combined.
They discuss the military-to-startup pipeline that shaped Israel's innovation culture, why Israeli consumer founders are obsessive about unit economics from day one, how AI is creating a new wave of vertical consumer opportunity, and why the US market is almost always the first and primary target, even for founders who've never set foot there.
Danny and Oren also share how they came together as co-founders (including the friction that almost kept them apart), their conviction that distribution-oriented founders win, and why they're seeing a surge of physical brand companies entering their pipeline right now.
You'll learn:
✅ Why Israel has always been a consumer powerhouse, not just B2B
✅ How Israeli founders use a "quantitative hedge fund" approach to marketing
✅ Why unit economics matter more than growth at all costs at the early stage
✅ How companies like Resident Mattresses outcompeted Casper and Purple
✅ Why AI creates more consumer opportunity, not less
✅ How the Israeli military network translates directly into startup success
✅ Why 98% of Israeli consumer companies target the US market on day one
✅ What Sticker Ventures looks for in pre-revenue founders
✅ Why 1 in 5 new companies in Israel last year was a consumer business
✅ The missed investments Danny and Oren wish they could get back
If you're a founder, investor, or operator curious about where the next generation of consumer innovation is coming from, this episode delivers a rare inside look at Israel's emerging consumer ecosystem.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:11 Why Israel dominates in tech and startup innovation
03:33 Oren's perspective as an immigrant founder in Israel
04:53 Israel's consumer moment; it's not new, it's accelerating
06:31 How Resident Mattresses beat Casper and Purple
08:10 How Sticker Ventures thinks about marketing spend vs. ROI
09:50 Why unit economics matter more than growth at all costs
10:02 Why Israeli companies go US-first from day one
11:55 Balancing profitability and growth at the early stage
14:16 How to build conviction in pre-revenue companies
23:41 Balancing consumer tech vs. physical inventory businesses
25:22 Why distribution-oriented founders win
28:06 How AI is changing consumer behavior and opportunity
29:28 Why vertical AI products will outlast generic platforms
31:35 The gap Sticker Ventures is filling in Israel's VC landscape
33:02 Why Israeli founders build world-class global consumer companies
35:15 Misconceptions Israeli founders have about the American consumer
37:49 How Danny and Oren came together, including the conflict that shaped them
41:16 Fund size, check sizes, and investment strategy
42:46 Bringing American capital into Israeli consumer deals
44:16 Why the US is almost always the first target market
45:17 Companies Danny and Oren wish they had backed
47:30 One takeaway about Israel and consumer you need to know
48:36 Books that have shaped Danny and Oren personally and professionally
52:16 Closing thoughts
📬 Subscribe to Consumer VC for more conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of consumer. 👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/
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Twitter/X: @mikegelb
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The future of consumer health is being built right now.
Consumers are becoming the CEOs of their own healthcare. From GLP-1s and peptides to protein, wearables, functional foods, and preventative wellness, entire industries are being reshaped by changing consumer behavior.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Nicolas McCoy, Managing Director of Whipstitch Capital, to unpack the biggest trends driving consumer health, food & beverage, supplements, wellness, and M&A. Nick spends his time analyzing what separates niche brands from the companies that break into the mainstream and get acquired.
They discuss why better-for-you products continue to outperform, how GLP-1 adoption is changing consumer spending habits, the rise of peptides and hormone optimization, why protein isn't slowing down anytime soon, and what strategic buyers are looking for in today's market.
Nick also shares his framework for evaluating brand headroom, explains why profitability matters more than ever in consumer M&A, and breaks down how founders should think about timing an exit.
You'll learn:
✅ Why consumers are becoming the CEOs of their own healthcare
✅ How GLP-1s are changing food, supplements, and wellness
✅ Why better-for-you products continue to outperform the market
✅ The future of peptides, hormones, and preventative health
✅ How investors evaluate brand headroom and acquisition potential
✅ Why some brands successfully cross from natural to mass retail
✅ The growing role of wearables in consumer health
✅ Why protein is still growing and where it goes next
✅ How strategic buyers think about acquisitions today
✅ What founders should know before trying to sell their company
If you're a founder, investor, operator, or simply curious about where consumer health is headed over the next decade, this episode is packed with data, trends, and practical insights.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:11 Consumers becoming the CEOs of their healthcare
06:07 The state of consumer M&A today
09:48 Why profitability matters more than ever
12:09 How to know when to sell your company
13:51 Understanding brand headroom
17:11 Which retail channels create the most value
20:00 Crossing from natural to mass retail
24:30 The K-shaped consumer economy explained
27:45 Why lower-income consumers are adopting health trends faster
29:13 The surprising growth of injectable health products
32:40 RFK Jr., MAHA, and peptide awareness
34:42 The future impact of GLP-1 adoption
37:26 Protein's next phase of growth
39:24 The future of peptides and personalized health
42:17 Why injections are becoming more mainstream
44:31 The rise of gummies as a supplement format
48:19 Women's hormone health opportunities
51:31 Mental health, wellness, and consumer behavior
53:23 Are founders selling because they want to or have to?
54:36 Is the consumer market back?
57:06 The growing role of private equity in CPG
59:23 The evolution of billion-dollar consumer exits
01:01:17 Why more capital is flowing into consumer brands
01:02:13 Categories Nick is watching closely
01:07:51 Personal experiences that shaped Nick's career
01:11:15 Closing thoughts
📬 Subscribe to Consumer VC for more conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of consumer 👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter/X: @mikegelb
Instagram: @consumervc
TikTok: @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.
Hiring agencies is risky. Most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-loved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, and more — at preferred rates.
Free for Consumer VC listeners → https://thehiddengems.com/
Most venture capitalists have never actually built companies.
Tony Conrad did both.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Tony Conrad, Partner at True Ventures and one of the earliest investors behind companies like Blue Bottle Coffee, Sweetgreen, Madison Reed, Modern Animal, WordPress and more. Before venture capital, Tony spent a decade at Danone before leaving corporate life to build startups during the earliest days of Silicon Valley’s internet boom.
Tony shares what it was really like living through the dot-com crash, why he believes AI is creating another major market correction and the lessons founders keep ignoring when it comes to fundraising, valuations, and building sustainable companies.
The conversation goes deep into founder psychology, venture incentives, why most investors get founders wrong and how Tony evaluates companies before there’s even product-market fit.
He also breaks down:
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Why he instantly invested in Blue Bottle
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The danger of overheated seed valuations
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Why most founders choose the wrong investors
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The real role of storytelling in fundraising
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What separates iconic founders from everyone else
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Why “fast money” creates long-term pressure
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How AI is reshaping both enterprise and consumer investing
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Why he still believes consumer is massively underrated
You’ll learn:
✅ Why Tony left Danone for Silicon Valley startups
✅ What the dot-com crash taught him about AI today
✅ The founder traits most investors overlook
✅ Why inflated valuations hurt founders later
✅ How True Ventures thinks about ownership and returns
✅ Why Blue Bottle was an obvious bet for him
✅ The difference between scalable venture bets vs angel investing
✅ Why founder-investor alignment matters more than valuation
✅ How to know if you have the right investors around the table
✅ Why consumer investing always comes back
👉 If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand how great companies are actually built across multiple cycles, this episode is packed with hard-earned lessons.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Leaving Danone for Silicon Valley
04:00 Why tech felt more exciting than CPG
05:30 The early days of startup investing
08:00 Moving to San Francisco during the internet boom
10:00 Lessons from the dot-com crash
13:00 Is AI in a bubble right now?
15:00 How Tony joined True Ventures
17:00 Building startups while investing simultaneously
20:00 The burnout of being both founder and VC
22:00 Why Tony loves four-wall retail businesses
23:00 The Blue Bottle investment story
27:00 How True Ventures makes investment decisions
29:00 Why being a generalist investor matters
32:00 Angel investing vs venture investing
34:00 What “venture-scale” really means
35:00 The one mistake Tony hates making
36:00 How to identify the right founders
39:00 Why founders shouldn’t rush fundraising
41:00 The danger of inflated valuations
45:00 What founders should look for in investors
47:00 When founders should step aside as CEO
50:00 Balancing founder support with LP responsibility
51:00 Lessons from building About.me
55:00 Why digital identity still matters
56:00 Why consumer investing is underrated
58:00 AI infrastructure vs AI applications
01:00:00 Consumer AI opportunities Tony is excited about
01:02:00 Investing in competing companies
01:05:00 The problem with mega funds
01:07:00 Lessons from Slack & Stewart Butterfield
01:08:00 Favorite books & leadership lessons
01:11:00 AI, job displacement & optimism for the future
01:14:00 Final thoughts
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.
Hiring agencies is risky. Most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-loved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, and more — at preferred rates.
Free for Consumer VC listeners → https://thehiddengems.com/
Most founders won’t do this.
They’ll hold onto their first product… even when it’s clearly not working.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Michelle Razavi, Founder & CEO of Elavi, the fast-growing better-for-you snack brand known for its protein brownies and desserts.
Michelle shares how she went from working 16-hour days at Sephora and Equinox to building a breakout CPG brand, why her first product line failed, and how a bold pivot into a completely different category unlocked massive growth.
From protein bars → dessert spreads → protein brownies, this is a story of constant iteration, brutal decision-making, and understanding what consumers actually want.
The conversation also dives deep into retail strategy, why Costco can completely change a business overnight, and how to build a profitable CPG company in a market where “growth at all costs” no longer works.
You’ll learn:
✅ Why your first product is probably wrong
✅ When to kill a product (and why most founders don’t)
✅ How one retail partnership can change everything
✅ The real economics behind retail, margins, and cash flow
✅ Why profitability matters more than hype growth today
✅ How to use in-store demos to understand your customer
✅ Why simple packaging outperforms “good branding”
✅ The biggest mistakes founders make when fundraising
✅ How AI is becoming a real operator inside CPG companies
✅ Why building in public is now a competitive advantage
👉 If you’re building a consumer brand, this episode is a raw, honest look at what actually works.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Working 16-hour days before starting
03:00 The problem with protein snacks
05:00 Building products at home
07:00 Launching right before COVID
10:00 Losing in-person sampling overnight
14:00 Why the first product didn’t scale
18:00 Finding product-market fit with a new category
22:00 Killing the original product line
27:00 The “permissible indulgence” thesis
31:00 Launching protein brownies
35:00 Getting into Costco
39:00 How Costco changed the business
43:00 Retail strategy: profitability first
47:00 The dangers of bad retail deals
51:00 Channel strategy & cash flow realities
55:00 Cold outreach that actually worked
59:00 Why demos matter more than you think
01:03:00 Packaging that converts instantly
01:07:00 Fundraising mistakes founders make
01:11:00 Why chasing investors doesn’t work
01:15:00 Building a profitable vs hype-driven business
01:19:00 Founder-led brands and social media
01:23:00 Using AI as an operator
01:27:00 Burnout and founder resilience
01:32:00 Final lessons
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.
Hiring agencies is risky. Most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-loved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, and more — at preferred rates.
Free for Consumer VC listeners → https://thehiddengems.com/
Building a food brand through DTC sounds great.
Until you realize… it might not actually work.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Krishna Kalyan, Founder of Catalina Crunch, the high-protein, low-sugar cereal brand that went from a personal health experiment to a multi-million dollar business sold in major retailers.
Krishna shares how being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes forced him to rethink everything he ate, why he spent years eating eggs before creating his own cereal, and how a simple Venmo from a friend turned into the start of a company.
They break down the realities of building a food brand from scratch, why DTC doesn’t always work for low-price products, and how Catalina Crunch scaled through retail instead. The conversation also dives deep into product development, functional foods, category expansion, and the balance between taste and nutrition.
You’ll learn:
✅ Why DTC is hard for food brands (and when it works)
✅ The real economics of shipping low-cost products
✅ How Krishna validated demand before scaling
✅ Why retail became the core growth channel
✅ The importance of word-of-mouth in grocery
✅ How to balance taste vs function in CPG
✅ Why most “functional” products don’t actually deliver
✅ How to think about trends vs fads (keto, protein, etc.)
✅ The right way to expand SKUs and categories
👉 If you’re building a food or beverage brand, this episode is a real look at what actually works beyond the DTC hype.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 The problem with DTC food economics
02:00 Krishna’s diabetes diagnosis
05:00 Changing diet and lifestyle
07:30 Getting tired of eating eggs
08:00 Why cereal became the focus
10:00 Experimenting with protein ingredients
12:00 The first “aha” business moment
14:00 Realizing the market opportunity
17:00 Launching online from his kitchen
19:30 Early demand and validation
22:00 Scaling beyond a home kitchen
24:00 Raising capital from angel investors
27:00 The original DTC strategy
29:00 Why DTC didn’t work long-term
32:00 The shift to retail
34:00 Getting into Whole Foods
37:00 What actually drives shelf velocity
40:00 Expanding into new categories
43:00 Managing complexity in CPG
46:00 The time he almost quit
49:00 Building in-house manufacturing
52:00 Taste vs function trade-offs
56:00 The rise of functional foods
59:00 Trends vs fads (keto, protein)
01:03:00 Rebranding Catalina Crunch
01:06:00 When to follow trends vs ignore them
01:09:00 Book recommendations & final thoughts
01:12:00 Outro
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.
There's a lot of bull$#!+ in the Agency landscape. That's why Founders and Executives of brands both big and small trust: The Hidden Gems. They provide the most optimal boutique Agencies to conquer any brand goals with top quality and efficiency. Brands get preferred rates. Can't lose. They’re supporting the growth of incredible brands like Dr. Squatch, Monster Energy, Gorilla Mind, Saatva, and many more. David Drexler (founder) has agreed to provide the service for FREE forever to anyone in the Consumer VC community or mentions Consumer VC.
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Early-stage consumer investing sounds glamorous. But according to investor Manica Blain, the entire venture structure behind it might actually be broken.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Manica Blain, founder of Top Knot Ventures and former co-founder of Campfire Capital. She raised one of the first dedicated early-stage consumer funds and helped back brands like FIGS and Cotopaxi. Today she invests her own capital and works directly with founders building the next generation of consumer brands.
Manica shares why she stepped away from the traditional venture fund model, what she believes is fundamentally misaligned about the GP-LP structure, and why investing your own capital can create a very different relationship with founders.
They also discuss what actually makes a consumer brand successful, why slower growth can sometimes be healthier than viral success, and the real traits she looks for in founders building enduring brands.
You’ll learn:
✅ Why Manica believes early-stage consumer VC may be structurally broken
✅ The hidden misalignment between GPs and LPs in venture funds
✅ Why some investors make more from management fees than investing
✅ The alternative investing model she built with Top Knot Ventures
✅ Why founders should be able to “fire” their advisors
✅ Why slow growth can signal stronger consumer brands
✅ The metrics she looks for before investing $1M–$5M stage companies
✅ Why she stopped investing in food & beverage entirely
✅ How loyalty and retention signal real brand strength
👉 If you're building a consumer brand—or thinking about raising venture capital—this episode offers a candid look at how the investment side actually works.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:05 Manica Blain’s investing journey
03:00 Why she started writing on Substack
05:15 Her first major portfolio exit
07:30 What makes founders who actually win
09:30 Is early-stage consumer venture broken?
12:30 The GP-LP structure problem
17:30 Why investor “skin in the game” matters
20:05 Why VC carry structures can create misalignment
23:30 The management fee problem in venture funds
27:00 Are SPVs a better investing model?
31:20 Why Manica refuses to run SPVs
34:00 Why VC fund structures pull investors away from founders
37:20 Building Top Knot Ventures with her own capital
41:00 How she structures advisory relationships with founders
44:20 Why founders must be able to fire advisors
48:00 Why slow growth can actually be a good sign
52:00 What makes a truly sticky consumer brand
55:00 Why she stopped investing in food & beverage
57:00 The future of beauty and wellness investing
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.Hiring agencies is risky — most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-beloved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, social, and more — at preferred rates.
They’ve supported brands like Dr. Squatch, Monster Energy, Gorilla Mind, FIGS, and Saatva.
David Drexler is offering his service free forever to anyone in the Consumer VC community who mentions the show.Learn more: https://thehiddengems.com/
Most consumer brands don’t fail because of product.
They fail because they forget how to connect.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Craig Dubitsky, founder of EOS, hello products, and now Happy Coffee. Craig has built multiple category-defining brands by turning everyday commodities into emotional, playful, design-forward experiences.
From reinventing lip balm to reimagining toothpaste — and now taking on coffee — Craig shares how he thinks about brand personality, retail, packaging, and creating products people genuinely love.
This conversation goes deep into creativity, mass retail strategy, pricing, storytelling, and why joy is actually a serious competitive advantage.
You’ll learn:
✅ How Craig turned EOS into a cultural phenomenon
✅ Why branding is about emotion, not features
✅ The real secret behind hello’s success in oral care
✅ How to win in “boring” categories
✅ Why mass doesn’t have to mean generic
✅ The role of design in driving retail velocity
✅ What most founders misunderstand about differentiation
✅ Why Craig is building Happy Coffee differently
✅ How to build brands people feel something for
👉 If you're building in consumer and want to understand how emotional connection drives scale, this episode is a masterclass.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:00 Craig’s early career & first entrepreneurial instincts
05:00 The idea behind EOS
10:00 Making lip balm emotional & design-led
15:00 Scaling EOS into mass retail
20:00 The power of playfulness in branding
25:00 Founding hello products
30:00 Reinventing toothpaste & oral care
35:00 Competing in commoditized categories
40:00 Packaging as a strategic weapon
45:00 How to win shelf space in mass retail
50:00 Why most brands overcomplicate messaging
55:00 Emotional connection vs functional benefits
01:00:00 Retail relationships & long-term brand building
01:05:00 Mistakes founders make scaling too fast
01:10:00 How Craig evaluates new ideas
01:15:00 The origin of Happy Coffee
01:20:00 Rethinking coffee positioning
01:25:00 What Craig is doing differently this time
01:30:00 Lessons from building multiple brands
01:34:00 Advice for consumer founders01:37:00 Final thoughts
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Most food brands don’t win because of branding.They win because of systems.In this episode, Mike chats with Brian Tate, Founder and CEO of Oats Overnight, the protein-packed, drinkable oatmeal brand that went from a poker side project to a scaled, vertically integrated food business selling DTC and in major retailers like Walmart and Wegmans.Brian shares how his background as a professional poker player shaped the way he thinks about risk, iteration, and decision-making. He breaks down why Oats Overnight chose to vertically integrate manufacturing from day one, how owning production unlocked faster product innovation, and why DTC data became the engine behind retail expansion. The conversation also dives into growth marketing, subscription economics, manufacturing scale, and the hard tradeoffs of building an asset-heavy consumer business.You’ll learn:✅ How a pro poker mindset translates to building a consumer brand✅ Why Brian chose vertical integration instead of co-manufacturers✅ How Oats Overnight scaled DTC with subscriptions and creative testing✅ Why iteration is a core operating principle, not a buzzword✅ How DTC data informs product development and retail strategy✅ The real economics of owning manufacturing facilities✅ When raising venture capital makes sense for asset-heavy CPG✅ Why retail and DTC work better together than most founders think✅ How Brian thinks about risk, process, and long-term profitability👉 If you’re building a food or beverage brand—or curious how data, manufacturing, and systems actually drive scale—this episode is a deep, honest look behind the scenes of a modern CPG business. Timestamps00:00 Intro01:00 From Magic: The Gathering to Pro Poker03:00 When Poker Became a Real Career05:00 Walking Away After Reaching the Top07:00 The Idea Behind Oats Overnight09:00 Early Scrappy Days & Vertical Integration12:00 Learning Manufacturing the Hard Way15:00 Why Iteration Became a Core Value18:00 Scaling DTC with Subscriptions21:00 What Makes Oats Overnight Work Online24:00 Using Data to Test and Improve SKUs27:00 Moving From DTC to Retail30:00 The Walmart Buyer Story33:00 Designing a Retail-Friendly Product Format36:00 Managing Channel Conflict39:00 Expanding Manufacturing Facilities42:00 Why Asset-Heavy CPG Is Back45:00 Venture Capital, Profitability & Payback Periods48:00 High-Risk Experiments That Failed (and Why They Still Mattered)51:00 Growth Marketing Without Brand Guidelines54:00 The Long-Term Vision for Oats Overnight56:00 Book Recommendations & Closing Thoughts📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Food can be “better for you.”
But that doesn’t always mean it actually is.
In this episode, Mike chats with Tyler Mayoras, Managing Partner at MANNATREE, a growth equity firm focused on investing in food, beverage, and wellness brands that genuinely improve human health. Tyler has spent decades investing across food and agriculture, from early plant-based pioneers like Boca Burger to modern brands navigating today’s tougher retail and M&A landscape.
Tyler breaks down how “better-for-you” food has evolved, why many plant-based brands lost consumer trust, and what investors really look for when evaluating health claims, ingredient labels, and unit economics. He also shares hard-earned lessons from scaling brands too fast, why frozen is one of the most brutal categories in retail, and what founders misunderstand about profitability, category creation, and selling to big CPG.
You’ll learn:
✅ Why many plant-based brands lost their way
✅ What “better-for-you” actually means to serious investors
✅ How ingredient labels matter more than marketing claims
✅ Why frozen is one of the hardest categories in grocery
✅ When brands should (and shouldn’t) expand into mass retail✅ Why profitability now matters more than growth at all costs
✅ How strategic buyers really think about M&A today
✅ The biggest mistakes founders make when scaling too early
✅ Where Tyler sees the next opportunities in food and wellness
👉 If you’re building or investing in food, beverage, or wellness, this episode is a grounded look at what actually matters beneath the hype.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Tyler’s path from private equity to food & agriculture
03:00 Early lessons from investing in Boca Burger
05:30 The rise and fall of plant-based burgers
09:00 What “better-for-you” really means
12:00 Ingredients, labels, and investor red flags
15:00 Sugar alternatives, sweeteners, and health tradeoffs
18:30 Why sustainability messaging often comes second
21:00 The realities of launching food brands in retail
24:00 Why frozen is such a difficult category
27:00 When brands should expand into mass retail
31:00 Natural vs conventional grocery shoppers
35:00 Why M&A expectations have changed
38:00 What strategic buyers want today
41:00 Growth equity vs venture investing
45:00 Revenue and profitability benchmarks
49:00 Category creation vs smart trade-ups
53:00 Oversaturated categories and the protein boom
57:00 Where Tyler sees future opportunity
01:00:00 Lessons learned and advice for founders
01:05:00 Breaking into food & beverage investing
01:08:30 Book recommendations
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
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In this episode, Mike chats with Michael Duda, Founder and Managing Partner of Bullish, the consumer-focused investment firm behind brands like Peloton, Warby Parker, Harry’s, Hims, and more. Michael has spent over a decade backing consumer companies that quietly compound value while the rest of venture chases hype cycles.
Michael breaks down why consumer has fallen out of favor in VC, why most people misunderstand power-law returns, and why an 8–12x outcome in consumer can still be a massive win. He also shares how Bullish evaluates founders, why product matters more than marketing, how celebrity brands actually work (and usually don’t), and where AI fits into consumer without turning every company into an “AI startup.”
You’ll learn:
✅ Why consumer can generate power-law returns (if you invest early enough)
✅ The difference between moonshots and real venture outcomes
✅ Why most founders raise too much capital—and regret it
✅ How Bullish underwrites founders vs. ideas at pre-seed and seed
✅ Why great products beat great marketing every time
✅ When celebrity involvement actually helps a brand
✅ How AI is speeding up consumer innovation without replacing taste or judgment
✅ Why the shrinking middle class is changing who brands are really built for
✅ What Michael has changed his mind about after 15+ years in venture
👉 If you’re building or investing in consumer—and tired of hype-driven narratives—this episode is a grounded look at what actually works in venture-backed consumer businesses.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Can Consumer Produce Power-Law Returns?
04:45 Why 100x Outcomes Are Rare in Consumer
08:00 Stability vs Moonshots in Venture
12:00 Bullish’s Consumer-First Investment Strategy
15:30 How Much Capital Is Too Much Capital
18:00 Founder vs Idea: What Matters More
21:00 How Bullish Uses Consumer Insights
24:30 Product vs Marketing (and Why Marketing Fails)
27:30 Celebrity & Creator-Led Brands Explained
31:30 Why Bullish Is Shifting Back to Pre-Seed
36:00 When Pre-Launch Investing Makes Sense
39:00 AI’s Real Impact on Consumer Businesses
44:10 The Shrinking Middle Class & Consumer Spending
48:30 How Founder Profiles Are Changing
52:30 What Michael Has Changed His Mind About
55:00 Final Thoughts on Consumer VC
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.comIce cream is supposed to make you feel good — but most of what’s in the freezer aisle doesn’t.In this episode, Mike chats with Alec Jaffe, Founder and CEO of Alec’s Ice Cream, the A2 dairy, gut-friendly, regeneratively sourced ice cream brand that’s redefining what “premium” means in frozen. Alec started making ice cream in elementary school, but the real journey began when he realized the market was filled with products that either tasted great or made you feel great — but never both.Alec breaks down how he built his supply chain from scratch, why A2 dairy is helping people enjoy ice cream again, what makes frozen dessert different from real ice cream, and how Culture Cups became a breakout product that went viral on TikTok and lifted the entire brand. He also shares the realities of running his own factory, scaling two product lines in a tiny production space, and navigating the brutally competitive freezer aisle.You’ll learn:✅ Why A2 dairy is changing the way people digest ice cream✅ How to build a supply chain around family farms & regenerative agriculture✅ The difference between ice cream and frozen dessert✅ How Alec broke into natural retail and then crossed into mass✅ Why vertical integration is both a blessing and a challenge✅ How Culture Cups went viral on TikTok and sold out on Day 1✅ What makes the frozen aisle one of the hardest categories in CPG✅ How dairy demand is shifting — and why supply can’t keep up✅ When it really makes sense for a food brand to raise venture capital👉 If you’re building a food or beverage brand, this episode is a masterclass in supply chain, product development, retail strategy, and category differentiation. Timestamps00:00 Intro01:00 Alec’s childhood obsession with making ice cream03:30 Unlocking “high-quality ice cream” with simple ingredients05:00 Why A2 dairy helps people enjoy ice cream again06:45 Ice cream vs frozen dessert explained08:00 Building relationships with local family farms09:20 Starting local & breaking into natural retail10:50 Moving into Whole Foods & finding a tiny factory13:00 How Culture Cups were created14:20 The TikTok post that changed everything15:30 Crossing from natural into mass retail17:00 Pricing strategy for premium products19:00 Why investors fear frozen food20:30 How Culture Cups shifted investor perception22:00 The realities of running your own factory24:00 Managing two product lines under one roof26:00 The dairy demand surge & supply challenges28:30 The future of regenerative agriculture31:00 Competing in the brutally competitive freezer aisle34:00 Why ice cream is one of the hardest categories in retail36:00 Thoughts on protein ice cream38:00 Alec’s flavor development process40:00 How he evaluated the right VC partners42:00 Why he raised an $11M Series A45:00 What’s next for Alec’s Ice Cream48:00 Book recommendations: Shoe Dog, Endurance, Ramping Your Brand📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
Retail is tough—but the hidden costs make it brutal.
In this episode, Mike chats with Akash Raju, Co-Founder and CEO of Glimpse, the AI-powered platform helping consumer brands recover lost revenue from retail deductions. If you sell through Amazon, Target, UNFI, or KeHE, you’re probably losing up to 5% of revenue to invalid deductions—fees that can quietly eat into your bottom line.
Akash breaks down what’s really going on behind the curtain of retail deductions, how Glimpse is helping brands win back hundreds of thousands in lost revenue, and why automation is transforming how finance teams manage trade spend, supply chain fees, and compliance.
You’ll learn:
✅ What makes retail so expensive for brands
✅ The hidden “deduction” ecosystem no one talks about
✅ How top CPG brands lose 5%+ of their revenue without realizing it
✅ Which deductions are worth fighting—and which aren’t
✅ How AI is changing the game for brand finance teams
✅ Why distributors like UNFI and KeHE are pain points for smaller brands✅ How Glimpse built a 91% deduction win rate
✅ When (and why) brands should start caring about deductions
👉 If you’re running a consumer brand—or heading into retail—this episode is an essential crash course in the economics most founders never see.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 What Makes Retail So Expensive
03:00 How Glimpse Helps Brands Recover Lost Revenue
05:00 The Hidden World of Invalid Deductions
07:00 Why Deductions Are a Cross-Functional Headache
09:00 Building Glimpse: How Akash Found the Problem
12:00 Why UNFI and KeHE Are So Painful for Brands
15:00 How Retail Deductions Work (and What to Fight)
18:00 How Glimpse Uses AI to Recover Revenue
21:00 The Power Imbalance Between Retailers and Brands
24:00 Can Deductions Ever Be Fully Automated?
27:00 The Financial Blind Spots in Retail
30:00 How Different Categories Get Hit Harder
33:00 Expanding Glimpse Across Retailers: Target, Walmart, Amazon36:00 When Brands Should Start Focusing on Deductions
39:00 The Categories With the Highest Invalid Deductions
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
He’s one of the most respected investors in beauty and wellness—and he’s seen every boom, bust, and bubble the industry has gone through.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Rich Gersten, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of True Beauty Ventures, a beauty and wellness–focused investment firm built by operators for founders. Rich has spent over 20 years investing in consumer brands—from early private equity days at North Castle Partners to launching True Beauty Ventures, one of the most influential early-stage funds in the category.
Rich shares how he accidentally stumbled into beauty investing, what makes the category so resilient, and why he believes the “beauty bubble” is finally normalizing. He also opens up about the reality of early-stage investing, the rise (and decline) of celebrity brands, and what he’s learned from building a beauty-focused fund from scratch.
You’ll learn:
✅ Why beauty and personal care outperform other consumer categories
✅ How Sephora and Ulta transformed the entire retail landscape
✅ The biggest mistakes founders make when scaling beauty brands
✅ How True Beauty Ventures approaches early-stage investing
✅ Why most celebrity brands fail (and what makes Rhode different)
✅ What’s really happening in beauty M&A and why exits have slowed
✅ How Rich thinks about valuation discipline and pro-rata investing
✅ Why execution—not product—is the #1 differentiator
👉 If you’re a founder, operator, or investor in beauty or consumer, this episode offers a rare inside look at what it really takes to build and back the next breakout brand.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:20 How Rich Got Into Beauty Investing
04:00 What Makes Beauty Unique vs. Other Consumer Categories
07:00 Sephora, Ulta, and the Rise of Specialty Retail
08:30 Why Rich Started True Beauty Ventures
11:00 How They Add Value Beyond Capital
13:00 The Difference Between Private Equity and Early Stage
15:00 Lessons from Fund I & II: Check Sizes, Risk, and Returns
19:00 The “Back Up the Truck” Investment Strategy
22:00 How True Thinks About Pro-Rata and Founder Relationships
25:00 Sephora & Ulta: Still Essential or Optional?
28:00 The $5M Revenue Trap (and Why Early Might Be Better)
31:00 How True Evaluates a Brand’s Potential
34:00 Outbound vs. Inbound Deal Flow
37:00 The Real Economics of Beauty
40:00 Why Luxury Skincare Is Failing
42:00 Amazon’s Surprising Role in Beauty
44:00 The Problem With Celebrity Brands
47:00 Why Rhode Worked—and Others Didn’t
50:00 Returns, Risk, and How Beauty VC Actually Works
55:00 The M&A Slowdown: Too Many Sellers, Not Enough Buyers
01:00:00 The Future of Beauty Exits and Strategic Buyers
01:03:00 Makeup’s M&A Problem Explained
01:05:00 Valuations, Prefs, and Founder Pitfalls
01:06:30 Book Picks: Outlive by Peter Attia & Founder Stories in Beauty
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
What happens when a venture investor builds inside one of the world’s most consumer-obsessed ecosystems?
In this episode, Mike sits down with Joe Seager, Partner at True, a multi-stage investment and advisory platform that’s redefining what a consumer-specialist VC can be.
Before True, Joe spent five years working alongside Sir Richard Branson at Virgin, helping launch ventures across autonomous vehicles, fintech, and digital banking—giving him a front-row seat to innovation at global scale.
Joe shares what he learned from working inside Virgin’s founder-driven culture, what makes True’s vertically integrated model so unique, and how he’s seeing consumer venture evolve across Europe.
You’ll learn:
✅ What it was really like working with Richard Branson
✅ How True’s “multi-stage” structure gives founders an unfair advantage
✅ Why Europe’s venture landscape is so fragmented—and where it’s winning
✅ How Brexit changed the flow of capital, LPs, and cross-border investing
✅ What consumer categories are still venture-backable (and which aren’t)
✅ The truth about power-law outcomes in consumer investing
✅ Why AI will reshape—not replace—the future of consumer brands
✅ The founder traits Joe looks for when writing a first check
👉 If you’re a founder, operator, or investor curious about the intersection of consumer, venture, and Europe’s next wave of innovation, this episode is packed with insight from one of the most thoughtful voices in VC.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:40 What It Was Like Working With Richard Branson
03:00 The Moment Joe Fell in Love With Venture
05:00 Why He Joined True & What Makes It Different
07:00 Inside True’s Multi-Stage Model (VC + PE + Public + Advisory)
09:00 How the Ecosystem Helps Founders Win
12:00 Leveraging True’s Corporate Network for Startups
15:00 True’s Split: B2B vs. B2C Investments
16:00 How Europe’s Venture Scene Differs From the U.S.
18:00 The Rise of Sweden, Estonia & the Nordics
22:00 How Brexit Reshaped Capital Flows in Venture
26:00 LP Structures: Why Europe Lags Behind the U.S.
28:00 The Need to Unlock Pension Capital in the UK
31:00 How Brexit Changed Startup Global Expansion
35:00 Is Consumer Still Venture-Backable?
38:00 Building Venture-Scale Consumer Brands
41:00 Why Now Might Be the Best Time to Invest in Consumer
43:00 How True Thinks About AI in Consumer
47:00 New Consumer Categories AI Is Unlocking
49:00 How Europe Differs Culturally From the U.S.
51:00 What Joe Looks for in Founders
54:00 The “Jockey vs. Horse” Debate in Early Stage VC
57:00 Why True Avoids Vice Categories
59:00 Book Picks: James Dyson Autobiography & The Technology Trap
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & venture insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
He helped scale JUUL from $1M to $1B in just three years. Now, he’s investing in the next generation of consumer brands.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Alex Cantwell, founder of Cartograph Ventures, an early-stage technology and consumer fund built by operators for operators. Alex shares what it was really like to scale one of the most controversial startups in the world—and what he learned about hypergrowth, backlash, regulation, and leadership along the way.
You’ll learn:
✅ How JUUL went from failure to billion-dollar rocket ship
✅ Why vape shops—not gas stations—became JUUL’s secret weapon
✅ What founders get wrong about retail expansion
✅ The dark side of hypergrowth and founder burnout
✅ Why “disruption” always invites controversy
✅ How operator-investors think differently about building vs. funding
✅ The future of vice categories: nicotine, caffeine, and beyond
✅ Why fiber might be the next big consumer trend
👉 If you want to understand how to build a disruptive brand, survive a backlash, and think like an operator-investor—this conversation is packed with hard-won lessons.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 From Wharton to JUUL: The Accidental Entry Point
03:00 Why JUUL Failed in Gas Stations
05:00 Finding Early Adopters in Vape Shops
07:00 Rethinking Retail & Route to Market
09:00 The Fallacy of “Instant Scale” with Big Retail
11:00 Lessons from Hypergrowth Inside JUUL
13:00 The Psychological Cost of Scaling Too Fast
15:00 What JUUL Got Right (and Wrong)
17:00 Should JUUL Have Been Banned?
19:00 Why Every Disruptive Brand Becomes a Lightning Rod
21:00 How Operator VCs Think Differently from Traditional Investors
25:00 The Real Difference Between Operators and Financial Investors
30:00 Betting on Regulated Categories (and Knowing When to Walk Away)
33:00 The Nicotine Pouch Boom: Zen vs. JUUL
36:00 Is Nicotine in a Harm Reduction Era?
38:00 Nicotine vs. Caffeine: The Mental Shift
41:00 Why Venture Has Become Hits-Driven
43:00 The “Cowboy Diet”: Protein, Nicotine & Caffeine
45:00 The Future of Consumer: Simplicity, Identity, and Less Friction
48:00 When to Go Deep vs. Broad in Retail
50:00 What Great Founders Do Differently
53:00 Why Operator-Led Funds Push Founders Harder
56:00 The Real Bubble in AI (and What Comes Next)
60:00 Underrated Categories: Why Fiber Might Be the Next Big Thing
63:00 Lightning Round: Lessons, Regrets & Fast Food Favorites
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
What if cannabis could become a true social beverage—an alternative to alcohol that delivers the buzz without the hangover?
That’s the bet Jake Bullock, co-founder of Cann, made when he left the world of finance to reinvent drinking culture. Today, Cann is the #1 THC-infused beverage brand in the U.S., sold in liquor stores across 30 states, backed by celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson, and changing the way people think about unwinding.
In this episode, Jake shares the full story of how Cann went from a garage experiment to a category-defining brand:
✅ Why lowering THC to 2mg unlocked cannabis’ social potential
✅ How Cann turned stigma into approachability with smart branding
✅ The brutal challenges of selling drinks through dispensaries
✅ The regulatory pivot that opened up liquor store distribution
✅ Competing head-to-head with alcohol (and winning shelf space)
✅ Product innovation: Grapefruit Rosemary, Lemon Lavender, and Roadies
✅ What celebrity investors really bring to the table
✅ The future of THC vs. non-alcoholic drinks in American culture
👉 If you’re curious about the future of social drinking—or want to hear what it really takes to build a disruptive CPG brand—this conversation is a must-listen.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Why 100mg Drinks Were a Problem
03:00 Cann’s Insight: Low-Dose, Great Taste
07:00 Unlocking the Social Buzz at 2mg
10:00 Making Cannabis Approachable (Not Premium-Elite)
13:00 Campaigning Against Alcohol Culture
15:00 Breaking Out of Dispensaries
18:00 Regulatory Challenges & State-by-State Growth
22:00 The Big Pivot: From Dispensaries to Liquor Stores
28:00 Winning Shelf Space vs. Craft Beer & RTD Cocktails
33:00 The Rise of Roadies & Naked Highboys
38:00 Flavor Innovation: Grapefruit Rosemary, Lemon Lavender
42:00 Gross Margins & Beverage Economics
45:00 Fundraising & Celebrity Investors
49:00 What Value-Add From VCs Really Means
51:00 Defining Success: Exit, IPO, or Independence?
53:00 Cann’s Mission to Change Drinking Culture
55:00 Lightning Round: Humor, Misconceptions & Mistakes
01:02:00 Book Recommendations
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
What does it take to raise and run a venture fund focused on the overlooked—and why women’s health, parenting, and sports are the future?
In this episode, Mike sits down with Rachel Springate, Co-Founder & General Partner of Muse Capital, to unpack her journey from luxury partnerships and entertainment to building a venture capital firm with a mission. Rachel shares how she and her partner Assia uncovered their thesis through personal experience, why women’s health remains one of the most underserved opportunities in venture, and how Muse balances investing in overlooked sectors with the hype cycles of AI and beyond.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
✅ How Rachel’s career in partnerships and entertainment shaped her investing style
✅ Why Muse Capital doubled down on women’s health long before it was popular
✅ What LPs really said when Rachel and Asya pitched Fund I—and how they overcame it
✅ How Muse approaches partnerships with celebrities and Fortune 500s authentically
✅ Why proprietary data in women’s health and family tech is a hidden AI moat
✅ The thinking behind Muse Sport and investing in women’s sports + SailGP
✅ How to avoid hype-driven investing and focus on recession-proof markets
✅ Rachel’s one-sentence mission for Muse: “Investing in companies that should exist”
👉 If you’re a founder, investor, or operator navigating consumer, healthcare, or sports in 2025, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Rachel’s path from luxury partnerships to venture
06:00 The authentic way to approach celebrity + startup partnerships
11:00 Founding Muse Capital & the personal experience that shaped its thesis
16:00 Raising Fund I with a contrarian focus on women’s health
22:00 How Muse filters noise from venture hype cycles
27:00 Early conviction in MIDI Health and spotting overlooked opportunities
35:00 How Muse helps portfolio companies through partnerships
38:00 The origin of Muse Sport and investing in women’s teams & leagues
44:00 The SailGP Italia story & sports investing strategy
47:00 Books Rachel recommends (professional & personal)
50:00 Muse’s mission distilled
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & venture insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time –https://www.tryglimpse.com
What does it take to build a truly durable consumer brand in today’s volatile venture environment?
In this episode, Mike sits down with Ezra Galston, Founding Partner of Starting Line, to unpack the shifting dynamics in consumer, marketplaces, and venture capital. Ezra shares why the Midwest VC ecosystem looks different from the coasts, what’s changing in consumer investing post-2021, and how founders can position themselves to raise smarter—not just bigger.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
✅ Why consumer investing still matters (even if VC sentiment has cooled)
✅ The difference between “good” growth and “unsustainable” growth
✅ How geography shapes venture outcomes (and why Chicago is unique)
✅ Why Ezra believes today’s founders must optimize for efficiency over hype
✅ The traps consumer founders fall into when chasing scale too early
✅ What LPs really want from consumer-focused funds right now
✅ How Starting Line is approaching the next generation of consumer brands
✅ Why resilience and margin discipline are the new non-negotiables
👉 If you’re a founder, investor, or operator navigating consumer markets in 2025, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:10 Why Consumer Still Matters in Venture
05:00 Growth vs. Unsustainable Growth
09:20 The Midwest VC Lens vs. The Coasts
14:00 Lessons from Building Starting Line
18:30 Why Scale Too Early Destroys Consumer Startups
23:00 LP Expectations in a Reset Market
27:00 Ezra’s View on the Future of Consumer Brands
32:00 Optimizing for Efficiency in Fundraising
38:00 Why Margins Are the New Moat
42:00 Advice for Founders Raising in 2025
47:00 Ezra’s Recommended Books & Resources
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & venture insights:👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all-in-one, AI-powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
When fundraising stalls, valuations reset, and the cap table gets messy—what really happens next?
In this episode, Mike sits down with Steven Finn, Partner at Siddhi Capital, to break down the tough realities of down rounds, recaps, and cap table engineering. Steven has been in the room when brands shift from celebration to survival—and shares what founders and investors need to know when things don’t go as planned:
✅ Why overcapitalization often leads to a “death spiral”
✅ When to use equity vs. debt—and why both can be predatory
✅ How mega funds create distorted valuations (and walk away fast)
✅ The psychology of “dead equity” and how to reset expectations
✅ Why insiders matter most in distressed situations
✅ How to keep founders aligned (and motivated) during a recap
✅ Why margins = runway, and why that matters more than ever
✅ What smart founders can do early to avoid being wiped out
👉 If you’re a founder, investor, or operator navigating today’s tougher fundraising environment, this episode is essential listening.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Why Fundraising Feels Harder Than Ever
04:50 Fuel on the Fire vs. Finding the Fire
07:00 Debt vs. Equity (and Predatory Capital)
12:00 When Equity Deals Get Ugly
16:30 The Mega Fund Trap & Overcapitalization
23:00 How Huge Rounds Re-Risk Companies
27:00 Recaps, Option Pools & Dead Equity
30:00 Why Venture is Now “Financing Risk First”
34:30 Rethinking Portfolio Strategy
39:50 Are Down Rounds Still a Scarlet Letter?
43:00 Why Margins = Runway
46:00 Selling Distressed Assets (and Why It’s So Hard)
50:00 How Founders Can Protect Themselves Early
53:00 Spotting Coachable vs. Uncoachable Founders
56:00 Growing in Retail Without Growing Too Fast
58:00 Steven’s Book Recommendations
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & venture insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all‑in‑one, AI‑powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
Q1 2025 was the slowest fundraising quarter for consumer VC in recent memory. So what's really happening in venture capital—and how is it impacting founders in consumer, SaaS, and AI?
In this episode, Mike sits down with Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, to break down what's beneath the data:
✅ Why seed valuations are holding—but fewer deals are closing
✅ What’s behind the Series A “chasm” in consumer
✅ How mega funds are reshaping early-stage investing
✅ The rise of solo GPs and the slow decline of mid-sized funds
✅ Why LPs are getting frustrated with VC
✅ What founders risk when a mega fund passes on their Series A
✅ Why AI is warping the current “reset” in venture
✅ And what the future of venture might really look like
👉 If you're a founder, investor, or emerging manager trying to navigate the post-2021 world, this is a must-listen.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Why Consumer VC Has Higher Highs & Lower Lows
04:00 What Went Wrong with DTC and VC Expectations
06:00 Fund Size Creep & Why Some Firms Abandoned Consumer
10:00 The “Thesis Drift” Problem in Venture
13:00 Why Most VCs Don’t Stay in Their Zone of Genius
15:00 Mega Funds vs. Seed Funds: Optics, Pressure, and Power
21:00 Why Series A Has Become a Brick Wall
26:00 Will AI Companies Actually Be Durable?
31:00 The Rise of 3-Year Fundraising Cycles
35:00 The Future of Emerging Managers
38:00 The Squeeze on Mid-Sized Funds
40:00 The “Just a Little VC” Founder Strategy
44:00 Why Seed Valuations Haven’t Crashed
47:00 How Tariffs Are Impacting Consumer Deal Flow
51:00 Where Is the Liquidity? (& Why M&A is Surging)
54:00 Are We Actually in a Reset?
56:00 The AI Hype Cycle and OpenAI Risk
59:00 Peter’s Favorite Books (Personal & Professional)
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & venture insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter - https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all‑in‑one, AI‑powered deductions management platform for CPG brands—automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting. Recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com/
EisnerAmper provides financial advisory services tailored to the specific needs of consumer product companies. Looking for a strategic CFO partner? Learn more – https://www.eisneramper.com/
Clayton Christopher and Brian Goldberg are two legends in the CPG space—between them, they’ve built and scaled brands like Sweet Leaf Tea, Waterloo Sparkling Water, Austin Eastciders, and SkinnyPop. Now, they’ve teamed up to launch Astro Consumer Partners, a $400M+ growth-stage investment firm focused on scaling consumer brands.
In this episode, recorded live at Austin’s Consumer Week, Clayton and Brian share what they’ve learned as both operators and investors—and what it really takes to build a brand that lasts:
✅ The biggest differences between early-stage and growth-stage investing
✅ How to know when you’re ready to raise capital—and why profitable brands still choose to do it
✅ The distribution trap: when to go deep vs. wide with retail
✅ DTC vs. retail: which to prioritize and why
✅ What “eliminating strategic risk” looks like in practice
✅ Real talk on CPG categories: why some brands crush DTC but flop in stores
✅ What actual value-add looks like from an investor
✅ Why profitability and leverage matter more than ever
👉 Whether you're scaling past $5M in revenue or wondering how investors really evaluate CPG brands—this conversation is packed with wisdom from two of the best in the game.
Timestamps-
00:00 Intro
01:10 Meet Astro Consumer Partners: $400M Growth-Stage CPG Fund
05:30 What They Look For in Brands: People, Margins, & Category Leadership
08:00 When Should a CPG Brand Be Profitable?
10:35 Why Profitable Founders Still Raise Capital
13:30 Avoiding the Strategic Risk Trap
16:45 When to Go Deep vs. Wide in Retail
20:00 DTC Brands Going to Retail: What Works, What Doesn’t
24:00 Launching in Natural vs. Mass Retail
28:00 Building Retail Leverage Through Velocity and Data
31:00 Positive Leverage: Retail, Manufacturing & Celebrities
34:00 What “Value-Add” from Investors Actually Means
38:00 Advice for Early-Stage Founders
41:00 The Emotional Journey of Entrepreneurship
45:00 Live Audience Q&A
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter -https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Glimpse is the all‑in‑one, AI‑powered deductions management platform for CPG brands, automating deduction capture, classification, disputes, and accounting—recover more revenue while saving time – https://www.tryglimpse.com
Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali started Chomps with nothing but a simple idea, some grassroots hustle, and their first month bringing in… just $500 in revenue.
Fast forward, Chomps is now an $80M+ powerhouse sold in Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and Whole Foods—all built before taking a single VC check.
In this episode, Pete and Rashid share how they turned a $500 side hustle into a national brand:
✅ Why starting small gave them the discipline to stay profitable
✅ The scrappy marketing tactics that turned $500 into their first $5,000
✅ How a Trader Joe’s deal transformed their growth overnight
✅ Why they ignored the “raise early” startup playbook and bootstrapped instead
✅ How their opposite personalities created the perfect founder duo
✅ The systems and strategy that took them from a side hustle to shelves nationwide
👉 If you’re building a business from scratch—or wondering if you really need VC money—this episode is proof that you can start lean, grow smart, and win big.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:10 How a $500 Side Hustle Became Chomps
03:25 Pivoting From Frozen Meat to Beef Sticks
06:20 Early Influencer Hacks That Fueled Growth
10:45 The Trader Joe’s Breakthrough
14:10 Staying Profitable Through Scale
18:30 The Founder Dynamic That Made It Work
22:00 Why They Waited Until $80M to Raise
26:30 Building a Brand Customers Love
30:00 The Next Chapter for Chomps
34:20 Building Systems and Teams for Scale
37:00 Staying Profitable While Competing with Legacy Brands
40:10 Why They Raised Only After $80M in Revenue
44:00 Becoming a B‑Corp and Setting Higher Standards 48:10 Their Take on the Protein Trend and What’s Next for Chomps
51:30 Book Picks: Rocket Fuel & Die With Zero
📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights: 👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
Larry Cheng is the Managing Partner at Volition Capital, a $1.7B growth equity firm behind breakout brands like Chewy, Chamberlain Coffee, BURST, and Grove Collaborative. Volition’s unique approach? No early VC checks. No burn-at-all-costs playbooks. Just capital-efficient businesses with traction—and a partner who’s okay being the first check in.
In this episode, Larry breaks down:
- How Chewy went from a “low-margin pet food startup” to the largest e-commerce acquisition in history
- Why Volition bets on unsexy markets and skips the Valley hype
- How Chamberlain Coffee learned the hard way that virality cuts both ways
- Why most VCs misunderstand capital efficiency—and how it actually creates alpha
- What makes a founder irresistible without raising a single VC dollar
If you’re building or backing brands in today’s cautious market—this is a masterclass in discipline, scaling smart, and going big without losing your company.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro 01:10 Why Larry Left Traditional VC to Start Volition 03:25 The Two Types of Founders Who Bootstrap to $5M+ 06:20 How Volition Approaches Valuations 07:55 Why They Backed Chewy When No One Else Would 10:45 Investing in Physical Products vs. SaaS 12:30 The Truth About Virality and Bad Product Experience 14:10 How They Evaluate Customer Acquisition Channels 16:30 Defining Capital Efficiency (Pre and Post Investment) 19:00 Why Most of Their Portfolio Never Raises a Series B 22:00 What Changed Post-ZIRP: Founder Power vs. Investor Power 24:45 The Secret Sauce to Surviving the Hype Cycles 26:30 The “Unsexy Markets” That Became Home Runs 29:45 Why AI Might Be SaaS 10 Years Ago—But Riskier 33:00 Lessons From Grove Collaborative’s Public Struggles 36:50 Chewy’s Secret Weapon: Negative Working Capital 38:40 Existing vs. New Market Creation (And Why Larry Prefers Existing) 41:10 Knowing When to Exit—and What That Conversation Looks Like 44:10 Fund Horizon, Exit Timing, and Founder Alignment 45:40 Larry’s Book Picks: The Bible and 5 Types of Wealth 46:30 The Biggest Consumer Red Flag Today: “Made in China” 48:40 Favorite Innovation: Teslas Driving His In-Laws Around 49:50 The Biggest Venture Lesson: Power Law Is Real 51:20 Why Volition Intentionally Concentrates Their Bets 52:10 Pattern Matching: Useful Signal or Dangerous Bias? 53:25 The Biggest Myth About VCs (Hint: They’re Not All Sharks)
—
📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for weekly insights: 👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/
🎧 Listen on: Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z... Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
Follow Mike Gelb: Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.
Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands – https://www.highbeam.co/capital?partn...
Katie Wilson is the CEO and co-founder of BelliWelli, a gut health brand that went from home kitchen experiments to the shelves of Walmart and Target—with zero paid ads and no CPG background.
Before BelliWelli, Katie was a celebrity matchmaker who helped founders, actors, and CEOs find love. But a personal gut health crisis after food poisoning sent her down a new path—one that exposed a massive gap in the wellness market.
If you’re building a consumer brand, struggling with growth, or tired of DTC hype—this episode is a masterclass in scrappiness, community, and execution.
She explains:
▫️How she built a viral brand by buying Facebook groups ▫️Why IBS became her billion-dollar insight ▫️The bizarre story of how she raised $200K from a Clorox exec on LinkedIn ▫️Why she pitched Walmart before launching a DTC site ▫️How BelliWelli beat legacy brands without a marketing budget ▫️What most startups get wrong about retail and virality
00:00 Intro 02:41 How She Became a Celebrity Matchmaker 06:17 What Founders Are Like as Dating Clients 10:03 Getting Hired by Match.com 13:11 The Gut Health Breakdown That Sparked Everything 16:59 Her Husband’s Role in Creating the First Bar 18:08 The Secret Power of Facebook Groups 19:01 How She Bought 20+ Groups to Launch the Brand 21:24 Scaling From Kitchen Bars to 500K+ Customers 24:34 How She Met Her First Investor Through Matchmaking 25:47 What Made an Exec Wire Her $200K 27:12 From “IB Simple” to Rebranding as BelliWelli 31:01 Why Retailers Told Her the Original Brand Would Fail 33:19 Getting Into Sprouts, Then Target 36:40 Why the Protein Bar Aisle Isn’t Ready for Fiber 40:51 The Genius Move to Launch Fiber Powders at Walmart 44:12 How a Gluten-Free Café Introduced Her to Walmart’s Buyer 46:04 Why Walmart Called to Say “What Did You Do?” 47:04 Her Secret Edge as CEO 48:58 Going Viral at Walmart—With No Ad Spend 50:41 Filming Hundreds of Organic Videos in Store 51:08 Driving 1 Billion Walmart Impressions in 7 Months 53:39 What Most Founders Misunderstand About Community 55:33 Why She’s Still in Walmart Every Night
—
📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for startup trends:
https://www.theconsumervc.com/
🎧 Listen on:
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Follow Mike:
Twitter / Instagram / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.
Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands – https://www.highbeam.co/capital?partn...
Richard Laver isn't your typical founder.
At age 12, he survived a plane crash that killed 137 people—including his father. Years later, he built Kate Farms to save his daughter's life, scaling it to hospitals nationwide and raising $75M. Then he walked away from it all.
Now, he’s back with Lucky Energy—a clean, purpose-driven energy drink brand that just raised $14M.
In this powerful episode, Richard shares:
- The personal tragedy that shaped his mission
- How he scaled a life-saving formula into a national brand
- Why he believes the energy drink industry is broken
- The strategy behind launching Lucky Energy in a saturated market
- How to build trust, win retail, and raise capital in 2024
If you're in CPG, startup land, or just love founder stories with real heart and hustle—this is the one.
To
pics:
- Surviving tragedy and finding purpose
- Building Kate Farms from kitchen to $75M Series C
- What makes energy drinks so hard to win in
- Why most brands fail at retail (and how to fix it)
- Richard’s $14M raise and plans for Lucky Energy
🎧 Subscribe & Listen:
🌐 Website & Newsletter → https://www.theconsumervc.com/
🎧 Youtube→ https://www.youtube.com/@consumervc
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📱 Follow Mike Gelb
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richardlaver #energydrinkstartup #founderstory #consumerbrands #katFarms #luckyenergy #cleanenergy #startuplife #venturecapital #founderjourney #consumervc
This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.
Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands – https://www.highbeam.co/capital?partn…
Join host Mike Gelb as he chats with Shamin Walsh, Managing Director at BAM Ventures — the early-stage VC firm behind Thrive Market, Honey, and Cotopaxi.
Shamin breaks down how BAM spots winning startups early, why fund size shapes strategy, and what it really takes to build sticky consumer brands — without chasing unicorn hype.
From AI buzz to price discipline and founder fit, this episode is packed with practical insights for anyone building or backing a consumer company.
🕒 Timestamps
00:00 What Makes AI Actually Valuable
01:22 Intro – Who is Shamin Walsh & BAM Ventures?
03:44 Why She Joined BAM & What Makes the Firm Different
07:00 Is Consumer Still Sexy? (Hint: Yes, If You Do It Right)
10:07 Power Law Returns in CPG & Brand Exits
13:21 Why Fund Size Dictates Strategy
16:10 Balancing Brand, Commerce Infra & Consumer Tech
17:30 What BAM Looks for in Founders
20:15 Case Study: How Thrive Market Nailed Consumer Behavior
23:15 The Danger of False Signals in Consumer Startups
26:00 How BAM Thinks About Reserves & Follow-Ons
28:20 Staying Price Disciplined (Even in the 2021 Hype Cycle)
30:00 Why Founders Pick BAM Over Bigger Funds
32:00 Capital Efficiency ≠ Always Bootstrapping
35:09 Fundraising Strategy & How to Navigate Future Rounds
37:00 What Early Traction Signals Actually Matter
39:10 How BAM Measures Stickiness vs. Trendiness
44:00 Could a New Social Platform Still Win?
46:00 BAM’s View on AI: Not a Strategy, Just a Tool
48:00 ⚡ Rapid Fire Round: Trends, Products, Books
52:00 Why “The Little Prince” Still Inspires Shamin
📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for startup trends:
https://www.theconsumervc.com/
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Youtube →https://www.youtube.com/@consumervc
Follow Mike:
Twitter / Instagram / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc
This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.
Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands – https://www.highbeam.co/capital?partnerId=consumervc
In this episode of The Consumer VC, Mike Gelb sits down with Chris Kirby, founder of Ithaca Hummus, to uncover how he turned a local farmer’s market stand into a $50M+ premium food brand — without traditional VC funding.
Chris shares:
Why he left fine dining to build a CPG brand
How Ithaca Hummus was born at a student farmer’s market
Selling without brokers & scaling through scrappy growth
Why they said NO to VCs and focused on unit economics & velocity
How packaging and taste-first branding drove national expansion
Strategic partnerships that led to explosive revenue jumps
🔥 If you're a CPG founder, emerging brand, or curious about bootstrapping a premium product, don’t miss this.
🕒 Timestamps
00:00 - Opening Quote: The Magic of Farmer’s Markets
03:24 - From Fine Dining to Culinary Burnout
06:36 - Discovering a Gap in Ithaca’s Food Scene
10:46 - Launching Ithaca Hummus from a Camp Kitchen
13:54 - The Addictive Energy of Farmer’s Markets
19:15 - No Brokers: Selling to Co-ops Door-to-Door
24:33 - Sampling, Promotions & Retailer Education
28:10 - $1M to $3.5M: Strategic Investment from Co-Man
33:50 - Saying No to VCs: Building Without External Pressure
37:17 - What Strategic Actually Means in CPG
41:50 - Branding, Packaging & the Power of “Owning Taste”
45:33 - Creating Viral Flavors (e.g. French Onion Hummus)
47:59 - Graza x Ithaca: Strategic Co-Branded Launch
50:00 - Long-Term Vision: Legacy, Not Liquidity
53:50 - Lightning Round: Books, Beliefs & Brands
venturecapital #consumervc #vcfunding
—
📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for startup trends:
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venturecapital #consumervc
Join host Mike Gelb on The Consumer VC as he talks with Sid Banthiya — investor, advisor, and former CSO at Milk Bar. In this episode, Sid dives deep into consumer startup dynamics, term sheet red flags, and how founders can scale smarter (not louder).
Learn why many startups fall into the trap of "venture validation," when bootstrapping is better, and how to navigate hot markets without losing your edge. Sid also reveals why understanding liquidation preferences is critical for founders and shares trends in CPG, e-commerce, and supplements.
This episode is brought to you by Highbeam.
Highbeam is the all-in-one banking and cash management platform built for consumer brands. Apply Here for Flexible Capital
Whether you're raising capital, launching a product, or scaling a DTC brand, this is a masterclass on thoughtful company-building and founder alignment.
👇 Timestamps
00:00 Intro & Podcast Overview
00:47 Why Sid Wrote “Avoiding the Road to Mediocrity” 03:12 The Venture Trap: Chasing Capital vs. Solving Problems 06:00 Is VC the Right Path for Every Founder?
08:31 Fundraising Focus vs. Revenue Focus
10:00 The Rise of Too Much Capital in VC
13:10 Can Founders Course-Correct Their Mission?
16:00 Case Study: Hungryroot’s Strategic Pivot
18:25 How to Decide if You Should Start a Company
20:00 Bootstrap vs. Venture: When and Why
22:50 Go Slow or Scale Fast? What Founders Should Know 26:00 Investing in Hot Markets: Supplements, Protein & More
29:00 Valuation vs. Exit Reality: Why Price Discipline Matters 32:00 Waterfalls, Liquidation Preferences & Founder Equity 37:00 The Case for a “Better Business Bureau” for Investors 41:00 What Makes a VC Truly Valuable
44:00 Rapid Fire: Consumer Trends, Favorite Products, VC Myths
52:00 Sid’s Book Recommendations
Subscribe for more VC insights and startup strategies:
📰 Newsletter → https://www.theconsumervc.com/
🎧 Apple → Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify → Spotify
📲 IG / TikTok / Twitter → @mikegelb
Mathew Focht is the Founding Managing Partner of EMERGING, a $100M growth capital fund investing in the future of restaurant-tech and entertainment.
In this episode of The Consumer VC, Mathew breaks down how EMERGING helps scale innovative hospitality concepts like F1® Arcade, BatBox, Puttshack, and more. We explore why the intersection of restaurants, entertainment, and technology is such a powerful space for venture capital, how they evaluate scalable concepts, and what makes EMERGING different from traditional investors.
You’ll learn:
- Why eatertainment is booming post-COVID
- What metrics EMERGING looks at before writing $2–8M checks
- How restaurant-tech is evolving for both consumers and operators
- What makes a concept scalable, profitable, and defensible
- Why EMERGING focuses on experience + IP, not just margins
If you're curious about how tech is transforming food and entertainment, and what it takes to build the next big concept, this episode is a must-listen.
Join our weekly newsletter :theconsumervc.com
venturecapital #restauranttech #consumerinnovation #mathewfocht #emergingfund #hospitalitytech #consumervc
consumervc #venturecapital #aicontentcreation Join host Mike Gelb on The Consumer VC as he talks with Ishan Sinha, Partner at Point72 Ventures.In this episode, Ishan shares insights into the evolving role of AI in consumer startups, the challenges of AI-driven media, and the future of monetization for creators. He discusses the impact of AI on intellectual property, whether VCs are still underestimating consumer AI, and how AI-powered businesses can scale effectively. Ishan also breaks down venture capital trends, investment strategies, and lessons from past market cycles. For an insightful conversation at the intersection of AI, venture capital, and consumer innovation, check out the full episode!📩 Get Exclusive Insights & Deals 👉 [Insert Newsletter Link] 00:00 Introduction & Podcast Overview 00:45 Why Did Point72 Start a VC Fund? 03:10 From Public Market Investing to Venture Capital 06:05 Are VCs Underestimating Consumer AI? 09:50 AI in Media & Content Creation 12:30 AI vs. The Music Industry 16:20 Lessons from Napster to Spotify 19:15 How AI Can Benefit Artists & Creators 22:40 The Future of AI in Publishing & Journalism 25:30 How AI is Reshaping Consumer Tech 28:45 Investing in AI Startups: What VCs Look For 32:05 The Role of AI in Business Models & Monetization 35:00 Will the Next Big AI Innovation Look Like a Toy? 38:15 Lightning Round: Biggest Consumer Trends, Myths About VC & More 41:30 Final Takeaways & Where to Follow Ishan Sinha................Subscribe to Our Newsletter:https://www.theconsumervc.com/Subscribe on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...Follow on Twitter: / mikegelb Follow on Instagram: / mikegelb Follow on TikTok: / consumervc
Join host Mike Gelb on The Consumer VC as he talks with Preston Rutherford, co-founder of Chubbies. In this episode, Preston delves into their founding journey, tackling topics like why they raised VC money, overcoming early manufacturing challenges, and evolving their brand strategy. He shares insights into achieving product-market fit, the importance of balancing short-term and long-term goals, and navigating the challenges of scaling and profitability. Post-Chubbies, Preston also discusses his new venture, Marathon, and its mission to help brands measure the impact of brand building. For informative and entertaining content on the intersections of venture capital and consumer innovation, check out the full episode.00:00 Introduction01:24 Introducing Preston Rutherford of Chubbies01:34 The Founding Journey of Chubbies06:12 Challenges in Early Manufacturing09:21 Building a Brand Identity23:34 Raising Capital and Financial Challenges26:28 The Early Days and Initial Challenges26:55 Navigating Co-Founder Dynamics29:04 Pressure and Growth Metrics31:20 Shifting Focus to EBITDA34:42 The Decision to Sell Chubbies40:11 Channel Expansion and Inventory Management43:19 Lessons in Brand Marketing46:53 Reflections and Future Insights54:56 Final Thoughts and Farewell
Having transitioned from founding companies to supporting early-stage ventures, YC shares his passion for creating consumer-centric solutions across diverse industries. From media and sports technology to consumer goods, he reflects on shifting his focus from generating ideas himself to aiding under-managed ventures with effective execution and strategic capital alignment. YC's enthusiasm for collaborating with founders to scale their businesses offers listeners valuable insights into the entrepreneurial world.(0:00:00) - Intro(0:14:47) - Innovation in Gaming and Acquisition(0:24:06) - Innovation in Large Corporations(0:28:19) - Pivoting Hero Bread to Success(0:40:52) - Consumer Brand Transition and GrowthSubscribe to Our Newsletter:https://www.theconsumervc.com/Subscribe on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...Follow on Twitter: / mikegelb Follow on Instagram: / mikegelb Follow on TikTok: / consumervc
Thank you to our presenting partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.Our guest today is Jeff Byers, CEO of Momentous. Momentous produces and sells best in class human performance products. Previously, Jeff Byers founded Amp Human and later acquired Momentous, merging the two companies. He’s also a former professional football player and played at USC in college (Fight On✌️)00:00 Welcome to The Consumer VC00:40 Introducing Jeff Byers and Momentous02:02 Jeff Byers' Transition from NFL to Entrepreneurship04:31 The Birth of Amp Human and Momentous07:46 Challenges and Innovations in Supplement Industry14:17 Acquisition of Momentous and Future Plans25:37 Navigating the Supplement Market33:25 Sourcing and Trust in Supplements34:12 Challenges in the Supplement Industry34:29 Transparency Issues in Ingredient Sourcing37:30 The Problem with Chinese Creatine40:49 Commoditization of Supplements46:23 Importance of Protein, Omegas, and Creatine53:08 Momentous' Approach to Supplements58:04 Building Trust and Transparency01:02:26 Books that Inspire01:06:21 Final Thoughts and ConclusionSubscribe to Our Newsletter:https://www.theconsumervc.com/Subscribe on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...Follow on Twitter: / mikegelb Follow on Instagram: / mikegelb Follow on TikTok: / consumervc
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest on today’s episode is Daniel Faierman, Partner at Habitat Partners. Habitat Partners is an early-stage venture fund that is part of Red Antler. Red Antler is one of the premier branding and marketing agencies. We focus this conversation on Habitat Partners investment strategy. The relationship with Red Antler, why they both invest in consumer brands and software businesses, the differences in the underwriting process in each of these business types, why for them it makes to have two strategies, how he thinks about returns.
00:00 Introduction
02:04 Daniel's Journey into Food and Beverage
04:13 Challenges of Innovation in Big CPG Companies
08:05 The Role of Strategic Partners in Scaling Brands
09:34 Red Antler's Venture into Investment
19:54 Habitat Partners' Investment Strategy
28:29 Sourcing and Red Antler's Impact
29:55 Introducing Propeller Industries
30:49 Key Metrics for Consumer Brands
34:19 Navigating Competitive Investment Landscapes
34:46 The Role of Creative in CPG and B2B SaaS
37:21 Transitioning from Health and Wellness to B2B SaaS
40:06 The Importance of AI in SaaS
43:35 Evaluating Founders and Teams
46:46 Lightning Round: Trends, Myths, and Personal Insights
54:20 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
In today’s episode, we’re thrilled to host Bryan Kim, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, for an insightful conversation on the intersection of venture capital and consumer innovation. Brian shares his remarkable journey from a thriving career in investment banking to becoming a driving force in the tech industry. He opens up about the transformative experience of working with Alibaba during its groundbreaking IPO and how it inspired his pivot toward partnering with visionary founders.Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.(0:00:00) - Intro(0:08:51) - Snap's Early Growth and User Engagement(0:20:32) - AI Innovation in Consumer Companies(0:35:26) - Founders and AI Innovation Trends(0:44:22) - The Future of Social Products(0:52:49) - Revolutionizing Revenue Models With AI(0:57:49) - Book for Growth and InspirationSubscribe to Our Newsletter:https://www.theconsumervc.com/Subscribe on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...Follow on Twitter: / mikegelb Follow on Instagram: / mikegelb Follow on TikTok: / consumervc
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Thank you Jerry Staub for the intro to our guest today is Terri Rockovich, Founder & CEO of Jinx. Jinx is a dog food brand that offers premium kibble, homemade toppers, and beef crumbles and are made by a team of pet nutritionists and veterinarians.
We discuss:
- How legacy brands create their dog food
- The inspiration behind Jinx
- Her nutrition philosophy for pets
- Sourcing the right manufacturing partners & convincing them to work on Jinx
- Approach to testing if the product tastes good
- The reasons why she raised venture money (most recently a Series B)
- How she launched online
- Why Walmart has been a great partner for a premium brand
- Jinx’s market positioning compared to other premium dog food brands
- Approach to launching SKUs & new products
- How she thinks about celebrity partnerships & more
n this episode with Jonathan Keidan, founder of Torch Capital, we dive into his journey from talent management in the music industry to early-stage venture capital. Jonathan shares how nurturing emerging artists parallels supporting founders, offering unique insights into spotting potential and overcoming challenges in both fields. He reveals key lessons learned from triumphs and setbacks in building impactful companies.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
(0:00:00) - Building Companies and Working With Founders
(0:10:23) - Investing in Technology vs Inventory Businesses
(0:14:48) - Investing in Consumer Brands and Tech
(0:29:06) - Founder's Focus on Building Trust
(0:38:57) - Funding Strategy and Market Insights
(0:51:14) - Navigating Early-Stage Investing Strategies
Subscribe to Our Newsletter:
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/ mikegelb
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In this episode with Brian Cho, co-founder and general partner at Patron, we explore the intricacies of the gaming world's future. From the complexities of cross-currency games to the delicate balance of control and user flexibility within game economies, Brian offers his invaluable perspective. We delve into the sustainability of centralized models and the transformative potential of generative AI and blockchain technologies on the gaming landscape.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
(0:00:01) - Future of Gaming and Innovation
(0:03:47) - Gamification in Social Media and Investment
(0:09:08) - Building IP and Gamification in Gaming
(0:17:46) - Evolution of Gaming Business Models
(0:25:29) - Future of VR Platforms
(0:34:53) - Emerging Trends in Gaming Innovation
(0:46:10) - Gaming Industry Growth and Investment
Today, we're diving into the secrets of successful early-stage investments in North American consumer brands with Marcel Bens, CEO of Emil Capital. In this episode, Marcel shares the unique strategy of Emil Capital’s hybrid venture firm, with its sharp focus on 'better-for-you' products and how it bridges the critical investment gap between angel investors and larger private equity firms. We’ll explore how they strategically deploy $1-5 million checks, backed by the rich history of the Tangleman Group, to drive growth and diversification across regions.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
0:00:28 - Why Do Consumers Pay a Premium for High-Quality Products?
0:07:04 - How Is the Investment Deployment Strategy Structured?
0:13:14 - What Are the Opportunities in Better-for-You Products?
0:19:01 - What Are the Market Strategies for Premium Products?
0:25:47 - How to Decode Nutrition Labels for Better Choices?
0:30:37 - How to Select the Right Brands at Conventions?
0:34:48 - How to Identify Niche Emerging Categories?
0:38:37 - How to Invest in Consumer Brands and Tech?
0:48:49 - What Is the Approach to Building a Company Brick by Brick?
Subscribe to Our Newsletter:
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/ mikegelb
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/ mikegelb
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Our guest today is Vanessa Larco, Partner at NEA. She shares her journey from pioneering XBox at Microsoft to navigating the social gaming boom with Playdom and making her mark in venture capital. Discover her investment ethos centered on consumer passion projects, successful investments in companies like Robinhood and Mejuri, and her insights on AI's transformative potential across industries. This episode is filled with valuable lessons and expert knowledge from Vanessa's diverse career.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
0:00:00 - Intro
0:03:23 - Microsoft's Early Touch Screen Technologies
0:05:36 - Designing Surface Device Controls Without Mouse
0:09:11 - Xbox Connect Speech Recognition Evolution
0:14:33 - Innovative Technologies and Timing
0:17:12 - A-B Testing and Data-Driven Decisions
0:23:10 - Profitability and Growth in Different Industries
0:26:55 - Investing Across Different Categories
0:29:53 - Robinhood Revolutionizes Commission-Free Investing
0:36:33 - Identifying Winning Consumer Companies
0:54:15 - Venture Capital in Tech Innovation
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Join us as we explore the cutting-edge intersection of AI, science, and consumer innovation with Osman Khan, CEO and co-founder of Squared Circles. Discover how his venture studio is revolutionizing product development and redefining the future of consumer brands.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
00:00:00: Intro
00:07:30: How does Squared Circles differentiate itself from other companies in the industry?
00:10:35: How does Squared Circles integrate sustainability into its products?
00:12:32: What are your plans for global expansion, and how do you approach new markets?
00:19:30: Can you share a success story that you believe exemplifies the impact of Squared Circles?
00:26:00: How do you manage and scale the company’s operations as it continues to grow?
00:28:15: What strategies do you use to attract and retain top talent?
00:33:00: What are some of the most significant trends you’re seeing in your industry right now?
00:41:00: How do you ensure that your leadership team remains aligned with the company’s vision?
00:46:00: What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned throughout your entrepreneurial journey?
00:57:00: How do you measure success, both personally and for Squared Circles?
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Our Guests Today is Abby Miller Levy, the visionary founder of Primetime Partners. In this enlightening episode, Abby shares her journey from personal frustration with her aging parents to spearheading a venture capital firm that is revolutionizing opportunities for older adults. Discover How Abby and renowned venture investor Alan Patricof are fostering entrepreneurial innovation to transform the aging experience, highlighting key startups that tackle this pressing challenge.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
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Our guests today are Angela Vranich and Ben Lewis, the dynamic duo behind Little Spoon, as we explore their journey from high school sweethearts to co-founders of a revolutionary baby food brand. Listen in as they share how their early fascination with consumer brands led them to the natural products industry, and how their personal relationship evolved into a successful business partnership. Angela and Ben provide a candid look at the challenges and rewards of building a business as a couple, the motivations that fueled their entrepreneurial spirit, and the key partnership principles that have guided their journey.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
(0:00:01) - Building Little Spoon With a Partner
(0:10:31) - Revolutionizing the Baby Food Industry
(0:19:15) - Expanding Product Line for Growing Kids
(0:32:56) - Direct-to-Consumer Success in Marketing
(0:46:21) - Balancing Growth and Profitability Strategy
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Our guests today are Andrew Bluestein and Ashley Hartman, Managing Partners of Bluestein Ventures. Bluestein Ventures invests in the future of food. What does that mean? They focus on investing in High-growth consumer brands, Proprietary foodtech, Next-gen commerce, Value-add digital technology. They just raised a $45 million third fund – which huge congrats to them for doing so. We discuss the transition from family office to VC firm, investing in inventory businesses and technology businesses, the difference between fund 3 and funds 1 and 2, what happened with Foxtrot, future of plant based meat, and much much more.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
0:00:00 - Intro
0:03:32 - Trends in Food Industry Digitization (35 Seconds)
0:07:14 - Food-Centered Investing Strategy Discussion (65 Seconds)
0:13:38 - Supply Chain Investing and Business Models (78 Seconds)
0:27:45 - Channel Strategy for Expanding Food Brands (75 Seconds)
0:38:10 - Plant-Based Meat (59 Seconds)
0:41:52 - Debate on Plant-Based Meat Benefits (91 Seconds)
0:50:59 - Investing in Great Businesses (77 Seconds)
0:57:47 - Optimizing a Complex Store Concept (67 Seconds)
1:02:09 - Strategic Framework in Business Startups (54 Seconds)
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Our guest today is Manica Blain. In this episode, we journey through the fascinating evolution of two beauty brands that have overcome initial hurdles to achieve remarkable success. Discover how an Ayurvedic beauty brand captured investor interest through high repeat purchase rates and how Everest, a hair care concentrate brand, pivoted from sustainability to performance, leading to explosive growth.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
We Discuss:
•Investing in Long-Lasting Consumer Brands
•Founding and Growing Beauty Brands
•Investment Strategies in Beauty Industry
•Dealing With Red Flags in Business
•Fund Development and Co-Partner Dynamics
•Inspiration in Books
0:01:35 - Investing in Beauty and Personal Care
0:04:44 - Evolution of Consumer Brand Expectations
0:08:08 - Brands Iterating to Find Success
0:18:41 - Investing in Beauty and Personal Care
0:23:09 - Beauty Industry Exit Dynamics
0:25:22 - From Bootstrapping to Funding
0:37:57 - Importance of Customer Retention
0:41:50 - Future Plans for Topknot Ventures
0:46:15 - Investment Strategy and Relationship Building
0:49:29 - Book Inspiration - Personal and Professional
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Our guest today is Manica Blain. In this episode, we journey through the fascinating evolution of two beauty brands that have overcome initial hurdles to achieve remarkable success. Discover how an Ayurvedic beauty brand captured investor interest through high repeat purchase rates and how Everest, a hair care concentrate brand, pivoted from sustainability to performance, leading to explosive growth.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
We Discuss:
•Investing in Long-Lasting Consumer Brands
•Founding and Growing Beauty Brands
•Investment Strategies in Beauty Industry
•Dealing With Red Flags in Business
•Fund Development and Co-Partner Dynamics
•Inspiration in Books
Subscribe to Our Newsletter:
https://www.theconsumervc.com/
Subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74ZMqodx5UmAeWAOJF?si=e0bd72bc48b341ab
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-consumer-vc-venture-capital-i-b2c-startups-i/id1484646914
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Our guest today is Teddy Townsend of CG Sawaya Partners, as we explore the dynamic world of health and wellness brand acquisitions.Teddy brings her expertise to the table, shedding light on why companies in this vibrant sector pursue mergers and acquisitions, and how different types of buyers, from private equity funds to strategic acquirers, approach these deals
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
We discuss:
• Company Acquisition Health & Wellness
• Understanding Equity Investment Terms
• Challenges With Low Profit Margins
• Shift in Supplement Business Trends
• Strategic Timing in Brand Acquisition
• Strategic Acquirers and Private Equity Groups
• Brand Evaluation and Marketing Strategies
• Strategic vs Minority Round Buyouts
• Women's Health and Market Needs
• Importance of Differentiation in Consumer Industry
(0:00:00) - Health and Wellness Brand Acquisitions
Nature's mergers and acquisitions in health and wellness, private equity vs. strategic buyers, term sheet nuances.
(0:09:35) - Understanding Liquidation Preferences in Investments
High liquidation preferences in VC deals can misalign interests, impede exits, and signal investor confidence in hot markets.
(0:13:37) - Sustainable Growth in Business Trends
Unsustainable growth models, excessive capital raising, reliance on high cash burn, shift in investor perspective, D2C market, understanding key metrics, importance of acquiring new customers, fundamental health and long-term sustainability in health and wellness sector.
(0:17:45) - Health and Wellness Industry Strategy
Current trends in health and wellness industry: focus on OTC products, strategic acquisitions, and consumer behavior in beauty and personal care.
(0:27:37) - Strategic Considerations for Business Acquisition
Nature's strategic considerations for founders targeting specific buyers, including M&A criteria, legal issues, scaling capabilities, and private equity.
(0:34:30) - Navigating Business Exits and Valuations
Substantiating product claims, engaging third-party reviews, and understanding exit strategies for successful business transactions.
(0:42:12) - Maximizing Deal Opportunities and Process Preparation
Maximize M&A success with nostalgia marketing, thorough preparation, and strategic buyer engagement for full buyouts and minority rounds.
(0:49:56) - Women's Health Challenges and Brand Differentiation
Women's health sector faces challenges in narrow market windows, scaling, and differentiation in a saturated market.
(0:56:55) - Transition From Writer to Banker
Teddy's journey from writing to investment banking, using storytelling skills, learning finance from "Investment Banking," and the impact of reading Stephen King's "The Stand.
Our guest today is Diana Melencio. Diana manages the entire XRC Ventures investment process across three investment vehicles – Accelerator Fund, Brand Capital Fund, and Opportunity Fund.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
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Our guest today is Dayton Miller, Managing Partner at BFG Partners. BFG Partners help entrepreneurs build exceptional businesses that deliver sustainable growth and outperform competitors in the better-for-you food, beverage, and consumer products space. Their investments include Olipop, Athletic Greens, Caulipower, and Bobo’s. We discuss the inflection points at seed, series A, and Series B in today’s market, categories he’s excited about in consumer today, ozempic, operations metrics, and his time as an entrepreneur building Function Drinks from scratch to $20 million in sales.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is George Milton & Erin Link, Founders of YellowBird Foods a Modern Hot Sauce business.
We discuss:
• How did they get into Whole Foods?
• How did they also get into Walmart?
• How did their approach to retail expansion?
• How did they approach branding and positioning for Yellowbird
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is Amrit Richmond, Founder of Indie CPG since 2019, and has also joined SecureCPG recently
We discuss:
• What gives a food and drink brand accusation energy?
• What are the different profiles of the acquire today?
• Why acquire emerging brands?
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is Samyr Lainé, an Olympian, an amazing operator who worked with Jay-Z's, Will Smith and Jada Pickett Smith who is now the founder of Freedom Trail Capital.
We discuss:
• How he trained for the Olympics while being a full time law student
• Working at Monumental Sports (owners of the Washington Capitals and Wizards)
• Shifting towards the MLS
• Getting the email that Jay-Z was looking for someone to help run his businesses
• All of Jay-Z's businesses
• His view on how brands can collaborate with talent
• Why he left to work for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's Westbrook
• His thesis behind launching Freedom Trail Capital
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is Matt Weiss, Founder & CEO at RIND Snacks
Matt is the CEO of RIND Snacks, a sustainable fruit snack brand. He has over a decade of experience in the natural food industry and previously worked in investment research. Matt is also known for his advocacy in community and environmental causes, founding a nonprofit that helped establish a park in lower Manhattan.
We discuss:
• We discuss the inspiration behind creating a brand and a product that focuses on the peels of a fruit
• How did he first get into retail?
• Why he was part-time with it for two years?
• What was kind of the moment that he switched to doing it full-time?
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is Ben Lerer. Ben Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. Lerer Hippeau is a venture capital fund based in New York who were early investors in Warby Parker, Glossier, and Topicals. He also founded Thrillist, an online media website website back in 2004 and was former CEO of Group Nine Media until it was acquired by Vox Media.
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is Fan Bi, Founder & CEO of Hedgehog
Fan Bi is the Founder & CEO of Hedgehog. He founded, grew, and exited many eCom + store menswear brands. He has been in DTC eCommerce for over 13 years.
We discuss:
• How was Fan was introduced to entrepreneurship and what things he found compelling about man's fashion?
• What multiples were used for early-stage digital brands?
• Why he started Hedgehog?
• What to make of the current market and how do you see it in the future?
Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
Our guest today is Sarah Woelfel, Co-Founder & Partner at Cult Capital. She combines her zeal for investing with her affection for cult consumer brands. Their investments include Supergoop!, Babo Botanicals, and Lawless Beauty. Prior to CULT Capital, Sarah served on the investment team at Audax and as an I-banking analyst at Deutsche Bank.
Thank you to our partner Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
She leads the day-to-day operations and long-term strategy for Belgian Boys and is bringing European treats like Belgian waffles, brioche french toast, crepes, and other delicious delights to the American home. They are now in over 8,400 stores including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods.
Thank you to our partner Propeller Industries
Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.
We discuss:
• Anouck’s journey from fashion to joining her husband in starting a food CPG company
• How they first got into retail
• What it was like years of bootstrapping
• How they landed KIND snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky’s venture firm Camino Partners as investors
• Why they pivoted from frozen food to refrigerator food and much more.
Our guest today is Caleb Wang, CEO and Co-Founder MiLa. Authentic soup dumplings, chinese noodles and chef crafted sauces. Made fresh and shipped! We talked about how he and his wife, Jen first stated a restaurant, how that expanded to an ecommerce business, how they raised capital and why they raised capital, and much much more.
Our guests today are David Wagner and Jesse Marble, Co-Founders of Wildwood Ventures. Wildwood Ventures is backed by VF corporation, a holding company whose portfolio includes iconic outdoor and activity-based lifestyle and workwear brands like Vans, North Face, Timberland, Dickies. Wildwood Ventures invests in consumer technology companies that make lives better.
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Our guest today is Denise Lambertson, Managing Partner at Constellation Capital and Chairwoman & Founder of LMS, the influencer marketing agency. We actually didn’t get into the Constellation Capital / VC / Investing side for this episode, we ran out of time. We focused on the relationship between talent and brand and how that partnership could work and how it could not work.
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Today’s episode we focus on the wonderful world of consumer fintech and our guest today is Drew Glover, General Partner of Fiat Ventures and Founding Partner of Fiat Growth. Fiat Growth is a growth consultancy helping to scale some of the largest fintech companies out there - Chime, Lemonade, Copper. They decided to launch a VC fund that focuses on emerging fintech companies.
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Our guest today is Brian Fenty, Co-Founder & CEO of TodayTix. TodayTix is the digital gateway to live shows, arts, and cultural experiences.
We discuss:
- His introduction to Broadway & ticketing
- How Broadway initially tried to appeal to younger demographics and failed
- How TodayTix partners with theatres
- The threat of TicketMaster
- Why they didn’t pivot during COVID
- Their acquisition strategy & more
Our guest today is Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures. Index Ventures is a global firm that operates as one team across three offices (London, SF, NYC) and invests at all stages. Martin opened Index’s office in New York a couple of years ago. We discuss the massive consumer opportunity in New York that Index has tapped into through, the future of transportation and delivery, and the differences Martin has seen between European and American consumer markets.
Listen in as we explore the exciting journey of Miguel Leal, co-founder and CEO of Somos Foods. Miguel shares his experience transitioning from successful stints at Kind Snacks and Chalula to establishing his own brand. Inspired by a disparity in the market, he decided to revolutionize the Mexican food aisle by creating authentic, plant-based, non-GMO products. He also discusses the pivotal decision to quickly shift to retail and the profound impact of AI technology on the brand's success.
Our conversation navigates the unique challenges and opportunities that arose during the launch of Somos Foods. Miguel sheds light on the creation process, the impact of the pandemic, and how his conversations with his wife and friend Daniel Lubecki, founder of KindSnacks, sparked the genesis of the company. Discover how their passion for authentic Mexican cuisine and the need for innovation in the market led to the creation of this game-changing brand.
Lastly, we discuss the importance of retail expansion and product innovation for Somos Foods. Miguel offers insights into the company's unique approach to market expansion, pricing and margin structure, and how they successfully created a complete customer experience. He also shares his thoughts on the value of social listening and how it led to the creation of popular recipes. So, tune in and learn about the transformational journey of Somos Foods, their innovative strategies, and their quest to bring authentic Mexican cuisine to your kitchen.
Our guest today is Mike Jones, one of the co-founders of Science Inc. Science Inc. is a venture studio and fund that develops, invests in consumer-focused businesses. Some of their portfolio includes Liquid Death, Dollar Shave Club, Grove Collaborative. Mike previously founded UsePlane, Tsavo Media and served as the CEO of MySpace. We discuss how he accesses what founders he wants to work with, what truly makes a good idea, how Liquid Death came together, their growth opportunities and he met Mike C, what he learned from Dollar Shave Club about making viral content, and much more.
Our guest today is Gail Becker, founder of CAULIPOWER, the most disruptive company in the better-for-you frozen food space named as one of the top 10 World’s Most Innovative Food Companies in 2022 by Fast Company. The hyper-growth company reached more than $100m in revenue in three years under her leadership as CEO. We discuss how and why she left corporate America to start Caulipower, her approach to growth through retail, how she thought about fundraising and managing her cap table, what capital efficiently means to her and product expansion. Without further ado, here’s Gail.
On this episode of the Consumer VC podcast, we are joined by Kevin Parakkattu, partner at Plug Play Ventures, for an intriguing exploration of the rapidly evolving landscape of the media industry, particularly the rise of GenAI. Kevin and I talk about the potential of AI to replace writers' jobs in the future and the potential legal implications surrounding the use of AI-generated content.
We then turn our attention to the commerce industry, discussing the challenges that direct-to-consumer brands face, such as inventory overstock and cost-cutting. Kevin provides insights into the need for working capital, growth opportunities in the venture capital space, and how Plug Play Ventures has been able to create value for their investments. We also delve into the changing multiples of direct-to-consumer brands and the criteria for investing in pre-revenue consumer brands.
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Our guest today is Helene Servillon, Founder of JourneyOne Ventures. JourneyOne Ventures is a 100% woman and minority-owned early-stage fund that invests in the billion-dollar opportunities of misunderstood markets that are highly regulated and fragmented.
We discuss:
- The opportunity to invest in cannabis companies
- Different regulations within cannabis
- How she built her LP network
- Other “vice” industries she finds attractive
- Why she’s more focused on infrastructure than brands
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Our guest today is Matt Alexander, founder & CEO of Neighborhood Goods. A new type of department store, featuring an ever-changing landscape of the world's most thoughtful, progressive, and exciting brands. This was a live podcast episode in Dallas that we did a few weeks back. Really want to thank RevTech Ventures for hosting us. Without further ado, here’s Matt.
The Consumer VC represents the opinions and beliefs of Michael Gelb and does not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Manufactured Networks, Inc.
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Thank you to my brother, Rob Gelb for the introduction to our guest today, Nigel Eccles, Co-Founder of Vault. Vault is introducing Digital Music Collectibles as a new format for collecting exclusive, authenticated, limited-run collectibles from your favorite artists. This episode brought me back, I worked in music for the first few years in my career and am an avid music listener. Previously, Nigel co-founded and was the CEO of FanDuel and is the #1 sportsbook in the US, a leading daily fantasy sports platform. We discuss why he left FanDuel and got into crypto, how artists are currently monetizing their music and the void that Vault fills, the type of artist they are looking to attract and how he thinks about fandom in the digital age.
The Consumer VC represents the opinions and beliefs of Michael Gelb and does not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Manufactured Networks, Inc.
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We have two amazing investors on the show today who just came off raising their second fund at $34 million fund. We have Kiva Dickinson, our first non-named Mike second time guest, and Madeline Kaplan from Selva Ventures. Selva Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to partnering with consumer brands that promote healthier living. We discuss how fund 2 is different to fund 1, the difference between and clean and clinically backed beauty and personal care brands, do they value one dollar of online revenue more than a dollar earned in retail and much more.
The Consumer VC represents the opinions and beliefs of Michael Gelb and does not reflect the opinions and beliefs of Manufactured Networks, Inc.
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This issue is brought to you by Vauban from Carta. Vauban from Carta is the easiest way to launch & run your venture investing. They offer SPVs, and fund vehicles for GPs at all stages of the journey - from your first syndicate to operating a multi-million dollar venture fund. Their end-to-end platform automates your back-office and manual workflows so you can focus on what matters: finding the next unicorn & building investor relationships.
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Our guest today is Rakesh Narayana, who is the General Manager of Access VC. Access is the venture capital arm of Reckitt. Reckitt is a publicly traded consumer goods conglomerate focused on the hygiene, health and nutrition spaces. You probably recongize their brands Lysol, Dettol, and Calgon. So Access VC is their venture arm that Rakesh leads, some of their investments include Beekeeper’s Naturals, Maude, and Future Method. In this episode, we’re going to talk about how Access VC approaches their investments since corporate venture capital in general typically doesn’t have the best reputation and we’re going to be speaking about how Access VC is taking a different approach, how they make investments and think about exit potential.
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Our guest today is Andrew Blackmon, Co-Founder and CEO of The Black Tux. The Black Tux is reinventing formalwear. We design and manufacture modern suits and tuxedos for rent or keeps. We discuss why Andrew decided to start a DTC rental tuxedo business in the first place, how he thinks about size, fit, standardization vs. customization, the growth avenues, how they are influenced by fashion trends and much more.
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Thank you CJ Fowler at Goat Rodeo Capital for the introduction to our guest today, Melissa Facchina, Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner of Siddhi Capital. Siddhi Capital is an operationally-focused food and beverage growth equity firm. Their portfolio includes Mid-Day Squares, Aura Bora (who both have been on the show) Copper Cow Coffee, Mud/Wtr, Magic Spoon, Momofuku Goods. I had a blast chatting with Melissa about her story, what makes great entrepreneurs in the food & bev space and do great entrepreneurs have to be great operators and much more.
***Sponsor***
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Our guest today is Chaz Flexman, who is the founder & CEO of Starday. Starday is a next-generation food conglomerate that uses data science to predict product-market fit and create food brands. We discuss why he left Pattern Brands to go into food, how they create and launch new products very cheaply, how they think about data and trends and different categories to enter, and building relationships with retailers.
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Thank you Daniel Gulati for introducing me to our guest today, Mike Salguero. Mike is the founder and CEO of ButcherBox, which delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, humanely raised pork, and wild-caught seafood directly to your door. ButcherBox is a unique brand that we’re covering on the show since it’s not venture-backed but bootstrapped to $600 million in sales. Previously, Mike was the CEO at CustomMade which was venture-backed. We discuss some of the differences between venture-backed and bootstrapped companies, when he knew that ButcherBox was going to be bigger than he intended, how to find businesses based on the lifestyle you lead, and their growth journey.
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Our guest today is Jessica Karr, General Partner at Coyote Ventures, which is a VC fund that’s investing in women's health and wellness. Some of the portfolio companies include Maude, The Flex Company, and Wile. We discuss how she transitioned from scientist to investor, particular categories she’s currently investing in and has stayed away from and how she thinks about risk.
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Our guest today is Mike Ghaffary, General Partner at Canvas Ventures. Mike is the first third time guest of the show. The last time I had Mike on we spoke about what’s the next consumer platform after the iPhone? Funnily enough, we didn’t mention AI. We thought we needed to revisit this question and discuss the opportunity in AI from a consumer technology lens.
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Our guests today are Jon Sebastiani and Mark Rampolla. Jon founded Krave Jerky, one of the first premium jerky brands, and Mark founded Zico, one of the first coconut water brands in the U.S. It’s very rare for an entrepreneur to sell their business, get a good outcome, and then be able to buy back the business from the acquirer. This episode is about how both Jon and Mark founded, scaled, sold, and bought back their businesses.
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Our guest today is Elle Lanning, Managing Partner at Managing Director at Camino Partners. Camino Partners is a $350m business-building and investment platform helping entrepreneurs create enduring value with values as their compass that was founded by Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND Snacks, which was sold to Nestle. Some of Camino Partners’ portfolio includes Somos, CAVA and Belgium Boys. We discuss Elle’s time at KIND, what KIND got right, how Camino Partners came together and what they look for in CPG brands.
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Our guest today is Bruce Smith, CEO and Founder of Hydrow. Hydrow is a connected home rowing machine that offers live and pre-recorded fitness content on demand, where the instructors are outside rowing on the water.
We discuss:
- The origin story of founding a rowing-connected fitness company
- Prototyping & finding the right manufacturer
- Why it was important to have the instructors on the water rowing
- The ratio between treadmills, bikes and rowers at gyms
- How he met Kevin Hart & became Creative Director
- The current headwinds in connected fitness & much more
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Thank you Clement for the introduction to our guest today, Ken Sadowsky, or, as Forbes dubbed him “The Beverage Whisperer”. Ken grew up in the beverage business. His grandfather started the beverage distributor Atlas Distributing and he was the first to distribute Vita Coco and also was the Director of Energy Brands Inc., makers of Vitamin Water, Smart Water and Fruit Water, which they eventually sold to Coca Cola for $4.1 Billion. Now he’s a Beverage Advisor to Verlinest, which is Anheuser-Busch InBev’s investment arm. We discuss his story, what are the opportunities within beverage today, if there’s a trend that he’s not sold on and how to identify great entrepreneurs.
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Our guest today is Deepak Shahdadpuri, Founder and Managing Director of DSG Consumer Partners. DSG Consumer Partners is India & Southeast Asia's leading consumer-only venture capital fund. Some of their investments are Veeba, Piccolo Organic, and The Golden Duck. We focus this conversation on what makes India an exciting and different consumer market than the U.S., why Indian premium brands are ripe for growth, and he went from growth stage / later stage investing to earlier stage investing.
This issue is brought to you by Vauban from Carta. Vauban from Carta is the easiest way to launch & run your venture investing. They offer SPVs, and fund vehicles for GPs at all stages of the journey - from your first syndicate to operating a multi-million dollar venture fund. Their end-to-end platform automates your back-office and manual workflows so you can focus on what matters: finding the next unicorn & building investor relationships.
Thank you Caroline McMorrow for the intro to our guest today Will Nitze, Founder & CEO of IQ Bar. IQ Bar is a plant-based protein bar company for your brain and body! We discuss how Will got turned on to brain food and the origin story of IQ Bar, how he growth hacked his Indie Gogo campaign which I had never heard of anything like he did before, getting into retail, why they went conventional first, which is unusual and why they aren’t in Whole Foods currently. Without further ado, here’s Will.
Some of the questions I ask Will:
- What were you doing before IQ Bar?
- What was the genesis behind the brand?
- What is brain food?
- Why a bar? What was still left to be conquered in bars?
- How did you get into retail?
- How did you approach formulation?
- How do you think about your branding a copy and being accessible but also very serious about nutrition?
- Did you first do DTC?
- Why did you do a Kickstarter campaign?
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Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
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Our guest today is Mark Samuel, Founder & CEO of IWON Organics. IWON Organics snacks are delicious, high-protein, Non-GMO, gluten-free, plant-based snacks made from purely organic ingredients. This was a treat for me as I’ve been following Mark on LinkedIn for a long time and it was great to finally connect with him. We discussed his health journey and entrepreneur journey, why his road eventually led to CPG, what he thought about building a brand vs. what he knows now, how he thinks about new sales channels and growth and more.
We discuss:
- When did you get serious about your health?
- What attracted you to entrepreneurship?
- How do you found IWON organics? What’s the problem that you’re attempting to solve?
- What was your approach to creating the product?
- How did you approach creating the supply chain?
- How did you get into your first retail accounts?
- What are the future areas of expansion, and what is the end game for them?
- When did you start posting on LinkedIn and starting a podcast/Youtube channel?
- How has your role evolved?
- How do you think about how much capital to raise
- What were some of the early mistakes you made in CPG?
- How is CPG different to some of the other businesses you’ve founded?
- How are you approaching today’s market?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one
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Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
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Our guest today is Dario, Founder and CEO of Tacombi and Vista Hermosa. Tacombi is a tacqueria chain that is one of the fastest growing restaurants in the U.S. and is bringing 100% authentic Mexican food and flavors to the U.S. Vista Hermosa is their CPG brand, that produces tortilla chips and tortillas. We discuss why Dario got a VW Kombi van in the first place, why he thought New York City was the right city to start a restaurant in the U.S., how he approached expansion to different cities and some of the lessons he learned from one of his investors, Danny Meyer. Without further ado, here’s Dario.
Some of the questions I ask Dario:
- So you purchased this Voltzwagon kombi van, why did you decide to start selling tacos in this way?
- What took you to Playa Del Carmen?
- Transient, tourism spot
- What’s your approach to cooking tacos? What were you doing that was different to other taco shops/trucks?
- Observing mexican cuisine
- Understand what the differences were made
- Difference to Mexican hospitality to american hospitality?
- Taqueria’s different
- How did you approach scaling and what brought you to the States?
- At what point did you think about raising money?
- What was your approach?
- How did you build your network?
- What led you to Danny Meyer?
- What do investors look for when thinking about new restaurants or food companies?
- Did you find you had to change some of your ingredients/flavor profiles to appeal to the United States audience?
- Where was your first shop in the U.S.? Why did you decide on that location?
- What demographic are you appealing to? How did you approach price point?
- How do you think about design for your restaurants?
- How do you approach new locations?
- What was missing in the U.S. market in your mind regarding Mexican cuisine and taquerias specifically?
- What is real mexican
- How did Vista Hermosa start? Why did you want to build a CPG business? Why did you build both congruently?
- What’s one part about the restaurant business that you still don’t think is obvious or known to outsiders?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Professionally – Biography of Ben Franklin – An American Life
- Personally – Pedro Paramo
- What’s one piece of advice for any restaurant or CPG entrepreneur?
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aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
This was recorded live in Austin, during SXSW. Allison and Stephen Ellsworth are the founders of Poppi, the fun(ctional) prebiotic soda for all.
We discuss:
– Their introduction to prebiotics
– How they went on SharkTank
– Rebranding from Mother to Poppi
– Launching during COVID
– Expanding to new markets
– Their approach to content & more
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With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
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Our guest today is David Friedberg, Founder of The Production Board and Bestie on the All-In podcast. The Production Board is a holding company that builds and invests in businesses that transform global systems of production and distribution across: Agriculture, Life Sciences, Energy and Manufacturing. On the consumer facing side, some of their investments and/or companies they’ve built include Supergut, The Every Company, Cana, and Soylent. The All-In podcast is one the top podcasts in the world. I try to focus this conversation on the consumer side to The Production Board’s business and how David thinks about brand building in the future. You’ll also here how he founded his previous company, The Climate Corporation and origin story to The Production Board, his investment philosophy and at the end a little chat about the All-In podcast.
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With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Hey friends,
Our guest today is Mike Fata, Founder of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, which sells hemp-based foods, oils, and supplements. The company was acquired for 9 figures by Tilray in 2019. Now he’s an investor, coach, writer and author of “Grow: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur”, which will be released on March 29th 2023. Highly recommend pre-ordering your copy.
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With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
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Thank you Deb Benton for introducing me to Carle Stenmark, General Partner at VMG. VMG, short for Velocity Made Good, is one of the premier consumer private equity funds known for their investments in KIND, Quest Nutrition, Sun Bum, and Justin’s. However, Carle leads VMG’s technology practice and recently the firm went through a bit of a rebrand, which we will discuss. This conversation is around why and what types of technology companies VMG invests in. Without further ado, here’s Carle.
Some of the questions I ask Carle:
- What attracted you to consumer investing?
- How did you end up working at VMG?
- What’s VMG Philosophy
- When I think about VMG I think KIND Bars, Quest, Sun Bum, Natural Balance, Drunk Elephant, brands that have to work in retail where you make your money shipping pallets and not individual orders like to do online. Why create VMG Catalyst What was the original thesis?
- How has VMG evolved? Why do a rebrand?
- Did you have to present this rebrand for LPs? Does it change how your funds get deployed?
- How do you approach tech investing and how is it different from consumer investing?
- What’s the added value from VMG? What’s the way you’re able to make introductions?
- The evolution That was the rebrand
- What’s your typical check size and range of investing on the technology side?
- We’ve seen tech investor
- How will your day to day change?
- What types of questions do you ask yourself?
- Do you think it’s different from what it takes to grow a technology business vs a consumer business?
- Do you think a technology business can be started from anywhere?
- Purpose built for one vertical
- Mirror ecommerce with online
- Inventory management systems
- Innovation within consumer journeys and data
- Is there synergy with VMG growth and VMG Catalyst?
- How is it different from VMG growth?
- How do you think about returns and portfolio expectation from VMG Growth to VMG Catalyst?
- How do you balance the number of investments in commerce infrastructure plays like Shogun and Swell with ecommerce / consumer facing brands selling physical goods?
- How do you analyze founders? When do you feel is the right time to get involved in a company?
- Recently closed $400 million. How are you thinking about capital deployment in this market?
- Online grocery is really tough to nail. What stuck out when you made the investment in Wee!!!?
- How are you thinking about these macro economic times? I’ve heard it’s become very tricky pricing growth rounds.
- How do you analyze consumer pain points that could develop into big opportunities?
- What would you like to see changed when it comes to products within ecommerce infrastructure?
- What’s one thing he would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired him personally? What’s one book that inspired him professionally?
- Shoedog
- Unbroken
- What’s one piece of advice?
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With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Thank you Alex Pattis for the intro to our guest today, Kyle Cooke, Founder & CEO of Loverboy. Loverboy is a better for you alcohol beverage brand that produces sparkling hard teas, spritzes, and RTD cocktails brand. Kyle is one of the stars on the reality show “Summerhouse”, which I must admit is how I found out about the brand and now they’ve sold over $38 million worth of product. We discuss Kyle’s entrepreneurial journey and how he founded several businesses, why Loverboy worked, and how he was able to leverage Summerhouse the show, how he got into retail and approached new flavors and much much more. Without further ado, here’s Kyle.
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?
- Seems like your past experiences were founding tech companies. What was the opportunity you saw in beverage?
- What was the overall thesis? What did you see in sparkling tea? What was your first product?
- How did you think about testing
- Alcohol investors call it the mob
- Did you think about retail first? How did you get into retail?
- What was it like founding a business and working with Amanda, your girlfriend at the time and now wife?
- Has Summerhouse and Winterhouse helped with distribution? How do you think of those programs as marketing channels?
- How did you think about retail footprint on a national scale? What did you learn about the craft brewery scene when it came to scaling?
- What was hard about raising capital?
- What ways did you leverage social to drive sales?
- How do you approach new flavers?
- Why did you launch cosmos?
- How are you thinking about your business in this market? When I’ve chatted with investors many say optimize for profitability, others believe this is the perfect time for growth expansion, getting to scale to improve your gross margin profile. What’s your plan?
- What’s one book that’s inspired you personally and professionally?
- The Challenger Sale - flips the traditional selling
- David Goggins - Can’t Hurt Me - the audio book
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With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Marc Washington, Founder & CEO of Supergut. Supergut is the world's only clinically validated food that nourishes the gut microbiome and delivers meaningful results across gut health, blood sugar levels, wellbeing, sleep, weight management and other categories of overall health. I’ve personally been very impressed with their products. We discuss Marc’s gut health journey and the founding of Supergut, how the microbiome affects gut health, how he thought about creating real IP and product differentiation, his approach to marketing, positioning, sales channels and who the intended consumer of Supergut’s products is, and much more.
Some of the questions I ask:
- What got you interested in gut health and can you describe why it’s important to have a healthy gut and how to improve it? Why are microbiomes so important and why was that your focus area?
- How does the gut microbiome affect gut health, blood sugar levels, wellbeing, weight management, and your overall health?
- Can you provide us with deeper insight into the science behind Supergut and the DNA sequencing?
- What was the insight and science that led to Supergut? What was missing from the market? What did consumers not understand?
- How did you think about formulation. Why did you decide to do both bars and powders/shakes? Which came first?
- Once you had these products, how did you approach distribution and finding your early adopters? Consumer education?
- What was your sales channel strategy?
- How did you think about fundraising and finding the right partner?
- How did you raise your seed round and what has it been like working with The Production Board? What’s it like with only one investor?
- How do you think about differentiated brand building online? How do you position yourself against other gut health / microbiome focused products and better for you products in general? There’s lots of excitement for the better for you movement and lots of products out there, but probably only a few that are going to become household names. Seems like there’s a lot of buzz about these types of products that better serve you better.
- It’s really hard to do DTC subscription well. Is the idea to become a large DTC focused subscription company like an Athletic Greens and hope to educate and develop new habits for consumers or is it to become a wholesale brand and cross over into Walmarts and Targets?
Our guest today is Steve Berg, one of the founders and Partners at Stride Consumer Partners. Stride Consumer is a private equity firm that specializes in partnering with talented and dynamic founders, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to build the next generation of great consumer brands. Some of their investments include Chomps, Jeni’s Ice Cream, DryBar and TRX. We discuss how Stride Consumer Partners came together, his investment philosophy with CPG brands, signs a retail outlet is working, and his 2023 outlook.
Some of the questions I ask Steve:
- From my understanding, you’ve worked with consumer facing businesses throughout your career. Why consumer and retail?
- How did you end up founding Stride Consumer Partners and why did you end up leaving Castanea Partners?
- What did you learn
- What is your overall thesis at Stride Consumer Partners? What’s the typical revenue a company needs to be?
- When you partner with a company, what are the elements of the business that you have to like or be true?
- What is your due diligence process?
- Last year you closed $420m debut fund, which congrats. How are you thinking about the market during these times and investing in consumer during these times?
- How do you think about portfolio construction?
- What’s been the biggest challenge to completing deals in 2022?
- How will 2023 shape out in the consumer deal making world?
- How do you think about down rounds and bridge rounds during these times?
- We’ve seen the growth at all costs playbook play out time and time again in consumer. Do you believe in growth at all costs for a consumer brand?
- What is a competitive advantage in consumer?
- What consumer data points do you track when you think about macro trends
- How are you thinking investing in consumer during these times?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- Shackleton, Endurance
- Boys in the Boat
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Thank you Yuriy Dovzhansky for the introduction to our guests today Joey Guerra and Alex Dashefsky, founders of Airsign. Airsign makes tools for the modern living, starting with their award winning HEPA vacuum. We discuss innovation within vacuum cleaners, why they were in R&D the whole time and wanted to start their own brand instead of white labeling, how they’ve approached marketing, positioning and fundraising and much much more. Without further ado, here’s Joey and Alex.
Some of the questions I ask them:
- I want to start with you Joey. Before you founded Airsign you had your own industrial design shop and building products for other brands. When did you think and realize you wanted to start your own brand and why focus on the vacuum?
- What was missing about the vacuum
- What do you think Dyson
- They don’t last
- Airsign
- John from Lakehouse ventures
- How did you approach Alex, how did Alex become part of what became Airsign?
- Was entrepreneurship ever something that you both could see yourself doing some day?
- Why did you both feel the partnership could work and how do you each think about your skillsets?
- What is wrong with other vacuum cleaners? What makes them non-sustainable or not as effectiveWhat was the design process like? How long did it take for you to get to the version we have today?
- What is HEPA filtration? How did you approach
- How do you think about the LTV
- When did you decide to raise capital?
- What was that process like?
- How are you thinking about your growth strategy? I know
- Alex, you were running your own industrial design
- What are other products that you don’t think have been perfected or designed well quite yet?
Alex
- How to not F-up your startup
- Harry Potter
Joey
- The Steve Jobs
- He was really a hardware guy
Our guest today is Mateo Marietti, founder and CEO of CookUnity. CookUnity is reinventing the food delivery experience and making it easy for busy people to eat well at home by curating a marketplace of great chefs and unique crafters. We discuss how he founded Cooking Unity, how he developed relationships with some of the top chefs in the world, how he addressed the cold start problem, the response to the pandemic, when they will hit profitability and much more.
Some of the questions I ask:
- What got you into cooking?
- Why did you start CookUnity?
- Employed the cooks, delivery
- 1,000 employees
- Traditional
- Fine dining
- Everything is vertically integrated
- The chef cooking for others, but not the most attractive option
- Best chefs cook everyday
- How did you attract the best chefs in the world?
- How do you manage the supply side? Kitchen space, finding chefs, quality control, etc.?
- How did you start?
- Pandemic
- Why do people want a meal from a private chef instead of a meal kit company?
- How do you add more chefs? What’s the chef profile?
- What’s the business model?
- What was it like raising capital? What was the response from investors?
- Cooking class
- Books –
- Danny Meyer – Setting the Table
- Patagonia – Let My People Go Surfing
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With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
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Our guest today is Anthony Zhang, founder of Vinovest. Vinovest allows you to invest in Wine Globally Without Leaving Home and Without Storing It Yourself. He also previously founded EnjoyNow and Know your VC. We discuss his introduction to entrepreneurship, what it was like coming back from a spinal injury to guide EnjoyNow to a successful exit, why he started Vinovest, how people were investing in wine previously, and much much more.
We discuss:
- When was the first moment you were entrepreneurial?
- You founded EnvoyNow, Know Your VC and now Vinovest. What do you feel like is the thread that combines each of those experiences.
- In 2016 you suffered a huge accident and became paralyzed. This was while you were CEO of EnvoyNow and had to take a step back. You realized that your co-founders wanted to leave and the company wasn’t doing well. Walk me through what it was like coming back to your company day to day and still want EnvoyNow to be successful even though it was falling apart?
- Why Vinovest? Why wine as an asset class? Were you always into wine?
- How were people investing in wine previously?
- What were your first steps when founding? How did you build the market?
- How profitable is wine as an alternative investment?
- How does it work?
- What’s the level of demand for a platform like Vinovest? When did you feel like there was a significant demand for this product?
- The wine is eventually is going to go bad / there’s an expiry date. How do you deal with this?
- Who are they finally selling to?
- When did you start Whiskey Vest?
- Are you worried about the non-alc craze?
- How do wine producers benefit?
- Are their alternative assets that you don’t think make sense?
- How did you raise capital?
- What’s one book that’s inspired you personally and professionally
- Six Types of Working Geniuses
- 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is James Currier, Founder & General Partner of NFX. VC firm investing in pre-seed and seed stage startups. Some of their investments include DoorDash, Lyft and Outdoorsy. We focus this conversation on maybe the biggest tech trend in 2022 – A.I. How much opportunity is there for startups vs. the Googles and Microsoft’s of the world, which layer of A.I. provides the most value and much much more. Please note we do discuss OpenAI but this conversation was recorded prior to their $10 billion deal with Microsoft. Without further ado, here’s James.
- What’s the difference between how AI has been viewed in the past / analytical AI and generative AI?
- What’s the history of generative AI?
- Why is it a goldrush and receiving lots of hype? Why now in this moment in time?
- How does generative tech change the internet?
- Will generative AI change how we think about search and finding an answer? Will it replace Google?
- How do you build an enduring business based on API on GPT-3 or other AI language models?
- What will it effects be on the creator economy and artists?
- Do you see generative tech replacing jobs or devalue jobs?
- How do you think writing coaches
- What’s the biggest surprising categories or use case you’re excited about?
- What’s the advantages of building your own applications off open AI models vs. proprietary? What’s the use case for either?
- What are the biggest reasons why an generative AI company will succeed vs. fail?
- How do you analyze companies building using generative tech?
- What will generative tech do for entrepreneurship?
- Do you think building an generative
- What are the various applications to generative AI that haven’t been explored yet that you’re interested in?
- What’s your recommendation to founders who want to be part of this wave?
- Since there’s lots of hype of generative tech, what are use cases that you’ve found that doesn’t make sense?
- How fast are the AI models improving and becoming more accurate?
- What’s on book that’s inspired you personally and one book that’s inspired you professionally?
- Acid Dream - history of psychedelic drugs
- How to Change Your Mind - Nue Life Health
- Scale by Jeffory West
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Adam Ross, Founder & CEO of HeyDay. Heyday is a skincare establishment that is overhauling the facial experience. We discuss how he got interested in skincare, why he only wanted to focus on facials, how he thought about expanding foot print with a combination of corporate and franchise stores and much much more.
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Ryan Woodbury, co-founder of Needed. Needed is on a mission to empower every woman with the fundamental nutrition information, products, and community they need to be optimally nourished before, during, and after pregnancy. We discuss how she got involved / started in nutrition, why she decided to create a prenatal supplement company, why she took 3 years in R&D, how she thinks about the DTC channel and LTV of her customers and much much more.
Some of the questions I ask Ryan:
- What was your introduction to entrepreneurship?
- How did you end up founding Needed?
- What were the first steps?
- How do you think about the lifetime value of the customer?
- When does a person use prenatal vitamins?
- Distribution play as opposed to an
- Pulvis Ventures
- How did you think about financing the business?
- CAC
- Challenges
- What have you learned from your customers
- Consumers want a two a day
- How did Needed different? What’s the bare minimum?
- How do you think about product development?
- Why did you decide DTC?
- Nutrients
- How do you think about customer acquisition in today?
- How do you think about retention and customer experience?
- How did you approach raising venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Professionally - Let my people go surfing; No Rules, Rules by Reed Hastings
- Personally - The Sense of Wonder
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Lydia Jett, Managing Partner and Head of eCommerce / Consumer Internet at SoftBank Investment Advisors. Some of her investments include Coupang, Fanatics, and Misfits Market. We get into quite a few topics all centered about investing and the future of ecommerce. how she approaches investing at a global scale, particularly in emerging markets, the current outlook for ecommerce, how she thinks about capital deployment in this climate and much much more. Without further ado, here’s Lydia.
Some of the questions I ask:
- What got you curious about ecommerce investing and what was your path that led you to Softbank?
- In 2015 what was the opportunity you saw in ecommerce?
- What has changed since you started working at Softbank up until now in ecommerce when it comes to your investment themes?
- How do you identify opportunities that can scale to the ability that is needed to generate a return but also the business can be a profitable business?
- How do you think about the rate of capital deployment?
- This is a difficult time for ecommerce – penetration levels have reverted back to where it’s estimated we would be if the pandemic never happened. Has this period changed any of your perception about ecommerce? What’s your outlook?
- One of the hardest hitting parts in ecommerce were ecommerce aggregators, with the decline in ecommerce penetration, global supply chain crisis, pending recession, and increased inflation. Has this also taught you how consumer shop and what they pay attention to whether it’s just a product or a brand?
- Will live streaming make it’s way to the west what new customer acquitition?
- We saw that Softbank lost $23 billion in Q2 this year. What have you learned from this year? Has this changed at all how you invest?
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Thank you Taylor Foxman for the introduction to our guest today Aimy Steadman. Aimy is is the COO of BeatBox Beverages. the World's Tastiest Portable Party Punch.
Some of the questions I ask Aimy:
- How did you found Beatbox?
- What was the reason why you founded it? You were early with the RTD trend?
- What’s the difference between wine and spirits vs. beer?
- How did you think about the category you were creating and the product that you originally set out to create? How did you think about the right alcohol?
- How did you approach distribution? Was there a moment you realized you were on to something? What was the first retailer you entered and how did you do it?
- Why did you switch from working with wine distributors to beer distributors? How did you make the transition?
- What was it like going from a box to tetra paks? Why did you make the jump?
- What was it like going on SharkTank and what was the bump?
- Were there time when growth flatlined? How did you handle that? What were the reason?
- What does that mean community oriented?
- How did Brizzy and Corkless Wine come about?
- How do you leverage or build community around BeatBox Beverage? How did you incorporate music?
- How did Future Proof come about?
- What was your process for fundraising? Why did you only raise $15 million on a $200 million valuation?
- Where do you believe Beatbox should be? What are the right retail chains and on-prem locations?
- What are you doing now with events and music festivals since events are coming back?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- Dan Seigal Mindsight
- Traction - EOS Entrepreneur’s Operator System
Our guest today is Wyatt Taubman, Founder of Vive Organic. Vive Organic is fresh pressed wellness shots from organic superfoods.
Some of the questions I ask Wyatt:
- What led to the founding of Vive Organic?
- How did you approach your supply chain?
- How did you envision the brand?
- How did you think about distribution channels?
- How did you think about product expansion
- How did you approach fundraising?
- Why did you sell to Suja?
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Thank you CJ Fowler for the introduction to our guest today, Yanni Hufnagel, Founder & CEO of Lemon Perfect. Lemon Perfect is a super-refreshing, full-flavored, hydrating lemon water with no sugar, artificial flavors, or sweeteners.
Some of the questions I ask Yanni:
- Why did you become a coach?
- Why did you leave college basketball to found Lemon Perfect? What was the insight that led you?
- How did you think about the hydration category?
- What was your first steps when you started Lemon Perfect?
- How did you think about testing?
- Curious as to how their omnichannel strategy started, evolved(lessons learned), and what next steps are
- How Beyonce drinking their product has helped them grow, did it help get into retailers?
- And more generally, his thoughts on working and taking money from celebrities.
- How did you get into retail?
- Moving forward what will be the best avenues to pursue for sampling ?
- What’s the biggest change from your role going from early stage to growth stage
- What was the most surprising part in CPG since you were an outsider?
- How has college basketball helped shape you?
- How did you approach raising capital? How big do you want to go?
- Why did you go to recycled plastic? How do you think about margins?
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Elly Truesdell, Founder & Managing Partner at New Fare Ventures. a venture capital fund centered on the modern eater and evolving American palate. Some of the investments include Made By Nacho, Mid-Day Squares, Foxtrot and Tacombi. We discuss her time at Whole Foods, how she ended up meeting Bobby Flay and founding Made by Nacho, why she wanted to start a fund and how she thinks about investing in food and retail.
Some of the questions I ask her:
- Were you always into nutrition and buying food from natural channels?
- What was your role at Whole Foods? What is the global director of local brands and product innovation?
- What has to go right for a brand to get into Whole Foods?
- Why did you decide to leave to become the CEO of Canopy Foods?
- What attracted you to investing?
- Co-packers is the #1 issue - can’t scale because they don’t have
- What led you founding Made by Nacho?
- How did you meet Bobby Flay?
- What was it like working with an iron chef who is used to restaurants and creating these incredible dishes vs. starting a CPG brand?
- Why did you found New Fare? What’s the origin story? What attracted you to venture capital?
- Why is there room in consumer investing and CPG? Is there a statistic that you keep coming back to?
- What causes a trend to have it’s moment?
- Upcycled ingredients
- Easy to entry - what’s it like fundraising
- How do you think about portfolio construction?
- What are some of the trends in consumer that you’re really excited about?
- How do you approach portfolio construction?
- How do you think about vertical integration?
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Annie Kadavy, Managing Director at RedPoint Ventures. Redpoint partners with exceptional entrepreneurs starting at the earliest stages of the climb some of her investments include Tend, Shash, and SIlk & Sonder. We discuss her introduction to entrepreneurship building in her garage, tiptoeing the line throughout her career between operator and investor, the business models she’s intrigued by and investible in her opinion. Without further ado, here’s Annie.
We discuss:
- Building products in her garage
- How she founded BetterSitter
- Becoming a GP at CRV Ventures
- How she invested ClassPass, DoorDash, Patreon
- What it was like working at Uber
- Why she joined RedPoint Ventures
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Chris Ashenden, Founder & CEO of Athletic Greens and AG1. AG1 is the world’s most comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition product in green powder form.
We discuss:
- Why he founded Athletic Greens
- Approach to formulation
- How he met Tim Ferriss
- How he built relationships with customers
- Scaling online
- Creating a subscription business and new consumer habit
- Why he bootstrapped to $150m in revenue
- When it made sense to fundraise
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Thank you Luke Vernon for the intro to our guest today Davis Smith, Founder & CEO of Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi builds gear that fuels both outdoor experiences and global change.
We discuss:
- Why he founded digitally native businesses
- Founding businesses with his cousin
- The mission behind Cotopaxi
- How he was able to raise capital
- Early approach to promotion for Cotopaxi
- The differences between Cotopaxi and Patagonia
- How he grew the brand
- Why he shut down his store in San Francisco
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Today’s guest is Matt Higgins, Founder and General Partner of RSE Ventures. RSE is a private investment firm that focuses on sports and entertainment, media and marketing, food and lifestyle, and technology. Most recently he wrote the book “Burn The Boats”, which is a counterintuitive formula for a life of perpetual growth can find a link in the shownotes to get your copy. Some of their investments include Vaynermedia, Milk Bar, Magic Spoon and Banza.
We discuss:
- Why he pivoted his career from the public sector to the private sector
- Working for the NY Jets and Dophins
- How he met Gary Vee & why he invested in Vaynermedia
- His thoughts on direct to consumer brands
- Why he likes investing in restaurants
- Pickleball
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.
Our guest today is Josh Cliffords, Founder & CEO of FreeWater. FreeWater is exactly what you think it is. FreeWater. Where they give away water and make money on selling ads on the bottle. We discuss the origin story of FreeWater, the economics of an ad-based physical product business, how he approached his distribution and finding sponsors, reactions to him building FreeWater, other products he wants to move into. Without further ado, here’s Josh.
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
Our guest today is Sean Riley, co-founder and CEO of DUDE Wipes. DUDE Wipes makes flushable wipes—billions of 'em—assembled right here in the USA. DUDE is bootrapped, only taking outside investment of $300k from Marc Cuban on SharkTank and are set to do $90 million this year in sales. We discuss his entire journey from the aha moment up until scaling the brand.
***Sponsor***
Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyone
With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.
If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc.
aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.
Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.
My guest today is Mike Ghaffary who is a partner at Canvas Ventures, a firm that specializes on leading Series A. Some of their investments include Flyhomes, Nubrakes, and Zola. This is Mike’s second time on Consumer VC and is our first second time guest. His first appearance we went deep on how to evaluate and invest in marketplace businesses. On this episode, we discuss what is the next big thing in consumer after the iPhone? Is it web3, metaverse, remote work applications or something completely different?
This is a recap episode of my conversation with Greer Terrler and Cara Kaufman, founders of Simple Food Ventures. Simple Food Ventures is an early stage venture firm that invests in the future of healthy foods and products. We discuss how they both began investing in better for you products, do they only invest in better for the planet or better for you, and what makes a product work on shelf.
This was our first LIVE episode, which we recorded at Cosmic Coffee & Beer Garden in Austin, TX during SXSW. I chatted with Jason Karp, Founder of Hu Kitchen, Hu Chocolate and CEO of HumanCo. HumanCo is a holding company that’s invested in healthy living. We’re going to learn more about their brands Snow Days, Against the grain and Cosmic Bliss. We discuss the rebrand of Coconut Bliss to Cosmic Bliss and question if there is a current bifurcation within the better for you movement. Without further ado, here’s Jason.
Today’s highlight episode features Nagraj Kashyap, Managing Partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund one of the world's largest venture capital firms, with over $100 billion in capital. Nagraj leads their consumer investment practice for north America. It was amazing chatting with him about how Vision Fund 2 is different from fund 1, his thesis around the future of healthcare the ecommerce stack and how he thinks about scale for non-tech consumer businesses. WIthout further ado, here’s Nagraj.
Thank you Anna Whiteman for the introduction to our guest today, Sarah Foley, Partner at SWAT Equity Partners. SWAT Equity Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in emerging consumer brands across various product, service, and commerce sectors. Some of the investments include Supergoop!, Banza, and Mad Rabbit.
We discuss:
- Why invest in consumer right now
- Difference when investing in consumer vs. tech
- Consumer macro trends she’s bullish vs. bearish on
- The balance between retention and growth
- Her due diligence process and how she measures traction
Thanks for listening.
Our guest today is Brigette Wolf, VP and Global Head of SnackFutures at Mondelēz International. Mondelez International is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage holding company. Some of their brands include Oreo, Cadbury, Chips Ahoy, Ritz, and Tate’s Bake Shop. SnackFutures is Mondelez’s innovation and venture hub.
We discuss:
- When to partner with a corporate venture capital fund
- Her investment criteria and stage
- How tightly SnackFutures is tied to Mondelēz’s core business
- The ultimate goal when SnackFutures makes an investment
- What value add means
- Snack trends
Our guest today on the podcast is Ashley Hartman, Managing Partner at Bluestein Ventures. Bluestein Ventures is one of the premier family-backed venture capital fund in the food industry whose mission is to transform the food system into a better, more nutritious, and sustainable world. They invest at the Seed to Series A rounds and some of their investments include Factor, Meati, and Foxtrot.
We discuss:
- Why she became an investor in food
- Opportunities throughout the food value chain
- The difference in investing in food tech vs. brands
- When to vertically integrate
- How founders should approach their cap table
- The future of food
Our guest today is Vijen Patel, who is the co-founder of Pressbox (now Tide Cleaners) and The 81 Collection. Pressbox was a 24/7 dry cleaning and laundry service that Vijen bootstrapped to a very successful exit to P&G. The 81 Collection is a VC fund that focuses on the hard industries.
We discuss:
- Why he had no choice but to bootstrap his dry cleaning tech business
- His approach to scale and expanding to multiple cities
- How P&G tried to destroy his business
- Why he eventually sold to P&G and became CEO of Tide Cleaners
- The founding story of The 81 Collection
- Why investing in hardware is underrated
This is a recording of a live interview I did with Ty Haney last month in Austin, TX. Ty is most famous for founding Outdoor Voices, the technical apparel brand whose on a mission to get the world moving. My apologies in advance, we had a lot of technical issues on the day and the quality of the recording is not great. I really appreciate Ty for being incredibly open about her journey.
We discuss:
- The origin of Outdoor Voices
- Why she left OV and what went wrong
- Her introduction to crypto
- How she founded Joggy, a plant-based / CBD brand for activity
- Her platform TYB and why community-led brands are the future
- Scaling a digitally-native brand today & much more
Our guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is Jesse Pujji, Founder of Gateway X and Ampush. Gateway X is a venture studio and holding company founded by Jesse Pujji. Ampush is a growth marketing partner that crafts holistic strategies and executes throughout the funnel.
We discuss:
- Why he left Goldman Sachs to start a performance marketing company
- Why he was bullish on Facebook ads early on
- How early brands should approach social media marketing today
- The biggest mistakes companies make in customer acquisition
- What is a venture studio
- His process for incubating companies
- When to raise money vs. bootstrap
- Future of performance marketing
Our guest today is Marcos Gonzalez, Founder & Managing Partner of VamosVentures. VamosVentures is committed to creating a pipeline of diverse VC investors. Their investments include Stix, DRNXSMYTH, and Suma.
We also discuss:
- How he invests in both software and consumer businesses
- Approach to portfolio construction
- How to increase the number of diverse founders who are venture-backed
- His diligence process
- Why he’s bullish about Los Angeles
- Latin American products that will be adopted by the U.S. & much more
Thank you for listening.
Thank you Tige Savage for the introduction to our guest today, Steve Case. Steve is the co-founder / former CEO of AOL. He also founded Revolution & Rise of the Rest. Revolution focuses on early-stage venture capital investments in technology-enabled businesses in the growth, venture and seed stages.
Rise of the Rest is a nationwide bus tour to work with entrepreneurs in emerging startup ecosystems. We focus this conversation around his latest book “The Rise of the Rest”.
We discuss:
- What Steve did after he left AOL in the early 2000s
- The origin of Revolution Ventures
- What inspired him to found a bus tour
- The most surprising lessons he’s learned when visiting non-obvious startup ecosystems
- How Rise of the Rest’s seed fund is structured and how it’s performed
- Why he’s optimistic about innovation in America
- What leads to a vibrant entrepreneurial community & and much much more
Thank you for listening.
Thank you Connor Ryan for introducing me to our guest today, Joe Welch, Founder & CEO of In Good Taste.
In Good Taste allows you to explore the world of wine with their eight 6-ounce bottle wine flights.
We discuss:
- Why he left tech to start a wine company
- Can you make money in wine
- His focus on packaging and what he set out to accomplish with In Good Taste
- Zoom wine tastings during COVID
- His approach to retail
- Wine subscription businesses
- Creating his own tasting locations
Our guests today are Wayne Hu (Partner) & Josh Constine (Venture Partner & Head of Content) at SignalFire. SignalFire is the first Venture Capital firm built from the ground up as a technology company.
We discuss:
- The promises of the creator economy & how to invest in it
- Which Web2 media company is best positioned for Web3
- The current state of the NFT market
- What is the metaverse
- Where does venture capital fit into Web3 communities
- What is the future of owning the connection to your audience & is it something different to email
Our guest today is Ben Jones, CEO of Haus Labs by Lady Gaga. Haus Labs by Lady Gaga is Lady Gaga’s clean artistry makeup brand powered by innovation.
Here's some of the questions I ask:
- How did you meet Lady Gaga and what was your first impression? and can you tell me about the founding story of what was originally Haus Laboratories? What was the reason she wanted to start a makeup brand?
- Lady Gaga is one of the busiest celebrities in the world, touring the world, acting, and engaging in a number of activities. How does she engage and interact with the brand and team? What role does she play in the company?
- There have been so many celebrity beauty launches in the last few years. Some may argue that the consumer could be a bit fatigued and incredulous of these types of brands. How does Haus Labs break the mold and cut through the celebrity brand launch noise?
- Why did you decide to launch originally on Amazon? Why wasn’t that successful, what did you learn? Do you think you can build a brand on Amazon? Haus Labs originally decided to launch with Amazon and did not achieve the growth and success originally planned. This was a bold move at the time. (FYI Amazon is a great place to leverage brand awareness and scale but not the best to create it or brand build).
- Do you thnk you’re original thesis about beauty correct?
- Haus Labs quickly pivoted distribution to Sephora (now almost in 500 doors) and executed a full brand and product relaunch.
- What did you learn from Sephora?
- What are the lessons learned since the original launch and what is the future for Haus Labs 2.0?
- Why did you change the name from Haus Laboratories to Haus Labs by Lady Gaga.
- Why did you rebrand to be “clean”? What does that mean to you?
- What are the challenges building an ecommerce brand?
- Makeup has seen a major resurgence post Covid. How do you see the beauty industry continue to evolve? What trends and categories are most exciting to you?
- Building community is so crucial to creating a successful beauty brand. How does Haus Labs leverage Lady Gaga’s existing community to drive product sales and build strong consumer loyalty in this category?
- In a very challenging DTC environment, how is the company thinking about omni-channel growth? What is the role of DTC, if any, vs wholesale (Sephora, etc)?
- What changed in their product or marketing as a result of learning from their users
- What tech do they experiment with as a brand?
- What are their role models when it comes to product and customer experience?
- What’s one book that’s inspired you personally and a book that has inspired you professionally?
- Shoe Dog
- Save the Cat - storytelling
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
- Don’t underestimate experience and pattern recognition
Our guest today is Katlin Smith, founder and CEO of Simple Mills. Simple Mills are Clean, nutritious foods for a better life - it’s that simple. I’m a big fan of their products. We discuss the insight and inspiration behind founding Simple Mills, her approach to raising capital and picking the right investors, how consumer preferences have evolved since she first got started, her approach to nutrition and thinking about better-for-you products in general.
Some of the questions I ask:
- What was the inspiration behind starting Simple Mills?
- You built a large company without raising too much outside capital. What was your strategy and for someone starting a consumer brand today, what suggestions would you give them?
- You’ve been able to grow your company to incredible heights. How have you thought about the shift in the number of brands that are focused on better-for-you products and people that have dietary restrictitions or sensitivities?
- How has Simple Mills evolved to focus not just on people’s health, but also the planet’s health?
- How has consumer preference evolved since you started?
- How Simple Mills has evolved not just people’s health, but also planet’s health?
- How do you think about your own process for creating your products and what are some of the changes you’ve had to make?
- Conscious capitalism
- How do you think about ingredient choice and sustainability?
- How has your mission evolved?
- As a consumer, how have your preferences changed when eating or deciding new products to try?
- With conventional and natural grocery blurring, how do you approach your retail strategy?
- There are lots of narratives when it comes to nutrition and what is and what isn’t good for you. What’s one aspect that you think might be overlooked or misunderstood that’s your belief?
- What were some lessons that you learned throughout your journey in the tough moments?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- All we can save - truth, courage
- The Art of Possibility
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
- What’s the best piece of advice that you received?
Our guest today is Eze Vidra, Managing Partner of Remagine Ventures. Remagine, focuses on a cluster of these interconnected sectors, specifically media, entertainment, sports, commerce and data. We discuss consumer tech investing in Israel, VR & AR, and different use cases when it comes to the metaverse. Without further ado, here’s Eze.
We discuss:
- I know you’re very focused on Israel. Why has Israel thrived as an entrepreneurship center?
- Since it is a small market, how do companies approach expansion? Do you see it more spreading into europe or U.S. or east?
- What was your initial attraction to technology and entrepreneurship?
- At what point did you become a venture capitalist and why did you no longer want to be an operator?
- Why did you leave Google Ventures to start Reimagine?
- Walk me through your due diligence process.
- How do you evaluate opportunities?
- Do you think of your selves more thematic or opportunistic?
- What are some of the areas/categories that get you excited?
- What are the biggest opportunities that are overlooked?
- What is the current state of the creator economy?
Our guest today is Abe Shafi, co-founder and CEO of IRL. IRL is Your group messaging app where you can Chat, create polls, post photos, and coordinate plans with your friends. We discuss: The founding story of IRL and the original thesis, growth, how they had to pivot their strategy during COVID, the approach to fundraising and where the company is currently at. Without further ado, here’s Abe.
We discuss:
- Why entrepreneurship?
- Why did you want to create a consumer company?
- What was the insight that led you to found IRL?
- What were people using at the time?
- What was the pain point you were initially trying to solve?
- What was your approach to UI and organizing communities on your product?
- How did you approach growth? What did success look like/what did you want a user to accomplish when they visited IRL?
- During COVID, how did you have to pivot?
- Despite the pivot, why do you think you became a unicorn in 2021 and raise money from Softbank?
- What happened from that moment to now where you had to lay off 25% of your staff?
- What’s this change in market conditions been like for your company?
- With all of these transitions, what does community mean to you?
- How do you build community and what’s different between a community and an audience?
- Seems like community has become one of the main themes of Web3. How do you position IRL in a Web3 world that has this promise for different revenue streams for creators?
- What is the future of rented platforms i.e. social media channels and channels you own i.e. email? Will these come together? How do you think about your own position at IRL?
- How do you think about this transition from Web2 to Web3?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Thích Nhất Hạnh
- No such thing as stability
- Hard Things About Things
- Netflix “No Rules
- Thích Nhất Hạnh
- The biggest piece of advice?
Our guest today is Ashleigh Hinde, Founder and CEO of Waldo. Waldo makes daily contact lenses without the hassle or price tag. We discuss how she’s building a brand with a product that you can’t see, how she approaches e-commerce and retail, and why she founded a contact lens company in the first place.
Some of the questions I ask:
- What was the insight or pain point you went through that led you to founding Waldo?
- Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
- How much do contacts usually sell for? How did you think about pricing strategy?
- How did you approach your supply chain/manufacturing?
- On the price point / margin side
- Efficient customer acquisition
- So you think about sustainability and
- It seems similar to what you are doing in contact lenses - making them more affordable, building a digitally native brand - it sounds similar to what Warby Parker did with eye glasses. What are some of the differences selling contacts vs. glasses?
- How important is having buy-in from eye doctors for customer acquisition? Does their recommendation have a big effect on the customer on which contacts they should buy from? How do you approach partnerships?
- How did you come to strike a big partnership with Walmart? Why?
- What does the customer journey look like?
- How do you build a brand with a product that you can’t see?
- What was the geographical distribution strategy? Why did you start in the UK then come to the US and how do you think about the contact lens market from a global perspective?
- How do you think about impact?
- How do you think you’ve grown since founding Waldo?
- What is the stickiness part of your business or how do you think about competitive advantages
- How did you approach fundraising? What was the biggest reason why an investor would pass or make the investment? What was the bet?
- What is one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Professionally: The Hard Things About Hard Things
- Personally: Designing Your Life
- What’s the best piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Mike Hirshland, co-founder of Resolute Ventures. Resolute Ventures is a lead seed and “pre-seed” investor focused on backing and connecting a community of Founders who share an entrepreneurial spirit and energy. Some of their investments include Bark Box, Clutter, and Lumen. We discuss what pre-seed and seed investing is today, the opportunity within Web3, and how he builds conviction within founders. Without further ado, here’s Mike.
Some of the questions I ask
- How did you enter venture capital?
- What were some of the learnings from that
- How did Resolute come together?
- What got you interested in the seed stage?
- How do you describe seed today?
- 10 financing in a year
- How do you think about risk in this market?
- Henrik Werdelin of BARK recently told Mike his "superpower is authenticity" which is what founders need now. What does that mean? Why is authenticity so important?
- One of your big themes is community. What’s your approach to building community, why is it so important and why did you create the Resolute DAO?
- How do you think about the opportunity within Web3? What are use cases that get you excited?
- Emotionally support
- Can we imagine a world where solving a problem
- What parts of Web3 is investible?
- How do you think about the current market/landscape?
- What’s you diligence process?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
- As It Is
Our guest today is Mike Senackerib, CEO of Dewey’s Bakery. Dewey’s Bakery was founded in 1930 in Winston-Salem and was famous regionally for their baked goods. Fairly recently they opened a CPG line with lots of treats. Their cookies are incredibly delicious, not just saying that because Mike came on the show. We discuss the history of Dewey’s, why they decided to start a CPG line, approach to baking and manufacturing, brand positioning and how Mike became the CEO.
Some of the questions I ask –
- Why did a bake shop decide to create a CPG brand? What’s the history of Dewey’s?
- Why did you decide to join Dewey’s and let your brand be acquired by the company?
- What did you think was missing within the cookie and biscuits category?
- What are some of the challenges taking a bake shop and building out a line of packaged goods products?
- What are some of the benefits being vertically intergrated? Were you able to not have as much disruption due to the supply chain crunch?
- How do you also think about the positioning of Dewey’s and sales channels? Given Walmart and Target are featuring more premium products, do you see yourselves as a brand for conventional grocery?
- There’s been lots of better for you products within cookies and the dessert/snack space. How do you think about what consumers want in a modern cookie company?
- What did you learn from COVID?
- What has been your biggest lessons learned about ecommerce?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
Our guest today is Mike Mayer, Co-CEO of Windmill. Windmill is the smart, quiet AC unit that looks nice. As you can imagine, we discuss the wonderful world of air conditioning. How he co-founded Windmill with his brother if he had any intention of getting into the air condition business, his approach to getting Windmill off the ground, fundraising, new revenue streams, and releasing new products.
Some of the questions I ask:
- Did you always want to be an entrepreneur and start a business with your brother?
- Competing clothing brand called Peaches
- What was the insight that led you to founding Windmill?
- How did you build out your supply chain?
- How do you approach industrial and brand design?
- What are some of the regulations?
- Talk about all your different revenue streams?
- Why do seasonal business
- How did you think about your sales channels? Why did you do retail out the gate, how did you get into retail as your first channel?
- What was the process of convincing investors?
- How have you grown since founding Windmill?
- Changes in COVID
- We saw with high AOV products the repeat purchase rate isn’t very high. How did you think about additional products you could sell or even being able to build a subscription business?
- How do you use software coupled with the physical product?
- What’s one thing you would change about fundraising?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Unbroken
Our guest today is Matt Gibson, co-founder and CEO of New Culture. New Culture makes animal-free dairy products that stretch, melt, and taste like the real deal through fermentation. We’re going to discuss why he made animal free cheese, what makes cheese cheese, how it’s different to other cheese alternatives, and his go to market strategy, which I think is quite unique.
Some of the questions I ask him:
- What inspired you to want to make animal-free cheese?
- You had a passion for food did you come from the food industry?
- What is Microbial fermentation?
- Did you decide to use a co-packer or vertically integrate? Why?
- What was your process for raising money?
- Why did you have to raise twice before launching?
- What have been some of the challenges in bringing New Culture to market? You’re set to launch in 2024?
- What’s your launch/distribution plan? Will you hit retail from the beginning? Will you only do ecommerce?
- How do you describe your ideal customer?
- What is the future of cheese?
- Within food tech, we’ve talked and debated on this show about better for you vs. better for the environment and how some of the animal meat-alternative products are better for the environment, but aren’t exactly better for you. How do you think about this at New Culture?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Our guest today is Noah Gray, co-founder CEO of Onda. Onda is a sparkling tequila brand famously co-founded by Shay Mitchell. We discuss how Onda came to be, how Shay became involved, the intersection of celebrity and consumer, his fundraising and retail strategy. Without further ado, here’s Noah.
I ask him:
- How did you end up in the beverage space? What attracted you to build an RTD tequila brand?
- Was the plan to always offer a product with zero sugar/carbs? Was it your consumer asking or was the market already going that way and you felt it necessary to offer a SKU that offered zero sugar/carb
- Drinking to enhance
- What was the insight that led you to founding Onda? What was missing from the market? How did Shay Mitchell become involved?
- Many celebrities and athletes are wanting to be associated with a consumer product, ranging from beverage to cosmetics. What has Shay done for the brand aside from her social media responsibilities?
- What’s your advice for founders who might partner with talent?
- How did you think about distribution?
- When did you think Onda started to resonate with consumers?
- What was your approach to raising capital?
- Of course, the category continues to grow and with low barriers to entry, there are a lot of players. Seems like Onda has raised considerably more capital than many of the other brands. How is that money being put to use? Are you simply buying distribution/customers or how does that convert to velocity?
- What was the most non-obvious thing you’ve learned since founding Onda?
- Vice clauses
- Better-for-you
- What do you think about the competitive landscape? How do you think about competition?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- Professionally: Mission in a Bottle - Seth and Barry
- Personally: Paul Anderson - Liquorice pizza
- What’s one piece of advice for entrepreneurs?
Our guest today is Brent Vartan, Managing Partner of Bullish. Bullish is an investment firm and Brand Agency designed for consumer businesses living early in an S-curve. Some of their investments include Peloton, Harry’s and Warby Parker. Bullish just released their report “Bullish On Consumer: Operationalizing Demand-Side Themes for Better Outcomes”. We will dig into the report and their three cultural themes within consumer.
Click Here to Download Bullish’s Consumer Report
Some of the questions I ask Brent:
- What’s the origin and purpose of creating this report?
- How was the report constructed? What was the starting point? Walk us through how you thought about human desires relates to cultural themes?
- How did you come out with your three themes
- What was most surprising to you from this research?
- How do these themes translate to different age demographics?
- I’ve had on investors who aren’t thematic in consumer. Who knows they don’t have crystal balls they don’t think about themes or trends, it’s understanding the insight that the entrepreneur brings to the table, researching that insight along with the founder. How can this report help your decision making when finding new companies?
- What do you think is still misunderstood about investing in early consumer brands?
- You had this line of should be businesses vs. could be businesses. What’s an example of a could be business or are there certain themes out there that you’ve noticed that you think will bear a bunch of could be businesses that don’t have alot of legs in the future?
- Do you think this changes how brands are constructed at the get go? For example, if you are appealing to a specific theme, like in the uncompromising self for example. You had Public Goods in there, which went multi-category fairly early on. Now I had on the founder of Public Goods who said he had a really hard time fundraising because they were multi-category. .When I asked a PE investor on this show if they would invest in Public Goods, they said no because the exit potential wasn’t there. Do you think you will see more of these?
Our guest today is Cristina Nuñez, Co-founder and General Partner of True Beauty Ventures. Some of their investments include Maude, Crown Affair, and K18. Today’s episode focuses on how to invest and build a beauty and personal care brand. Without further ado, here’s Cristina.
Some of the questions I ask her:
- Why start a fund only focused on beauty and personal care?
- What do you look for? Does a company have to be omnichannel from day 1 in order for you to be interested? How do you think about this intersection of influencer x brand
- What makes great packaging great that pops in retail?
- What’s amazing about beauty and personal care products from an investor's perspective?
- How do you make DTC work as a beauty and personal care?
- What are some of the trends that you get excited by?
- How do you think about added value?
- What’s the initial check size do you underwrite?
- What does differentiated distribution mean to you?
- What does product innovation mean to you? Does the product need to have product innovation in order for you to invest?
- What’s the case for having a vertically focused fund? What’s the long term goal?
- What do generalist/non-vertically exclusive funds tend to not understand about your category?
- Realized that people take care of themselves
- What has worked in the beauty and what doesn’t work in beauty?
- What has to be right in order for you to invest?
- Why a concentrated portfolio?
- What’s one thing you would change about VC?
- What’s one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Alison Cayne, who is the founder of Haven’s Kitchen. Haven’s Kitchen is a cooking school and a sauce brand that creates fresh sauces in easy-squeezy, lightweight pouches.
In this episode we discuss:
- Why she wanted to teach others how to cook
- Founding Haven’s Kitchen in NYC
- Why she decided to launch your own sauce line
- Her approach to packaging and brand positioning
- How she got into retail
- The current fundraising environment in CPG
- Our guest today is Chuck Newhall, who is one of the founders of New Enterprise Associates or also known as NEA. NEA is one the largest and most renowned venture capital firms in the world. The companies he financed have over $400 billion in revenues today. He’s also a Vietnam War veteran and earned many combat decorations including the purple heart and is an American hero.
- Chuck released his latest book “Dare Disturb the Universe, a memoir on venture capital” which is an amazing story about the history of investing in innovation and that gets to the core about what it is and it’s role in the economy.
Some of the questions we discuss:
-
- What is the purpose of venture capital and what are its origins?2. When does it make sense to bring in a seasoned CEO vs. a CEO entrepreneur?Recruiting Sidgemore forLoss money for a period of time3. What attracted you to venture capital?
-
- Why did you want to be a financier rather than an entrepreneur?
-
- What makes a great venture capitalist? What qualities do you need?
-
- How did the partnership come together? How did NEA raise your first fund, what was the size of your first fund?
-
- What are your rules of fundraising?
-
- What is your approach to portfolio management?
-
- You had the line that NEA and Kleiner Perkins could not be more different firms. What did you mean by that?10. How do you think about focus when you are multi-stage?
- What makes a great VC firm and what tends to be their downfall?
- How do you think about innovation vs. sustainability? Most of the tech companies for example that go public aren’t profitable. Uber and Lyft for example that have been
- How do you think about founder uniqueness?
- You mention in the book how venture capital is different to other forms of financing. What regulations or legal systems would you change?
- What has been the biggest changes / shifts in venture capital since you started?
Our guest today is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures. New Stack's mission is to invest in the Outsiders. Nick is also the host of The Full Ratchet. We discuss why he’s bearish about Web 3 short term, how he thinks about deploying capital in this current market and how he thinks about long-term sustainability of a company when he invests. Without further ado, here’s Nick.
Some of the questions I ask:
- You’re long Web 3, but during the short term you aren’t investing in it. Mind explaining your reasoning?
- How have you seen valuations change in companies that are outside silicon valley? Is it as drastic?
- What’s still overlooked when it comes to ecosystems outside the bay?
- How do you view this investing period? How do you think about deploying capital currently? Has this environment changed how you invest?
- How do you think about company sustainability, profitability vs. growth?
- What about consumer technology do you focus on in today’s environment?
- Walk us through your diligence process.
- What are the must-haves from a founding team?
- What’s your biggest piece of advice for new fund managers?
- Recently raised over $40 million for your latest fund. Why that amount specifically?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that’s inspired you professionally?
- Can’t Hurt Me by David Gogans
- Who is Michael Ovitz?
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Oscar Adelman for the introduction to our guest today, Sita Chantramonklasri, Founding Partner at Siam Capital. Siam Capital is in search of innovation that betters people and the planet. We discuss how Sita got into investing, what it was like raising a fund for the first time, what investing in sustainability really means, and her underwriting guidelines.
Some of the questions I ask Sita:
- Tell me about your journey into venture and your interest in investing
- Innovation and capital
- Why did you decide to raise your own fund?
- What was it like raising a fund for the first time? Was it hard raising a single GP fund as a woman?
- What did you think was missing from the market of venture capital?
- What’s your thesis? What is the fund’s mandate?
- What does sustainability and ESG mean to you?
- Where do you see the opportunities in better for the planet and better for you?
- Are you more focused on investing in physical products vs. software?
- How do you also think about the future of your fund? Do you want to be a single GP always or do you want to grow into a larger fund?
- What’s the difference between Siam and an impact fund?
- How do you think about this term conscious consumer?
- What are your guidelines of better for the planet vs better for you? (repetitive?)
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital? (repetitive?)
- What do you look for in founders?* (added)
- What advice would you give emerging managers/folks looking to raise a fund? (added)
-
What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
-
Educated by Tara Westover
- Hidden Valley Road
- Noise By Daniel Kayman
- Think Again by Adam Grant
Our guest today is Clément Pointillart, Executive Director at Verlinvest. Verlinvest is an international, evergreen investment company with over €2bn assets under management backed by families who have together built some of the world’s largest consumer brands.Their portfolio includes Oatly, Who Gives a Crap, Vita Coco and Hint. Clement leads the Verlinvest US office and am part of the Consumer Products and Retail practice. We discuss how he examines brand equity, if product differentiation really matters, and how he thinks about grocery distribution strategy. Without further ado, here’s Clement.
- What attracted you to consumer investing?
- How did you end up joining Verlinvest?
- How do you evaluate if a company has brand equity? And how do you spot and predict a consumer trend early?
- Product differentiation
- Only long-lasting
- How do you analyze product differentiation? Does it matter?
- How do you think about distribution? Even though conventional grocery is introducing organic/better for you options, does it make sense for all better for you products to go into conventional grocery?
- What are categories that you’re particularly excited about?
- What are signs that a premium product could achieve mass adoption?
- How do you analyze price for better-for-you products and if they are priced properly?
- How should a brand focus on international expansion?
- Mission that is clear, authentic, and bring in status quo
- When does it make sense to
- What does a successful outcome look like to you?
- Does a brand have to have a mission in order for you to be interested?
- People spending more time at home, purchasing an e-bike
- What are the differences between VC and growth equity investing?
- What’s one thing you would change about growth investing?
Our guest today is Jonathan Wolfson, who is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Brainiac Foods. Brainiac Foods produces brain-boosting snacks with the nutrients young minds need. We discuss his framework for founding a company and the origin story of Brainiac and what he thought was missing from the market and his approach to building product and new SKUs. Without further ado, here’s Jonathan.
And there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed that.
- Before founding Brainiac, you’ve been a very successful serial entrepreneur. What’s your framework from brainstorming ideas to committing to found a new company?
- Why did you decide to found Brainiac?
- Very science-led that’s focused on what the brain is made of
- Would you allow your kid?
- Could they do adulting? Because
- Supply chain challenges have been pretty enormous
- What nutrients is the brain made of that are different to the rest of the body? How do you think about nutrition?
- There’s been lots of innovation within food to make snacks and meals healthier. What do you think was missing from the market?
- What were the first steps you took when founding Brainiac?
- What age demographic are you targeting and where brain food might be the most beneficial?
- How did you conduct market feedback since this seems like a new category requiring education for the consumer (parent)?
- What are the benefits of brain nutrition-oriented food?
- How did you approach your sales channel mix from the beginning? Did you start out as digitally native and then decide to move into retail?
- How do you approach new SKU development and product expansion?
- What was it like raising from VCs? What was their response?
- Investing in CPG products tends to be out of style with VCs. What do you think made Brainiac so interesting as a company?
- How do you think about competitive advantages for Brainiac vs new entrants?
- What’s so far been the biggest challenge when founding Brainiac?
- You’ve been successful both as a B2C founder and a B2B founder. What are some of the challenges when founding a B2C company?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- Free Solo
- Notebook and plan everything to a notebook
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Oksana Stowe for the introduction to our guest today, Susan Lin. Susan is a Partner at Felix Capital. Felix Capital is one of the premier consumer investors based in the UK. Some of their investments include Goop, Oatly, Peloton, Seller X. We discuss what consumer-driven means and how that’s even spilled over to B2B, difference when scaling a european company vs. U.S., what are real competitive advantages for companies, and why Felix recently raised $600 million
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship and venture capital?
- How do you think about investing in consumer-driven companies today?
- What do you think about
- How do you spend your time? Do you have a thesis?
- Congratulations on raising $600m! We’ve seen this trend in consumer that as funds get larger and larger, investing in consumer brands becomes less of a focus. Will this be the case with Felix?
- Why did you decide to join Felix Capital?
- What’s different about the European venture ecosystem vs. U.S.?
- What are your thoughts on the fundraising market of today?
- Where are some of the trends and opportunities you’re seeing in Europe?
- What do you make of this current market?
- What’s one thing you would change about VC?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one that inspired you professionally?
- When breath becomes air
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- Authentic self
Our guest today is Ollie Forsyth, Global Community Manager and Investor at Antler. The global venture capital firm enabling and investing in the world's most exceptional people from the earliest stages. Ollie recently published a piece called “The New Creator Economy: A guide on Web3 creator platforms”. We focus our conversation on his learnings while researching this paper and as you can imagine the future of the creator economy and Web3.
Our guest today is Mike Asem, General Partner of M25. M25 is an early-stage venture firm based in Chicago, investing solely in companies headquartered in the Midwest. We discuss what movie got intrigued by venture capital, what’s misunderstood about investing in the midwest and the consumer landscape in that region, and his learnings since publishing M25 diversity report. Without further ado, here’s Mike
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship and venture capital?
- How did you found M25? What’s your thesis?
- Was in the nano space
- Purdue research foundation
- Worked with portfolio companies
- Angel portfolio
- Established yourself as a former
- Many tech VCs have steered clear from investing in consumer brands. Why do you still think there’s an opportunity?
- What makes a consumer brand interesting to you?
- How do you approach looking at consumer trends and trying to understand consumer behavior?
- We talk about brands that are venture-backed have to appeal to the masses and not just the top 1%. How do you measure that when you’re in due diligence?
- If it plays in Peoria
- Lori Coulter - Summersalt
- M25 releases a diversity report. Can you explain the origins of how this began and what it includes?
- What’s your outlook as well for Chicago as a venture ecosystem and the midwest?
- What’s your thesis around consumer healthcare?
- Why did you decide to create Unicorn to the Moon?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that’s inspired you personally and one book that’s inspired you professionally?
- Eboys - Benchmarks early days
On today’s episode we’re talking about cooking oils. Thank you Craig Shapiro for the introduction to our guest today is Jeff Nobbs, who is the founder and CEO of Zero Acre Farms. Zero Acre Farms is on a mission to remove destructive vegetable oils from the food system. Zero Acre Farms is an oil that’s instead made from fermentation.
Some of the questions I ask him:
- When did you start to care about health and the science of nutrition?
- You’ve started quite a few businesses before and you’ve been very successful. When did you start thinking about alternatives to vegetable oil?
- What is the origin of vegetable oil?
- How did you land on microorganisms and fermentation? What were other processes you were considering? Can you walk us through the process?
- What’s been the challenging part on the R&D side? How do you think about your competitive advantage?
- Why did you choose to raise $37 million? How were you able to raise it? What resonated with investors? What’s the most expensive part to Zero Acre Farms? Have you seen tech investors shift away from investing in CPG or only in CPG where there isn’t product innovation?
- How do you approach the price point? With innovation comes a premium. How do you think about premium pricing vs. maximum impact?
- There’s kind of a bifurcation within better for you products – do you value products that are better for the planet or products that are better for your body, It’s hard to create products that can fill both those requirements. How do you think about it since you’ve been an entrepreneur within health and wellness for a long time?
- What were some of your lessons learned since you started a CPG brand before and a restaurant before that has impacted how you think and operate Zero Acre Farms?
- What’s the company you most admire (Craig Shapiro asked this question)? How do they impact you?
- What is the vision for Zero Acre Farms? What will be the most challenging to fulfill that vision?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that’s inspired you professionally?
- The Three-Body Problem
- Think and Grow Rich
- The History of the World
- What’s the biggest piece of advice to founders?
My guest today is Mark Achler, who is a serial entrepreneur and Managing Partner at MATH Venture Partners. Recently he published his book that he co-wrote with Mert Iseri called Exit Right. which is about how to position and think about a successful exit way before it happens. So on this episode, we discuss how to Exit Right.
- What were your biggest learnings from those interviews in “Exit Right”
- Trust - we wish CEOs would come to us before
- Is there misalignment between VCs and founder/CEO
- How should you go about picking the right investors?
- Seems like there’s kind of a one way street when it comes to acquisitions with VCs and founders. It’s ok if the VC thinks about it and as it analyzes investing in certain companies, what an exit could look like, but founders aren’t allowed to talk about it or bring it up at all when they pitch because it means they “aren’t focusing on the growth of the business”. Do you both think there is a disconnect and a certain awkwardness that exists in these discussions?
- When should founders start to think about building relationships with corporate development teams?
- What were your learnings after you conducted these interviews and conduct this research project?
- In the FAIR framework, you emphasize how culture and values are critical for success. But it’s hard to know if the culture is the right culture for the team. How do you suggest founders understand the culture of the potential acquirer?
- On the fit question, what do you think about culture? How do decisions get made? What are your values? Is there a place where you want to live?
- Waterfall distribution - how much money goes through which share of class
- Should founders accept money from corporate VCs?
- We also talk about being aligned with your VCs. Of course, VCs are looking at a particular exit horizon. It could range from 5-10 years. Of course, it’s hard to know how the company is going to pan out and when you should start shopping for exits when it makes sense. How do you make sure you have alignment as a founder when you’re approaching VCs?
- How do you make sure it’s not a phishing expedition?
- I had on a founder who was building the business for acquisition and what that meant to him was growth at all costs, but it didn’t happen and he had to pivot to make the business sustainable and profitable. When you do build relationships with corporate development, should that impact how you build your business?
- What are ways founders can ensure they aren’t going on a fishing expedition?
- What are common mistakes founders make in the diligence process?
- What’s one book that has inspired each of you personally and professionally?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Justine Palefsky, Co-founder and CEO of Kindred. Kindred is the trusted home swapping network and harnesses the power of community to allow you to travel more for less. We discuss the opportunity within travel and house swapping and how to construct a marketplace where one unit of supply equals one unit of demand
- What is Kindred?
- How did you both meet?
- Did you both always have the intention of founding a business?
- When was the aha moment that led to Kindred?
- How is Kindred different from other home swapping sites?
- What was your first test to test this theory that people would be open to a house-swapping community?
- Why did you think you both would make good co-founders for this business?
- How did you first construct Kindred? It started off as a private Instagram group, right?
- What did you learn from that experience?
- How did you think about the marketplace dynamics in this type of business?
- How did you decide how to monetize since this is actually quite a complex business?
- Once you’re part of this private community, how do you incentivize people to actually house swap?
- Monetization. How did you approach?
- How did you approach fundraising?
- What are typical demographics?
- How do you approach customer acquisition?
- What was your approach to fundraising?
- When did you begin fundraising?
- What were the biggest reasons for passing?
- What did investors like the most about this business?
- Now that the world is beginning to open back up, how do you think about change in consumer behavior and scale?
- Were people doing house swaps during the height of the pandemic?
- What’s one thing you would change about fundraising?
- What’s one book that inspired each of you personally and one book that inspired each of you professionally?
- Undaunted Courage by Lewis and Clark
- The Courage to be Disliked
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Our guest today is Juan Pablo Cappello, founder of Nue Life. Nue Life is a mental wellness company that offers in-home ketamine therapy. This was a fascinating conversation about where our current healthcare system has failed us with the wrong incentive structure, new alternative therapies, his own mission and inspiration, and what the goal is for Nue Life.
Some of the questions I ask Juan Pablo:
- When were you first exposed psychedelics and ketamine?
- What inspired you to found Nue Life?
- How did you develop a program?
- What are some of the regulation speed bumps that you’ve had to go through in order to launch?
- What’s the business model? How much do you charge? How long is the program?
- What was your approach to acquiring new customers?
- Do you see your customers going through your program multiple times / on going or is it a quest to always bring on new customers?
- What’s been your approach to scale?
- What’s been your approach to raising money?
- Shat was your attraction to entrepreneurship?
- What were your learnings from starting Patagon, the first online bank in LatAm?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one thing that’s misunderstood about psychedelics?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
My guest today is Luke Vernon, Managing Partner of Ridgeline Ventures. Ridgeline Ventures is an independent investment group that provides founders and brands a unique alternative to traditional investment firms. Some of their investments include Cotopaxi, Bobo’s, OROS, and Pro’s Closet. Previously he was the CEO of Eco products, which he grew from $1mm to $80mm. We discuss his learnings as an operator, why he invests in consumer brands where other investor interest has softened, the benefits of being a family office and how he thinks about investment timelines.
- What were three of your biggest learnings growing Eco Products from $1mm to $80mm?
- Since you also started Luke’s Circle and helps companies find talent, what is the key to hiring the right people?
- After Eco Products sold, what eventually got you thinking of becoming an investor?
- How did Ridgeline Ventures form?
- Why doesn’t Ridgeline take outside capital?
- There’s been alot of funds that have pivoted or moved away from investing in consumer brands. What are the opportunities that you’re focused on?
- What’s your due diligence process?
- Pricing strategy in each channel
- How to scale the operations of the business
- How long does it take to scale?
- Food manufacturing
- Self manufacturing
- Great vehicles to finance CAPEX
- What were some of your learnings during COVID?
- How can a board provide value to a company?
- What’s one thing you think is overlooked when investing in consumer businesses?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Endurance by Ernest Jackelin
- Blue Ocean Strategy
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
Our guest today is Joe Spector, Founder & CEO of Dutch. Dutch is the online vet care when you need it. Previously Joe was one of the founders of hims & hers. We discuss the opportunity he saw within pet insurance and care, how his approach to fundraising is different than hims & hers, why he wants to change the incentive structure within the vet industry.
- Why did you decide to leave hims & hers?
- What was the aha moment that led to Dutch?
- What was the opportunity that you saw?
- Why did you decide to focus on telehealth for pets?
- What is the major pain point for pet owners?
- Can you lay out for us the value chain for healthcare for pets? How are the regulatory requirements different from healthcare for humans?
- How did you approach raising capital?
- In the early days, they have to be good at multiple things
- What was the first problem you wanted to solve?
- How did you approach distribution and sales?
- Paying vets $80 an hour
- Hims & Hers raised money every 90 days and raised lots of money. How do you approach fundraising and the capital structure of Dutch?
- What was it like fundraising during COVID?
- Don’t use a recruiter
- There was a substantial increase in pet ownership during COVID and telemedicine was more widely adopted as a whole during this period. How was Dutch affected? Did you grow faster than you expect?
- Since only 2% of pet owners have insurance, how do you approach consumer education?
- How do you think about the incentives for vets - they make money off selling the drugs, so they would want to recommend more drugs for your pet - and what is Dutch doing to create better alignment with the vet and the pet owner/pet?
Our guest today is Brian O’Malley, Partner at Forerunner. Forerunner is one of the top consumer venture capital firms that tirelessly champions founders who deliver the innovation they demand. Some of Brian’s investments include Sunday, Canal and Dumpling. Recently they raised $1 billion for Fund 6. We discuss how Forerunner’s thesis has evolved over the past few years, what is the empowerment economy, and current valuation and venture climate today.
We discuss:
- How do you define investing in consumer today?
- It seems as though Forerunner’s thesis has evolved from only investing in pure consumer companies to ecommerce enablement/B2B, along with other funds that primarily focus on consumer. Can you talk about why the transition?
- Is part of the reason why because it’s harder than before to pick brands that could generate great returns?
- What is the empowerment economy?
- In your article “Empowering Main Street”, you mention how OpenTable and Yelp achieved massive local market share, but they weren’t embraced. What do you mean by that and how do identify if a company you’re looking at is being embraced? Partnering up with their customers
- Did COVID at all change your thesis when it came the your empowering economy thesis?
- When you’re looking at empowering SMBs or bringing them online, when does a white label option make sense vs. a standalone application?
- I certainly understand the push for consumers wanting to shop local, but isn’t partly what killed local stores that they couldn’t compete on price with the Walmarts / Targets? How do you think about consumer price sensitivity?
- When you and your conduct your consumer insights research, how do you make sure there’s alignment with what people say and how they act?
- Where customer
- What are some of the differences between investing and evaluating a business where an SMB is the customer rather than the customer?
- How do you also think about the current venture landscape when it comes to valuations?
- There’s been a lot of chatter about some of the more high-profile companies folding and there’s been a debate about who is responsible - could the board have guided the CEO to cut burn for example. After you invest, what do you think about a board’s role and board construction?
- What’s one thing you would change about VC?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- The Wright Brothers book
- Shoedog by Phil Knight
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
Our guest today is John Timar, CEO of Kill Cliff. Kill Cliff is America’s best-selling clean energy drink and the official drink of the Atlanta Braves. We discuss how the Navy Seals impacted John and led the founding of Kill Cliff, some of the creative marketing initiatives Kill Cliff has done the past few years including a partnership with Joe Rogan, why at one point they considered a rebrand, and how they doubled down on their core audience and release new SKUs. Without further ado, here’s John.
- Why did you want to be a Navy SEAL?
- What was the hardest part of becoming a SEAL?
- What did you most learn from that experience?
- How was the transition to civilian life?
- How was the transition from SEALs into business?
- What did you first do after the SEALs?
- Don’t have the community
- Why did Todd Ehrlich found Kill Cliff? What was the insight? How did you know Todd?
- When you say lost its way, give an example of something that the company did that was inauthentic to the brand?
- What were some of the challenges going from enterprise to consumer?
- How is it a better alternative to what’s out there?
- Kill
- What’s been the low points and tough moments within Kill Cliff?
- When did you get involved? Why did you get involved? What was your first role?
- How do you approach distribution since I’d imagine the Red Bull probably try to block you?
- You were able to recruit John Brenkus as your CMO. How did you convince him to join and what has been the impact?
- How do you approach partnerships?
- What is Kill Cliff fight club?
- When did you decide to get into CBD and why?
- What’s the perception of energy drinks?
- How did you raise capital?
- Why were you promoted to CEO?
- With your partnership with Rogan, has the controversy around him had any affect with Kill Cliff?
- How do you approach new flavors and products?
- One piece of advice?
Our guest today is Patrick Chun, Founding Partner of Juxtapose. Juxtapose is an inception stage investment firm. Some of the companies that they founded include Tend, Care/of, and Dayforward. Their process for how they build companies is pretty unique for this show. We discuss their model, why their model is less risky than traditional venture capital, and his process for finding the right CEO to lead each business. Without further ado, here’s Patrick.
- What is Juxtapose? What was the initial insight or prior experience that influenced your decision to found it? Why did you choose to found it?
- Why do you believe your model is less risky than traditional venture capital?
- You are incubating
- When you say do the work, what do you mean?
- What’s your process identifying an observation
- True verifiable fact in the world
- When your
- Lots of observation
- How many observations do you have a week
- Insights you can pull off of an observation
- On-demand dispatch
- Track 500-1000 observations
- Talk about 50-100
- What’s your process for building businesses step by step – from the ideation stage to creating beta products / product is in market?
- Recycled and reentered the funnel
- 4-6 months
- How do you think about timing as well?
- Obsolete assumption
- You can never have an investor home
- When do you bring on an experienced CEO and team? How do you think about that process?
- What are qualities you’d like to see from the CEO?
- From 0 to 10 at what stage is the company in when you bring on a CEO?
- How do you source “Michael Jordan” CEOs? If they are the Michael Jordan’s, what typically get them excited to join the company - since I’m sure they get alot of offers to lead different teams?
- Can it be difficult to attract since these companies are still small?
- How do you hire the team?
- Once a company has a CEO, how do you think about the role of Juxtapose moving forward with the business?
- The best supporter of the company from 0-200 people
- Is the shift from operator to more of board member/observer type role?
- Do you ever get the itch to become a CEO of one of your companies?
- How do you approach hiring for your studio? Are you looking for people who have operational experience or more investor experience since it seems the studio model is at the intersection of both?
- What are the challenges with the studio model? What can get overlooked?
- What are the shortcomings of the venture studio model or what do studios tend to struggle with?
- Was there a prior experience that led you to want to build a different type of firm than traditional VC?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- 4,000 weeks Oliver Burkman
- What’s the best piece of advice for founders?
- What is it that people will see in the market and if you’re right
My guest today is Patrick Schwarzenegger, CEO and cofounder of Mosh. Mosh is a brain wellness brand co-founded by both Patrick and his mom, Maria Shriver. They’re on a mission to change the conversation about brain health through food, education, research and providing the tools for a "mindstyle" lifestyle. Patrick is also an actor, angel investor in a number of health and wellness brands. We discuss what attracted him to innovation within health and wellness, how he became interested in investing, what he looks for in companies and the founding story of how he and his mom founded Mosh. Without further ado, here’s Patrick.
- What was your initial attraction or introduction to investing in consumer brands and consumer technology?
- How would you describe your due diligence process as an investor?
- What’s your process for discovering new brands and having a pulse on the latest trends? Do you consider to be more top-down or bottom-up?
- What are trends within CPG that you’re particularly excited about and a trend that you think is maybe past its prime or no longer special?
- Is there any common threads that you’ve seen when it comes to what makes a successful founder or company? KPIs that stand out?
- How early do you typically write a check in a company?
- For your investments that didn’t work out. What tended to be the reasons why the companies failed?
- What were your takeaways from Expo West?
- How do you spend your time? You’re a CEO, actor, active angel investor, how do you juggle it?
- How do you also think and analyze brands that are co-founded by celebrities and people of influence?
- How did you found Mosh with your mom, Maria?
- What was the pain point you both wanted to solve?
- How did you approach building the product?What’s the goal of the brand?
- Currently, you’re only selling online. Are we going to see Mosh in retail channels? How do you think about what the right channels should be for Mosh?
- How do you juggle being CEO and also an actor?
- What’s one thing you would change about the fundraising process or venture capital?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- Number one book - Atomic Habits
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Ariana Thacker, founder of Conscience VC. Conscience invests into early-stage & science-led consumer startups. We’re going to discuss why science-led consumer startups is contrarian in itself, what are real tangible defensible moats, and her approach to fundraising her first fund.
- Why did you want to break into VC?
- Why did you decide to start your own fund?
- What was the fundraising process like?
- How do you partner with founders?
- What’s your approach to portfolio construction and fund construction? I.e. are you more concentrated or less concentrated, what are your Gen-Z apprentices role within the fund / scout program
- What do you mean by the intersection of deep tech and consumer?
- How do you think about defensible competitive advantages?
- Walk us through why you invested in Nimbus or gained conviction?
- How far along does a founder need to be in order for you to be at your stage?
- Are there specific categories that you mostly focus on?
3 buckets
- What are some of the challenges investing in deeptech? Why do alot of fund managers stay away?
- What’s your approach to sourcing opportunities?
Go through multi pronged approach
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
4 agreements - dont personally, dont make assumptions, always do your best, be impeccable with your word
Disciplined entrepreneurship ->
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
Our guest today is Paul Voge, one of the founders and CEO of Aura Bora. Aura Bora is sparkling water made from real herbs, fruits, and flowers for earthly tastes and heavenly feelings. The flavors are definitely one of kind and different like Lavender Cucumber, Cactus Rose, Peppermint Watermelon. I was skeptical at first but when I tried it, I must say I LOVED it. My personal favorite is lemongrass coconut. Paul has a pretty fascinating story about how he started and his approach to building a sparkling water company with out-there wacky flavors that are delicious.
- How would you define your relationship with Sparkling water before you started a sparkling water company?
- Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
- What was the “aha” moment?
- What was the first flavor you LOVED that you felt you perfected?
- How did you think about different flavor profiles/expanding SKUs
- I had Seth on last week
- How did you think about experimenting with flavors? Was this something you did yourself, did you hire/partner with a food/drink scientist?
- You didn’t have any experience within CPG. How did you go about building your network?
- Why invest in beverage brands?
- What was the hardest part fundraising?
- How do you think about ads?
- When did you feel like you were on to something?
- At what point did you quit your job?
- What was your distribution strategy? Was it to start DTC and then go into retail or go into retail from the getgo?
- How did you get into Whole Foods?
- Why did you move from Boulder to San Francisco?
- What were some of the things you had to pick up on quickly since you didn’t come from CPG prior to starting Aura Bora?
- How much should you spend in tradespend?
- You were in SKUs accelerator, what was so valuable about that experience?
- It’s March 2020. COVID happens and your cranking, trying to get into stores. Walk us through what’s happening during that time?
- How did you approach developing relationships with stores during that period?
- How did COVID change your distribution approach?
- We talk to a number of CPG retail investors on this show that emphasize it’s all about velocity rather than the total number of stores you’re in. What’s good velocity to you? How do you measure success?
- Why did you decide to go on Shark Tank? What was that experience like?
- Was the intent always to take a deal no matter what?
- What was your approach to raising a fundraising round?
- How do you think about SKUs and flavor approach today? What’s the strategy?
- What’s one thing that you’ve been surprised in the consumer response - could be positive or negative. Negative could be more interesting.
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Seth Goldman - Mission in a Bottle
- Mark Rompolla - Build Something Great
- The Last Lecture
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- Amateurs talk strategy, experts talk logistics
- What’s one thing you would change about the CPG industry?
Our guest today is Joe Marchese, who is a serial entrepreneur and has started a few VC funds including Human Ventures, Casa Komos, Groundswell, True X, Reserve and Attention Capital. His resume is pretty wild. Joe has alot of experience within marketing and advertising so on today’s episode we’re going to focus on how to approach marketing channels, what channels are still undervalued and maybe you can get more bang for your buck, and his approach to building brands and partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs.
- How did you get your start in media and advertising?
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship as well as working with founders?
- What advertising channel is still underappreciated by brands?
- What’s still misunderstood about media today? (follow on: talk about the Attention Economy.)
- How do you monetize attention?
- What’s your approach to starting businesses?
- How did Human Ventures come together?
- When you are incubating companies at Human, what do first-time entrepreneurs misunderstand the most when it comes to growing their businesses?
- What’s your diligence process when you’re analyzing companies?
- Are there specific categories that you’re currently deep in or intrigued by?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
- Probable impossibilities
- Life’s Edge by Carl Zimmer
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
My guest today is Matt Nichols, founder of Commerce Ventures. They back entrepreneurs from every background building the infrastructure for tomorrow's industries. We focus our time deconstructing web.3 and how it could be impactful to brands and change retail.
Here are some of the questions I ask Matt:
- How did you get started in venture capital?
- When did you found Commerce VC?
- Why the focus on retail?
- How can blockchain technology help retail?
- What’s wrong with current loyalty programs?
- Paint us a picture of the change in buying behavior for a consumer from the moment they step into a store.
- Do brands need to embrace Web3 in order to win in the next generation?
- How should brands approach the creation of digital goods and partnerships with platforms?
- What’s your due diligence process
- Supply chain traceability
- What’s your view about digital goods?
- What could you not do that blockchain solves for?
- What’s the relationship between NFT and luxury?
- What has to work in order for the whole supply chain to transact through smart contracts?
- How do you also think about customer identification when it comes to wallet ownership? How is this a better point of contact with a person than email?
- Activity is fully traceable
- What do you think is one thing that’s overlooked when it comes to the intersection of blockchain and retail?
- Too many use cases
- What’s one book that inspired you professionally or personally?
- The Hard Things About Hard Things
- Endurance - Shackleton’s Journey to the Southpole
- Spend time with the customers, try to understand their problems?
Our guests today are Seth Goldman and Spike Mendelsohn, co-founders of Eat The Change and PLNT Burger. Eat the Change is a snack company that’s on a mission to create chef-crafted and nutrient-dense snacks that are kind to the planet. PLNT Burger are plant-based burger restaurants. Currently they have 11 of them. Prior to going into business together, Seth is well known for being the founder of Honest Tea and Chef Spike Mendelsohn was one of the Top Chefs on the show Top Chef and started quite a few restaurant establishments including VIm & Victor, We, The Pizza, Santa Rosa Taqueria, my personal favorite Good Stuff Eatery. I’m on the record that Good Stuff makes the best burger I’ve ever tried. I’m really excited to have both Seth and Chef Spike on the podcast, not only because they are legends, but they started each of their businesses where I grew up. Seth started Honest Tea in Bethesda, which is where I was raised, and many of Spike’s restaurants are in DC and the surrounding areas. This was a thrill to have them on. Without further ado, here is Seth Goldman and Chef Spike.
Some of the questions I ask them –
- What were each of your attractions to entrepreneurship and food?
- Activist
- When you think about all the businesses each of you have started, what’s been the common thread?
- How did you guys meet each other?
- When was the moment that you realized you wanted to work with one another? What makes your partnership special?
- What was the inspiration behind PLNT Burger?
- How do you think about products that are better for you vs. better for the planet?
- Has “plant based” become a catch-all term for better for you, even though there is now a debate if plant-based alternatives are better for you than the original meat product?
- When you think about releasing new products, how do you make sure they are better for you and not just the planet?
- Incredible planet challenge
- Why did you decide to start Eat the Change and what is it?
- How did you measure impact?
- What’s been the reaction so far?
- Have to have something that’s different
- Did you raise outside capital
- Why did you found it in Bethesda?
- What’s your approach to creating new better-for-you products?
- How do you measure impact?
- What’s your retail approach?
- How do you think about launching new restaurants and CPG brands? Is there an overall strategy that ties the two together?
- How do you approach consumer education when it comes to what people should eat?
- What’s one book that inspired each of you personally and one professionally?
- Mission in a bottle
- My Life in Full - Seth
- The Call of the Wild - Seth
- Danny Meyer - Setting the Table - Spike
- Zappos book - Tony
- What’s one piece of advice each of you have for founders?
- What’s your favorite piece of advice that you received?
Our guest today is Amy Lacey, founder of Cali’flour Foods. Cali’flour makes craveable comfort food that’s always low carb. With simple fresh ingredients and no fillers. That includes pizzas, crusts, flatbreads, crackers and full on entrees. We discuss why Amy became an entrepreneur, how she created a cauliflower pizza recipe that wasn’t brittle and didn’t fall apart, even with incredible ecommerce sales, why she decided to partner with a retail-minded investor as opposed to an ecommerce minded one, their approach to packaging when they entered stores and much more.
What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?
- What led to the founding of Cali'flour Foods and better for you alternatives for pizza?
- How did you first make cauliflower pizza since cauliflower is so brittle?
- What was the first step to starting your company?
- How did you go about developing your supply chain?
- Where was your first point of distribution?
- What was the initial reaction?
- At what point were you looking for investment?
- What were some of the differences in the business when you raised capital?
- Did you packaging change to fit into retail?
- How did you approach scale?
- Was it tough scaling in retail and also trying to continue to scale online?
- Mike Anderson came in as CEO. What was that transition like?
- It seems like using cauliflower as a substitute ingredient in other products has become the standard. Do you feel like you've led the charge here?
- What's one thing you would change about fundraising?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Personally - Four Agreements
- The One Thing
- Storybrand by Donald Miller
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's the best piece of advice for any entrepreneur?
Our guest today is Melissa Urban, Founder of Whole30. The Whole30 program eliminates cravings, improves physical energy and quality of sleep and has changed millions of people’s lives. It’s a pretty amazing story. We’re going to hear how Melissa changed her lifestyle completely, getting into nutrition and getting in shape. Why she started a blog and ran this 30 day diet experiment and that turned into what became Whole30. How she approaches partnerships with CPG brands that fit the Whole30 identity, and what led her to create her own products. Without further ado, here’s Melissa
- When did you become interested in nutrition and fitness?
- Why did you decide to blog?
- What compelled you to write a book?t
- How do you approach partnerships or relationships with brands?
- Why did you decide on the name Whole30?
- How did you think about the differences between the Whole30 diet and the Paleo diet?
- What was the original intention of the brand?
- Who is the target audience for Whole30?
- Was there a clear path to success and a business plan or were you just kind of figuring it out?
- When did you decide to start launching your own products? I.e. salad dressings?
- How do you select the right partners to license products for?
- Did you ever think about raising capital for Whole30?
- There are lots of food fads out there. How do you think about longevity, sustainability with Whole30?
- What do you think is misunderstood about nutrition?
- Do you iterate what’s allowed and not allowed on Whole30?
- Recently you came out and said that MSG for example is now ok on Whole30 when it wasn’t allowed on the diet before. How do you think and approach the evolution of Whole30?
- Do you have any advice for other founders in your willingness to learn and evolve?
- What do you see as the future of wellness or what makes you excited about?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
- Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
- What’s one piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Jordan Gaspar, the Managing Partner at AF Ventures. AF Ventures is dedicated to growing the next generation of brands, having invested in Circul, By Heart and Harmless Harvest. We discuss how she founded AF Ventures and leveraged her network as a lawyer, and how she thinks about growth for digitally native brands in this current age.
Some of the questions I ask her:
- Can you please share a little about AF Ventures background?
- What was your initial attraction to consumer brands?
- How has AF Ventures evolved over the past few years?
- What are the most recent trends within consumer that you are most passionate about?
- How has COVID impacted recent trends?
- Does a product “need to work in retail” for you to invest?
- Why did you decide to raise a SPAC?
- We’ve also seen incredible growth from brands despite global supply chain issues. As an investor and advisor, how do you navigate or comprehend where we are currently at?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What VC advice do you have for entrepreneurs/founders?
My guest today is Marc Hostovsky, founder of Minoan. Minoan connects people with products in spaces that feel like home. This is a concept that Marc calls native retail. We discuss what’s missing today when it comes to trying out products, the intersection of ecommerce and retail and what is actually native retail.
Here are the questions I ask Marc:
- What was your attraction in ecommerce? Why did you want to work in ecommerce?
- What were some of your learnings at Walmart that have impacted you?
- What were you doing at Walmart?
- The importance of pace and hiring
- Hiring missionaries vs mercenaries
- What was the insight that led to the founding of Minoan?
- Why did you decide to build a product that wasn’t in ecommerce but was around physical retail or native retail?
- Not really having products to shine
- Why do people like shopping in stores?
- Real world shoppable experiences - be in moments of use, integrating commerce
- What are the use cases? Walk us through when and why a customer would use Minoan?
- Is the goal to eventually to become an online retailer or stay as a marketplace?
- What’s the customer experience like?
- How did you first approach hotels, Airbnbs and other places?
- How do you partner?
- How do you monetize? Is it a marketplace model?
- How do you work with brands?
- What was your approach to growth?
- What types of properties do you look for?
- What was your approach to raising money?
- What was challenging about the process?
- What’s one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Why Buddism is true? By Robert Wright
- Competing Against Luck
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest today is Natalie Gordon, founder and CEO of Babylist. Babylist is a baby registry and ecommerce platform, combining content, commerce and data to serve millions of expecting and new parents. We focus on why Natalie decided to start Babylist when she just became a new mother, how reading The Lean Startup impacted her decision making to solving the chicken and the egg problem of marketplaces, finding product-market fit and a unique approach to partnerships.
Here are some of the questions I ask Natalie:
-
What was the insight that led to the founding of Babylist?
-
11 years ago - creating your own baby registry
- There must be a better way!!!!
- Worked on another startup in the language learning space
- If you can work on it for
- Small aspirations day by day
- Lean startup
- Inflection point on Pinterest
- Did you always want to become an entrepreneur?
- What were some lessons learned during your time at Amazon that were helpful in your journey?
- What were some of the first steps that you had to take to validate your idea?
- How do you think about using content to lead to curation to purchase?
- What are the requirements to sell on Babylist?
- When you have a marketplace, you have a chicken and the egg problem. What were the first steps you took to solve for it? Was it tougher getting supply going vs. demand or vise versa?
- Did you keep inventory?
- How did you approach demand / customer acquititon channels in the early days?
- How did you approach raising capital?
- What were some of the moments that as you look back were actually huge unlocks for your business?
- How did you make the business more sustainable for you
- You’ve now started selling your own products and aren’t just a marketplace. How do you think about what products to launch? What has been the reaction?
- How do you think about trying and testing out products for parents online and in brick and mortar?
- What has been the result during the pandemic when it comes to purchase behavior?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Professionally: No rules rules by Reid Hastings
- Personally: Dear Sugar - online advice column
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
- Long game
- Relationships are long
Our guest today is Nick Saltarelli one of the Co-founders of Mid-Day Squares. Mid-Day Squares is the first functional chocolate bar. Nick founded the company with his wife, Leslie and brother-in-law Jake. We discuss how and why his family wanted to start a chocolate company, why they decided to vertically integrate instead of outsourcing manufacturing, their combination of marrying content with a CPG and much more. Without further ado, here’s Nick.
And there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed Nick’s story of how and why he started Mid-Day Squares.
- Did you always want to know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
- What were some of the pivotal moments in your life that helped shaped you personally and professionally, how you wanted to work with people?
- Why did you focus on CPG?
- How did you meet Lez?
- How did you land on chocolate?
- Why did you decide to share everything publicly?
- How did Jake come on board?
- Is it a tough dynamic working with your wife and your brother-in-law?
- What was your process for raising capital?
- How did you think about brand and branding?
- Why did you decide to create your own manufacturing plant vs. outsourcing manufacturing?
- How do you think about storytelling and building a passionate audience?
Our guest today is our second second time guest, Mike Duda. Mike is the General Partner at Bullish. Bullish is a consumer only venture capital fund and creative agency. Some of their investments include Sunday, Spark Grills, Hu, Care/of. I mention these brands specifically because all the founders of those companies have been on the podcast but they’ve also invested in Peloton, Harry’s Warby Parker. If you want to learn the founding story of how Mike founded Bullish, highly recommend his first episode in 2020. In this episode we focus on his process to identifying a consumer insight, what needs to happen in order for an insight to become an investment opportunity and his analysis on consumer behavior. I was delighted Mike was willing to come back on the show for a chat, without further ado, here he is.
Questions I ask Mike:
- What’s your process to identifying a nascent consumer insight?
- I’ve had investors come on the show talk about their jobs are to identify the difference between a consumer trend and a fad. How do you make that distinction?
- What has to happen in order for a trend to become big?
- One of the massive trends in 2010s was home fitness, and you were big winners with your investment in Peloton. I’d love it if you could walk through how you made that investment?
- What's the next big thing in consumer that you think is under-appreciated or contrarian?
- What’s often misunderstood investing in consumer oriented companies?
- If the bet is right when it comes to a trend, how important is having a competitive advantage in your product?
- When you think about the major themes and changes in consumer behavior, what comes to mind?
- Is investing in consumer products saturated since it's easier than ever to launch a company?
- What do you think is misunderstood by tech when it comes to CPG?
- What’s misunderstood when it comes to brand?
- What’s under-appreciated when it comes to building a brand?
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
My guest today is Sumi Das, who is a Partner at CapitalG. CapitalG is Alphabet’s independent growth fund. Some of their investments include Airbnb, Lyft, and Duolingo. We discuss CapitalG’s relationship to Google, Google Ventures, and the advantages of a single LP, Sumi spends alot of time not only thinking about consumer opportunities in North America,, but also in emerging markets so we focus on some of the differences building consumer technology and evaluating opportunities in different regions and what makes technology transferable to other markets and not transferable. Without further ado, here’s Sumi.
Here are some of the questions I ask Sumi:
- What was your interest in technology?
- How did you end up at CapitalG, and also, can you tell us a little about what CapitalG is and your relationship to Alphabet and Google?
- The future is mobile - what’s the future today?
- What’s your definition of growth-stage investing?
- How big can this market be?
- Can they scale to adjacent markets?
- How do you think about the differences when investing and building companies in emerging markets vs. the U.S.?
- What makes a piece of technology transferable into other markets?
- What type of market do you have to start by building everything at the same time vs. focusing on one specific use case?
- How does this translate into your theory of when it makes sense to bundle vs. unbundle?
- How does scale look different?
- When you’re investing in emerging markets, what consumer characteristics are you looking for or are appealing?
- How do you think about engineering talent abroad and recruiting for your companies?
- How do you think about valuations at the growth stage in this current market?
- They say that growth stage happens when you have product-market fit. How do you analyze on a deeper level if a company does have product-market fit and the depth of that connection?
- What’s one thing you would change about VC?l
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Professionally - Sam Walton biography
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Thank you Ashish for introducing me to our guest today, Nuno Gonçalves Pedro, General Partner at Chameleon. Chameleon typically invests at the seed and series a level principally product led technology companies. Some of their portfolio includes Draftkings, Robinhood and Keepsafe. We discuss the evolution of eCommerce, if companies actually create new markets, and how he uses quant to make investment decisions. Without further ado, here’s Nuno.
Questions I ask Nuno:
- What was your attraction to technology?
- What led you into venture capital?
- When you look at consumer investing and the evolution of ecommerce in Asia, what technologies do you think are going to make its way to the west?
- How did Chamaeleon come together?
- Why has your focus been consumer? What makes you excited as a consumer investor?
- Where do you think some of the big opportunities are in consumer?
- Walk me through your due diligence process -
- How do you analyze teams?
- How do you use quant to help make decisions?
- What are the important insights and data points?
- How do you think about the next consumer platform? There’s lots of buzz around the metaverse, web3. How do you think about what’s coming next after the iPhone?
- What tends to be the reason why you pass on a consumer tech company?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
- Professionally - Post Capital Society - Drucker
- The How of Happiness - Sonia
- Modern Physics Ancient Faith
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Bilal Zuberi, Partner at Lux Capital. Lux Capital Investing in people inventing the future. Some of their investments include Happiest Baby, Citizen, Carbon Health and Duck Duck Go. Bilal also founded GEO2 Technologies and comes from an extensive technical and science background. What we explore on today’s episode is how to invest at the intersection of deep tech and consumer.
Some of the questions I ask him:
- One of your focuses is investing in Deep Tech. We haven’t covered Deep Tech yet on the podcast, what is deep tech?
- Business model innovation vs technological innovation
- Mission-oriented go to market chops
- When you think about consumer deep tech companies, what do you think about? What are the use cases where consumers could benefit from deep tech?
- Betting on teams that own the problem, not just the solution
- How is investing in deep tech different to other types of categories when you think about return timeline?
- How flexible are you with the length?
- Even if you do have an incredible consumer tech product with a clear competitive advantage or compelling value prop, how do you analyze the marketing and branding?
- Would you invest in a company that has compelling technology, but you don’t understand the branding or how it would work?
- Can brand be a sustainable competitive advantage?
- How do you analyze deep tech products? What’s your diligence process?
- What’s tends to be the reason why you pass on a consumer-focused company?
- Why did you join Lux and how do you describe Lux’s investment philosophy?
- How are you thinking about today’s market when it comes to price?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? Professionally - High Growth Handbook
Personally - Engineering Marvels of the World
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Thank you Erin Grant for pitching this as an episode idea and making it happen. This episode is all about storytelling. What does a good story need, what are the mechanics, and how to build a compelling brand through the power of storytelling. To tackle this topic, I’m joined by Brentos Fernandez, Head of Creative at Listen Ventures and Jeff Cantalupo who is the founder and General Partner at Listen Ventures. Listen Ventures. Backs and builds the brands of tomorrow Including Calm, Kiwi Co, Factor, Catch Co, I/D, & Slumberkins. Without further ado, here they are.
- How do you craft a good story? What are the elements?
- Is there a part to storytelling that brands or people typically miss?
- Point of view
- When you think of aspiring, young brands, what do they tend to do right vs. the incumbents?
- How are they able to stand out from the rest of their peers with storytelling?
- How do you analyze brands that have a face to the brand vs. brands that don’t?
- How do you shape the persona of the brand?
- When you invest and consult with brands, what is usually missing that you can help with the story?
- Story being built out of human need
- Story Emotional connection -
- Post-brand
- Organic growth stories
- How do you define community?
- How have brands leveraged their authentic story for growth?
- What’s an example of an inauthentic story?
- After a brand gets acquired, what must incumbents do in order for keep that brand authenticity alive?
- In this era where you don’t have the growth arbitrage channels do you need to have a celebrity part of the brand in order to help tell that story and be seen?
- When founders pitch to you, what do they usually do wrong when they are telling a story?
- Brand - sum of all the experiences
- What does brand mean to you?
- What’s one thing you would change about the perception of storytelling and/or branding?
- What’s one book that inspired each of you personally and professionally?
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Thank you Radha Kapoor for the introduction to Michele Romanow, co-founder and CEO of Clearco. Clearco offers fast affordable funding for ecommerce companies to fund your inventory or marketing needs. Michele is a serial entrepreneur and also one of the dragon’s on Canada’s Dragon’s Den. We discuss what’s misunderstood about scaling ecommerce companies, when venture capital makes sense vs. revenue based financing, her aha moment on Dragon’s Den that led to founding ClearCo and much more. Without further ado, here’s Michele.
- You’ve been an entrepreneur your whole career. What was the origin story behind Clearco? How did you and Andrew start Clearco?
- What was your first test if this new finance model could work?
- How did you think about scale for and what was the early diligence process like when trying to work out if you’re going to finance these companies?
- What are the requirements?
- How have those requirements evolved?
- What were some of your learnings as you were growing Clearco that was most surprising?
- How did you approach raising capital from VCs? What was their initial response?
- Did you have any VCs that thought what you were doing was a conflict to venture capital?
- How do you work together with venture capital?
- There are no more Facebook arbitrage opportunities, some consumer VCs have shifted to investing in eCommerce infrastructure where the customer are brands, What’s your assessment of the current landscape within DNVBs when it comes to growth and financing options?
- We say on the podcast a lot - it’s easy than ever to build a company, harder than ever to build a brand. What’s key for brands to be able to get past the noise and become large sustainable companies? What makes a brand compelling to you to invest in (either with Clearco or as an angel/investor on Dragon’s Den)?
- ClearCo probably sees a lot of DTC metrics from 1000s of companies.
- Which are the best measures of success?
- Which metrics are most misunderstood?
- If she could only pick 3 metrics to understand health/growth of a brand — which 3 would she pick?
- How do you also think about the competitive landscape now for the alternative capital financing that you pioneered?
- What are some of the other products you offer founders?
- I know the focus is eCommerce businesses, but do you also think about helping DNVBs as they head into retail?
- How do you think about launching new products at Clearco?
- Tell you where you can improve in your business?
- If you build a killer product people will come
- Recently, Andrew stepped back and became Executive Chairman, you became the CEO from President. What was the reason for the change?
- How do you think about launching new products at Clearco?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is McKeever Conwell II or as he’s most well known Mac the VC, Founder and managing partner of Rarebreed Ventures. RareBreed Ventures is a pre-seed fund that invests in exceptional founders primarily outside of large tech ecosystems, earlier than everyone else. We discuss how Mac built relationships on Twitter with investors and founders and was able to raise a VC fund all on Twitter, his due diligence process and how he thinks about customer acquisition.
- What led you to becoming an entrepreneur?
- Why investing? Why did you decide to become a VC and start a fund?
- How were you able to leverage Twitter to become an investor?
- What was your strategy?
- I know you invest in both consumer and enterprise. What makes consumer investing hard?
- Where are you seeing the opportunity within consumer?
- How do you approach sourcing and finding diamonds in the rough?
- What's you diligence process? How do you validate how large a problem the entrepreneur is solving?
- Rebundled
- What's the most common reason why you passed?
- What are some of your favorite accelerators that are still under the radar?
- Do you believe in pattern recognition is important when it comes to investing?
- What is a day in the life of an emerging manager?
- What have founders needed the most help from?
- What motivates you everyday?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Why should white guys have all the fun?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Our guest today is Michael Ronen, co-founder and President of Branded. Branded acquires and partners with top performing Amazon sellers. So as you can imagine, we’re going to be talking about creating brands on Amazon. Previously, Michael was one of the Managing Partner’s at SoftBank Investment Partner’s historic Vision Fund 1. We discuss the opportunity within eCommerce while at SoftBank vs. Branded, building brands on Amazon vs. off Amazon.
- What was your initial attraction to invest in early and growth-stage companies?
How did you end up at Softbank?
Why did you leave Softbank to start Branded?
What was your initial attraction to the Amazon ecosystem?
Was there anything you thought some of the earlier aggregators were missing that lead you to want to jump in?
What are synergies amongst your portfolio?
What categories are attractive?
What’s the goal of a brand? What’s a successful revenue goal?
Modern foreign thinking brand focused on personal care
Brands that have patent or design - how is Amazon as a partner?
One company is building an incredible infrastructure - AWS
You have the intent to buy
How do you build a brand based off of a listing?
How do you build a brand on Amazon where you are just another listing?
What’s the strategy at Branded? How do you think about differentiation from others?
Why the focus on consumables?
How do you think about synergy amongst your brands?
How did you go about building your team?
What’s your approach to retaining founders?
What was your approach to fundraising?
How many companies do you look to buy?
How do you think about the best categories?
Do you get nervous about Amazon private labels?
How is Amazon a great partner?
What are your criteria for acquisition?
What are the advantages of acquiring Amazon brands vs. Shopify / DTC brands?
Does there have to be a retail / brick-and-mortar strategy in order for you to be interested in the brand?
What’s one book that inspired you personally? One book that inspired you professionally?
Lea Coca - CEO of Chrysler - Autobiography
Swim with the sharks without being alive - Harvey MacKay
“Play Nice But Win” - Michael Dell
What’s one piece of advice for founders?
So this was our first LIVE episode, which we recorded at Cosmic Coffee & Beer Garden in Austin, TX during SXSW. To everyone who came out and was there in the flesh, thank you thank you thank you and a special thanks to Marc Nathan for organizing the event as it was a ton of fun. I chatted with Jason Karp, Founder of Hu Kitchen, Hu Chocolate and CEO of HumanCo. HumanCo is a holding company that’s invested in healthy living. We’re going to learn more about their brands Snow Days, Against the grain and Cosmic Bliss. We discuss the rebrand of Coconut Bliss to Cosmic Bliss and question if there is a current bifurcation within the better for you movement.
Here are some of the questions I ask him:
- How has your health journey shaped your professional journey?
- Did you have experience in the CPG space before?
- Was the goal always to start a chocolate company and eventually create other products?
- Why did you sell Hu to Mondelez?
- What is HumanCo?
- When you think about introducing new products at HumanCo, what is your value system within better-for-you?
- Your products, both at Hu and now HumanCo, are premium-priced. Can you talk about the pros/cons of premium pricing and why you believe people are willing to pay more?
- A couple of years ago you acquired Coconut Bliss, which was a plant-based ice cream company. You recently decided to introduce dairy ice cream and rebrand Coconut Bliss to Cosmic Bliss. What was the thinking behind that decision?
- What was the reaction?
- Do you think there is a divide or polarization within BFY?
- As we take a step back and look at the marketing/branding within better-for-you products overall, what marketing resonates with you and marketing that you don’t like?
- What’s your approach?
- It seems like the term “plant-based” is everywhere within the better-for-you space (it certainly was all over Expo West). Do you think the term has lost its meaning?
- What are your thoughts about adding genetically modified ingredients to food to make it sustainable?
- Do you consider lab-grown meat genetically modified?
- What’s one part of the better-for-you movement that’s most misunderstood?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders in this current climate?
Our guest today is Jackie Fast, Managing Partner at Sandbox Studios VC. Sandbox Studios is a 'next-generation' venture capital firm which addresses the challenge of funding and collaboration expertise for celebrity-owned products. She’s also well known for founding the agency Slingshot Sponsorship which she started from her bedroom with 2k pounds and a laptop to a multi-million-dollar global powerhouse. On this episode we discuss when it makes sense for a company / founder to partner with a celebrity, the intersection of talent and entrepreneurship especially when it comes to consumer brands.
Some of the questions I ask Jackie:
Our guests today are Greer Terrler and Cara Kaufman, founders of Simple Food Ventures. Simple Food Ventures is an early stage venture firm that invests in the future of healthy foods and products. We discuss how they both began investing in better for you products, do they only invest in better for the planet or better for you, and what makes a product work on shelf.
Here are some of the questions I ask them:
- What was your attraction to the food and beverage industry?
- Why did you and how did you both transition into venture capital?
- What stage is a company usually have to be at in order for you to be initially interested?
- Founder and the roadmap
- How did Simple Food Ventures come together?
- What do you see as the opportunity within food and beverage?
- Does a product need to be able to get on shelf / in retail for you to peak your interest?
- Does a product need to be differentiated in order for you both to get excited?
- Walk me through how you conduct due diligence.
- How do you source and meet founders?
- What’s one part of the better-for-you movement that you think is a contrarian take / not as obvious?
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired each of you personally and a book that inspired each of you professionally?
- What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest is Ksenia Yudina, the Founder and CEO of UNest, the first mobile app that makes it easier than ever for parents to open a simple and affordable tax-advantaged investment account for their kids. We talk about how she immegrated to the U.S., transitioning careers from real estate to finance and where she realized alot of new parents are very motivated to invest in their parents, but don’t kow where to go. Without further ado, here she is.
- What was it like moving to the United States at 18? What was your first American experience like?
- How did you make your way to California?
- How did you become attracted to finance?
- What was the insight that led to the founding of UNest?
- Went to alot of networking events
- First round of capital -
- Seed round
- FB Groups that have kids
- What is the mission?
- What’s the monetization model?
- How did you approach getting early adopters excited about UNest?
- You just raised $26 million, what has been your customer acquitition strategy?
- How are you looking to scale?
- What’s the incentive to stay with UNest long term?
- How did you go about building a technical team?
- What was the next step? When did you raise investment?What was the biggest reason why investors believed in the product?What was the biggest reason why investors passed?
- What’s one thing you would change about fundraising?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?From Zero to OneHard Things About Hard ThingsThe Most Important Thing
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest today is Eric Kinariwala, founder and CEO of Capsule. Capsule is the pharmacy that delivers your prescriptions, the same day, for free. We discuss the pharmacy visit that led to his aha moment of founding Capsule, his approach to integrating technology with picking up your prescriptions, and how he approached expansion and scale.
Here are some of the questions I ask Eric:
- You started your career as an investor. Was your goal always to become an entrepreneur.
- Why did you decide to start Capsule?
- How did you figure out this was a service other people might also like to have? Did you do any market research?Why was it so badWhat’s the role of the pharmacist?How could you go solve the problemThe first thing was to build a pharmacy?How do you deliver the highest quality experience?Why did doctors, consumers love it at the early days?
- When you were thinking of starting this business, what were the first steps and the first questions you had to ask to see if this was viable?
- Did you have to first establish relationships with the doctors so they can send the prescription to you all, what was the process from sending in a note to delivering the medication?
- Winning together
- Everybody needs some looking after sometimes
- How were you able to sell prescriptions online? Was there any regulations you had to jump through?
- What were some of your early challenges?
- What were specific medications you first looked at when it came to selling? How did you think about your wedge into the market?
- What was your process of raising capital?What was the biggest reason why an investor passed?
- What was the process of finding drivers and building out the delivery business?
- How do you think about the future of DTC healthcare?
- How did you approach customer acquisition in the early days?
- You started in New York, how do you approach market expansion?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?On the wings of eagles - Ross PerotThe checklist manifesto
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
My guest today is Mike Smerklo, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Next Coast Ventures and author of Mr. Monkey and Me. Next Coast is investing in a new generation of entrepreneurs building disruptive companies in big markets. We discuss why Mike invests in consumer when his operational experience is in enterprise as well consumer trends he’s passionate about, How he organized a search fund and purchased a company and ran it, and his SHAPE formula and how entrepreneurs could think about mental toughness.
Here are the questions I ask him:
- What was it like being recruited by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz at Opsware?
- How did you end up purchasing ServiceSource? Why did you?
- So you have all this software and enterprise experience, when and why did you become interested in consumer?
- How did Next Coast Ventures start?
- I know you believe that in order to win today you have to build a community over relying on social media. What does community mean to you? What brands are building amazing communities that should serve as case studies?
- Do you need to stand for something to win in consumer?
- What is the future of retail in your mind?
- What are some of your investment themes?
- What has been your reaction to the pandemic as you think about new consumer behaviors and opportunities?
- What’s your diligence process?
- What’s some of the most common mistake you see entrepreneurs make?
- Would love to learn about your SHAPE formula and how do you think about mental toughness for entrepreneurs?
- What’s one thing you would change about VC?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
- Thank you Mike Ghaffary for the introduction to our guest today, Walker Drewett, CEO and founder of Nu Brakes. We want to make the brake repair process simple and frustration-free. We discussed why Walker always had his heart being an entrepreneur, the inspiration behind helping people with their cars even though he didn’t come from an automotive background, approach to scale and hiring being a first time CEO.
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?
- How did you become interested in cars? How did this lead to Nu Wash?
- What was the day-to-day operations? How did you approach growth?
- How did Nu Wash evolve into Nu Brakes? How did you discover the opportunity? When did you decide to make the switch? How did you think about the competitive set?
- How did you have to change your day-to-day operations? What was most challenging when you pivoted?
- How did you approach customer acquisition?
- How did you approach the experience
- 15-30% less than a dealership
- When did you decide to raise your first round? How were you able to raise?
- What were your objectives after you raised?
- Now lots of car companies have extended warranties for repair, how does that affect Nu Brakes?
- When did you decide to expand outside of Austin?
- What was your approach to hiring and getting people who had years and years of experience excited to work at Nu Brakes?
- How do you think about culture?
- Culture is a shared way of doing something w/ passion
- How did the pandemic affect your business? Did you have to make any pivots?
- What’s the mission and vision of Nu Brakes?
- What’s one thing you would change about VC?
- What’s one book the inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
- Six Tires, No Plan (Business)
- Extreme Ownership (Personal):
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Thank you Nagraj Kashyap for the introduction to our guest today Joe Kudla, founder and CEO of Vuori. Vuori is Performance Apparel Is Built To Move & Sweat In, Yet Styled For Everyday Life. We discuss why Joe wanted to start an athleisure wear brand, what his inspiration was, his approach to targeting specific customer personas and how he thinks about differentiation and scaling. I loved this conversation and learned alot from Joe. Without further ado, here he is.
And there you have it. It was amazing chatting with Joe. I hope you all enjoyed listening and hearing Vuori’s story as much as I enjoyed talking with him.
Questions I ask him:
- What inspired you to start a clothing brand?
- What was the insight and what type of brand did you want to build?
- What was your initial target market and how did you think about the marketing mix?
- How did you enter a space that was already highly fragmented/seemingly saturated and adequately differentiate Vuori in the customers’ eyes?
- Had a performance story
- How has the brand’s message evolved?
- How did you make sure you had an inclusive message where you focused on the southern California lifestyle?
- How did you think about specialized?
- Did you come from an apparel or design background?
- What were the first steps? How did you think about sourcing materials and design?
- How and when did you first launch?
- How did you think about retail and having a cohesive omnichannel strategy? What’s the ROI in retail? How do you think about the relationship retail to online/ecommerce?
- What’s also the split between men’s v women’s and how does that affect your business?
- How do you differentiate themselves in a marketplace with hundreds of competitors?
- How do you articulate yourselves vs. lululemon?
- You’ve mentioned how profitability has been a focus since almost day one and you’ve been profitable since 2017. How do you manage profitability vs growth? What are some of the key decisions you’ve made that lends itself to a greater focus on profitability?
- How do you approach scale?
- What has been the impact of COVID on Vuori?
- How do you think about launching new products
- When and why did you first fundraise?
- What has been your approach to fundraising?
Our guest today is John Foraker, co-founder and CEO of Once Upon a Farm. Fresh snacks with immune-boosting probiotics to keep your little one's wellness top of mind. For chilly season or any reason! Before John was the CEO of Annie’s Inc. We discuss his learnings running Annie’s for over a decade, how he became the CEO of Once Upon a Farm, what led Jennifer Garner to become a co-founder, what it’s like developing a new category, why they chose to expand to retail really fast. Without further ado, here’s John.
Some of the questions I ask John:
- What was your initial attraction to natural foods and natural products?
- What were some of your learnings running Annie’s for nearly 20 years?
- What was the aha moment and led you to found Once Upon A Farm?
- What were the first steps after realizing this was something you wanted to pursue?
- How did you connect with Jennifer Garner and have her come on board?
- How do you build a brand in a new category?
- How did you approach building the supply chain?
- What has been the hardest parts of building Once Upon A Farm?
- How did you approach fundraising?
- What’s the biggest reason why a company passed on you?
- What’s the best thing that’s happened to the business?
- What’s the worst?
- How do you think about your positioning when you enter retail - natural grocery or conventional?
- How do you approach scale?
- What’s your fascination with NFTs?
- What’s one thing you would change about raising venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Omnivore’s dilemma
- Ramping your brand by James Richardson
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest is Brandon Yahn, co-founder and partner of Convivialité Ventures. Convivialite is Pernod Ricard’s venture arm, the second largest wine & spirits company in the world. Their focus is to invest in technology companies that are changing the way people socialize, entertain, and share experiences together. We discuss his approach to thematic investing, how he thinks about strategic and non-strategic investments, particular areas within consumer technology he’s fascinated by.
Here’s some of the questions I ask him:
- What was your initial attraction to technology and innovation?
- How did you end up in San Francisco working in technology?
- What led you to founding your student debt company?
- How did you develop a relationship with Pernod Ricard?
- Why did they want to launch their own investment fund?
- How separate is the fund Pernod Ricard? Do investments need to be strategic or are they pure financial?
- Why do you have a focus on consumer technology (and technology in general) opposed to only beverage?
- How do you provide value to technology companies?
- What types of companies do you look for?
- What's your diligence process?
- What are some of the trends you are excited about in CPG?
- What's one thing you would change about VC?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice for entrepreneurs?
Our guest today is Avrum Elmakis, founder & CEO of CLMBR. CLMBR is an at-home the first vertical climber with a touch screen and on-demand, instructor-led classes. It’s a full body and one of the most efficient workouts you can do. We discuss how he became an entrepreneur, what led to founding CLMBR, how he was able to get Lebron James, Jay-Z and Novak Djokovic to invest and how he thinks about establishing new fitness habits. Without further ado, here’s Avrum.
Here’s what I asked him:
- How did you get into climbing?
- What led you to founding CLMBR?
- What were the first steps you took? What was the moment when you were all-in?
- How did you build your product and get a prototype?
- Why did you decide to launch an indie gogo campaign?
- What was the initial response?
- How did you go about building your supply chain since this sounds like a complicated product?
- You launched during the pandemic in April 2020. Was the plan always to launch in April? Seems like the ideal timing to launch an at home fitness option?
- How did you approach distribution?
- What were sales like once you launched?
- What was user feedback?
- How did your recent fundraise come together? How did Jay-Z sign on?
- As the world opens up, how do you see the future of fitness and habits around working out?
- What's next on the horizon for CLMBR?
- What's one thing you would change about fundraising?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
- What's the best piece of advice that has stuck with you?
My guest today is Abigail Cook Stone, the founder of Otherland. Otherland transforms your home into an immersive world that never stands still with their amazing scented candles. We discuss how her attraction to design led her to candles, what was missing from the market in her mind, and how she approached her supply chain getting off the ground and scale.
Here’s some of the questions I ask her:
- What was your initial attraction to design?
- When did you start thinking about starting a candle company? Was it something you always thought about or was there a specific aha moment?
- What was missing from the market?
- How did you think about the brand?
- How did you seek validation?Did you run any early tests?
- What was your manufacturing process?
- How do you think about product launches?
- Why did you decide to raise venture capital?What was the biggest reason why a fund passed?
- How did you experience at Ralph Lauren and at Founder's Collective help shape Otherland?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest today is Nagraj Kashyap, Managing Partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund one of the world's largest venture capital fund, with over $100 billion in capital. Nagraj leads their consumer investment practice for north America. It was amazing chatting with him about how Vision Fund 2 is different from fund 1, his thesis around the future of healthcare the ecommerce stack and how he thinks about scale for non-tech consumer businesses. WIthout further ado, here’s Nagraj.
- What was your initial attraction to investing in consumer focused businesses?
- How did you end up joining Softbank?
- How is Vision Fund 2’s focus different from Fund 1?
- Why should founders partner with the Vision Fund?
- What is your decision-making process? How do you get to a decision quickly in today’s market?
- How do you leverage your platform?
- Walk us through your due diligence process.
- When a founder comes to you, how do you think about the size of problem they are solving?
- How are you thinking about today’s market climate? Do you think valuations are high?
- What’s your target cadence for consumer investments?
- There’s been alot of investment in direct-to-consumer healthcare. What’s your thesis around the future of healthcare?
- Wellness and preventative care
- Where is the opportunity when it comes to the ecommerce stack serving consumer brands?
- How do you think about scale in non-software businesses/consumer brands? I.e. Vuori
- What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- Professionally: Innovator’s Dilemma
- Personally: American Sickness
- What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest today is Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, co-founder and General Partner at Hannah Grey. Hannah Grey is a first check venture fund investing in founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life which she co-founded with Kate Beardley, who also came on the show. We ask the question what are community driven brands, identity driven brands and how brands are engaging with Web3 and how to scale brands sustainably. Without further ado, Here’s Jessica.
Questions I ask Jessica:
- What was your introduction to venture capital and your initial attraction to it?
- What was the transition like from corporate VC, specializing in investing in advertising technology startups to starting your own fund?
- Is New York the center for consumer investing?
- Where do you see the opportunity with consumer brands? What are some of the trends your paying close attention to?
- Investing in consumer brands is hard because a successful exit typically looks very different to a successful exit in technology. When you speak to entrepreneurs building consumer brands, how do you know that brand is actually venture backable vs. a lifestyle business?What are some of the characteristics?What do you want to see in the founder?Is it harder investing in a consumer business if you are not the target customer?
- Since you come from an advertising background, given you no longer have the arbitrage opportunities on FB and Google to scale, what are some of the creative ways you've seen companies scale that is sustainable?
- I know we're in the early innings of the metaverse and there's lots of excitement over different aspects to it. How do you map out the different parts to the metaverse and when investing where is the opportunity for venture like returns?How are you seeing the metaverse evolve over the next few years?What are some of the consumer behavior changes you are currently thinking about?
- As we come out of this COVID period, are you shifting your focus to any new verticals?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you virtually and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice for entrepreneurs?
- What's the best piece of advice you've received?
My guest today is Mike Ghaffary who is a partner at Canvas Ventures, a firm that specializes on leading Series A. Some of their investments include Flyhomes, Nubrakes, and Zola. This is Mike’s second time on Consumer VC and is our first second time guest. His first appearance we went deep on how to evaluate and invest in marketplace businesses. On this episode, we discuss what is the next big thing in consumer after the iPhone? Is it web3, metaverse, remote work applications or something completely different?
Questions I ask Mike:
- When we spoke a couple of months ago, you mentioned how this is the perfect entrepreneurial landscape for B2B. What did you mean by that?
- We've now had the iPhone for 14 years, which has been the platform (coupled with android) for consumer technology. What are the options for the next consumer platform as you see it? Who are the candidates?
- There's lots of chatter about web 3 and how web 2 companies need to become web 3 companies in order to survive. What does that mean? What do you think about?
- If web 3 / blockchain technology does become the future, what has to also hold true or needs to happen?
- VR was hot a few years ago and then quickly crashed and burned. Now VR is back as an interesting market to VCs. What has changed?
- What do you make of Facebook changing to Meta and how do you believe the metaverse means?Is it going to be similar to the open web where you have companies that build parts to it but there is no one owner of it?I discussed with Rui Ma how in China, livestreaming is a very powerful way to market your brand and is a multi-billion acquisition channel but it only happened because Alibaba introduced it on Taobao and user adoption became widespread as a result. This is early, but with Facebook changing to Meta, are we in the beginnings of a similiar inflection point where one of the incumbents is going to make metaverse/VR technology more widespread as a result?
- When you think about the next paradigm shift as an investor since it's still uncertain, how then do you think about current opportunities?Is this why it's easier to stay in B2B currently until the next platform arrives?
- Meanwhile, we've also seen new consumer marketplace businesses that have been built that are the same business models from 10-15 years ago. Do you think new marketplace businesses can still be successful?
- Is there any theories of the next consumer technological shift you don't believe?
- Since you sit at Series A, since there is alot of excitement and high valuations, do you ever consider going earlier
- What was your favorite book that you read this past year?
- What's one piece of advice for consumer founders during these times?
My guest today is Tushar Garg, co-founder and CEO of Flyhomes. Their mission is to build the world’s best home buying experience.
We discussed how Tushar got into real estate and why he saw not much innovation on the buy side when you’re thinking about a new home, their approach to growth and raising capital and how they look at new markets to enter.
We discuss:
- Why did you want to become an entrepreneur?
- Why did you decide to focus on Real Estate?
- What were the inefficiencies?
- What's the founding journey and the insight that led to FlyHomes?
- What was your first market and how did you decide on it?
- When did you decide to raise capital?What was the biggest hangup from investors?
- What was missing from the Real Estate Transaction?
- How do you choose which market to expand in? What makes a compelling market to you?
- What has been the effect of the pandemic on real estate and FlyHomes?
- What were some of the early mistakes you made as a founder?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Steve Hughes, founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners. Sunrise Strategic Partners provides growth capital and expertise to emerging brands in the healthy, active and sustainable living space. Some of their investments include Cali’flour foods, Kodiak Cakes, and Maple Hill Creamery. We discuss the current SPAC market, the history of the natural foods movement, and transitioning from a digitally native brand to becoming an omnichannel brand.
Here are the questions I ask him:
- What was your initial attraction to the food industry?
- Why did you decide to focus on natural / organic foods?
- How did you start Boulder Brands?
- Did a SPAC in 2005, Boulder Brands
- How do you view SPAC market today?
- Why did you want to start Strategic Sunrise your own private equity shop?
- Diligence process - What is brand authenticity to you?
- What is your sweet spot when it comes to sales?
- Has to be a big category
- How do you think about strategics?
- Is there a particular sector your not bullish on that other investors are bullish on?
- What's the current landscape for strategics? How has the tide shifted in the past few years?
- Where do you fall with profitability vs. growth?
- How do assess a company that is built for digital and hasn't gone into store yet?
- What were some of your learnings through COVID?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
Thank you Deb Benton for introducing me to our guest today Nisha Dua , co-founder and General Partner at BBG Ventures . BBG Ventures is an early-stage fund backing big ideas that will reshape the way we live. One of the first episodes of this podcast was with Susan Lyne, who is the other co-founder of BBG and Susan graciously accepted to come on the show without knowing who I was when the podcast hadn't even been released yet so I am VERY grateful to the BBG. Some of their investments include Zola, Blueland, Real, and Zero Grocery. Nisha and I discuss the opportunities within health and wellness, climate friendly consumption, and solving problems for the 99%.
Some of the questions I ask her:
- What was your initial attraction to venture capital?
- How did you meet Susan Lyne?
- How did BBG Ventures come together?
- What are some of your themes or areas of focus?
- How do you evaluate founders and teams?
- What are characteristics about consumers that might be nuanced or not everyone understands?
- What are the proof points?
- How do you think about price in this current market?
- How do you think about your role as an investor?
- Has COVID changed any of your thoughts on your investment themes?
- How do you think about price in the market
- Consumption change
- FOMO timelines and price
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- I know there are no silver
- What has been your lowest moment in your journey and how did you get out of it?
- What's one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Ben Sun, co-founder and general partner at Primary Venture Partners. Primary focuses on investing in companies at seed that were founded in New York and has the largest seed stage portfolio impact team. Some of his investment include Jet.com, Coupang, K Health and Mirror. Previously he co-founded community connect, which was one of the first social networking companies. We discuss the evolution of social, why he's so bullish of companies coming out of New York, being anti thesis and a macro analysis of the current seed market.
Questions I ask Ben:
- What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship?
- How did you go about founding Community Connect?
- What made you decide to become a VC?
- How did Primary come together?
- What was your reaction then to Facebook starting off in high school
- I understand you invest in New York companies, which we will get to, but how did you end up investing in Coupang?
- Why the focus on New York? How has Silicon Alley transformed in the past 15 years?
- Why seed investing?
- New York City Summit?
- Process to figure out if a person could be the right founder?
- How do you approach this current market when it comes to price?
- It seems like lots of VCs are building out services and a platform for portfolio founders. How do you think about Primary's advantage when it comes to your own platform?
- Are you finding that many investors that traditionally invest in Series A or when a company has PMF are coming down to seed?
- I know you are an anti-thesis investor, would you mind unpacking that?
- How do you process and analyze when founders pitch ideas to you?
- Has any of your processes changed when it came to COVID?
- What's one thing you would change about VC?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head to burklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
Our guest today is Brett Thomas co-founder of CAVU Venture Partners.
CAVU Venture Partners builds brands for a healthier world. Some of their investments include WHOOP, Poppi, and Once Upon a Farm. We chat about his transition from hedge funds and the public markets to early stage companies, how his introduction helping companies was getting on billboards and the impact of that channel and how he came to found CAVU. Without further ado, here's Brett.
In this episode you will learn:
- What was your initial attraction to consumer brands?
- How did you end up at Scout Capital?
- How did CAVU come together?
- What's the differentiation at CAVU?
- When do you typically get involved in startups?
- Should startups pay more attention to offline
- What were you learnings from COVID
- When does it make sense to go to retailHow do you find where the consumer is going
- How do you get to conviction within a company?
- How do you think about brand? What makes a compelling brand?
- What's the main reason why you pass?
- How do you think about product differentiation?
- When does it make sense for companies to start omnichannel from the beginning?
- How should a company think about their channel marketing mix?
- What's a successful marketing campaign to you?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital within consumer?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? Steven Schwartzman - What It Takes
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This is a recap episode of my conversation with Sarah LaFleur, Founder & CEO of M.M. LaFleur.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This is a highlight episode of my conversation with Madeline Haydon, founder & CEO of nut pods.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This is a highlight from my conversation with Jeremy Cai, Founder & CEO of Italic
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This is a highlight of my conversation with Denise Woodard, Founder & CEO of Partake Foods.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This is a highlight from my conversation with Helaine Knapp, Founder of CITY ROW.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This episode is a highlight of my conversation with Mark Gainey, Founder of Strava.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This episode is a highlight from my conversation with Andy Dunn, the founder of Bonobos.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head toburklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
This episode is a highlight from my conversation with Alex Fine, Founder and CEO of Dame Products. To listen to the full episode, Click Here.
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head to burklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
Thank you Charlie Hanna for the intro to our guest today, Denise Woodard CEO and founder of Partake Foods. Partake Foods is produces super delicious cookies are made with real, healthy, and safe ingredients that everyone can enjoy gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO and free of the top 14 allergens, our super delicious cookies are made with real, healthy, and safe ingredients that everyone can enjoy. We discuss the origin story of Partake and inspiration from Denise's daughter, that decision of leaving Coca-Cola, how she managed to get into grocery stores and raise capital.
A few questions I ask Denise
- Why did you decide to leave big corporate CPG and your job at Coke in order to start Partake Foods?
- How did you approach experimenting with ingredients, tastetesting and finding the right formula?
- How did you go about building your supply chain?
- What were some of your learnings working for Coke that helped you build Partake Foods?
- Once you had your product what channels did you start off with?
- When did you realize you were on to something?
- When and why did you decide to raise venture capital?What was your fundraising strategy
- Once you got into retail, what was the strategy to expand?
- How did COVID affect Partake Foods?
- Since you grew and are growing so fast, how do you think about leadership and building/hiring a team?
- What's the future of Partake Foods? What's next on the horizon?
- What's one thing that you would change about venture capital and fundraising?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head to burklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
Thank you Madeline Keulen for the intro to Lori Coulter, founder of Summersalt. Summersalt produces flattering swimwear designed to fit you, not the other way around. The internet’s favorite swimwear — & your new go-to for everything from activewear to PJs. It was so fun chatting with Lori about how she developed Summersalt into one of the fastest growing swimwear brands. Without further ado, here's Lori.
Here are some of the questions I ask Lori.
- What was your attraction to fashion?
- You were designing swimwear for 10 years, what sparked Summersalt?
- Body scanning
- Could you IP
- Scanned over 10,000 women, 1to1 fit
- Customer who was neglected
- What was the insight that you found that incumbents weren't understanding?
- How did you approach distribution? What was the old way to distribute swimwear and gain consumer trust?
- Resort businesses
- Privacy from the own home, direct mail
- How did you approach brand and your positioning?
- Swimwear (I'd imagine) is a seasonal business. How do you think about introducing new products so you aren't only a seasonal business?
- How did you go about hiring a team?
- Why did you decide to raise venture money?How was that process? What's the biggest reason why a fund passed on you?
- What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?Peter Thiel Zero to OneBillion Dollar Brand
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?The highs are never as high as you think they are
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head to burklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
Thank you Will McClelland for the intro to our guest today, Sarah LaFleur, founder of M.M.LaFleur. M.M.LaFleur creates luxury apparel and accessories with the same attention to detail as high-end fashion houses. This was a great chat about how to launch an apparel brand and as well as how to adapt during COVID and new market tastes. Without further ado, here's Sarah.
Some of the questions I ask her:
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?
- Why did you decide to focus on women's workwear?
- What were the current options for women when it came to workwear and what did you set out to change?
- What were the first steps when deciding you wanted to found the company?
- How did you think about sourcing materials?
- What was your approach to production?
- How do you approach personalization to your customers?
- What was the launch strategy? How did you reach your target audience?
- Has COVID changed your business since people are not yet going back into the office?
- As we come out of COVID (hopefully soon), what do you see changing when it comes to formal wear (if anything)?
- When did you decide to raise capital?What was that process like?What was the most common reason why an investor would pass?
- What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?The Second Sex by Simone DebuarInternal
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head to burklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
My guest today is Michael Markesbery, co-founder and CEO of OROS. OROS produces award winning apparel with their patented SOLARCORE® Insulation. It's the warmest Zero-Bulk Gear. In Michael's words, they science the shit out of everything when it comes to outdoor apparel that keeps you warm. This was such a fun chat about how he's building this incredible brand that uses space technology to build their product. Without further ado, here's Michael.
- What was your attraction to space?
- How did you develop a relationship with NASA?
- Arogel - very brittle
- Arogel to foam
- Solarcore
- Really warm fiber
- What IP
- How did you come up with the idea for OROS?
- Walk us through the technology.
- Why did you think there was a need for this?
- What was your first product?
- When did you decide to fundraise?How was that experience?What was investor reactions?
- Where did you decide to sell? What was the launch strategy?
- How do you describe your target consumer?
- What were some of the stumbling blocks along the way?
- Are you the exclusive holder of the license with NASA? What's that relationship like?
- What's your percentage of B2C vs. B2G sales?
- What do you have on the roadmap for new products?
- What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?Don't ever ask for favors, ask for advice
- What's one piece of advice for founders?Take the moonshot
Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale.
For more information head to burklandassociates.com
Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth.
Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort
Thank you Daniel Gulati for the introduction to our guest today, Jeremy Cai, founder and CEO of Italic. Italic is the destination for the best luxury goods without the brand names. In this episode we touch on his unique C2M business model in luxury, the evolution of ecommerce, learnings from Costco and Amazon and his approach to scale. Without further ado, here's Jeremy.
Questions I ask Jeremy:
- What was the insight that led you to found Italic and how did you approach the business model?
- What were some of the first steps you took whether that's market research or speaking with manufacturers that helped made you release this could be an opportunity?
- Now Italic changes the manufacturers business model?
- Since your dealing with manufacturers directly, what is there business model. I'd image it's heavy inventory
- When it comes to ecommerce, how do you think about differentiation and your focal point in building a marketplace + subscription business?
- Who do you believe is your target customers?
- Walk us through a little bit of the world of contract manufacturing and your model?Do contract manufacturers typically have exclusive partnerships with the major brands?How do you ensure quality?What's your current take rate?What's the delivery process?What is C2M? Has it been the missed opportunity in ecommerce?How do you see the model evolving?
- What were some of the effects of COVID?
- As retail opens back up, how do you think about
- What's the vision? What are we going to see from Italic in the next 5-10 years?
- What was your approach to fundraising?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice to founders?
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Our guest today is Tali Vogelstein, who is one of the founding investors at Avid Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm in NYC that invests in visionary founders building transformative businesses across consumer internet, fintech, and software in North America, Europe, and Israel. On this episode, we focus on how to invest at a global scale and the opportunities, breaking down different verticals for fintech, as well as their fund strategy.
Here's some the questions I ask Tali:
- What was your attraction to finance and venture capital?
- How did Avid Ventures come together?
- What's the structure of how you deploy capital?
- How do you think about risk? Why do you choose not to lead rounds?
- How do you stay price disciplined?
- How do you think about market size? How do you make sure you don't underestimate markets?
- What do you think about copying business models, x for y market that work well in one market and a founder is trying to replicate that business in a new market?
- How do you think about the current environment where you have soaring evaluations?
- What's the biggest misconception when it comes to fintech?
- How do you think about distribution innovation vs. product distribution?
- Since you invest globally, how do you think about markets and consumer or prosumer pain points?How do you analyze that pain point?How do you analyze if this is a good market to invest in? What makes a market nice to invest in?
- How do you break down future of work? What type of businesses are you bullish on?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one thing book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
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Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist.
Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free.
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Thank you Ben Jang for the intro to our guest today, Jon Sebastiani, founder of Sonoma Brands and Krave Jerky. Sonoma Brands is a private equity firm focused on the growth sectors of the consumer economy. Krave was one of the first better for you beef jerky brands on the market. Jon is the first founder we've had on this show that not only scaled and sold his company to a strategic, but also reacquired the company.
Some of the questions I ask Jon:
- You're a fourth generation wine maker, and was president of Viansa winery. Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur and focus on beef jerky?
- What were your first steps when you decided to start the brand?
- When did you realize Krave was gaining traction?
- What were some of the things you did right or went your way that led to Krave's success?
- Looking back, what were some of the mistakes that you made?
- How did the sale to Hershey come about?
- Why did you decide to create Sonoma Brands?
- Why do you decide to focus on the growth stage instead of early stages?
- What's different creating and scaling a brand now vs. when you did it with Krave?
- What are elements you look for in businesses?
- What is the opportunity investing in consumer brands?
- Why did you buy Krave back?
- What are current trends you're passionate about?
- Do you only look at single category businesses?
- How do you think about growth vs. profitability?
- Is there a trend that you think is misunderstood?
- As an investor what is a good exit?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
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Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist.
Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free.
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Thank you Paul Martino for the intro to our guest today Stuart Landesberg, founder of Grove Collaborative. Grove Collaborative delivers eco-friendly home essentials, including household cleaning, personal care, baby, kid, and pet products. I had a blast chatting with Stuart. I know I say that a lot, but I found how he started and grew Grove Collaborative and dealt with the challenges that he faced especially raising capital fascinating, and really enjoyed learning from him.
Some of the questions I ask Stuart:
- What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?
- How did Grove Collaborative come together? What was the insight?
- How do you think about price?
- How do you balance creating and sourcing products that are better for the planet but are also able to compete in price against products that are not good for the planet / the incumbents?
- How did you pay attention to growth?
- How do you decide to launch a new product?Unique level of customer dataHow were you able to build this community?
- Commitment to innovation?
- Did you start out solely and then an online retailer and then decide to create your own brands?
- How do you curate third party brands? How do you pick your partners?
- How do you approach tone and the Grove customer?
- How did you approach growth and scale?
- How do you build consumer trust and balancing lots of SKUs, lots of choices but also simplicity?
- What was your approach to hiring?
- You will also be creating your own stores?
- Why did you decide to fundraise? What was your fundraising process?
- What was the reaction from investors in the beginning?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received
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Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free.
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Our guest today is Carter Reum, Co-Founder of M13. M13 is one of the largest LA-started venture capital fund. Some of their investments include Lyft, Tonal, Classpass, Daily Harvest. Previously Carter founded VeeV, the alcohol grain spirit brand. This was a fun conversation where we discuss how to build a modern venture capital consumer-focused fund, technology thesis, and evolution from fund 1 to 3.
Some of the questions I ask Carter
- What was your attraction to venture capital?
- How did M13 come together?
- Build a platform - what does that look like?
- How then do you think about distribution
- What's the opportunity you are seeing in consumer technology?How has your thesis evolved from fund 1 to fund 3?Why have you shifted your focus away from digitally native brands?
- I've talked with investors who don't want to have a significant increase in the AUM of their fund and specialize. You have seemed to take the opposite approach as each new fund has grown quite significantly. What is the strategy?
- Why are you bullish on LA?What's most misunderstood about LA as a startup hub?
- What were your learnings through the pandemic?
- Great seed investors, but nowDid this change your approach to specific sectors?
- Today there is so much money in venture capital and the private markets. It's extremely competitive for deals. How do you think about price discipline, speed and diligence in today's market?ConcentrationDiligence cycle
- How do you think about fund differentiation?Propulsion Firm - how can I help
- How do the various parts to your fund interact with one another?Since you also launch companies from your studio, when do you think about building vs. buying a piece of another company?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What was your biggest learning during COVID?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?Assessing and evolving growth vs. fix mindsetNeeds to be a story teller
- Is it tough working with your brother Courtney?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
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Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free.
Click Here to get started.
Our guest today is Will Schmitt, Head of Venture Strategy at Miroma Ventures. Miroma just launched a $100 million fund focused on consumer and media brands. Previously he was at Naturaza and led investments in OROS, Yellowbird - If you remember the founder of Yellowbird, and Cleancult. He also previously co-founded Trail Post Ventures with Nick Mindel. We discuss how Will thinks about fund differentiation, starting a business online vs. retail, and pulling the right levers for growth. Without further ado, here's Will.
Some of the questions I ask Will:
- What was your attraction to finance and consumer?
- What were doing before Miroma Ventures?
- How did you end up joining Miroma?
- How do you think about fund differentiation?
- When do you typically like to partner with companies?
- I've had on investors who say for digitally native brands, don't touch paid marketing until you get to $1 million in sales via word of mouth. I've had other investors who say the bar is so high that you should only really be thinking about raising venture capital if you have a $10 million revenue run rate. How do you think about the right growth levers, when to use them and if a company can be venture backabl
- When are early signs that a consumer brand has gotten past the noise?
- Community has become a bit of buzzword. How have you seen brands build community?
- One of your missions is to invest in under represented founders, particularly female founders. As Claire Diaz-Ortiz said on her episode if you don't have a biast, you actually aren't human and the biasm in venture is people typically invest in people who look like them. i.e. overwhelming majority of VCs are white males, so the majority of founders that get funded are white males.What do you do differently? How do you think about breaking that mold and make sure you have a diverse network?
- How do you think about diversification?
- What does a great exit look like for you?
- I've had on Ernesto Schmitt (related?) and he said that brands are heading into retail way too early. I then had on Andy Dunn from Bonobos who thinks you should start in retail from the very beginning. When do you think is the right moment to head into retail?
- What are some of the particular verticals or trends that you are excited about?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
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Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free.
Click Here to get started.
My guest today is Doug Hudson, founder and CEO of Tend. Tend has reimagined the entire dental experience with transparent pricing, modern studios & no judgment ever. Previously he founded several consumer health companies. In this chat we discuss building companies in regulated sectors, why he decided to focus on disrupting the dental industry, and how he approaches expansion.
Some of the questions I ask Doug:
- You've built multiple businesses in heavily regulated industries, what was your attraction to heavily regulated industries?
- When you founded Tend, what was the fresh perspective and opportunity that you saw?What was the opportunity in dental?When you say direct to consumer when it comes to dentistry, what do you mean by that?How does the online experience relate to the in-store experience?How you go about building a brand around a patient journey
- The NPS score for dentists are generally, very low. How did you think about improving that score in the category with Tend?
- So once you decided this was the next opportunity, what were some of the first steps to building Tend?How did you pick the first location?How do you think about retail design and ambiance for each location?How did you approach building a brand?
- What was your approach to attracting customers?
- How do you think about the different components of Tend?What's the decision making process like when launching new products?
- What's your approach to city expansion?
- Why did you decide to fundraise from venture capitalists?
- What was your approach to fundraising?What was your process?What was the biggest reason why investors past?
- What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
- What's one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust
Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. https://www.ferret.ai/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=consumervc&utm_campaign=Q4
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Head Here to get started. https://www.gorgias.com/?gspk=bWlrZWdlbGI4MTk3&gsxid=h9iBxY4DHuTn
My guest today is Claire Díaz-Ortiz, who is a venture capitalist and author of 9 books including twitter for good and design your day and is based in Argentina. She was one of the early employees at Twitter who has been dubbed "The Woman Who Got the Pope on Twitter" and Claire has also been named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company.
In our conversation we discuss her early blogging days and the rise of social, how to back more diverse founders, evaluating solo founders and Latin America.
Some of the questions I asked Claire:
- What was your initial attraction to technology and how did you end up as early employee at Twitter?
- What were some the initiatives did you
- How did you get the pope on Twitter
- What are some of the strategies that you've seen work for entrepreneurs when it comes to growing their business on social media, particularly Twitter?
- How do you think about the future of social?
- We've talked about on this show how brands of today are founder driven, meaning the founder's story and ability to story tell can be a large part of what's resinating with consumer. When you are underwriting, how do you think about the separation from the founder and the business?
- You invest in both Latin America and the US. What are some of the biggest opportunities in the the latin American market within B2C facing businesses?What's most misunderstood about Latin America by U.S. investors?
- Walk us through your due diligence process. How do you evaluate opportunities?
- One of the parts of venture capital is bringing more diversity to the table, especially women, and investing in more women founders. What has to change in order for this to happen?
- I believe even before the pandemic, you were a proponent on using Zoom and online communication tools as a way to meet new people and invest. Now we've seen an acceleration of this during COVID, but how does this change where venture ecosystems exist?
- What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
- What's one piece of advice for founders?
Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust
Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist - https://www.ferret.ai/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=consumervc&utm_campaign=Q4
Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free.
Head Here to get started - https://www.gorgias.com/?gspk=bWlrZWdlbGI4MTk3&gsxid=h9iBxY4DHuTn
Thank you Susan Lyne for the introduction to our guest today, Andy Dunn, the founder of Bonobos. Bonobos was one of the first digitally native brands to exist. They eventually sold to Walmart for over $300 million. In this episode, Andy shares the founding journey of Bonobos, how he thinks about the current state of digitally native brands and a clue about what he's up to next. Without further ado, here's Andy.
Some of the questions I ask Andy:
- What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship?
- You started Bonobos at Stanford. How did you meet your co-founder Brian Spaly?
- Did you have other business ideas? How did you land on pants? What was the insight?
- What was the customer feedback?
- What was first step for testing out this idea?
- Why did you decide to move the business to New York instead of staying the bay have access to tech talent?
- How did you find your first customers and gain early momentum?
- We talk on this podcast about doing things that don't scale in the early days. What were some of the activities you did that wouldn't have scaled?
- When did you decide to sell online?
- When did you decide to raise capital? Who was your first investor?
- What are the aspects of Bonobos that resonated with them?
- Who was your target customer?
- How were you able to get to your customer?
- Why did you decide to move the company to New York?
- Why weren't you ready for a Series A?
- Was it hard to recruit tech talent in New York?
- How did you approach hiring? How were you able to attract talent?
- How did you build culture?
- How did you approach growth vs. profitability? When did you decide (if you decided) to focus on profitability?
- Didn't know how to build the tech stack?
- How did you approach hiring tech talent?
- When and how did you develop the concept for guideshops? What was your omnichannel strategy?
- What was your approach to leadership?
- When and how did you develop the concept for guideshops? What was your omnichannel strategy?
- When was the moment when you knew the trajectory of Bonobos was looking good?
- What was your approach to leadership?
- When did you decide to do paid marketing?
- What were some of the challenges and trials you had to face while you were building Bonobos?
- What were some of the mistakes that you made during Bonobos?
- What was the process like selling to Walmart?
- I know you also invest as well. How do you describe the current landscape of DNVBs?How do you evaluate brands and founders?
- What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's one piece of advice that you have for founders currently building?
- What are you currently working on?
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Our guest today is Rui Ma, who is the founder of Tech Buzz China and helps funds identify tech investments in both the U.S. and China. Tech Buzz China is a podcast and a community for those interested in China tech. I've been a fan of Tech Buzz China for a long time and learned so much about the ecommerce innovation that's happening in the east from Rui. As you might be thinking, we're going to discuss the Chinese cross over brands in this episode and talk about C2M businesses and how supply chains have changed over the past few years.
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What was your initial attraction to technology?
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You've worked as an investor for a long time, what propelled you to also found Tech Buzz China?
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What are some of the differences in consumer behavior in China and the United States?
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What needs to happen in order to bring livestream to the masses in the west?
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Do you think the creator economy is going to develop like it has in China with livestreamers considering to IPO?
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How do ecommerce platforms test new features?
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What do you make of Chinese brands coming to the west and having success?
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Do you believe Chinese consumer brands today are facing an opportunity like Japanese brands in the 70s (on the cusp of becoming global)
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If you are an American brand is it more difficult to gain a presence in China?
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You mention that now it's a super efficient time to build brands in China. Why is this so?
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Unlike startups in the US may choose to bootstrap and grow their business slowly, many businesses in China just want to make a quick buck, they usually get involved in raising very early. Do you think CPG startup bootstrapping stands any chance in China?
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Would love your take on valuations / multiples of a traditional business vs a software business. It seems a much more traditional business (like a Starbucks, which has a sizable digital retail component) than a software / platform / digital business?
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What do you think Americans most misunderstand about the Chinese consumer tech?
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What's one book that impacted you professionally and one book that impacted you personally?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
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Our guest today is Andrea Hippeau, Partner at Lerer Hippeau. Lerer Hippeau is a New York based early stage venture capital fund with some of their investments include Allbirds, Chubbies, Cotopaxi and Glossier. We discuss how to invest in pet products, measuring environmental and sustainability, and what makes a digitally native brand venture backable.
Some of the questions I ask Andrea:
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What was your initial attraction to venture capital?
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Difference between family office vs. venture capital?
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What interests you in consumer brands?
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How do you think about regulation?
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How do you measure environmentally and sustainability?
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In an era where you don't have those growth marketing arbitrage opportunities on FB and Google, what makes you excited about investing in brands today?
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One of your areas of expertise is the pet space. How do you dissect such a large market?
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What particular sub segments are you most fascinated by and growing?
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What areas do you think are over saturated?
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What were some of your biggest learnings during COVID?
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I had on Ernest Schmitt from The Craftory who made the case that digitally native brands are hitting retail way to early. When do you think it's appropriate to go into retail?
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Has Figs going public changed any of your perception of the scale relating to digitally native brands?
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What are the typical gross margins, CAC/LTV ratio or pay back period you like to see in a company today?
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What make a digitally native brand venture backable?
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How do you analyze companies and figure out if a company has gotten past the noise and could be venture scalable?
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As we (hopefully) come out of COVID soon, what questions are you asking yourself relating to how consumers are going to spend their time and money?
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What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
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What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
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What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
My guest today is Kevin Campos, Partner and Head of Retail at Fifth Wall. Fifth Wall manages the largest fund specialized in real estate technology. On the retail side, some of their investments include Allbirds, Cotopaxi and Foxtrot. This was an awesome conversation about Kevin's upbringings in retail, how that shaped his career, the changes in retail during COVID and why landlords should be open to tech enabled tenants and their advantages. Without further ado, here's Kevin.
Some of the questions I ask Kevin:
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What was your attraction to retail?
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What were some of your learnings from your parents since they were both business owners?
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Summer Camp Campos was working in the
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What attracted you to work at Fifth Wall and on the investing side of retail?
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Operating ideas
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Ideas vs. execution
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How do you think about investing in consumer brands in this current environment?
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We've talked on this show about the changes in retail during COVID, which were drastic. How has (or has) that changed your thinking when you're advising companies if/when they should go into retail?
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Recently I had on Ernesto Schmitt, co-founder of the venture fund The Craftory and he said that he believes alot of digitally native brands are heading into retail way to early. How do you make of the current market?
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What are some creative growth strategies you've seen brands incorportate?
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How important is Amazon to a brand strategy?
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How will the retail store change as we come out of COVID?
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Do you have to be a sustainable brand to win?
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Also, what does sustainability mean to you?
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Are there certain markets or parts of certain cities within the U.S. that you think are destined to become a retail destinations?
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When does it make sense for a brand to create their own stores as opposed to go wholesale when thinking about expanding into retail?
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What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
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What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Thank you Mike Duda for the intro to our guests today, Gabby Cohen and Tehmina Haider. Gabby is the Global head of intergrated marketing at Harry's Inc. and Tehmina is Head of Harry's labs. It was amazing learning about the evolution of Harry's from a razor and shaving company, developing products in new categories and creating a portfolio of brands by both building and acquiring other consumer brands. In this episode you'll learn their approach brand development, the types of brands they look to acquire and how they think about different sales channels. Without further ado, here's Gabby and Tehmina.
Some of the questions I ask Gabby and Tehmina:
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What attracted each of you to work and be part of Harry's?
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Gabby - How would you describe or pitch Harry's brand to someone who had never interacted or heard of Harry's?
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How does Harry's approach innovation?
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Are there macro trends or consumer behaviors that might be an umbrella or a north star
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What is Harry's Labs?
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Is there a shared customer
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When does it make sense to have more of an
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What types of companies do you look to acquire?
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How do you make that decision of building in house vs. acquiring?
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What's Harry's advantage and what could brands gain when acquired?
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When you build new brands like Flamingo, Cat Person and Headquarters, how do you think about sales channels to sell product (DTC vs. wholesale) and channel mix?
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How would you describe this current era of DNVB?
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Has COVID changed which categories you want to focus on when it comes to innovation?
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What's one thing you would change about the perception of consumer brands?
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What's one book that inspired each of you personally and each of you professionally?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
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What's one piece of advice for founders building brands?
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What's one book that inspired each of you personally and one book that inspired each of you professionally?
Our guest today is Neil Sequeira, Co-Founder & Managing Director at Defy. Defy backed exceptional entrepreneurs at the early stages. Some of their investments include Fable, Triller, and Boom Sports. Previously, Neil served as Managing Director of General Catayst and has been a venture capitalist for the past 20 years. I had a blast chatting with Neil about the current state of VC, celebrities cofounding consumer companies, the verticalization of social and categories he's comfortable writing the first check in. Without further ado, here's Neil.
Some of the questions I ask him:
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What was your initial attraction into venture?
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How did you make your way into venture capital?
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You've had a ton of experience investing in consumer technology and consumer goods companies. How do you think about the market today? When things are tough
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What's your approach for looking at opportunities?
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What's your due diligence process?
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How do you think about fund differentiation?
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How do you approach price and ownership?
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When I talk to investors, deals are closing really fast. Their wish is for the market to actually move slower. Have you had to alter at all your due diligence process at all to get to conviction faster?
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What makes a good board member?
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What does an entrepreneur really want?
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Do the things that makes their life easier
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What has been your biggest learning from COVID?
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How are you seeing the world of startups and venture capital as the world begins to open up?
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How has venture capital changed?
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What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
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Very diverse firm
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People invest in people who look like them
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What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
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What's one piece of advice for founders currently building?
My guest today is Alexa von Tobel, Founder of Inspired Capital and LearnVest. Inspired is a generalist fund based in New York City that backs early-stage founders with transformative ideas. Some of their companies include Chief, Geneva, Public and Snackpass. They recently closed their second fund of $281 million investing in seed and series A companies. She also founded LearnVest, which was an American financial planning company which she sold for $250 million. In this episode we discuss how New York's entrepreneurial and venture capital scene has risen in the past 15 years, her approach to investing as a generalist and staying price disciplined in this current market. Without further ado, here's Alexa.
Some of the questions I ask Alexa:
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So what inspired you to start Inspired Capital?
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How did the fund come together?
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What was fund 1’s focus?
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Unfair advantages?
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Operational experience to be a great investor?
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What were some of your biggest learnings through fund 1?
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How do you approach investing at seed and Series A?
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How has New York transformed as a startup and venture ecosystem in the past 15 years?
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What verticals in New York are you most excited about?
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How is fund 2 going to be different from fund 1?
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How do you think about price discipline in the current market?
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Is founder-friendly in today’s landscape writing a larger check?
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How do you approach partnering with founders?
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Are you finding that founders aren’t always choosing the highest prices?
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How do you stay price discipline in this current market?
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What’s your sourcing strategy?
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What parts of the creator economy excite you?
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Has COVID changed your mind on any particular verticals?
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What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
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What’s one piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Andrew Gluck, GP at irrvrntVC. Irreverant is a rolling fund that focuses on investing in NextGen Commerce, DTC, & AdTech. Some of Andrew's investments include Haus, Caraway, Cadence, Italic, Poppy and Simple. Previously, Andrew founded and was the COO of the marketing agency Agency Within which generated over $5B for brands looking to maximize profitability. In this episode, we discuss the intersection of growth marketing and investing, how Andrew makes investment decisions based on his background in growth as well as how to choose a growth marketing agency. Without further ado, here's Andrew.
Some of the questions I ask Andrew:
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What was your initial attraction to growth marketing?
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What are some of the changes you've seen in the past 10 years when it comes to digital marketing and scaling companies?
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Why did you eventually decide to start your own growth marketing agency?
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When dealing with digitally native brands, what are some of the aspects within growth that sometimes clients might not understand?
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If a company has most of its sales on Amazon, does that worry you?
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When does it make sense for a company to start paid marketing?
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What's the smallest ad budget you recommend that could give you some idea if it's working?
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How long should a test be?
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We've heard time and time again on this show it's the easiest point in time to build a company, the hardest period to build a brand. As an investor and marketer, what has to be compelling about a company in order for you to invest your time or money?
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We've talked on this show about how choosing an agency can be a difficult thing to do. It's hard to understand
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How did irrvnt.vc come together? Why did you decide to create a rolling fund opposed to a traditional venture capital fund?
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Where does a subscription make sense?
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What are the advantages of a rolling fund?
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What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
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What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
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What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
My guest today is Rex Woodbury, who is a Principal at Index Ventures. Index Ventures is one of the largest and prestigious VC funds inthe world, Some of the companies they've invested in Robinbood, Roblox, and Glossier. Rex focuses his time on thinking how people, culture and technology intersect. He has an amazing weekly newsletter called Digital Native where he shares what he's observing around these pillars, which I highly recommend. You'll learn in this episode about the metaverse - what it is and how the creator economy, crypto, NFTs, web 3.0 all tie into it as well as different use cases of how people are creating their own digital identities. Without further ado, here's Rex.
Some of the questions I ask Rex:
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What was your attraction to technology and media?
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How do you describe how technology has shaped culture?
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What is the metaverse today and how do you see the metaverse evolving?
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How do you describe Web 3.0?
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What does community
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With all this being said, how do you think about the modern community and online community in general?
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What's the difference between creators and influencers?
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Creator economy is a very hot sector to invest in. How do you analyze though what's investible and what isn't investible?
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Which legacy platforms are doing a good job attracting creators and which platforms have work to do?
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Metaverse
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What's some of the differences from the legacy social media companies vs. modern ones?
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Are we going to see platform gatekeepers in the future?
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How do you think about the future of fame?
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How are people interacting in the meta verse? Which parts of the metaverse do you find most interesting?
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There's now so many products that are investible. What are products that you are most interested in becoming investible in the future?
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In your piece on the digital renaissance, you mention "This gets to the heart of this new economy. It’s no longer designed for centralized platforms that monopolize value; it’s built for creators and communities." What does this new economy look like?
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What will the metaverse look like in the next 5 years?
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What's one part of the creator economy and the metaverse that most investors may not understand?
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Are we going to see a billion dollar creator? Will creators ever get to be venture backable?
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What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
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What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
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What's one piece of advice you have for founders?
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What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Thank you Daniel Gulati for the introduction to my guest today Allon Bloch, founder and CEO of K Health. K Health is where you can get personalize heath answers and fast. It's the closest doctor's office is in your pocket, Trusted by over 4 million patients. Allon is also a serial entrepreneur who founded not one but two companies that went public - Wix and Vroom. On this show, we ask what's his process to determine whether or not to start a company, how he thinks about markets, why he wanted to innovate within the health sector and much much more. Without further ado, here's Allon.
Questions I ask Allon:
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What was your attraction to be an entrepreneur?
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What compelled you to start Wix, Vroom and K Health?
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What makes a market attractive for you to want to start a business?
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Why health?
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Walk us through how healthcare currently works?
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Why has disruption been slow healthcare?
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What is the biggest problem with healthcare in your mind?
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Since you didn't come from a healthcare background, how do you approach building a company in an industry that you're new to?
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What led to the founding of K Health?
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What was the first problem you wanted to solve?
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What were the effects of COVID when it came to innovation within healthcare?
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What is telemedicine and how is K Health different?
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How do you partner with Primary Care doctors and hospitals?
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How does the use of AI help primary care doctors?
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What’s next for K Health?
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What was your approach to fundraising?
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What are some of the important habits that you've developed?
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What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
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What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
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What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
My guest today is Ali Hamed, co-founder and Partner of CoVenture. CoVenture offers entrepreneurs multiple ways to finance their businesses. Ali is one of the more unique guests we've had on the show simply because CoVenture's model is quite unique as they can underwrite both equity and debt into technology startups. When Ali and I first got talking, he mentioned that he was consumer curious as opposed to a straight consumer investor. We'll unpack that on the show. We also talk about why Ali is so bullish on the Amazon rollups that have been happening, which social media companies are doing a great job appealing to creators and which aren't, and much much more..
Some of the questions I ask Ali:
- What was your initial attraction to finance and venture capital?
- How did CoVenture come together?
- When should consumer entrepreneurs think about credit options and financing vs. raising from traditional venture capital funds?
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Is credit as a resource underused in consumer startups?
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What about consumer makes you curious?
- Why do you think there is a huge opportunity in investing in Amazon as opposed to to Shopify businesses?
- For a brand on Amazon, how do you think about what is a competitive advantage?
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We've talked on this show about how you can't build a brand on Amazon. Are we now starting to see companies be able to build a DTC business outside of Amazon?
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Why do you hate Instagram?
- How do you think about the future of media and content?
- What must the legacy platforms do to service creators?
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How do you view the future of social and online interaction?
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We spoke about how music has changed to be shorter, and the song's duty is to hit to the chorus faster because you are optimizing for streams. When you look at other forms of content, what are ways technology has changed other formats?
- What's one piece about the creator economy that other investors might not understand?
- What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
- What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
My guest today is Paul Hsiao, co-founder and General Partner at Canvas Ventures. Canvas is one of the leading Series A firms having invested in Zola, Thrive Global and Roofstock. You'll learn what are the ingredients that could make for a spectacular marketplace businesses, what the series a currently looks like, and much much more. Without further ado, here's Paul.
And there you have it. It was a pleasure chatting with Paul. You can follow him @paul_hsiao on Twitter.
Some of the questions I ask Paul:
- What was your initial attraction to technology?
- After Mazu Networks, why did you decide to become a venture capitalist?
- How did Canvas come together?
- I know one of your main focuses is marketplace businesses. There’s alot of chatter in consumer how consumer SaaS type businesses are becoming the future of consumer software as a primary business model. What do you make of the current landscape?
- What makes a market place business exciting for you to invest in?
- What is your due diligence process? What are the metrics you typically see at the Series A?
- In today’s market where it seems like there’s more unicorns today than maybe the number of companies that were raising a Series A 10 years ago, what is your expectation when you invest in a company?
- What’s your biggest learning from this COVID period?
- After a first time founder raises a Series A, what do you find is the most common element that the founder might have a hard time with when it comes to the board meetings?
- What are some of the differences investing in enterprise vs. consumer facing businesses?
- I read that one of your passions is the data economy. How do you describe the data economy and what are some of the ways it could transform B2C businesses?
- What’s one thing that you would change about venture capital?
- What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
- What’s your biggest piece of advice for anyone building businesses that you find yourself saying the most?
Our guest today is Sam Corcos, co-founder and CEO of Levels. Levels makes it easy for people to see how their diet is affecting both their health and their lifestyle in a quantifiable way by measuring biomarkers in real time. In previous episodes we've discussed tracking your sleep, your exercise. Levels is tracking your blood glucose so you can make better decisions about what you consume. This was a fascinating conversation about how to optimize what you eat and how wearables can help you understand your body better. Without further ado, here's Sam.And there you have it. It was a pleasure having Sam on the show. Highly recommend following him on Twitter @SamCorcos.Some of the questions I ask Sam.What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship? You started a few companies that were in different categories. CarDash (cardash.com) and what made you interested in the human body?Why did you decide to focus on metabolic health and optimizing your health?Why didn't you want to be on the technical side for Levels?What was it like building a company with 5 co-founders? That might be the most amount of co-founders we've had on this show. What's that dynamic like?Why are we in a metabolic health crisis?Why did you decide to focus on continuous glucose monitoring? Is the change in glucose the best indicator to track what foods are best for you?What are some of the biggest myths when it comes to what a healthy diet actually is?It seems like theres conflicting information about nutrition makes them doubt their food choices. How does Levels help in this capacity?How did Levels come together?What's your approach to nutrition?How did you go about building the product?How did you seek customer validation?What's the most expensive piece to you product?When did you realize this is a consumer need?What was it like going through YC?What was your approach to fundraising?What were some of your biggest learnings during COVID?What were some of the most important habits that you've developed for productivity?How did you think about pricing your product?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally, one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Our guest today is Ben Savage, Partner at Clocktower Technology Ventures. Ben and his fund focuses on investing in Fintech and financial services. As you could image, we're going to be talking about the consumer side to fintech. You'll also learn how his time working under Ray Dalio at Bridgewater shaped him as an investor, why digitally native financial services haven't taken off as fast as digitally native CPG brands, and opportunities in fractional ownership. Without further ado, here's Ben.Some of the questions I ask Ben:I'd love to first hear about your background since you've had a breadth of experiences as an investor. What was your attraction to finance and how did you get your start?You worked at Bridgewater Associates. On this program we always ask each guest what's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally and Principles has come up time and time again. What was it like working there first hand and what did working with Ray and his team teach you? Transparency you deliver for feedback. Pick your battlesReceive honest feedback for founders?How did Clocktower come together? Why the fintech focus?Why has it taken so long for consumer financial services to be adopted D2C models? Is it harder to obtain consumer trust?How are these consumer financial services able to build trust?What is the reason why AlipayHow do you think about this era of new investable assets? What's not currently investable that you think could be become investable in the future?What's the best new idea that you've heard - fractional ownership, technology is allowing us to trade into tradeable wealth.They say that the future of consumer is fintech. What do you think investors don't understand about fintech?How are you thinking about the current state of cryptocurrency?At a macro lends what makes fintech in Latin America interesting and one of your focuses?Why are the margins going upHow are you going to accelerate consumer adoption for banks?We talk about how every consumer tech company becomes a fintech company. Do you think investors are truly prepared for this?Are you also thinking about ways to make private markets more liquid?What was your biggest learning due to COVID?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Katie Shea, Managing Partner of Divergent Capital. Katie has had alot of experience on both sides of the table as a founder, operator and angel investor and venture capital. Some of her investments include Cityrow, Parade and Topicals. We discuss why and how she launched a venture fund in the middle of the pandemic, how she approached angel investing, where the bar is for digitally native brands. Without further ado, here's Katie.You can follow Katie on Twitter Here.Some of the questions I ask Katie:I think a great place to start is what was your initial attraction to consumer?Why did you decide to start a fund during COVID?You've been both a founder and early employee. What were some of your learnings in both of those roles?You've worked in marketing with companies, as an employee and consultant. I remember in our first conversation, you spoke about being much more analytical with marketing (figuring out LTV/CAC and optimization) and less brand-marketing oriented. Since we don't have the arbitrage opportunities in growth like we did in the late 00s/early 10s, what are some creative strategies that you've seen in order to have higher LTV/CAC ratios and shorter paybacks?How should a new consumer brand approach growth?As an angel investor, what is your strategy when it comes to portfolio diversification?You invest in both technology and brands. How do you think about portfolio construction?Do you have any advice on folks that are thinking of becoming angels?Divergent Venture Fund started during COVIDWalk me through your due diligence process?What are current trends that you are focused on?When should a consumer brand think about raising capital?What's one thing that you would change as it relates to venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
My guest today is Henri Pierre-Jacques, Managing Partner at Harlem Capital. Harlem Capital is a venture capital firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over 20 years. Some of their investments include Aunt Flow, Blavity, and Repeat. We discuss how to think about impact and opportunity in the early stages of investing, Harlem's thesis and why Harlem wants to be a multi-stage investment firm.And there you have it. It was a pleasure chatting with Henri. Highly recommend following him on Twitter @hpierrejacquesHere are some of the questions I ask Henri:What made you want to transition from private equity to venture capital?Why did you choose to start your own fund instead of joining a fund?How did Harlem Capital come together?What was your process when it came to raising your first fund?What were some of the reasons why investors passed?What is some of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to emerging managers?How do you describe Harlem Capital's focus area?What are some of the particular consumer trends that you are excited about?Why do you think fund 1 and fund 2 outperform?What is your fund model do you tend to be more concentrated or more spray and prey?Do you consider yourself more of a thematic or opportunistic investor? Why?The number of founders who happen to be women or people of color that are venture-backed is extremely low - to say the least. In your years working in venture capital do you see this starting to change on the ground level?We talk about how to receive real changeI believe you recently moved to Miami. What has the venture scene been like? What are your impressions on the startup community?What were your biggest learnings from COVID?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice for founders?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Our guest today is Harpreet Singh Rai, the CEO of Oura. Oura is a smart ring that tracks your sleep and links how you sleep to your energy levels through the day. I have one, I love it. I have a bullet journal where I track all my habits and how I'm feeling throughout the day and what I learned is one of the biggest indicators to how I feel and how productive I am is directly tied to how I slept the night before. In this episode we discuss how underated sleep is, how Harpreet became the CEO of Oura and much much more.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Some of the questions I ask Harpreet:You worked in banking for a long time. What compelled you to become an entrepreneur?Why did you decide to focus on sleep? What was the insight that led you to founding Oura?Why did you choose the ring as the type of wearable?When you were figuring out the data in the beginning, what was most surprising anWhat are the metrics/components to get a good night's sleep?What is Heart Rate Variance? How does that effect your sleep?Whilst sleep has been the positioning of Oura, how likely is it that we see fitness tracking being more of a focus?How do you calculate sleep score?How do you calculate readiness score?How does the form factor evolve from here?When do you think you found product-market fit?Why is it ring? - Accuracy and convenienceWhat was market validation to you?Rest modes - Matteo - to help save your lifeHow did you approach growth?When did you decide that you needed to fundraise?What was that process like? What was your strategy?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Our guest today is Bri Kimmel, Founder of Worklife Ventures. Worklife is the first fund designed for builders, creators & individual contributors. Some of her investments include Clubhouse, Hopin and Italic. We focus this conversation on how having fun is serious business, the ins and outs of the creator economy and evaluating companies where a celebrity is a cofounder.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Questions I ask Bri:How did Worklife VC come together? What compelled you to become an investor and move to the other side of the table?Build a community to make entrepreneurshipZendesk - support leadership forum; large scale community eventsHow do you define a creator? Tech more approachable for local small businesses onlineWhy did you want to specialize in investing in products that help builders, creators, and individual contributors thrive? Cash drops -Year at home, alot of people starting small businessesI bet people will seek shelter and go to stable companiesHealth insurance problem / back office in starting a businessWhat are nuances in the creator economy that you think most people might not understand?What unique ways are you seeing creators build communities?What type of products and needs haven't been met yet for creators?How are you imagining the future of social?What do you also make of celebrities founding companies? Is that going to be the future for launching consumer products? The hardest part is to bring the audience todayWhat are the downsides of having a celebrity co-founder?What were your learnings from how Dispo unfolded?As we come out of this period of COVID, what are you focusing on when it comes to change of consumer behavior?What's your due diligence process when you analyze companies?What's one thing you would change when it came to venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received that you've said the most amount of times?
Thank you Brian Reilly for the introduction to Haley Rosen, Founder of Just Women's Sports. Just Women's Sports is the first media company solely focused on bringing Women Sports directly to you. Haley is also an athlete. She was one of the top soccer recruits coming out of high school and played on the Stanford team as well as having a professional career. In this episode you'll learn how Haley's decides what type of content to produce, the opportunity she saw and how she views the relationship between athlete and the media plus much much more.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.You can catch Haley on Twitter at @RosenHaley.Questions I ask Haley:What was your initial attraction to soccer and sports?Why did you want to create a media company for women's sports? What was the opportunity that you saw in women's sports?What was the first type of content that you started with?What was the initial reaction?What types of other content did you then roll out?What mistakes did you make?What's the hardest part about starting a media company?How has being so driven in sports and the routines you developed in sports translated in business?How do you think about the sports media landscape currently? You now have alot of networks that are creating their own sports media businesses, do you think there is saturation?I read your article "Letting go of being perfect". When you think of founding a business, what role does perfection have?Has gambling become a gateway for some people to get into women's sports?When did you decide you needed to fundraise?What was that experience like?What was the biggest reason why investors said no?What was your process?What's the most misunderstood about women's sports?Lifestyle angleWhat's the vision and the next step for Just Women's Sports?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?The opportunity comes when peopleWhat's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Thank you Ben Zises for the introduction to our guest today is Jordan Nathan. Jordan is the Founder and CEO of Caraway. Caraway crafts well-designed non-Toxic Ceramic Cookware Thoughtfully Designed For Any Type Of Home. On this episode, we discuss why he decided to start a cookware brand when the market seemed saturated, his approach to growth, what it was like raising his first round of fundraising and much much more. Without further ado, here's Jordan.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Question I ask Jordan:What was your attraction to ecommerce?What was your role at Mohawk group? What were some of your learnings?Did you have an attraction to cookingWhat are the nuances to building a brand on Amazon that most might not get?What was the insight that led to Caraway?How did you approach design and your supply chain?What was the go-to-market strategy?Did Caraway benefit from the pandemic since people weren't eating out all the time?How did you approach distribution?How would you characterize your brand and what was your approach to brand positioning?At what point did you believe it could be a big business?Why did you fundraise?What was your fundraising strategy?What was the biggest hang up from investors?What's next on the horizon for Caraway?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders
Thank you Tyler Mincey for the introduction to our guest today's guest Ben West. Ben is the founder of Spark Grills, which is precision charcoal grilling meaning it's the best of both worlds. You get the amazing flavor since you're cooking on charcoal, but the ease and temperature precision that's typically associated with gas grills. Previously, Ben founded EcoZoom, which brought efficient cookstoves to areas of the developing world plagued with indoor air pollution. We discuss some of the differences building a company that is tailored towards the developing world vs one that is focused on the developed world, the two groups he considers as Spark Grills target audiences and what it was like launching during COVID.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Questions I ask Ben:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship, wood stoves and grills?What led to the founding of Eco Zoom?What were some of the challenges building a company in developing countries?What inspired you to start Spark Grills?What was the insight?How did you go about developing the product?Why did you think people needed a charcoal grill?How did you think about the competitive set?What was the transition like creating a premium product for developed nations vs. a product for people in emerging countries?How did you decide the channel you wanted to sell on?How do you approach building your brand?didn't have the performance, lifestyleWhat was the go-to-market strategy?Democratize the joy of grillingDemocratize in terms of making grilling easyWhen did you realize you needed to fundraise?What has been the effect of COVID on Spark Grills?What's one thing that you would change about the fundraising process?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Marc Nathan for the intro to our guest today Max Niederhofer. Max is a Partner at Heartcore Capital. Heartcore Capital is europe's consumer tech VC focusing on investing in happiness investing in seed and Series A. Some of his investments include Italic, LastFM, and One Fine Stay. Previously Max was an investor at Accel and founded MyBlog. In this episode, we focus on investing in communities, the meaning of consumer, and some of the differences when investing in Europe vs. U.S. Without further ado, here's Max.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.And there you have it. It was pleasure having Max on the show, highly recommend following him on Twitter @maxniederhofer.Some of the questions I ask Max:What was your initial attraction to startups and innovation?Internet in 98 became part of your life?Interested in sub communitiesWhat are some of your learnings since when you founded Myblog and Qwerly?What does consumer investing mean to you and why did you choose to focus on it?What are some of the regions punch above their weightExcellent talent in Europe, it is raw.Way you build talent organicallyAfter you sold your companies, why did you decide to become an investor?Why do you enjoy investing at the early stages vs. growth stages?How do you analyze foundersFor American investors who want to invest in Europe - especially consumer focused companies - what have been some of the biggest misconceptions?How has the European startup ecosystem evolved since you began investing?Are there certain regions that have grown faster than others?What are some of the hurdles when investing in European consumer focused companies?How should European based companies think about growth expanding to other parts of the continent?What makes Europe complex?There's been alot of influx from American VC money into Europe. Do you think there's going to be a rise of more domestic based funds.Has Brexit changed anything so far related to the startup landscape?What are categories and markets that you think are big opportunities in technology that haven't come online?When you think about trends, do you think about what is exciting and interesting in other parts of the world that could be translated and work for Europe?What's your approach to analyzing consumer behavior and habits?How do you analyze founders?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice you have for founders?What is next in consumer, what are you excited about
Our guest today is Tige Savage, co-founder and managing partner of Revolution Ventures. Revolution a venture capital fund based in Washington, D.C. Some of their investments include RunKeeper, Homesnap, Framebridge, and LivingSocial. This episode really hit home for me. I'm originally from the DC area and love the area. It's probably bad form it's taken me this long to have an investor that's based there on the show. In this conversation you'll learn how Revolution invests in companies that are outside of the bay area, how Tige views risk at the early stages and how he thinks about brands that are sustainable.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Some of the questions I ask Tige:What was your attraction to venture capital?How did Revolution come together?What are the three investment funds that Revolution invests out of?What's interesting about the DC startup ecosystem?Life of revolution - off the beaten path of geographiesSpending time on the roadHow did you think about sourcing, and different regionsWas alot of community buildingReferences were more important than they ever have before?Traded the risks of unknown for pricing risksWhy don't you make investments in the bay area?How do you currently think about price in this market?When investing in pre-product market fit, what are qualities you look for in founders?Are there particular themes in consumer that you focus on or are you more opportunistic?What did you learn from COVID?Digitally native brandsWhat's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
Our guest today is Ernesto Schmitt, Co-Founder and Arch Craftor of The Craftory, a $375 million global investment fund that invests exclusively in CPG brands. Some of their investments include TomboyX, Hippeas, and Edgard & Cooper. Previously, Ernesto was a serial technology entrepreneur who has had successful exits to Twitter, Snap and Intel. You'll learn why Ernesto believes digitally native brands are heading into retail too early, expectations at the series A and B, and his approach to analyzing founders globally.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Some of the questions I ask Ernesto:What was your initial attraction to technology?What made you want to become an entrepreneur?How did Peoplesound come together? Did you plan on heading into the music world?After being a founder all these years, why did you decide to become an investor and raise a fund?How did The Craftory come together?Why did you only focus on CPG where it seems like most of your experience dealt with technology?How do you evaluate founders and brands?What's your due diligence process like?Do you look at American brands differently than European brands? Are there macro consumer trends in CPG that are different in Europe vs. USA?Has Brexit changed the way you invest or look at companies?When do you think it makes sense for DNVBs to hit the shelves and go into retail?What are opportunities that you are seeing in CPG?What's an example of an investment conflict in CPG?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice you have for founders?
My guest today is John Sherwin, the founder and CEO of Hydrant. Hydrant hydrates you faster and more efficiently than water alone.In this episode you'll learn about a part of health and wellness that has been overlooked: dehydration and that we're living in a dehydrated economy, why it's underserved, how he grew digitally and why he decided to go into both Walmart and Whole Foods. Without further ado, here's John.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to sign up.Some of the questions I ask John:What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship?How did you end up founding Hydrant? What was the insight?What did you learn about Dehydration vs. hydration 1.How did you approach validating your idea?What was the DTC strategy?What was life like during COVID? What was going through your mind when everything started shutting down in March last year?What was your omni channel strategy?When did you retailersWhen did you know it made sense to transition from regional to national?How did you approach brand awareness and marketing in secondary and tertiary markets?Since you're in Walmart and Wholefoods, do you approach those customers and consumer segments differently?How do you think about leadership and building a team?Why did you decide to raise venture capital?What was that process like?What's one thing that you think investors misunderstands about being the CEO of CPG brands?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Heather Hartnett, CEO and General Partner at Human Ventures. Human Ventures is an early-stage venture studio and venture fund in NYC that backs and builds consumer technology companies. Some of their portfolio companies include Tiny Organics, Toucan, and On Deck. In this episode we discuss their Humans in the Wild program for founders, what is the human needs economy and how companies are building community.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Click Here to learn moreSome of the questions I ask Heather:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship and venture capital?How did Human Ventures come together?What is a venture studio?What makes an assumption reasonable? What are some examples?Why did you want to focus that early in a company's stage?Do you have specific themes you focus on?When building companies, there has been lots of chatter about needing to build a community. What does community mean to you?Does early signs of having a community mean that you are building a cult like brand?How does the fund tie into the studio?Walk me through your due diligence process.What are qualities you look for in founders?What are some of your favorite questions to ask founders?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have to founders?
My guest today is Megan Bent, Managing Partner at Harbinger Ventures. Harbinger Ventures is a leading growth-equity investment firm focused on identifying and scaling high-growth companies in the consumer sector. Some of their investments include Once Upon a Farm, Cora and Vinebox.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Some of the questions I ask Megan:What was your initial attraction to consumer packaged good?How do you think about brand authenticityWhy did you decide to focus on venture capital and innovation?What was your first role as an investor?When does it make sense for a CPG company to fundraise from venture capital vs. angels or not fundraise at all?How did you come to found Harbinger Ventures? What's the focus?What are the missed opportunities that you are seeing in consumer?What are some of the positives of having a concentrated portfolio?What's the typically percentage of ownership you typically take?Do you invest in companies that are typically pre product market fit?In CPG, how do you think about IP and competitive moats?How is your model unique compared to other venture models out there?How do you leverage your platform to help founders?What are some of the trends in consumer that you're focused on?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice to founders?
Thank you Kate McAndrew for the introduction to my guest today Tyler Mincey, Partner of Bolt VC. Bolt invests at the intersection of the digital and physical world. Tyler started his career on the ipod team at Apple, focusing on the shuffle, classic, nano and touch. I don't know when I last heard those product lines to be honest. What I loved about our conversation and what you'll learn is Tyler's deep love and appreciation for hardware / tech enabled products. Alot of VCs want to focus on software, but Tyler certainly spends alot of his time looking at physical products that can change our world.Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Gorgias. Gorgias combines all your communication channels including email, SMS, social media, livechat, and phone, into one platform and gives you an organized view of all tickets. Sign up here and mention the Consumer VC podcast for two months free.Questions I ask Tyler.What attracted you to engineering?What was it like working on the ipod and the iphone?So after working at Apple, you ended up working for a product studio and incubator. What attracted you to startups?How did working at a large company like Apple help make you think about innovation?What are some of hardest parts of producing hardware?We've talked about on this show about how important it is to eliminate friction, mostly focusing on user design relating to software. What are some examples in hardware when you are thinking about user design and working with startups?How do you think about design vs. sustainability?What led you to Bolt?Why investing?When you are conducting due diligence on a company, when it comes to product what are you looking for?What makes the team the right team that's worth investing in?How has some of the business models evolved with SaaS with a box companies?What are some of the current trends that you are most excited about?What's one thing you would change when it came to venture capital?What's one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest today is Rachel ten Brink, who is an investor, Founder, CMO, and Board member. She was one of the founders and the CMO of Scentbird, which is a beauty subscription services that let's you choose from over 700 top rated perfumes each month. She also was a Partner at Five Four Ventures. In this episode you'll learn about personal care trends that Rachel is paying attention to, how working in big CPG led her to become an entrepreneur, and what it was like going through Y-Combinator.You can follow her on Twitter @rtenbrink1.Questions that I ask Rachel:What attracted you to a career in consumer packaged goods?What were some of your learnings working in corporate personal care and food and beverage?What attracted you to entrepreneurship and innovation?Tell us a bit of the founding story of Scentbird?What was the opportunity that you saw?What was it like being in YC?How did you approach scaling the business?How did you think approach partnerships?After Scentbird, what attracted you to investing?What do you think alot of investors don't get when investing in consumer packaged goods?What's your investment strategy?What's your advice to founders with how they approach brand?Walk me through your due diligence process.How do you evaluate founders?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Brian Reilly, founder of Will Ventures. Will Ventures is a venture capital fund that focused exclusively on leveraging the power of sport to shape the future. In this episode (as you can imagine) you'll learn about sports technology, health and wellness innovation and what's next in Media and content and how his upbringing helped shape him as an investor. Without further ado, here's Brian.And there you have it. It was a pleasure chatting with Brian, you can catch him on Twitter @brianreillyvcSome of the questions I ask Brian:Was the idea always to see how you could remain close to sports?What was your attraction to venture capital, innovation and quite honestly being around entrepreneurs?Talk to me about your journey up to founding Will Ventures?Why did you decide to start your own venture capital fund?I was talking to an entrepreneur the other day who is building technology in the sports - media space who told me only a handful of investors truly invest in sports technology. Do you feel the areas that you focus on at Will Ventures is quite niche?How do you describe your investment themes?Walk me through your due diligence process.How do you assess founders?Have there been moments in your life that have impacted how you invest, who you invest in and what you look for?How do you measure grit and what are some of the keys to leadership?What are opportunities that you're currently focused on?Due to COVID and remote work, are you finding yourself seeing more and more opportunities outside the main hubs of entrepreneurship (SF, NYC, LA, Boston etc.)?What's one thing you would change about venture capital process?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's the best piece of advice you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
My guest today is Sandy Gibson, founder of Better Place Forests. Better Place Forests is America's first conservation memorial forests. Instead of graves and tombstones, families choose a private, protected family tree to return their ashes to the earth together. In this episode, we talk building a business that focuses on the end of life, burial traditions and cemeteries. Sandy is one of the most unique founders I've had on the show on this and his story is very inspiring.Some of the questions I ask Sandy:What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship?Why did you decide to focus on the burial / end of life space? - making the world more beautifulTraditional burials have been around for thousands of years. It's typically part of one's tradition and tied to cultures, faiths. When it came to timing of launching your business. Why now? Do you think people were questioning tradition? Was there a certain statistic that stood out?A grave is something that can last forever, at least longer than a tree as all trees just like all living things die. When you think about eternally, how are you able to make people feel comfortable that their resting place will be a tree rather than something that could last longer?How do you describe your target audience?How did you go about securing land?What's the typical sales cycle?This is a sensitive area to talk about. How do you approach that in your marketing?Since this is a product that only one person will buy never again, howWhen did you need to raise capital and why?What was your fundraising strategy?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
My guest today is John Gannon, founder of GoingVC. GoingVC is a VC Career accelerator. GoingVC is designed to help you break into venture capital by directly connecting motivated VC job seekers with VC firms. GoingVC also has its own investment arm. We discuss how to enter VC, the rise of cohort based learning, and what the consumerization of enterprise really means.You can also follow him on Twitter @johnmgannonHere are some questions I ask John:What was your attraction to venture capital?How did you start Going VC? What was the gap you were seeing?Tell us a bit about Going VC?What are some trends in consumer that you are focusing on?How has venture capital changed since you started at a fund after grad school?What are the differences of people in your cohorts that make it into venture vs. those that don't?Are their special skill sets that one needs to have to enter the consumer side?Are you seeing funds become more specialized or more generalists?How do you look at consumer companies?What's one thing you would change about VC?What's your best piece of advice for someone that's looking to go into VC?
My guest today is Ben Zises, founder of SuperAngel.fund. SuperAngel Fund is an early stage rolling fund investing in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work companies. Some of the companies he's invested in are quip, Caraway and Arber. Ben is usually the first check in on the investments that he makes and in our conversation we touch on what's it's like investing in companies pre-product-market fit, learning the mechanics of a rolling fund vs. a traditional venture capital fund.Head over to SuperAngel.fund to learn more about subscribing.You can also follow Ben on Twitter @bzisesHere are some of the questions I ask Ben:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?After Retail MLS, why did you decide to become an investor?What are some of the challenges when investing in CPG businesses?You say you invest at day 0. what do you mean by that?What are some of the benefits of having a rolling fund vs. traditional venture capital fund?How do you approach portfolio construction?How do you judge founders?Everybody does due diligence a little bit differently. How do you do due diligence when you invest?What are some of the reasons why you might pass?How do you think about digitally native brands today? It's easier than ever to start a digitally native company and there's no longer FB and google arbitrage marketing opportunities.What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?Not to underestimate anyWhat's one piece of advice that you have to consumer founders?
My guest today is Justin Kolbeck, CEO and co-founder of Wild Type. Wild Type is on a mission to create the cleanest most sustainable seafood on the planet, starting with salmon. This is the first founder of a cell based food company I've had on the show and as someone who didn't know much about cell base food or commercial fishing, this was quite eye opening for me. We talk about the current state of the ocean, the supply chain for fish, the process for producing cell based food and their approach to quick feedback loops in trials.Some of the questions I ask Justin:When were you first introduced to cell based seafood and meat?What was your attraction to entrepreneurship? What was that decision making process like? Was it gradual?What was the insight that led you to founding Wildtype foods?Why is this product so essential for the world? What's the current state of commercial fishing?Why do you believe you were in a unique position to found this company?When founding WildType Foods, what was the first step? How did you approach making a cell based salmon product?Why did you decide to start with salmon?What's your go-to-market strategy?How do you imagine your ideal consumer?Is there a difference in taste?How did you approach investors and raise capital?What's one thing you would change about fundraising or venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Steven Sashen, one of the founders and CEO of Xero Shoes. Xero Shoes produces lightweight minimalist footwear designed for walking, running, and athletics.Here are some of the questions I ask Steven:How did you discover minimalism shoes and what led you to founding Zero Shoes?Bring us up to speed. What's wrong with cushioned shoes?What has been consumer reaction? Do you find there was already a market of consumers who knew about the detriments of cushioning in shoes or did it take lots of consumer education on your end?What does going all green mean to you and true environmental impact mean to you?Why did you decide to start with sandals?One of the things I love about your shoes is that I think they are pretty affordable. I got my Prios I think for $80 and they come with a 5,000 soleWas there a moment where you thought to yourself "hey this is actually working"? If so when did that moment occur?What was your approach to your supply chain?How did you think about expanding the number of products and SKUs?Can you unpack that in terms of quality control and traditionalIt seems like there are a number of shoe companies capitalizing on zero drop, but aren't truly minimalist. Can you unpack the differences?Why did you decide to raise venture capital and what was your fundraising strategy?Now you've raised private equity, what's the dynamic like having a board of directors and your decision making process?When it comes to your own decision making process, what were a few moments that you really learned from that influenced you as a leader?What's one thing you would change about consumer perception towards our feet?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice you have for entrepreneurs?
Our guest today is Ariel Kaye, founder of Parachute. Parachute is a home essentials brand that is designed in Los Angeles and manufactured by expert craftspeople across the globe including Portugal, Turkey and the U.S. In this episode you'll learn how Ariel saw the opportunity to create a brand in bedding, approached an omni-channel strategy, managing her stores and business during COVID.You can follow Ariel on Twitter @arielkayeSome of the questions I ask Ariel:What attracted you to consumer brands?What was the insight that led you to founding Parachute?What was missing from bedding?What was the competitive stack?What the supply chain could look like?What was your approach to brand design?How did you source your product?What was your launch strategy?How did you pick which SKUs to launch with?How did you pick distribution channels?What was your approach to retail and omnichannel?Why did you choose to go direct, creating your own stores?How do did you think about organic growth vs. paid?Approach to customer retention and building a dedicated audience.How did you think about expanding into other categories?How did you have to pivot during COVID?As we come out of COVID, what's on the horizon for Parachute?What was your approach to fundraising?What's one thing you would change about fundraising?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?Don't sweat the small stuffWhat's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Lindsay Kaplan, Co-founder of Chief. Chief is a private network focused on connecting and supporting women leaders. Previously, she was part of Casper’s founding team to lead communications and brand engagement. In thie episode you'll learn about the inner workings of professional networks, the opportunity she saw, why she decided to structure Chief as a for-profit scalable entity, and her approach to brand.You can follow Lindsay on Twitter @lindsaykapSome of the questions I ask Lindsay:What was your attraction to working on startups vs. corporate?Why marketing?Before you became the first hire at Casper, you worked for a few companies that didn't make it. What were some of your learnings from those experiences?What was it like being on a rocket ship at Casper?What did that teach you about yourself and how to scale a company?What was the insight that led you to found Chief?Why did you decide to raise capital?What were the main concerns from investors when you were raising your seed?How were you able to pivot during COVID?Did you find that members were frustrated they couldn't meet others in person or were excited that they could meet many more people since it's virtual?Did you decide to expand into other markets more quickly since you had to transition online?How did you approach growth?What's one thing that you would change about fundraising?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Kate Shillo Beardsley, Partner at Hannah Grey. Hannah Grey is a first check venture fund investing in founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life. In this chat we went down alot of fun rabbit holes like what we could all learn from Martha Stewart, what New York was like in the late 2000s/early 2010s as VC startups were coming into the picture, the creator economy, investing in secondary and tertiary markets. Without further ado here's Kate.You can follow her on Twitter @KshilloSome of the questions I ask Kate:What attracted you to consumer brands and media?How did that influence you going to venture capital?How did Lerer Hippeau come about? What were some of your focuses?How did your operating experiences at Martha Stewart and Huffington Post help you as an investor?What were some of your learnings from that experienceWhat was the New York startup scene like in the late 00s early 2010s?What's changed most significantly from then to now?Why did you decide to leave New York?Pods of creativityCreator to communityCommunity driven commerceWhat about Colorado made you excited?What led you to founding Galvanized Ventures?You decide to start Hannah Grey right at the beginning of the pandemic. What was that like?How has investing changed during the pandemic?What are some of your focus areas or investment thesis? What's some of the differences investing in consumer vs. enterprise?Walk me through your due diligence.What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?There's two people who gets you on the phone and talks right awayWhat's the best piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Mike Ghaffary for the introduction to our guest today, Mark Gainey, the founder of Strava. Strava is the #1 app for runners and bikers and is the destination to record any activity. In this conversation we talk about how Mark's passion for sports compelled him to Strava, what focus really means as a founder and Mark has some amazing examples of that, we also talk about scaling and his approach to building community. Without further ado here's Mark.Some of the questions I ask MarkThe first company you founded was in the B2B space, which did really well Kana Communications. What made you want to build a B2C company? Finding motivation, staying inspiredWhy did you decide to focus on cycling, since I remember when we first spoke you were a very competitive runner and you were very competitive in college at crew?What was the insight that led you to found Strava?What was the initial go to market strategy and how did you think about how the go-to market ties into the vision?How did you acquire your first customers?Athletes are normally aren't one sport athletesHow did you approach the balance of focus on a core problem/customer set vs. expanding to different use cases?How did you approach growth?Growing by partnershipsWhen did you decide to not just focus on biking but to also focus on measuring other activities?What was the moment or several moments on your journey that helped made you stop and realize "ok, there's certainly something here", some type of validation?How did you think about competition and who is a competitor vs. partner?How did you approach your pricing strategy and what you to make free vs. premium?What was your approach to community? Was that always the intent?I know you were a huge athlete growing up and very competitive. How has that helped shape you as a leader and influenced your approach on how you've build Strava?How do you make sure it's decentralizedWhat's next? What do you see is next for Strava?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for entrepreneurs?
Our guest today is Matteo Franceschetti, founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, The #1 Smart Mattress, designed to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep. In this episode, you'll learn about how Matteo thinks about sleep, why we should optimize it, habits that help us get to sleep and where eight sleep comes into play. We also talk about his vision about being more than a sleep company. Without further ado, here's Matteo.Check out Eight Sleep and you can follow him on Twitter @m_franceschetti.Some of the questions I ask MatteoWhat got you interested in studying sleep?What was the initial insight that led you to founding Eight Sleep?How did you think about product discovery, where in sleep to focus your time?What were parts of your product that you had to iterate on?What's the ideal temperature people should be sleeping at?What was your process to validate your idea?Was it a single moment in time when you found there is consumer demand for this type of technology?What was your fundraising strategy?How did you think about your go to market strategy, focus and your company's vision?What is your company's vision?Hardware is very difficult to do. What were some of the learnings and lessons learned building a hardware company?What was that process like, finding a manufacturer and building out the whole supply chain?Break down the metrics you focus on regarding sleep.Were there any surprises from your intuition that you found from the data?didn't know you had a big wake upWhat's the biggest part about sleep that is most misunderstood by consumersWhat was the impact of COVID? Especially since people couldn't try out the product in one of your show rooms and it's quite a high price point.How do you balance working a fast moving, high growth company but still making sure all your employees get the right amount of sleep per night since that is part of your mission for everyone to do?Softbank just came in with a $100 million investment. I know it's a recent partnership, but what has that been like receiving that amount of capital injection in the company?What's Eight Sleep's vision in the next 5-10 years?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Mereces Bent to the intro to our guest today, Amir Nathoo. Amir Nathoo, is the founder of Outschool. Outschool is an education marketplace/platform that offers a variety of engaging, small-group classes online that gives kids the unique opportunity to explore their interests in-depth. They were also one of the fastest growing tech companies during COVID. It was great chatting with Amir as we explored topics that we haven't covered often on this show like the effects COVID had on traditional education and where Outschool has become a complimentary part of kids lives. We talk about impact, legacy and Amir's unique distribution model when he first founded the company.You can follow Amir on Twitter @amirnathoo.Some of the questions I ask Amir:What was your attraction to technology, entrepreneurshipWhat was the opportunity that you saw in education?What was the aha moment or series of instances that led you to founding Outschool?I remember in our first call you spoke about how you learned a lot more in those experiences outside of school rather than in the classroom. what do you mean by that?How did you plan to replicate those experiences with Outschool?When you were thinking of starting this business, what were the big question marks or big problems that you knew you had to solve in order for Outschool to work?Fundraising.What was the moment you realized you needed to raised capital?How did you go about raising? What type of partners were you looking for?How has COVID hit your business? Did you go through a supply crunch?Did you have to change any part of your strategy due to COVID?What's your vision for the future of Outschool? What can we expect in the next 5-10 years?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process or venture capitalWhat's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice to founders currently building?
Thank you Alison Ryu for the introduction to our guest today, Madeline Haydon. Madeline is Founder and CEO of nutpods. nut pods is a dairy-free half and half alternative made from almonds and MCT-rich coconuts in a convenient, easy to use coffee creamer. What I most appreciated from this conversation was how open Madeline was about the beginning days of nut pods, starting the company without any food and bev experience, taking on alot of risk and now leading the business to incredible heights.Some of the questions I asked Madeline -What attracted you to entrepreneurship? Especially Dairy Free creamersWhat attracted you to the world of creamers and what was the insight that led you to founding Nutpods?Walk me through the process of developing creamers in your kitchen to actually having commercial manufacturing?How did you go about building your supply chain?What was your approach to distribution early on?Daily free vs. non-sweenerWhat was that moment like when you knew you were on to something / wanted to take this full time and put everything you had into Nutpods?When and why did you choose to raise capital?What was your approach to fundraising?What were some of the challenges / biggest hurdles you had to overcome?What are some of the differences fundraising from VCs vs. private equity groups?When did that transition start for you?What was your approach to board construction?What would you like to see change in the fundraising process?How did the pandemic change nut pods? Did you have to pivot your strategy, channel mix?What has been your approach to new distribution channels, partnerships and product extensions?When you take a look back at all of what you've accomplished with nut pods, what were some of the key reasons why you've been so successful?What's your vision for nutpods in the coming years?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?
My guest today is Elizabeth Galbut, one of the founding partners of SoGal Ventures. SoGal Ventures is the is the first female-led, next generation venture capital firm. In this episode we discuss how Elizabeth's interests led to thinking about consumer innovation, how she started a fund, the biggest arbitrage opportunity of her lifetime, and managing a two person global fund. Without further ado, here's Elizabeth.Some of the questions I ask Elizabeth:You were originally in healthcare. What prompted you to make this transition to become a venture capitalist?How did SoGal Ventures come about? What's your typical check sizeI know Pocket is located in Asia, you're located in the United States and you are a two GP, how do you think about where to focus on investing since you are quite global and have a small team?Walk me through your due diligence processWhat categories do you spend the most time on? How do you analyze categoriesWhat has to stand out when you talk to founders?I know part of your focus is looking at products that serve the upcoming generation. What are you most surprised by Gen Z?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
My guest today is Ryan Gnesin, founder of Elevate Brands. Elevate Brands buys consumer-leading Amazon FBA brands and elevate them to their full potential. This is a little bit of a different episode as the focus is creating and scaling brands on Amazon and how you can leverage Amazon across other channels.And there you have it, it was awesome having Ryan on Twitter at @ryangnesinHere's some questions I ask Ryan:Looking at your resume, you were in life insurance and commodities trading. What was your attraction to ecommerce and Amazon?What was the insight that led you founding at the time Recom Brands and what was the opportunity did you see?Walk me through your due diligence process when analyzing Amazon brands?What are typically the multiples and how do they change from brands who are omnichannel?How do you go about building a brand on Amazon?What's your approach to portfolio construction and category?Why was $55 million the right amount for your fund (congrats on fundraising!)?What's your ideal (realistic) return when you acquire a brand?Do the brands you acquire typically also have their own DTC channel?Once you acquire the brand, is your value add consolidating the supply chain / cutting costs or is it revenue growth?Do you ever have your brands go omnichannel?Do you ever get nervous about copy cats? Either from Amazon or competitors?How do you analyze different Amazon markets and think about market expansion?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
My guest today is Dan Reich, who is a serial entrepreneur. Some of the companies he founded are Spinback, TULA and Troops.ai. TULA started as a digitally native health and beauty brand where Dan served as CEO from inception to over $1mm in sales in less than one year. Troops is a B2B technology company that is building a mobile-first, intelligent CRM. Since Dan has extensive backgrounds in both B2B and B2C, in this episode we focus on some of the differences when building a B2C company vs. B2B.Here are some questions I ask Dan -What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?Why did you decide to launch a skincare brand? What was the insight?How did you think about the competitive landscape within skincare?When did you realize after launching this could be something real?What was your approach to scaling online?What was your initial omnichannel strategy?How were you able to successfully fundraise?What was the hardest part of TULA's business to get investors over the line?Why did you decide to step down as CEO?What compelled you to start a completely different business in Troops.ai?What are some of the differences building an enterprise business vs. consumer business?As an investor, what do you look for in an entrepreneur?Are there specific categories you focus on or find attractive?Walk me through your decision making process.What's one thing you'd change with the fundraising / venture capital process?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders currently building?
My guest today is Robin Li, Principal at GGV Capital. GGV is a global venture capital fund that invests in seed to growth stage companies. Some of their companies include Airbnb, Poshmark, Alibaba, and Peloton. We discuss how GGV makes decisions on a global scale, what opportunities in consumer internet Robin is most focused on, and bringing small businesses online.You can follow Robin on Twitter @robin_p_liSome of the questions I ask Robin -What attracted you to venture capital and how did you wind up at GGV?When it comes to evaluating early stage consumer companies, what are some of the elements you look for that are positive signs that there is traction and how do you evaluate companies when you have to make decisions very quickly?Are there metrics that you focus on that might often be overlooked by founders?What are some major turn offs or deal breakers from startups when they pitch their business to you?In the due diligence process, how do you assess if the product is solving a real problem?What are current trends that you are focused on?What have been changes in consumer behavior during COVID that you are most surprised by?What are some of the challenges when it comes to evaluating consumer startups?How has consumer technology and ecommerce evolved differently in China vs. the United States?I know that GGV invests in both the U.S. and China. In ecommerce, retail and social media China is far ahead of the United States with technology. What do you see as consumer technology that exists in China and that will crossover to the U.S.? What consumer technology won’t cross over?What are some of the key differences between the Chinese consumer and the American consumer relating to internet behavior?Communities - Chief - have over three thousand women, connecting Fishbone around professional communitiesRound sizes have increased dramatically over the past few years with huge funds into venture capital. Now we have pre-seed, mico funds. How has this influenced you as an investor?What are some consumer trends that you are excited about?What is one company that you recently invested in or worked with that you are excited about?What is one company that you should have invested in but didn’t?What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of b2c companies that are looking to raise capital?
Thank you Rick Desai for introducing me to today's guests Callie Christensen and Kelly Oriard, founders of Slumberkins. Slumberkins is a leading children’s educational brand on a mission to promote early emotional learning through a combination of creatures and story telling. We're going to learn what they believe was missing in a child's development, how they scaled organically, and maybe the most creative way I've heard to successfully fundraise as well as lots of other amazing parts to their journey. Without further ado, here's Callie and Kelly.Some of the questions I ask Callie and Kelly:How did you both know each other and meet?What did each of you think you wanted to do with your lives professionally?How did you blend these two loves physcology and teachingWhat was the insight that led you to founding Slumberkins?What were the early signals that this could be something?What was your initial approach to distribution?Authencitiy in the brandHow did you approach raising capital and why did you feel the need the raise capital?Early on, you had a tough time finding a lead investor what was your strategy in order to land a lead?I know it was a few years ago, but what was the biggest learning from Shark Tank and how was your overall experience?What's your approach to finding an investment partner?How do you think about scale and what's your vision for the brand?What's one thing that you would change about the fundraising process?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's the best piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Andrew Dudum, founder of hims & hers. Hims and hers is a telehealth company that sells personal care products, subscriptions and and over-the-counter drugs online. We discuss our current healthcare system, what customer transparency really means, his fundraising strategy and what led him to take his company public via SPAC.One book that inspired Andrew is:Creativity Ink. by Ed CatmullQuestions I ask Andrew:What attracted you to entrepreneurship?What was the insight or aha moment that led you to found hims & hers?How did you think about the competitive landscape when building hims & hers?What categories did you start with? How did you think about product / category extension in the early days?Did you always know you were going to be a brand that is in many categories?What was your approach to hiring and building your team?Many of the products you sell people don't really want to talk about or it's uncomfortable to talk about i.e. hair loss, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation. How do you think about building community and a safe space for customers to talk about these things?What type of emotion do you want your customers to feel when they use your products?What was your approach to fundraising?Always make sure you had money in the bankWhy did you decide to fundraise?What was the part of your business that was difficult get investors over the hump - what was the biggest reason they passed (for the few who passed :)?Why did you decide to go public? What was the reason you decided to do a SPAC?What's the future of hims & hers?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders currently building?
Thank you Arie Abecassis for the introduction to our guest today Eric Doty, founder of Loupe. Loupe is a free app built for the modern sports card collector. We talk about box breaks, how he thinks about the sports card collecting market, solving the classic chicken or the egg, supply/demand trap early on and his approach to leadership.A couple of books that inspired Eric:Educated: A Memoir by Tara WestoverFactfulness by Hans RoslingHere are some of the questions I ask Eric:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship and collecting cards?If they can do it, I can do it.What was the insight that led you to founding Loupe?Take us to that moment of what led you to focus on Loupe full time?Describe to us what box breaks are for those who aren't familiar?How do you think about trust and accountability? Validating cards in the break are legitimate?How are communities created on Loupe?How did you approach growth early on?What was your approach to fundraising?What were some of the biggest hurdles or question marks potential investors had?What was it like fundraising during COVID?InfluencerWhat's one thing you would change when it came to venture capital?Do you have room limits?What's the best piece of advice you've received?How has that impacted you a leader or as a CEO?How do you think about communication amongst your team?Is it hard to build cultureWhat's one piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Samara Hernandez for the intro to our guest today, Monique Woodard.Monique is the founding Partner of Cake Ventures. Cake invests in companies that address the needs of a world undergoing massive demographic changes. We break down the three layers of Cake or themes that Monique focuses on, how she thinks about geography and future of work and her learnings as an operator and from 500 Startups.I highly recommend following Monique on Twitter @MoniqueWoodard.A book that inspired Monique:The Tycoons by Charles R. MorrisQuestions I asked Monique:What was your attraction to technology and entrepreneurship?What led you to San Francisco?Why did you decide to become an investor?What were some of your learnings from your experience at 500 Startups?What led to founding Cake Ventures?What particular themes are you focused on investing in?What's your decision making process or diligence process within each theme.What has been some of the effects of COVID on sourcing and your due diligence process?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders who are currently building?
My guest today is Sara Deshpande, Partner at Maven Ventures. Maven Ventures is a consumer focused micro-fund that focuses on investing in seed stage companies. Some of their investments include Zoom, Wild Type, Angellist and Nuggs. What I most enjoyed about this conversation was looking at what types of businesses were being built on top of Zoom and the opportunities in telehealth. Without further ado, here's Sara.You can catch her on Twitter @sara_desh.Three books that have inspired Sara:The Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoShoe Dog by Phil KnightMaid by Stephanie LandSome of the questions I ask Sara:You came from healthcare consulting at Deloitte. What was your attraction to venture capital, startups and innovation?Tell us a bit about Maven.What do you consider micro-VC?Walk us through your due diligence process?How do you access how big of a pain point a company is solving?What are some of the opportunities that you're seeing telehealth?Another area of focus are technology that serves families. What's an example of a company you're excited in this space or a problem that you are hoping to see solve?Has COVID affected any of the themes you focus on?What are some other trends that you're curious about?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Morgan Hirsh, CEO and founder of Public Goods. Public Goods is your one stop shop for healthy, sustainable, everyday essentials you can trust. This episode helps to demystify or understand what sustainability means or could mean for consumer products. I also loved learning about his approach to building Public Goods in multiple categories rather than just one category.In this episode we discuss:What led Morgan to leave Canada and come to New York City?Why he decided to start Public Goods?What sustainability meansInvestor reaction when he wanted to build in multi-categoriesHis approach to leadership
My guest today is Alex Fine, founder of Dame Products. Dame is the home of phenomenally fun toys for adults, that helps people to upgrade their self care with toys for sex. They were also named one of the most innovative wellness companies in 2020 by Fast Company. We touch on alot of areas in both sexual wellness and femtech that have been traditionally heavily stigmatized and her journey guiding Dame to amazing heights.Some of the questions I ask AlexLet's start at the beginning. What attracted you to entrepreneurship and sex therapy?What was the insight that led to Dame?How did you start creating vibrators?What was the process of testing, finding women to test the product. Was there any hesitancy to sample since they were putting the vibrators under their labias?When did you realize this could be a business?How did you approach marketing and brand?How did you think about the competitive landscape in the vibrator category?How do you think about product extensions and launching new products?What are some of the hurdles or challenges you've had to face?What was your fundraising strategy?What's the most surprising thing you've done and thought you'd never do as a founder?What's one thing you'd change regarding the fundraising process?What's one book the inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
My guests today are Aditi Dash and Joe Hovde from CircleUp. CircleUp Growth Partners is an early-stage consumer fund that takes a data-driven approach investing in compelling companies. Aditi is one of the investment partners and Joe is one of the data analysts. This is a fascinating conversation about building a data base for the private markets and using that data base as a tool to help make investment decisions and discover trends in CPG.Some of the questions I ask Aditi and Joe:Let's start at the beginning. What was each of your attraction to working with consumer brands and the private markets?For those that aren't familiar walk us through a little bit of the history of Circle Up.One of the difficulties in the private markets is that company information is private. I understand that you are building a platform to help make investment decisions based on data, but what's that process of convincing a company to share its metrics and data with you?How has the platform helped make investment decisions?What are some of the ways that you've been able to leverage data?What is the relationship between data and how you make decisions when it comes to investing?How do you make sure you don't overindex on the data when analyzing a company to invest in?What are the most important metricsHas the platform led to help you discover new trends?What are some of the trends that you are most excited about?Walk us through your due diligence process.What makes a strong founding team?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that each of you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guests today are Wendy Tsu who is a partner of new business ventures at AlleyCorp and Susannah Shipton, Head of Platform and investor at AlleyCorp. AlleyCorp was founded by Kevin Ryan and both founds and funds companies in New York. On this particular episode, we're going to focus more on the founding / incubation side of AlleyCorp, which I thought was truly fascinating. Some of the companies AlleyCorp founded was MongoDB, Zola, Business Insider, GILT and Nomad Health.Some of the questions I ask Wendy and Susannah:What was each of your attraction to innovation and startups?Tell us about AlleyCorp because it's a bit of a different type of fund that we've discussed on the show.What is an incubation studio and how do you think about innovation?How do you think about ideas that could be businesses? Where do you start?Walk us through your process of once you have a compelling idea what happens next?This concept of idea-market fit. How do you approach ideas, markets and evaluating pain points?What are some of the ways you conduct market research?Once you have conviction in an idea, do you have to have your full team's support to move forward or what are the next steps?How many companies do you typically launch per year?Are you able to walk through a couple examples of consumer facing businesses from ideation stage all the way to a proper business?What's your approach to building teams for young companies?How do you interview potential CEOs for these businesses that you're building and structure team?What do you think are the most important interview questions or the goal of an interview?What's one thing you would change about venture capital or the fundraising process?What's one book that inspired each of you personally and one book that inspired each of you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders today?
Thank you Elizabeth Edwards for introducing me to our guest today. Leigh Radford, the Senior Vice President, Founder & General Manager of P&G Ventures. We discuss what is corporate venture capital, how P&G partners with brands, and the advantages for aspiring brands. Without further ado, here's Leigh.Some of the questions I ask LeighWhat was your initial attraction to consumer products?How did you end up working at P&G?Of course, when it comes to building brands, P&G are one of the world's best at doing so. What were some of your learnings of brand building at P&G?Tell me a bit about P&G Ventures.Startup studio, partners with entrepreneurs both inside and outside of the company.What do you look for when analyzing brands?Walk me through your due diligence process.What are some of the advantages for aspiring brands that's hard for incumbents to adapt to?What are some of the advantages for an aspiring brand to partner with corporate venture capital arm vs. a "normal" venture capital firm?When you are analyzing online brands, what are some of the attributes they need to have in order to work in retail?Going the other way, what types of brands might work in retail without having an online presence?What are the KPIs you look for when brands are in retail?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Carey Smith. Carey is the founder of Big Ass Fans, which in less than two decades he took the company from 0 to $250 million in revenue, without the help of investors. Following the sale of Big Ass Fans, Carey started Unorthodox Ventures, where he partners with extraordinary founders, providing capital and expertise to build companies faster. Their portfolio includes Fit Joy, Go Fish and Lumun. This was a great conversation whre we chat about Carey's transition from a founder to investor and how that has helped shaped his decision making process. Without further ado, here's Carey.And there you have it. It was great learning from Carey and what it means to be a contrarian investor.One book that inspired Carey is Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim.Some of the questions I ask Carey:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?What was the insight that led you to founding Big Ass Fans?Why did you want to sell Big Ass FansWhy did you decide to become an investor?You don't have a sector of focus, how do you think about opportunities?What's your approach to investing in companies?How did you go about building your team?What are some of the advantages for entrepreneurs fundraising from a family office as opposed to a VC fund.How do you approach portfolio construction and exercising pro-rata?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?How do you think about sourcing?What's your most recent investment?What's one company you had the opportunity invest in, didn't, and in retrospect wish you did?What's the best piece of advice you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Katie Shea for introducing me to today's guest Helaine Knapp, founder and CEO of CITYROW. CITYROW is a boutique fitness studio which started in New York City that specializes in a total body, high-intensity, low-impact workout using a water-based rowing machine and strength-training exercises. They have since launched Cityrow go, taking the boutique rowing experience into your home with on demand classes.I highly recommend following her on twitter @HelaineKnappA few books that inspired Helaine:The Four Agreements by Don Miguel RuizShoe Dog by Phil KnightGood to Great by Jim CollinsQuestions I ask Helaine:Let's begin before you became an entrepreneur. How did your experiences at Olapic and Buddy Media help you as a founder?What was your attraction to fitness and athletics?What was the insight the led you to founding CITY ROW?Why rowers?What were some of the biggest hurdles when starting out?Why did you decide on the franchise model?Since we haven't discussed the franchise model on this show before, could you walk us through some of the innerworkings?How did you think about growth?What led you to create CITY ROW Go?What were some of the biggest challenges when you decided to introduce this product?What has been some of the challenges with the roll out?What has been some of the effects of COVID?How do you think about the future of the in store rowing experience once we all have the vaccines and people are able to work out in studios and gyms?Walk me through your fundraising process.What was the biggest hangup from investors?People invest in what you knowWhat's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?Not so much of a dance, wish more of a equalityWhat's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Carlton Fowler for the introduction to today's guests Brandon Schwartz and Lawrence Cisneros, co-founders of DRNXMYTH. DRNXMYTH Makes The Best Cocktails Ever Bottled. I have to say, these are amazing. I tried the product a few weeks ago and think what they are building with DRNXMYTH is very innovative and I hope you'll see that as well. We discuss their origin story of how they created this amazing bottle for cocktails, how their business is becoming a marketplace, how they think about collaborations.A couple of books that inspired Brandon and Lawrence:Zero to One by Peter ThielRich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. KlyosaklThe questions I ask Brandon and Lawrence:Let's start from the beginning. How did you two meet and become interested in the alcohol and beverage industries?What was the insight or pain point that you wanted to solve that led to the founding of Drnxmyth come together?When you started realizedHow did you develop the technology and your supply chain?What were some of the early hurdles?How did you think about brand and brand positioning?LunchablesPancakesHow were you able to validate your idea?What was some of the early growth levers you used and your approach to retail and ecommerce?How were you able to pivot during COVID?What was your approach to fundraising?What was the biggest hang up from investors when they were evaluating your business?How did you approach building community with Drnxmyth?How did you think about flavors and creating different cocktails?Do you plan on creating your own hard alcohols?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders currently building?
Thank you Sumeet Shah for introducing me to our guest today Kelsey Moreira, founder and Co-CEO of Doughp. Doughp makes 100% raw cookie dough. As you probably can guess, we talk all things cookie dough as well as why Kelsey moved from Oakland to set up shop in Las Vegas, effects of COVID in her store and ecommerce, her mission and her experience on Shark Tank.And there you have it. It was wonderful chatting with Kelsey. I highly recommend following her @kelsey_moreira on Twitter.A book that inspired Kelsey -You Are a Badass by Jen SinceroSome of the questions I ask Kelsey -You worked in tech for a long time, what attracted you to entrepreneurship and the food and beverage space?What was the insight that led you to founding DOUGHP?How did you decide to approach creating the product?How did you think about DOUGHPs brand and positioning?Why Las Vegas?DOUGHP for Hope initiativeMental health days for staffWhat did you want to raise capital?How was your experience on Shark Tank?What was your fundraising approach?How did you distribution and different channels?What has been the effect of COVID on your business?What's one thing you would change about fundraising?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for folks building a consumer product?
My guest today is Mercedes Bent, who is a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and is on their consumer investing team. Lightspeed Venture Partners's mission is to serve the world’s most extraordinary people who are building tomorrow’s companies today. Some of her portfolio includes Forage, Stori Card, Outschool and Flockjay among other amazing companies. Mercedes is primarily focused on investing in edtech/future of work, fintech, and consumer products. We talk about how consumer businesses are building new models that involve ownership for consumers, parts of edtech where there is opportunity, and how she thinks about optimism.I highly encourage you to follow her on Twitter @mercebent. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book that inspired Mercedes is:Delivering Happiness by Tony HsiehSome of the questions I ask Mercedes:Let's start at the beginning. What was your initial attraction to technology and consumer facing businesses?What were some of your experiences that had a lasting impact in how you approach investing?What are some of the changes you've seen in consumer spend and how has that helped shaped where you spend your time when looking at opportunities?What are some of the sectors you're currently focused on?We've heard the expression the future of consumer is fintech. How do you think about the future of consumer relating to business model?Walk me through your due diligence processWhat are some of the milestones you have to see in order to be interested?What are some qualities in founders you like to see?What's one thing that you would change in venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Hugh Thomas, founder of Ugly. Ugly is the refreshingly honest sparkling water in a can. No sugar, no calories, no sodium, no sweetners. We discuss his background and how working at Vita Coco impacted him to found Ugly, why he went retail on day one, and his expansion strategy and why being in two markets is like running two different companies.You can follow Hugh at @uglyhugh on Twitter.A couple books that inspired Hugh are:The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan HolidayGive and Take by Adam GrantSome of the questions I asked Hugh:What was your initial attraction to the food and beverage industry?Talk to me about the early days and some of your learnings scaling Vita Coco?What was the inspiration that led you to founding Ugly?How did you approach ingredients and then your supply chain?How did you think about brand in the early days?Why did you decide to launch omnichannel off the bat?What were some of the hurdles in the early days?What was your strategy for growth in the U.K?Why did you decide to expand so quickly into the U.S.?We talk on this show about when it comes to ecommerce, getting past the noise. There's so many brands out there since it's easier then ever to start a brand. How do you think about differentiation?Why did you decide to fundraise and what was your fundraising strategy?How did you manage to pivot or change your strategy during COVID?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?What's the best piece of advice that you've ever received?What's one piece of advice that you have to founders?
My guest today is Tyler Morgan, Vice President at BFG Partners. BFG Partners invests in entrepreneurs that build exceptional businesses in the better-for-you food, beverage, and consumer products space. Some of their investments include Olipop, Quinn Snacks, and Bear Naked. I really enjoyed my time with Tyler where we discuss his due diligence process, effects of COVID within CPG and the evolution of BFG. Without further ado, here's Tyler.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple of books that inspired Tyler:Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary KinderEndurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred LansingSome of the questions I ask Tyler -What was your initial attraction to consumer products?Wellness in hospitalsWhat was your interest when it came to investing and venture capital?Tell me a bit about BFG it seems like you did a rebrand. What are your focus areas?Why did you expand to invest in other consumables?What are some current trends that you're most interested in? Food as medicineThere are so many brands out there since it's never been easier to start a brand then at any other point in time. What's your evaluation process to judge if a brand might be able to cut through the noise?Walk me through your due diligence process?What makes a compelling brand?What's one thing you would change about Venture capital?Do you only invest in brands that have an online presence?in store demoingWhat's one thing that you would change about venture capital?Do you only invest in companies that are DNVBs or do invest in companies that are already in retail?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece that you've received?What's one piece of advice to founders?
Thank you Sunny Dhillon for the introduction to today's guest, Deborah Benton. Deb is the founder and general partner of Willow Growth Partners. Willow provides early growth capital to entrepreneurs building the next generation of transformative consumer brands and the disruptive technologies that power them. Prior to launching her fund, Deborah held many senior operational positions in companies like Nasty Gal, Shoe Dazzle and eToys. We discuss what investors don't get about investing in consumer brands, lessons learned working for established and aspiring brands and her approach to trends.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple books that inspired Deborah -Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. FranklThe Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoSome of the questions I ask Deb:I'd love to first start with your career. What was your initial attraction to work in retail and consumer products?You've witnessed companies raise lots of money and have lots of momentum and then not be able to become profitable or reach their goals and end up falling apart. What were some of the learnings from these experiences?What attracted you to the world of investing and how did you make decisions as an angel investor?When it comes to consumer products in 2020 where you no longer can scale efficiently like you could of 10 years ago, what is the key?You're currently closing your first fund, what attracted you to shift to become a VC from being an angel investor?What are current retail trends that you are focused on?We've seen large corporations finally wake up to ecommerce during COVID. Do you think, even though ecommerce penetration has increased substantially this year, it's more competitive than it was pre-COVID?What's one thing that you would change when it comes to venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
My guest today is Brendan Rogers, one of the co-founders of Wag! and 2 a.m. Wag! is #1 app for pet parents and the leading on-demand dog walking platform. 2 a.m is a venture fund, investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs in India. We discuss the insight that led to the founding of Wag!, how they approached scale, and the opportunity he saw in India as an investor.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple books that inspired Brendan:Rudy: My Story by Rudy RuettigerThe Start-up of You by Reid HoffmanSome of the questions I asked Brendan:What was your attraction to technology and consumer technology?Wag! -What was the insight that led you to found Wag!?Which side of the marketplace did you have to initially focus on to get the wheel in motion - demand or supply?What were some of the creative strategies that you employed in order for Wag! to become a successful marketplace?How did you approach expanding to different markets?What was the fundraising strategy?After you left Wag!, how did you think about what you next want to do?2AM & India -Why the interest in India? Why not focus on companies in the United States?How did 2AM come together?What are some of the differences you've had to experience when investing in Indian companies vs. U.S?What are some of the differences in population that an entrepreneur has to take into account that they wouldn't have to in the United States?What are some consumer trends in India that you're most excited about?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice to founders?
Thank you Sita for the intro to our guest today, Amanda Groves, one of the partners at PLUS Capital. PLUS Capital is an advisement and venture fund trusted by elite artists and athletes to invest in and build transformative companies. We talk about how to think about analyzing true value from celebrities to brands, what a successful partnership could like it and the most surprising partnership on paper she's come across.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple books that inspired Amanda:Greenlights by Matthew McConaugheyBig Lies by Seth Stephens-DavidowitzHere are some of the questions I ask Amanda -What was your attraction to finance and technology?What led you to joining PLUS Capital?Talk to me about the ways you engage with celebrities?Talk to me about how you manage the fund vs. advisory practice. How do you think about making investments and manage LPs, that are family offices as well as celebrities?When a celebrity does decide to make a check and participate, are their certain activities or clauses the celebrity has to do in order to own up to receiving a larger stake in the company then what the check size is?Are there specific categories or types of companies that your celebrity clients tend to find interesting?Has there been any surprises when it comes to a partnership between a celebrity and company? i.e. company was very different to perceived interests from celebrity?We've seen more and more celebrities become founders and start their own businesses rather then just becoming endorsers. Does this affect your advisory position?How do you think about authenticity when a celebrity and a company collaborate?What's your due diligence process when find attractive opportunities?What are some current trends that you are focused on?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Samara Hernandez to our guest today, Beatriz Acevedo, CEO and co-founder of SUMA Wealth. SUMA is a revolutionary financial wellness company with the mission to engage, educate, and empower the Latinx community via a holistic approach of Digital Media, Experiences, and FinTech. Previously, Beatriz founded mitu, a digital media company that elevates and celebrates the voices of our multidimensional LatinX community. We discuss her approach to founding a fintech company, examples of creative ways she uses content to build community and why she wanted to focus on personal finance. Without further ado, here's Samara.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple books that inspired Beatriz are The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.Highly recommend following her on Twitter @Bea_latina. You can also follow me on Twitter for updates @mikegelb.Some of the questions I ask BeatrizWhat was your attraction to entrepreneurship and media?How did you go on to found mitú?What are some of hurdles when founding a media business?What led you to founding your latest venture, SUMA Wealth?What was the opportunity and how did you become so passionate in helping folks learn about personal finance?Walk me through the business model.We've seen other fintech products focus on the product first, then content. You've seem to take the other approach, starting with the content. How did you think about go-to-market strategy?When you think about target market - Gen Z and Millennial latinx - what are some of the tactics that you use to find that audience and create brand presence?What was your approach when you decided to raise venture capital?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Samara Hernandez for introducing me to our guest today, Rick Desai, one of the Partners at Listen. Listen is a consumer venture capital fund that backs and builds the brand of tomorrow. Some of their investments include Calm, Factor and Public Goods. Rick is also the founder of Dashfire, which invests in early stage entrepreneurs and provides near-term technical extension and long-term strategic guidance. We talk about opportunities he's seeing both in consumer products and consumer technology, how he thinks about growth vs profitability and investing in founders in secondary markets.You can follow Rick on Twitter @RickDesai.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offHere are some of the questions I ask Rick -What was your attraction to finance and consumer?I'd love to hear the origin story of Listen?At the beginning of Listen, when it came to growing brands online, you had arbitrage opportunities in growth. Now, the landscape has changed. How do you define and build a compelling brand now?We've seen investors shift away from investing in consumer brands. How do you think about opportunities?Walk me through your due diligence processHas COVID disrupted that process?Seems like we went through a long phase of grow at all costs, now we've shifted the focus to to profitability. When do you feel it makes sense to shift the focus from growth to profitability?What trends are you currently focused on?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?What's one piece of advice for founders?
Thank you Samara Hernandez for introducing me to today's guest, Steven Wolfe Pereira, co-founder and CEO of Encantos, an award-winning edtech company that believes kids learn best through play while teaching kids 21st century life skills. We discuss some of the learnings of working at technology companies and communication companies, the inspiration and insight behind Encantos and how he introduces new brands. Without further ado, here's Steven.You can follow Steven on Twitter @wolfepereira. You can also follow your host, Mike @mikegelb.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple of books that inspired Steven:The Element by Ken RobinsonUnscaled by Hemant TanejaSome of the questions I ask Steven -What was your initial attraction to technology and media?I can understand how the media background would be super helpful, but what were some of your learnings in enterprise SaaS that influenced your approach to building Encantos?Take me to the beginning of when you founded Encantos. What was the insight that led you to start your company?Talk to me a little bit about the company's mission and where you think education might miss or feel outdated in this current climate?When you think about giving back and legacy. What do you believe are some modern traits in a business that might have been overlooked/nonexistent 20-30 years ago?Walk us through the three brands that you've developed under Encantos and how each of them came to be?How do you think about creating new characters or building new brands?What's your strategy when it comes to physical products, software products and shows?What was your process when you decided to raise venture capital funding?Was it harder to fundraise during COVID?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Jeff Housenbold, Managing Partner of Softbank's Vision Fund, the world's largest technology-focused venture capital fund, with over $100 billion in capital.Some of Jeff's investments are DoorDash, Compass, OpenDoor, and Whoop. Previously, Jeff was the CEO of Shutterfly. We discuss how he approaches investment themes, how he identifies opportunities on the value chain, and markets that are ripe for disruption. Without further ado, here's Jeff.Also, check out The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25 about Ecommerce, Retail and Innovation.Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offOne book that inspired Jeff:The Fountainhead by Ayr RandI highly recommend following him on Twitter @jtbold.Here are the questions I ask Jeff -So in your career it seems like you've done it all as it relates to business. What led you to joining Softbank and be part of the vision fund?You're part of something that no one else has done - an $100 billion venture capital fund. Now, every fund has their ups and downs across the portfolio, but your fund has far greater AUM than any other fund in the ecosystem. How do you approach risk and portfolio construction?How do you think about returns? Since it's that large a fund, are you still expecting venture capital type returns or returns more similar to growth stage private equity?What's your process of deploying capital? What's your average check size?What criteria do you look for in companies?I imagine since you are writing large checks, you might have a more intensive due diligence process. If you could walk me through it.After you invest, how do you think about growth execution?I know you are a thematic investor and you extensive reports about large industries. How do you go about deciding what industry to focus on and your process creating the reports?An area that I know you focus on is real estate technology. What are current trends that you are focused on in the space and has COVID changed your perception of that industry?SPACs have become very popular in the past couple of years and I know Opendoor is going public via Chamath's SPAC. On this show, we've talked about the impact of SPACs when it comes to CPG and food and beverage brands and the impact of those types of businesses, but haven't spoken about SPACs impact on tech businesses. Would love to hear your thoughts on SPACs.You've been around the dot com boom and bust, the 2008 crash and now this pandemic. Seems for the past ten years or so when the economy was growing, companies optimized for growth, not profitability. Now the tune has changed and seems to have been changing in the past couple of years. How do you think about unit economics, sustainable, and optimizing for growth vs. profitability?What's one thing that you would change regarding venture capital?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one company that's on your anti-portfolio and why did you pass?What's the best advice that you've ever received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Joe Tonnos for the introduction to today's guest, Michael Nogen, one of the founding partners of Overton VC. Overton Venture Capital invests in early stage companies (Pre Series A) who demonstrate early success through revenue and market validation. Some of their portfolio includes Perch, Stantt and Joy Lux. Previously, he founded Theality, which became a national maternity apparel manufacturer and distributor carried by over 200 retailers and led global strategy at Gap and headed finance and strategy at 1800Flowers.com.A few books that inspired Michael:Good to Great by Jim CollinsThe Culting of Brands by Douglas AtkinNo Rules Rules by Reid HastingsQuestions I ask Michael:What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship, and founding Theality?You then went into consulting and then working in senior positions at Gap and 1800 Flowers. What were some of the learnings working at legacy brands?How did Overton come together?During the summit, one of the focuses was why have corporations at times struggle to innovate, which lead to acquiring challenging brands. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this since you worked for established corporate brands, but also was a successful founder.Walk me through your due diligence process -When you evaluate early stage businesses, what are some of the most important elements of either the founder or the business to get you interested?Has it been hard establishing conviction amongst founders since you have to meet with them remotely during COVID?What I find really interesting about your portfolio at Overton is you invest in both software / b2b2c businesses as well as consumer brands. Many software investors have felt consumer brands aren't venture backable. I was curious since you invest in a wide range of businesses and business models, how you think about porfolio construction and the return profile on each business?What are current trends that you are focused on?Has COVID changed your point of view on any specific trends?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?
My guests today are Franklin Isacson & Andrew Goletka, Founders and Managing Partners of Coefficient Capital. Coefficient partners with entrepreneurs to build brands, tell stories and engage consumers across the digital and physical worlds, typically at the series A. Some of their investments include Magic Spoon, Hawthorne, Haus and Hydrant. We discuss how they think about omnichannel, insights learned from their consumer trends report that was produced in partnership with The New Consumer, and criteria at Series A.Some of the questions I ask Andrew and Franklin:What was both your attraction to consumer?What's interesting about both your stories is that you came from the consumer world from opposite angles - Andrew from the ecommerce side, Franklin from the retail side. From each of these positions, what is most overlooked when evaluating an ecommerce brand vs. a retail brand?What are some of the differences when analyzing a successful DNVB vs. a brand that has done really well in traditional retail?When DNVBs reach scale and have to expand to retail, what do you find is the most challenging part of that expansion process?When you have a brand that is successful in retail, do they need to have an ecommerce strategy?When does an ecommerce strategy not make sense?When it comes growth marketing, you no longer have the arbitrage opportunities that you had in the late 00s and early 10s. What are some creative strategies that you've seen disruptive brands execute in order to get above the noise?What is a reason why a DNVB might not be able to work in retail?Have you seen online brands having to rebrand themselves in order to position themselves differently when it comes to retail?Walk me through your due diligence process.Has it been harder to establish conviction amongst founders when meeting with them remotely?What's one thing each of you would change as it pertains to venture capital?What's one book that inspired each of you personally and professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've ever received?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders building brands?
My guest today is Lucy Deland, Partner at Inspired Capital, who back early-stage founders with transformative ideas, brilliant teams, and relentless determination. Some of her investments include Geneva, Habi and Dandy.A couple of books that inspired Lucy:Amazing Grace by Jonathan KozolWhy We Sleep by Matthew Walker.Here's some questions I ask Lucy:Since you went from investor to founder to investor, where it makes sense to start is what attracted you to focus your career on technology and innovation?What was the insight that led you to founding Paperless Post?What led you to going back to your "roots" (so to speak) and become an investor again?Tell me a little bit about Inspired Capital and the formation.What were some of the lessons learned from your experience as COO that made you a better investor?I know that you're a generalist, but thesis driven. How do you approach which categories to focus on and opportunities?In our prior conversation, we spoke about some of the differences when your customer is a consumer, SMB and enterprise. When it comes to technology, IU, and feature set, depending on who you are selling to, what are your must haves?How has your due diligence process been disrupted by COVID?What are some of the different milestones a company has to have at the seed vs. series A?What are current trends (that are consumer facing) that you're focused on?What's one thing that you would change when it comes to venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Sasha Astafiva for the introduction to my guest today, Brian Requarth, co-founder and former CEO of Viva Real. Viva Real is the online real estate marketplace in Latin America. He is also the founder of Latitud, helping build the next generation of iconic tech startups in Latin America.You can follow Brian on Twitter @brianrequarth. You can also follow your host @mikegelb.A few books that inspired Brian:The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro KlshimiThe Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzVenture Deals by Brad FeldSome of the questions I ask Brian -What was your initial attraction to South America?What led you to founding Viva Real?What steps did you take in order to validate your idea?On this show, we mostly focus on the U.S. landscape, what are some of the differences or things you have to take into account in Brazil that you normally wouldn't in the U.S. when thinking of starting a company?In the early days -How did you approach building your team?How did you approach growth?How did you think about international expansion into other markets?When you were thinking of raising money, did you first look for local partners or did you look towards the U.S. / outside of South America?Tell me a little bit about Latitud and how that came together?When investing, I know your focus is Latin America. What are some of the challenges when investing in companies that are focused on this geography?Has it been harder finding conviction in founders since you have to meet with them remote?What is one thing that you would change in the fundraising process?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Joseph Sartre for the introduction to today's guest Sapna Shah, founder of Red Giraffe. Red Giraffe makes pre-seed investments in start-ups in the retail industry, including retail tech, marketplaces, brands and consumer sectors. Select current investments include: The Wing, FINDMINE, Robyn, and Swoonery. She's also the founder of Retail X Series, an ecosystem for retail startups in New York and around the US. We discuss what it was like founding a B2C and B2B companies, opportunities in retail innovation and the changes in consumer behavior due to COVID.A couple books that Sapna highly recommends are Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and Invisible Influence by Jonah Berger.Here are some of the questions I ask Sapna -What was your initial attraction to retail?You founded two companies, both within retail. One on the B2B side and the other consumer facing. What were some of the learnings from both experiences that helped shape how you analyze opportunities?One trend we haven't yet spoken about on this show is drop shipping. Has drop shipping affected how you look at brands?We've seen new consumer habits develop during COVID that has sped up the penetration of ecommerce. What are other consumer habit changes that you believe will happen or that you find interesting?You've been a prolific angel investor for quite a few years. What are some of the differences entrepreneurs should be aware of when accepting money from angels vs. VC funds?Walk me through your due diligence process. Has the process changed or become more challenging during COVID?What are some other trends in retail that you are passionate about?What's one thing in venture capital that you would change?What's the best piece of advice you've received?
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Ezra Galston.Ezra Galston, is the founding partner of Starting Line. a seed stage, consumer tech focused fund based in Chicago. Previously he was a Principal at Chicago Ventures. Some of his investments include Cameo, Flyhomes, and Spothero.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with EzraClick here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Natalie Dillon.I'm excited to share highlights from my conversation with Natalie Dillon, Principal at Maveron. Maveron is a premier consumer focused fund that invests in seed and Series A companies that empower consumers to live on their terms. Some of their investments include eBay, Everlane, and Allbirds. Without further ado, here's Natalie.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Natalie DillonClick here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Anna Whiteman.I'm excited to share highlights from my conversation with Anna Whiteman, Vice President at Coefficient Capital. Coefficient Capital is a new venture capital fund that leads early growth investments in fast-moving consumer goods, typically investing in Series A and B rounds. So far they've invested in Just Spices, NomNom, Hydrant and Personal Care. Without further ado, here's Anna.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Anna.Click here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Charles Hudson.Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. Precursor Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Some of their investments include The Athletic, Goodr and Co-Star.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Charles HudsonClick here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Sarah Kunst.Thank you Soraya Darabi for the intro to today's guest Sarah Kunst, managing director of Cleo Capital. Cleo Capital is an an early stage VC fund focused on the preseed & seed stages. Some of their investments include 42 Birds, Athena and Lovewellness. She's also a contributing editor at Marie Claire Magazine and previously served as a senior advisor to Bumble.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Sarah.Click here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Sasha Astafyeva.Sasha Astafyeva, Partner at Atomico. Atomico invests in Europe’s most ambitious tech founders at Series A and beyond. Some of their investments include Farmdrop, Habito, and teatime games. Sasha leads new investments in consumer. Previously, she was a Principal at Felix Capital and VP of Finance and Business Intelligence at VivaReal.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Sasha.Click here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Michael Duda.Michael Duda, Founder and one of the Managing Partners at Bullish. Bullish is a pre-seed fund and creative agency, investing in early stage consumer companies. Some of their investments include Warby Parker, Peloton, Casper and Birchbox.Click here to listen to my full conversation with MichaelClick here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Kanyi Maqubela.Kanyi Maqubela, is the Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. Kindred Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital fund, whose mission is to back visionary and dedicated founders who want to solve the most important problems and vastly improve people’s lives around the world. Some of their investments include Uber, Poshmark, Otis and Blue Bottle Coffee.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Kanyi.Click here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Samara Hernandez.My guest today is Samara Hernandez, founder of Chingona Ventures. Samara invests at the preseed and seed stages on industries that are massively changing and founders whose backgrounds uniquely position them to create businesses in growth markets that are often overlooked. We discuss how she analyzes overlooked opportunities, some of the differences when investing in consumer vs. enterprise, and Chicago.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Samara.Click here on Mobile to join our Community.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Eric Paley.Thank you Adelle Archer for introducing me to today's guest, Eric Paley, who is one of the Managing Partners at Founder Collective. Founder Collective's mission is to be the most aligned VC for founders at seed. Some of Eric's investments include Uber, CoverWallet, Seat Geek, Whoop, Thred Up and so many other incredible companies.Links:Click here to listen to my full conversation with Eric.Click here on Mobile to join our Community.
This is a highlight from my conversation with Soraya Darabi.Soraya is one of the Founding Partners of TMV, where she focuses on the future of living well.Links:Click Here to Listen to Full Episode with Soraya DarabiClick Here on Mobile to Join Our Community
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Rishi Garg.Rishi Garg Rishi is a partner at Mayfield. Mayfield is a global venture capital firm with a people first philosophy of investing.Links:Full Episode with Rishi GargClick on Mobile to Join Community
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Jiake.Outer is an extraordinary company that is reengineering outdoor furniture. Business Insider named them the #1 fastest growing DTC brands.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with him.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Jessica & Rod.Jessica Rolph and Rod Morris, the co-founders of Lovevery, staged-based play essentials designed by experts, built for babies and toddlers up to age 3.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with Jessica & Rod
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Michael Barlow, CEO of Fernish.Thank you Anna Barber for the intro to today's guest, Michael Barlow, founder and CEO of Fernish. Fernish offers premium furniture rentals that feel like home, delivered and assembled in a week.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with XXX
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Betsy Fore & Sofia Laurell, Co-CEOs and Founders of Tiny Organics.Tiny Organics delivers organic, fresh, nutrient-rich baby and toddler meals created by their Infant Nutritionist. Their goal is to help every parent feed their baby and toddler the healthiest food.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with Betsy and Sofia.
This episode are highlights from my conversation with George Milton.George Milton is the co-founder and CEO of Yellowbird Sauce, Spicy condiments crafted to take you on a fiery–fresh food adventure.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with George
This episode are highlights from my conversation with Coulter Lewis.Coulter Lewis is the founder and CEO of Sunday. Sunday provides nutrient and soil health plans for garden and lawn care. Previously, Coulter founded Quinn Snacks, the successful farm to bag snack company.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with Coulter
This episode are highlights from my episode with Adelle Archer.Adelle Archer is the founder of Eterneva, which celebrates remarkable lives by making diamonds from Ashes. Eterneva was featured on Shark Tank, in which Mark Cuban joined other incredible angels and VCs as an investor. This episode focuses in the end of life space.If you enjoy this, click here to listen to Adelle's full episode.Click here on your phone to join The Consumer VC Community
Kate Boyle is the founder and CEO of Banjo Robinson. Banjo Robinson is a magical cat that writes personalized letters that turn reading, writing and learning about the world into a magical game for 5-8 year olds. Banjo Robinson graduated London Techstars Accelerator fall 2019 and recently raised a pre-seed round led by Collaborative Fund and Sesame Ventures. Previously, Kate worked at William Morris and in screenwriting and script development.If you enjoyed this, here is a link to check out Kate's full episode.
Hey Everyone!For this holiday period, I'll be releasing an episode every morning of Hanukkah (starting tomorrow) that will be some of the best moments from my conversations with founders over this past year.I'll also be releasing an episode everyday during the twelve days of Christmas that will be some great moments with investors on this show during 2020.Click this link on your mobile to join my Upstream CommunitySign up here to receive updates about the summit.hoJsKsOKdYfTDO7r1PY4
My guest today is Matthias Metternich, one of the co-founders and CEO of Art of Sport. Art of Sport is a complete line of daily essential body and skin care products made for athletes. Some of the things we spoke about were his approach to building a world class skincare business, how he partners with Athletes, and his thoughts around fundraising and investing in CPG businesses.A couple books that inspired Matthias - Arrow In The Blue by Arthur Koestler and American Colossus by W.H. Brands.You can follow Matthias on Twitter Here. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Here are some questions I ask Matthias -What was the insight that led you to found Art of Sport?How did you approach building a superior product from day 1?There's a ton of DNVB brands in the market since it's become very affordable to start a brand. How did you think about brand differentiation and building something that was compelling in the early days?Building off this, what was your approach to online growth?How did you seek partnerships with athletes?How do you think about brand authenticity?How were you able to build a story and construct a brand that retailers wanted and what was your approach to retail / omnichannel strategy?How were you able to get into Target nationally? Since you entered retail right before COVID, has COVID been a huge headwind for you this year?When it comes to building DNVBs, you no longer have those growth arbitrage opportunities like you did in the late 00s/early 10s, so your customer acquisition costs are much higher. How do you think about capital efficiency?What was your fundraising strategy?This is now your fifth company you've started and all your companies seem to be in different verticals - enterprise SaaS, consulting - what were some of your takeaways from those experiences that impacted how you are building Art of Sport?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you personally?
Our guest today is Aaron Fu, Head of Growth at Catalyst Fund. Catalyst Fund is an inclusive fintech accelerator that is focused on investing in companies located in different parts of Africa, India and Mexico. They support innovative startups building affordable, accessible and appropriate solutions to reach the world's 3 billion underserved, while accelerating innovation ecosystems across emerging markets. We focus on the difference between selling to a consumer, SMB and enterprise business, how he analyzes emerging markets and how some of these companies scale cross border.And there you have it. It was such a pleasure chatting with Aaron. I highly recommend following him on Twitter @aaronQfu.Some of the questions I ask Aaron:What are some of the differences in your due diligence approach then a company focusing on selling to enterprises?What are some of the differences in the business model that entrepreneurs need to account for when the customer is a small business vs. a consumer?Looking at your portfolio, it seems as though one of the themes is cross-border exchange. When we spoke with Maya from Ingressive, she spoke how when a company expands crossborders, it’s not as straightforward. When you are thinking about investing in these types of companies, what are some of the risks?When we spoke previously, you mentioned how some of the businesses started in Africa also have overlap and have done quite well outside of Africa (i.e. South American and Mexico). What are some of the reasons why these companies have been able to be successful overseas?What have been some of the challenges when investing in consumer facing businesses that are in emerging markets?We’ve discussed at length on this show how investors think about opportunities relating to the american market. When it comes to emerging markets, how do you think about opportunities?Can you walk me through your due diligence process?Has it been hard establishing conviction amongst founders remotely?What is one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to investing in emerging markets?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders, wanting to build a business?
Our guests today are Vincent Diallo and Joseph Sartre, founding partners of Interlace Ventures. Interlace is a seed stage fund that invests in founders that are re-inventing commerce and retail for better consumption. We focus this conversation on their learnings in innovation when they both worked in China, opportunities in future of retail they are focused on in the United States, and how we can make venture capital more inclusive.Highly recommend following them on Twitter @Vincent11D and @josartre. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the topics we discuss -What was your initial attraction to consumer and commerce innovation?How did Interlace Ventures come together?You both worked in China for an extended period. What are a few examples of how retail technology is different and more advanced compared to the United States?How do you think about commerce technology that doesn’t exist yet in the United States, but can vs. technology that could only work in China?What is “headless commerce” and how do you think about the software stack for e-commerce?Walk me through your due diligence process.BLCK VC's missionWhat’s one thing you would change as it relates to venture capital?
Thank you Anna Barber for the intro to today's guest, Michael Barlow, founder and CEO of Fernish. Fernish offers premium furniture rentals that feel like home, delivered and assembled in a week. We discuss how Michael approached validating his idea of furniture rental, figuring out the supply chain, and how they adjusted to shifts in demand for certain products during COVID.A book that inspired Michael is Against The Gods by Peter L. Bernstein.I highly recommend following Michael on Twitter @mleebarlow. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Here are a few questions that I ask Michael -You originally came from a finance background, what attracted you to innovation and entrepreneurship in general?Tell me about the aha moment that you had for Fernish and how were you able to validate your idea?It seems like on the supply chain side of things, renting/transporting furniture would be very complex since the pieces are typically large, you have to store them. How did you manage to get around that in the early days? Also, under the hood, how does your supply chain function?When I speak with founders, we talk about how when testing ideas, they focus on demand over the supply. And if that idea gets validated (i.e. there is a demand for it) then they go and build it. Was this part of your approach? If so, what were some of your early tactics?What were some of your early growth levers?What were some of the challenges regarding COVID?Has their been a shift in demand towards certain products i.e. office desks, and chairs?Did you have to make any pivots - whether that's with your supply chain or product offerings?How did you approach raising capital?Why did you choose to go through Techstars/an accelerator instead of trying to raise your own round off the bat?We used to be in the age of optimizing for growth no matter what, now we've shifted as profitability has become what companies want to achieve. How do you think about that balance?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?Was there an early mistake that you made while building Fernish that changed the way you thought about business strategy or business in general?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Samara Hernandez, founder of Chingona Ventures. Samara invests at the preseed and seed stages on industries that are massively changing and founders whose backgrounds uniquely position them to create businesses in growth markets that are often overlooked. We discuss how she analyzes overlooked opportunities, some of the differences when investing in consumer vs. enterprise, and Chicago.A book that inspired Samara is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Here's a few questions I ask Samara -What initially attracted you to finance?How did Chingona Ventures come together?Why Chicago?Walk me through your due diligence process.Has it been harder to find conviction within founders during COVID since you have to meet with them remote?You are a strong advocate of increasing diversity in tech. What is the key to making the startup ecosystem more diverse?Where do you sit on the thematic vs. generalist spectrum and what is your approach to investing?When you are talking with founders, is there a question that is most important that you ask?What's your most recent (public) investment and what makes you excited about it?What is one thing that you would change in venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
My guest today is Elizabeth Edwards, the founder and Managing Partner of H Venture Partners. H Ventures invests in brands that are disrupting billion-dollar categories and changing the way we live our lives. She was an early investor in Peloton , Roots, Freshly to name a few. Previously, Elizabeth was a partner with Maywic Select Investments and West Ventures. We discuss what makes a brand compelling, the mystery of corporate venture capital, and how to increase diversity in the venture and startup ecosystems.A couple books that inspired Elizabeth are Pretty Good Advice by Leslie Blodgett and Principles by Ray Dalio.Highly recommend following her on Twitter @eedwards. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb.Here are a few questions I ask Elizabeth -Let’s start at the beginning. What attracted you to consumer brands?How did H Ventures come together?Alot of VCs talk about the added value that they provide entrepreneurs. At the early stages, what is the biggest added value that an investment partner can bring?Corporate venture capital is sometimes viewed as a dirty word as strategic partners might not be as focused or add as much value. How do you think about the landscape when it comes to corporate venture capital?Walk me through your due diligence process.Has it been hard finding conviction amongst founders during COVID since you have to meet with them remotely?Alot of investors seem to be looking for paths to profitability when they analyze opportunities. How do you think about the balance between growth vs. profitability?You’re the first investor that’s out of Cincinnati that I’ve interviewed. Do you have any advice for companies that might be located in secondary or tertiary markets?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one company that is on your antiportfolio and why did you end up passing?What’s your most recent investment?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Taylor Nieman, founder of Toucan. Toucan is a free chrome extension that helps you learn a language without even trying. It's pretty cool, I've been using it for the past few months and The Consumer VC owns the word "episode" on the platform. We discuss the opportunity in browser chrome extension businesses, the insight she had when founding Toucan and all her different monetization avenues, which I must say are pretty amazing and wide ranging.You can follow Taylor at @taylor_nieman. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired her is Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink.Here are a few questions I ask TaylorWhat initially attracted you to technology? What were some of the learnings as an early employee at Headspace? Why did you decide to take the leap and found Toucan? One of your main strengths has been to form partnerships. When your company is young and scrappy what is some advice you might have for founders when trying to form partnerships?Take us behind the scenes when it comes to the multiple strategies and business models you are pursuing with Toucan? Gamification is a trend we've heard in social, commerce, how does gamification relate to education? What was your process raising capital?What is one thing you would change when it came to venture capital? What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Thank you Ezra Galston for the intro to today's guest, Nikhil Basu Trivedi. Nikhil previously was the managing director of Shasta ventures and writes The Next Big Thing, which is an awesome online publication. Some of his investments include Literati, Tally, Canva, Farmer's Dog and The Pill Club. His focus has been on consumer, particularly consumer subscription businesses, which was the main focus on today's conversation.Check out Nikhil's three part series about consumer subscription - Consumer Subscriptions, 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Consumer Subscriptions, and The Farmer's Dog: A Consumer Subscription Case Study.A couple books that inspired Nikhil are Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United by Sir Alex Ferguson and Michael Moritz.Highly recommend following Nikhil on Twitter @nbt. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Here are some of the questions that I ask him:What are the shortcomings of advertising and marketplace type businesses?Why has it taken this long for subscription businesses to take off?What is the one factor that you think is often overlooked in a subscription business?What are the similarities between physical subscription businesses and software subscription businesses?What are some questions that a founder should ask him or herself to help him or her decide which would be the best option for the business as it pertains to trial periods?In your 10 factors framework, are there particular factors that actually are more important than others?How do you think about blue oceans and new markets when analyzing opportunities?What initially attracted you to venture capital and technology?Tell me about your due diligence process.Has it been hard to establish conviction amongst founders while meeting with them remotely?What’s your favorite question to ask founders?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one company on your anti-portfolio and what was the reason why you passed?What’s one piece of advice for founders building subscription businesses?
Our guest today is Carlton Fowler, Managing Partner of Goat Rodeo Capital. Carlton invests in the beverage space with some of his invests including lemon perfect, sourced, and one hope. Previously, he led spirits innovation and brand development at E&J Gallo. In this episode we focus our conversation on the change in beverage during covid, how brands are becoming creative and how he sees value add from investors in the space.A couple books that inspired Carlton are Pattern Recognition by William Gibson and Against The Gods by Peter L. Bernstein.Here are some of the questions I asked Carlton:What initially attracted you to the beverage industry?You came from an operator background, working at E & G Gallo. What attracted you working with early stage beverage companies and to head into venture capital?Talk to me about your due diligence process.What are some of the changes that you have seen when it comes to the beverage industry, specifically during COVID?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Han Shen. Han is the Founding Partner of iFly.vc, an early-stage seed/VC fund based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The fund follows a sector-thesis driven process and aims to build a concentrated portfolio with meaningful value add to entrepreneurs. We discuss the different sectors he's focused in, how he became a VC and how he thinks about uncovered opportunities.And there you have it. Han, thank you again for your time. You can follow Han on Twitter at @Han_ShenA few books that inspired Han professionally is David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell and The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.Some of the questions I ask Han -What attracted you initially to venture capital?Tell me how iFly.VC came together?At iFly.VC, I know you take a very thematic, sector driven approach. We’ve had quite a few VCs that are more generalists, if a founder has a choice in taking capital from a fund that is more sector driven vs. generalist, what are some of the advantages when choosing an investor that is thematic?What sectors or trends are you particularly interested in?When it comes to food deliver and specialty food, what do you think is most overlooked?Walk me through your due diligence process.Has it been tough finding conviction within founders during COVID?What’s one thing you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?Harry Potter Series - friendshipMalcolm Gladwell - David and GoliathWhat’s one piece of advice you have for founders?
Our guest is Elaine Russell, who co-leads Greycroft's Albertsons Fund. Greycroft is one of the premier full lifecycle investors, investing out of both their venture fund and growth fund. Greycroft's Albertsons fund is one of their sidecar funds that focuses on the future of retail. Previously, Elaine was a Partner at PLG Ventures and was the Co-founder / CEO of Little Key in Chicago, an on-demand marketplace for parents to discover and book kids classes and activities.A book that inspired Elaine is Good to Great by Jim Collins.Here are some of the questions I ask Elaine:You’ve worked on both sides of the table as founder and operator and also as an investor. What were some of the learnings from when you were a founder? What attracted you to become a VC?You lead Greycroft’s Albertson’s fund. Talk to me about the structure of the fund and where the fund falls on the financial vs. corporate/strategic? How do you think about the future of retail?Seems like during COVID, there has been a huge pressure on grocery to innovate very quickly when it comes to ecommerce. What are some opportunities that you are excited about or how do you think about retail tech? Has COVID changed how you think about what the in store experience within grocery stores will look like? What are the milestones that an entrepreneur has to have achieved in order for you to be interested?What are some qualities within founders that you like to see? Has it been difficult to establish conviction within founders since you have to meet with them remote? In grocery tech, what has been the current fundraising climate? What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital? What’s your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What’s one piece of advice to founders that are currently fundraising?
Our guest today is Yury Lifshits, founder and CEO of Openland. a modern social platform for communities. Yury is a serial entrepreunor, founding Zonaspace, Blended Labs and Entangled Solutions. On this episode we talk about Openland, how he thinks about the future of online social, how he thought about friction when downloading a new app, and pivots.You can follow Yury @yurylifshits on Twitter. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Yury -What attracted you to software and then entrepreneurship? Are we in the age of community? Has audience been replaced by community? What doesn’t work when it comes to community building? What is the competitive landscape when it comes to online communication?How he tackles friction when launching a new app? What’s one thing that you would change when it comes to venture capital? What’s one piece of advice for founder
My guest today is Jordan Odinsky, investor and head of platform at Ground Up Ventures. GroupUp is an early stage venture capital firm investing in pre-seed and seed stage startups in the United States and Israel. Some of their investments include Fast, Shapeshift Gaming, and Neighborhood Goods. In this episode, we discuss cult brands and unique product launches.I highly recommend following Jordan on Twitter @jordanodinsky You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Links to Jordan's articles mentioned: The Value of a Velvet Rope: Effects of Hype and Exclusivity on Launch Strategies and Cult Wars: The Making of a Cult BrandOn this episode you will learn:If a brand wants to use scarcity and waiting lists as a strategy, how should they first go about finding their early adopters? How are brands taking advantage of mimetic theoryOn the surface, how does he define a Cult Brand? When a brand is picking their enemy, what are traits that the enemy has to have? How should a startup think about defining the enemy? How he thinks about the balancing act of why people "feel most like themselves when they are part of a group, but the initial drive to join a cult is to discover and clarify one’s individualism". If a brand is experiencing high organic growth and engagement from customers, is that early signs that they have a cult brand?As an investor, does he think a company that has high organic growth as a cult brand? What's the principal reason why a cult brand might fail or a brand would never get into cult status? Does he come across early opportunities that he believes will develop into cult brands? His focus at Groundup. One thing he would change when it came to venture capital What's one piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Wayne Wu, General Partner at VMG. VMG focuses on investing and building iconic consumer brands. They've invested in some incredible companies like Kind Healthy Foods, Justin's, Drunk Elephant, Health Warrior, Quest Nutrition.Disclaimer: This is the opinion of Wayne Wu, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions and thoughts of VMG Partners. Any opinions, projections, forecasts and estimates contained in this production are based on certain assumptions and may change without notice. This is not an offer to buy or sell any investments.Here's what you'll learn -His initial attraction to consumer and finance. How he ended up at VMG? How he thinks about organic vs. paid growth? His process when analyzing brands and founders? How he evaluates if the brand of a company is strong and authentic? How he thinks about portfolio construction? How does he think about thematic investing? How he thinks about investing in new categories?Advice for founders that are in secondary or tertiary markets. What has been some of the changes when it comes COVID? Has it been hard establishing conviction within founders when meeting with them remotely? How he thinks about the cold email? What's one thing that he would change when it comes to venture capital? What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.
Thank you Soraya Darabi for the intro to our guest today Maya Horgan Famodu. Maya's the partner and founder of Ingressive Capital. Ingressive Capital is an early venture capital fund located in Nigeria and invests in founders and companies in sub-saharan Africa. Some of her investments include Paystack, AWA Bike, and Vesicash.I highly recommend following Maya on Twitter @mayahorgan. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Excited to announce The Consumer VC Summit: October 13-15. It will be three days of discussions, talks about investing in CPG and physical goods at the early stages AND networking and mentoring sessions. Click Here to purchase your tickets.A few books that inspired Maya personally are Why Buddism is True? by Robert Wright, Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan, The Enlightened Gardner by Sydney Banks. A couple books that inspired her professionally are The Hard Things About Things by Ben Horowitz and Superforecast by Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner.In this episode you'll learn -What inspired her to found Ingressive? What is special about founding a fund that seeks to invest in a frontier market like Sub-Saharan Africa? What are the particular opportunities and problems. What are some of the biggest opportunities that you focus on? What are some of the challenges when starting a technology company in Nigeria. Is finding exits difficult? I remember you mentioned how lots of folks talk about Kenya and the incredible innovation that's happening there, but 75% of those companies were founded by ex-pats. How do you see the process of building a local Nigerian, entrepreneurial community?What are some of the biggest misconceptions about a frontier region, like West Africa? What are some of the differences when it comes to your due diligence process and what milestones does a company have to achieve in order for you to be interested? What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?10 day silent meditation retreat - passanaHelped takeaway preconceived notionWhat's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one piece of advice for founders? Should more of them be looking at Africa?
Our guest today is Nate Cooper, partner at Barrel Ventures. Barrel is seed stage fund based in the heart of the midwest. Some of their investments include Haus, Olipop and Clove. Previously, Nate founded L3 Hospitality Group and Wise Apple.If you want to keep up to date on him, follow him on Twitter @Nrcoope. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Excited to announce The Consumer VC Summit: October 13-15. It will be three days of discussions, talks about investing in CPG and physical goods at the early stages AND networking and mentoring sessions. Click Here to purchase your tickets.A couple books that inspired Nate is Now, Discover Your Strengths by Gallup and The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore.In this episode you will learn:His initial attraction to food and bev? His learnings as an operator when he founded L3 and Wise Apple? Why he started Barrel Ventures?How are you thinking of the seed stage landscape during these times? Have investments slowed down? Is there a shift towards new categories? His due diligence process?If it's been harder to find conviction within founders when meeting them online?Advice for founders located in secondary and tertiary markets? Consumer trends he's focused on right now. One thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? His most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? What's one piece of advice that he has for founders?
Thank you Soraya Darabi for the intro to today's guest Sarah Kunst, managing director of Cleo Capital. Cleo Capital is an an early stage VC fund focused on the preseed & seed stages. Some of their investments include 42 Birds, Athena and Lovewellness. She's also a contributing editor at Marie Claire Magazine and previously served as a senior advisor to Bumble.A couple of book that Sarah recommends is Attached by Amir Levine and Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.Click here to sign up for Lunchclub.You can follow her on Twitter @sarahkunst. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.In this episode we discuss -What initially attracted her to venture capital and investing in consumer facing companies in particular? How did Cleo Capital come together? Her diligence process. Is it harder to find conviction when meeting founders online? How do you think about the early stage landscape during these times? Her thoughts around raising a seed fund vs. series A during COVID.Her advice for companies in secondary and tertiary markets. Her thoughts around the warm introduction. Consumer trends that you are excited about and maybe leaned more during COVID What's one thing that she would change when it came to venture capital?Her most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? One piece of advice for founders?
Our guest today is Sunny Dhillon, one of the Managing Director of Signia Ventures. Signia invests at the seed & series A stages in great entrepreneurs that are applying new technologies and innovative business models to old industries. Sunny's investments include Manscaped, Boxed, and MomentFeed.Previously Sunny cofounded Barstool, one of the first dating apps in the App store.Feel free to follow Sunny on Twitter @sundhillon. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.What you'll learn on this episode -What initially attracted Sunny to venture capital and entrepreneurship? Some of the changes he's seeing and will continue to see in the grocery store model. How he's thinking about the current landscape when it comes to beauty, especially as it relates to trying new products and the sales process since folks aren't really going to stores/many stores aren't open?Has it been harder to find conviction in founders when he's meeting with them remotely? His due diligence process. The DTC channel during COVID. Other consumer trends that he's focused on. One thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? One book that inspired him personally and one book that inspired him professionally? His most recent investment. What's one company you had the opportunity to invest in, didn't and in retrospect wish you did?
Our guest today is Hilary Quartner, one of the founders and Co-CEOs of Hilma. Hilma creates natural remedies for your medicine cabinet that are backed by science. Previously Hilary worked at The Wonderful Company, FIJI Water and was part of the founding team at Jet Black.You can Hilary on Instagram @hilarykquartner and Hilma @hilma_co. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book that inspired her professionally is Competing Against Luck by Clayton Christensen and two books that inspired her personally are Educated by Tara Westover and The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley.Here's what you will learn:What attracted Hilary to consumer brands and entrepreneurship. How Hima came together and the opportunity her and her co-founders' saw. How they thought about differentiation. Lessons learned in developing "The Clinical Herbal" category.Decision making process when you have co-CEO business structure. How she thinks about organic growth. Some of the early mistakes when founding Hilma. What was most critical to her success? Why they chose to fundraise? Some of the effects COVID has had on their business? One piece of advice for founders
Thank you Fernando Gentil for the introduction to today's guest, Alix Peabody, CEO and founder of Bev. Bev is a wine company that is breaking down barriers in the heavily male dominated alcohol space.Feel free to follow Alix on Instagram and Bev @alixpeabody and @drinkbev. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired Alix personally is The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz and one that inspired her professionally is Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek.Here's what you'll learn:What attracted her to entrepreneurship? What was the insight that she saw that led her to starting Bev? Why she chose to raise money. How she was able to position herself to VCs? Her fundraising strategy.What worked and what didn't? What parts of her business did investors care about most? How she established her supply chain? What parts could she control? How she approached brand strategy? How did she think about growth?How has COVID changed her strategy or affected Bev? How did she think about product-market fit, where her customers spend their time and distribution? How she's thinking about growth vs. profitability now? What was the most surprising thing that she learned since founding Bev?What's one thing that she would change when it came to fundraising? What's one thing she would change in the fundraising process? What's one piece of advice for founders of B2C businesses?
This episode is part of a live recording Office Hour / AMA with David Goldberg.David Goldberg is a General Partner at Corigin Ventures. Corigin Ventures is a New York based venture capital firm leading seed stage investments in the founders defining the future of daily living. Some of their investments include Perch Interactive, The Inside, Classpass and Imperfect Foods. If you enjoy this episode, check out David's proper podcast episode #35.You can follow David on Twitter @davidrgoldberg. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM him and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.This episode is brought to you by Crunchfirm : a full-stack finance, accounting & CFO advisory partner focused exclusively on VC backed startups. Listeners get the first month free of their services, by emailing hello@crunchfirm.com. Listeners get the first month free.
I'd like to thank Adelle Archer for introducing me to today's guest, Jiake Lu, CEO of Outer. Outer is an extraordinary company that is reengineering outdoor furniture. Business Insider named them the #1 fastest growing DTC brands. I chat with Jiake about how he went from founding a B2B business to B2C, his really unique showroom strategy.And there you have it, lots of fun chatting with Jiake about outdoor furniture. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @jiakeliu. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired Jiake is Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.Here's what we cover -His attraction to entrepreneurship and software. Learnings from starting ProspectWise and why he started Outer. How did he realize the insight that folks weren't using their outdoor furniture? What was his product innovation? How did he turn this into a brand rather than being a wholesaler?His unique distribution strategy and how he thought about show rooms? His launch strategy when they premiered May 2019? The competitive landscape in outdoor furniture?His initial growth strategy? Why did he you need to fundraise? The hardest part about fundraising or element of his business that it was hardest for investors to understand? Some of the effects of COVID on his business?What's one thing that he would change when it came to fundraising? One piece of advice for DNVB companies?This episode is brought to you by Crunchfirm : a full-stack finance, accounting & CFO advisory partner focused exclusively on VC backed startups. Listeners get the first month free of their services, by emailing hello@crunchfirm.com.
Our guest today is Dan Gluck, Managing Partner of Powerplant Ventures a growth equity fund investing in emerging consumer food, beverage, and foodservice companies leading disruptive plant-centric brands. Some of their investments include Beyond Meat, Thrive Market, and Veggie Grill. Previously, Dan co-founded Health Warrior, which was acquired by PepsiCo in 2018. This was fantastic conversation and Dan discusses what attracted him to investing at young age, his insight that led him to founding Health Warrior and why he is so focused on better for you and plant based foods.One book that inspired Dan is The Choice: Embrace The Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger.You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Dan -What attracted you to finance and investing in health and wellness products?Tell me the insight that you had with Chia seed bars and how that led to Health Warrior?Take me behind your decision making process when you were thinking about taking the jump into entrepreneurship?After the sale to Pepsi (which congratulations), did you have the urge to start another company?How did Powerplant Ventures come together?I understand that your thesis focuses around plant-based products. It seems like you invest in quite a variety of types of businesses around that theme - restaurants, B2B catering, food and beverage products. How do you think about portfolio construction and making sure you have a balance?In the food and beverage spaces, how do you think about growth, profitability and what does a successful outcome look like?What are some trends in food that you are excited about?You've had a-lot of experience as a board member. What makes a good board member?I believe your our first growth investor on the show. Talk to me a bit about your due diligence process?What are some qualities that you like to see in founders?COVID has been top of mind for everybody.How has it effected you and your portfolio?Has it been tough meeting with founders remotely rather than in person?What's one thing you would change about venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one company that you had the opportunity to invest in, didn't and in retrospect wish you did?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Alex Levitt, one of the heads of Yellow. Yellow is Snap Inc.'s ecosystem to serve companies at the intersection of creativity and technology with its Accelerator Program, Collabs Program, and Community Programming.Yellow is currently accepting applications through Sunday, August 23rd for its inaugural Collabs Program. If you're interested in integrating your product into the Snap Platform through Snap Minis, Snap Kit Dynamic Lenses, Scan, SnapML or more, visit YellowLA.com to apply and learn more.You can follow Alex on Twitter @alexmlevitt. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A couple books that inspired Alex are Educated by Tara Westover and Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull.Here are a few questions I asked Alex -What attracted you to media and technology in the first place?So you worked at WME, rising to digital. What was your focus in the digital department?Talk to me about Snap’s accelerator.What made you excited about joining?What verticals do you focus on?How involved is Snap?How do you think about where you stand in the overall market of accelerators?Walk me through your due diligence process.Launching Product on PlatformHow should a founder decide whether an accelerator or raising their own round is the appropriate choice?When it comes to business models, advertising business models are a bit out of favor, social has traditionally been tied to advertisingHow do you think about the early stage venture capital ecosystem?What trends are you currently focused on and makes you excited?How has running an accelerator changed during COVID?What’s one thing you would change about Venture Capital?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders that are currently fundraising?
Thank you Will McClelland for the introduction to today's guests Betsy Fore and Sofia Laurell, the co-founders and co-CEOs of Tiny Organics. Tiny Organics delivers organic, fresh, nutrient-rich baby and toddler meals created by their Infant Nutritionist. Their goal is to help every parent feed their baby and toddler the healthiest food. Previously, Betsy worked and created product lines for Mattel, Hasbro and MindCandy (Moshi Monsters). She was also the Founder and CEO of Wondermento, creators of the WonderWoof BowTie dog activity monitor. Sofia is a marketing and PR veteran, most recently at Ascend Foundation helping elevate women and minorities onto U.S. corporate boards and built the brand into a powerhouse.A couple books that inspired Sofia are The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. One book that inspired Betsy is Shoedog by Phil Knight.You can follow Betsy on Instagram @betsyfore and Sofia @sofialaurell. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Betsy and Sofia -What attracted each of you to entrepreneurship and consumer products?How did Tiny Organics come together?What is the problem that you are trying to solve? BetsyYou are both Co-CEOs. Talk to me about your decision making process?The classic line when there are two co-founders is “complementary skills”. When I was talking with Jessica and Rod from Lovevery, we discussed how yes that is important, but also they are so collaborative on lots of the decision makings and not to restrict each other in a box. There are no right or wrong ways to build a company, but wanted to know how you think about your working relationship? Is it more siloed when it comes to decision making or is it more collaborative?How did you go about sourcing the food and your supply chain? It didn’t seem like you both came from a food and bev background (I could certainly be wrong here!), was that difficult to know where to begin?One of the trends that we’ve talked about on the show in consumer is curation. Now since there is so much information and choice out there, curation has become difficult. Tiny Organics seem to address that with these personalized menus and creating a plan for the child. Does that though make your supply chain more complicated?How did you think about the price point at the very beginning and the competitive landscape?Why did you decide to fundraise?What was your strategy when you approached fundraising?Did you already have a network?What was the toughest obstacle for investors to wrap their heads around when it came to your business?How do you think about growth vs. profitability? BetsyWhat has been the hardest part when starting Tiny Organics? - SofiaWhat’s one thing you would change when it came to fundraising? - SofiaWhat’s one piece of advice that you have for founders that are starting a CPG company?
Thank you Joe Tonnos for the introduction to today's guest, Mitch Hayes, founder and CEO of Los Sundays Tequila. Los Sundays is the tequila for the millennial and founded on the principles of Quality, Originality and Style.One book that inspired Mitch personally is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho . One book that inspired him professionally is Damn Good Advice by George Lois.You can follow Los Sundays on Instagram @los_sundays. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Mitch -Talk to me about your attraction to entrepreneurship and what led you to founding Los Sundays?What was your approach when it came to taste testings?How did you decide on your first type of Tequila and how do you think about product mix?Your approach from the beginning was thinking about demand first rather than supply and being able to capture demand.How were able to generate demand?What was your launch strategy?Is there pay to play when it comes to drinks in bars and recommendations from bartenders?How did you approach your supply chain from the very beginning?How did you think about your brand positioning?How did you think about growth, offline and online?Why did you choose to fundraise?What was your fundraising strategy?What has been some of the effects of COVID on your business?What's one piece of advice for founders that are planning on starting a food and bev type business?
Our guest today is Sasha Astafyeva, Partner at Atomico. Atomico invests in Europe’s most ambitious tech founders at Series A and beyond. Some of their investments include Farmdrop, Habito, and teatime games. Sasha leads new investments in consumer. Previously, she was a Principal at Felix Capital and VP of Finance and Business Intelligence at VivaReal.A couple of books that inspired Sasha personally and professionally are The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy and Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson.You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions that I ask Sasha are -What initially attracted you to venture capital?Talk to me about the European landscape when it comes to the startup ecosystem, what makes you excited about it?What's your definition of Series A? How do you think about that stage?What are milestones that a startup has to achieve in order to raise a Series A?What are some qualities you like to see in founders?Since the United States is such a big market, you can create a massive business in the United States alone. I imagine it must be harder to scale in Europe since you're dealing with many countries.What are some consumer trends that you are excited about?Has COVID changed some of your thesis' around certain trends?Has it been harder establishing conviction amongst founders since you have to meet with them remotely?I recently had on Ezra Galston, who runs Starting Line, a VC fund out of Chicago. He mentioned that deals are getting done really quickly, almost at pre-COVID pace. Is this the same in Europe?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's one company you had an opportunity to invest in, didn't and in retrospect wish you did?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice that you have for B2C founders?
Our guest today is Nick Mindel, Partner at Amberstone. Amberstone invests at the early stages in entrepreneurs building breakthrough consumer companies. Some of their investments include Daily Harvest, Juneshine, Bev and Honey Mama's. Previously, Nick worked at Piper Sandler and a co-founder of Trail Post Ventures. Thank you Justin Gordon for the introduction!A book that he recommends that inspired him personally is A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. A book that inspired him professionally is Principles by Ray Dalio. A series that he's thoroughly enjoyed is The Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown.You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions that I asked Nick -Tell me your origin story, I know your family was involved in the food and beverage industry, but what initially attracted you to finance and consumer?How did Trail Post Ventures come together?I can imagine building out a track record is hard, and even with a track record that doesn't mean you can fundraise. For folks that are looking to raise their own funds, what would you advise?Talk to me about the transition to Amberstone come together?What's Amberstone's thesis?What are some qualities in founders that you like to see?When you are evaluating opportunities, how do you think about optimizing profitability vs. growth and gross margin?How do you think about the differences between a trend and a fad?How do you think about habits? Since we're living in COVID, it seems like people have become more comfortable buying physical goods online as it's become the only way to. How are you thinking about ecommerce when things go (roughly) back to normal - stores reopen?What are consumer trends that you are most excited about?Is it harder to find conviction among founders since you are meeting with them remotely?I've had on Will McClelland, whose the MP at Elizabeth Street Ventures and he believes that if you want to build a consumer company or focus on consumer, New York is the place to do that, not San Francisco. What are your thoughts around some of the differences between NY and SF?Do you take a look at founders that are located in secondary and tertiary markets? If so, what's some advice for them that are building venture backable businesses but aren't in a big venture ecosystem?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one piece of advice for founders building consumer businesses?
Our guest today is Ezra Galston, Founding partner of Starting Line, a seed stage consumer tech focused fund based in Chicago. Previously he was a Principal at Chicago Ventures. Some of his investments include Cameo, Flyhomes, and Spothero.One book that inspired Ezra personally is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. One book that inspired him professionally is Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.I highly recommend following Ezra on Twitter @EzraMoGee. You can also follow your host @mikegelb.Some of the questions I ask Ezra -What initially attracted you to venture capital and how did Starting Line come about?What makes Chicago special as a startup ecosystem?I've had on investors that say if you start a company outside the coasts or the main venture ecosystems, that's ok, but there needs to be a plan to move to the main venture ecosystem because of recruiting and hiring. I've other investors that love investing in secondary markets (it's weird to consider Chicago a secondary market) or not obvious markets. How do you think about this?Talk to me a little bit about your due diligence process and your stage?What are some of the differences between managed and lightly managed marketplaces?For entrepreneurs that are thinking about starting marketplace, what are some things they should consider when approaching marketplace design that would influence whether they should have a managed vs. un-managed marketplace?Now, decision making on the internet in some ways is hard because there is so much choice. How do you think about curation?I'd love to learn a little bit about consumer technology that you are focused on that are for the 99%What opportunities in consumer tech are you focused on and gets you excited?What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one company on your anti-portfolio and did you learn anything from passing?What's one piece advice that you have for consumer tech founders?
Thank you Jordan Nof for introducing me to today's guest Coulter Lewis, founder and CEO of Sunday. Sunday provides nutrient and soil health plans for garden and lawn care. Previously, Coulter founded Quinn Snacks, the successful farm to bag snack company. But in this episode we focus on Sunday and lawn care. We talk about pesticides, why lawn care is an overlooked massive category, and Coulter's journey as a successful serial entrepreneur.One of Coulter's favorite books is Traction by Gino Wickman.Here are a few questions that I asked Coulter -What attracted you initially to entrepreneurship?How did working at IDEO impact how you looked at business?After you left Quinn Snacks, what made you decide to found Sunday?Talk to me about the early days of Sunday. What were some of the challenges that you faced?How did you approach your supply chain?What led you to raise money and approach VCs?What was the biggest obstacle when fundraising?Was you being located in Colorado rather than the coasts an issue?What was your launch strategy and how did you think about finding product-market fit?You launched Sunday on the D2C channel. There’s lots of talk about how there is saturation in paid marketing since 85% of online ads go to Google and Facebook and theres no longer the arbitrage opportunities that existed in the early 2010s. How do you think about online advertising?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Adam Cohen-Aslatei, founder and CEO of dating app S'More, the dating app that is built for relationships. Adam has had an extensive career working in the online dating industry and the advertising world. He walks us through why S'More is different, how he thinks about bringing inclusivity to online dating and how he successfully fundraised.You can check out S'more here and follow them on Instagram here.A few books that inspired Adam personally are Freakonomics by Steven Levitt, Getting To Yes by Roger Fisher and Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone.You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Adam -Tell me about your initial interest in the online dating space.You’ve worked for many of the major dating apps, what was the insight that you saw that led you to founding S’More?What was your approach when founding the company? Did you have a technology background? How did you decide to make the jump?How did you think about the competitive landscape within dating apps?How did you approach fundraising? Did you know VCs or have a venture network?What were other features that make S’More more inclusive?We talked before about “Love is Blind”, have you seen that as an influence in how folks are approaching S’More?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Our guest today is Jesse Draper, Founding Partner of Halogen Ventures. Halogen Ventures is a Los Angeles, California based Venture Capital fund focused on investing in early stage consumer technology startups with a female in the founding team. Some of their investments include Hop Skip Drive, Clover Letter, and Binti. Previously, Jesse was an actress and founded/hosted The Valley Girl Show, where she interviewed some of the biggest names in business, entertainment, government, and technology.One book that impacted Jesse personally is To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care by Cris Beam. One book the inspired Jesse professionally is High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil.You can follow Jesse @jessedraper on Twitter. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Here are some of the questions I ask Jesse -Talk to me about your attraction to acting and why the shift to VC?What was the opportunity that you discovered that led you to starting Halogen?What types of businesses or areas do you focus on at Halogen?What makes you excited about Los Angeles as a venture hub?I know that every company that you invest in must have at least one woman in a leadership role. What are some ways that the VC community could be doing to be more inclusive?Talk to me a little bit about your due diligence process?What stage do you invest in and how are you thinking about the early stage landscape?COVID is very top of mind right now, has this shifted your strategy on what areas you should focus on?Has it been harder finding conviction since you have to meet founders remote?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What's one company that you had the opportunity to invest in, didn't and in retrospect wish you did?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's one piece of advice to founders?
Our guest today is Soraya Darabi, General Partner at Trail Mix Ventures where she focuses on the future of living well. Previously, she worked at the New York Times, co-founded Foodspotting (acq. by OpenTable) and Zady. Some of her investments include Classtag, The Wing, and Alleyoop. Lots of insights on this episode as Soraya shares her amazing experiences both as a founder and investor, so without further ado, here's Soraya.And there you have it. It was really great chatting with Soraya, I highly recommend following her on Twitter @sorayadarabi. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions that I ask Soraya -What attracted you first to media and then becoming an entrepreneur?Why the switch to VC and how did TMV come together?Diligence process for founders?What’s your check size? How do you think about the different fundraising stages and the overall early stage investing ecosystem?I heard in a previous interview that you invest in the “care economy”. What is the care economy if you could break that down for us?Since you invest in both enterprise and consumer, is your diligence process and milestones different for each type of business?How do you approach market sizing?Wanted to talk about COVID -Is it harder finding conviction in founders when meeting virtually rather than in person?Are you seeing more or less new companies during COVID?Has working from home been more difficult?What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one company you had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish you did?
Thank you Sumeet Shah for the introduction to today's guest, Meera Clark, Senior Associate at Obvious Ventures. Obvious Ventures invests in startups that combine profit and purpose for a better world. Some of their investments include Beyond Meat, Carezone, Goodeggs and Medium.I highly recommend following Meera on twitter @itsmeeraclark. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book that inspired Meera is Setting The Table by Danny Meyer.Here are a few questions that I asked Meera -Tell me a bit about your journey. What attracted you to finance, consumer and early stage companies?Obvious Ventures is a B-Corp. Tell me about your investment criteria?Walk us through your due diligence process?What are some qualities in a founder that you pay attention to the most?One of the areas that you are focused on is healthy living. What’s your thesis around both physical and mental health?Something we also spoke about before is the future of social and how we’re at the end of the hype cycle. How do you see folks interacting online changing?The amount of social interaction online has dramatically accelerated due to COVID, do you think that this will continue post-COVID?How are you thinking about the future of the influencer?There’s now so many brands out there that are trying to appeal to Gen Z and really have to be authentic in order to do so. Lots of buzz words that get thrown around are “sustainability” and “customer centric”. What do those words mean to you?“The Gratification Migration” discusses the changes in consumer behavior during COVID and how we’re at a crossroads of healthy habits. What do you mean by that?What are some other consumer trends that you are excited about?What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one piece of advice for founders?
I would like to thank Adelle Archer for introducing me to today's guest, Eric Paley, who is one of the Managing Partners at Founder Collective. Founder Collective's mission is to be the most aligned VC for founders at seed. Eric is a pretty legendary seed stage investor, some of his investments include Uber, CoverWallet, Seat Geek, Whoop, Thred Up and so many other incredible companies.One book that inspired Eric is Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.You can follow Eric on Twitter @epaley. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. If you’re enjoying the show, if you could leave a review on the apple podcast app as that helps other folks find it, that would be really helpful. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com.Here are some of the questions that I ask Eric -Now you have pre-seed and other emerging stages at the early stages, what’s your definition of seed?Why did you choose to create a seed fund originally?Why are platforms so popular with VCs and how do you think about different types of businesses (platform, product)?What’s some advice for a startup that is building a vertical product, since VCs typically want to see platforms that have large TAMs?You mention in a piece you wrote for Techcrunch - “products and platforms are mutually exclusive at early-stage startups. It is nearly impossible to offer a high-quality use case while also being a platform”. What do you actually mean by that?It seems like the size of a market is often quite different amongst founders and investors (i.e. founder might think the market size is $30 billion, investor believes it’s $1 billion).What are some of the mistakes when thinking about how big a market is?How should founders think about TAM and market size if they are building a new market? If it’s a blue ocean opportunity?I wanted to talk about COVID, which I’m sure is very top of mind. A couple of other investors I had on say that they are more worried about companies that are trying to raise their series A rather than seed round during these times.What has been some of the changes in seed over these past few months in relation toValuationTraction/milestones achieved for investmentShift in attractive vs. mediocre marketsIs it harder to find conviction in a ounder when you meet with the person remotely rather than in person?How has your team adjusted to remote work as well as your portfolio companies?What makes a market attractive to invest in?When you were a founder, you’ve mentioned how there were VCs that didn’t think your technology would work (so they didn’t invest) and they were right. This ended up in a pivot. However, for those that did invest, they were extremely happy with their returns from the 3M acquisition and ultimately were successful in providing value by pivoting. It seems as though what made you successful was your obsession with the problem rather than your initial solution.When analyzing founding teams, how do you know that they are fixated on the problem?Have you ever invested in companies where you were unconvinced with what they were building (their solution), but had such conviction in the team and how they thought about the problem they were addressing?Great marketHow do you analyze founding teams?(I remember Joe said you invest in founders that are All Over It, but what does that mean to you?)I know you’ve talked alot about the pitfalls of over-fundraising. When you are at the seed stage, is this a conversation that you have with founders when you are thinking about investing?When pitching, what are some of the most common mistakes that founders might make?I wanted to talk about Go-to Market strategy and distribution, which is as important as product. How should founders think about a unique distribution strategy?Is there a difference when evaluating a B2C company vs. a B2B business at seed?I know you’ve spoken a bunch on the topic of pro-rata and how pro-rata doesn’t help entrepreneurs. How real is signaling? I know lots of investors have said on this show founders need to do their own diligence on investors, should that diligence start with how investors approach executing pro-rata rights?What are consumer trends are areas that you are currently focused on?One piece of advice for B2C founders?
Please note Office Hour episodes are not edited and the sound quality will not be as good as other episodes as they are recorded on one track.Office Hours are opportunities for listeners to ask past guests questions themselves. We will be releasing the recorded versions each Saturday.This Office Hour with Jason Shuman was recorded live on June 9th. Jason Shuman is a Principal at Primary Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm responsible for backing NYC’s most promising founders. Some of their investments include Ticketfly, Jet, Deliveroo, and Package Free.If you enjoyed Jason, feel free to check out his full podcast episode here.
Our guest today is Alex French, founder and CEO of Bizzy Coffee, the #1 seller of cold brew coffee on Amazon. We discuss Alex's initial approach to entrepreneurship, how they've been able to maintain #1 Best Seller on Amazon, how he approached fundraising and was able to raise, and COVID's effects on Bizzy. Without further ado, here's AlexA couple books that inspired Alex are The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris and How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.Here are some of the questions that I asked Alex -What initially attracted you to entrepreneurship and your early entrepreneurial efforts?What were some of your learnings when you were at General Mills?Why did you decide to focus on Coffee?What was the problem that you saw that you wanted to address or the particular insight?It seems like you wanted to be an entrepreneur, but didn’t have or know what product to launch. There is no right or wrong way to approach entrepreneurship but I wanted to know if you have thoughts around how you thought about it?How were you able to validate ideas?How did you approach your supply chain? What was the hardest part?How did you approach fundraising? DNVBs have been out of favor with investors, did you get that sense when you were fundraising?You’ve raised both from VCs and Family Offices, what has been some of the differences when seeking investment from these two groups?How were you able to grow to become #1 on Amazon?What are some of the benefits to Amazon and some of the limitations?In the beginning, how did you think about brand and your differentiation when you were evaluating the market?How has COVID affected Bizzy?How are you thinking about post-COVID and the changes in consumer behavior?What is one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.
Thank you Alex Pattis for the introduction to today's guest Pippa Lamb who is a partner at Sweet Capital. Sweet Capital in an early stage investment fund built by the founders of King.com (Candy Crush), following their sale to Activision Blizzard in 2015. Pippa focuses on early stage consumer technology investments ranging from software and next generation social communities to fintech. This is was fun and fascinating conversation as we talked about gamification in social, why she splits her time in LA and London, how she evaluates opportunities and her focuses.I highly recommend following her on Twitter @pippalamb. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions that I ask Pippa -What attracted you initially to become a consumer investor and transition from the world of later stage private equity down to venture capital?Tell me about Sweet Capital.How it came togetherInvestment focusWhy located in Los Angeles, London. What are some of the differences in ecosystems since you travel back and forth?Where do you invest geographically?What qualities or traits in founders do you look for?For folks looking to start companies, what are some questions they should be asking themselves to analyze and see if they do have an unfair advantage and if they should be the ones founding the businesses?Does unfair advantage simply mean experience?How do you think about early traction?Walk me through your due diligence process. You are pre-series A / Seed fund. What type of metrics are you looking for in a consumer tech company?Are you focused primarily on ad rev, marketplace, or SaaS type businesses?Want to discuss COVID, as that’s top of mind for everyoneHave you changed your investment strategy?Is it harder to find conviction when meeting with founders virtually?Has COVID changed how you thought about remote teams in companies?What are you seeing in the future of mobile technology or trends that you are paying attention to?Los Angeles has become one of the hubs of consumer technology, in your view, why has that been the case?I’ve heard some folks say on this show it’s a contrarian time to be investing in consumer. Why do some folks think that and do you believe it?What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What is one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What is your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What’s one piece of advice for B2C founders?If you’re enjoying the show, if you could leave a review on the apple podcast app as that helps other folks find it, that would be really helpful. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM me and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. Thanks again for listening.
This is a compilation episode about fundraising from the founders perspective. Some of their tactics, strategies when evaluating investors and how they reached out to investors. The founders featured are Kate Boyle, who is the founder of Banjo Robinson, Nadine Habayeb from Bohana, Adelle Archer from Eterneva, George Milton from Yellowbird Sauce, an amazing hot sauce company, and Jessica Rolph and Rod Morris, co-founders of Lovevery.
I'd like to thank Adelle Archer for introducing me to today's guest Dan Graham, one of the co-founders and General partners of Springdale Ventures. Some of their investments include Eterneva, Literati, and Beatbox beverages. Previously, Dan co-founded BuildASign.com in 2005 and grew it to an over $100 million dollar CPG, Ecommerce business that was purchased by Cimpress (VistaPrint) in 2018 for $280M. This episode we talk all things Austin and CPG - the opportunity he saw to form Spingdale, why he didn't need to fundraise when building Buildasign.com and how he thinks about brand in relation to ecommerce and retail.If you’re enjoying the show, if you could leave a review on the apple podcast app as that helps other folks find it, that would be really helpful. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM me and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. Thanks again for listening.A couple of books Dan recommends are Give and Take by Adam Grant and Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.Some of the questions I asked Dan -What attracted you to entrepreneurship and what was the opportunity that you saw when founding BuildaSign?Why did you choose not to fundraise for BuildaSign and bootstrap?Talk to me about what attracted you to investing?Why did you switch from being an angel investor to actually raising your own fund and building Springdale Ventures?NaturelyWhat was the opportunity that you saw in Austin?What makes Austin so compelling as a startup hub? How is it different from New York and the bay area?Talk to me about your due diligence and decision making process and how do you establish conviction that the brands you invest in will break through the noise?Are there specific metrics that you pay most attention to?How do you judge brand authenticity?Growth marketing - organic vs. paidWhat are some qualities you like to see in founders?How do you think about first mover advantage when it comes to consumer brands?Has COVID changed how you invest?Have you shifted your focus from/to any particular verticals?What categories have been disrupted most?Are you spending more time with portfolio companies as opposed to making new investments?What are some consumer trends that you are paying attention to?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one piece of advice for founders of B2C companies?
Hello and welcome to The Consumer VC. I am your host Mike Gelb and on this show we talk about the world of venture capital and consumer facing startups.Thank you very much Natalie Dillon for the intro to today's guests, Jessica Rolph and Rod Morris, the co-founders of Lovevery, Staged-based play essentials designed by experts, built for babies and toddlers up to age 3. Previously, Jessica co-founded and served as COO of Happy Family, an extremely successful organic baby food company. Rod previously was the Senior Vice President at Opower. Going into this episode, I didn't know much about toys and learning behavior for babies, so I learned a ton and Jessica and Rod make it so easy to digest how they are thinking differently about child development with Lovevery. Without further ado, here they are.You can follow Jessica @rolphjessica and Rod @roderickmorris. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.If you’re enjoying the show, if you could leave a review on the apple podcast app as that helps other folks find it, that would be really helpful. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM me and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. Thanks again for listening.One book that inspired Jessica professionally is High Performance Habits by Brenden Burchard.One book that inspired Rod professionally is Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini and one book that inspired him personally is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.Here are some of the questions that I ask -Jessica - how did you come up with the concept of Lovevery?What was the insight that you learned that inspired you to start Lovevery?When did you know that you wanted Roderick as a co-founder and how did that come about?Talk to me a little bit of the dynamic between you two. What’s the decision making and the delegation process when it comes to business activities? I understand that Jessica is the CEO and Roderick is the President, but what does that actually mean?Let’s talk about the early days.How did you think about design, quality and this translating into your first product, the $140 baby gym?How did you approach the supply chain?Once you built your first product, what was the go-to market strategy?How did you know if the brand building was working if the primary objective is not to sell the baby gymHow did you think about growth?Organic vs. PaidWhat were some of the ways you were able to establish a community around - bothyour brand and products?The fundraiseWhy did you want to raise money?What was your fundraising strategy?Was it tough to raise with your company located in Idaho?What was the biggest hurdle when fundraising?Any advice for founders that are located in secondary and tertiary markets that are looking to raise money from institutional investors? - have to show up and get smarter through the processAny Advice for founders that don’t have a network that are looking to raise?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to fundraising?Product and pricing strategy. You have a subscription business for the play kits and then you have individual products like the play gym.When you think about building a new product, how do you think about whether it should be part of a subscription vs. separate?How do you think about market expansion? Are you going to stay in the 0-3 age or is the plan to eventually introduce products later on in a child’s development as well?How has COVID changed your operating plans and did you have to pivot any part of your business?I’ve heard investors say that they wouldn’t invest in companies that are located in secondary/tertiary markets because of their worry about talent recruitment as the company scales? How do you think about talent recruitment as you're based in Idaho?What’s one piece of advice that you might have for folks that are fundraising?
I'd like to thank Fernando Gentil for introducing me to today's guest, George Milton, co-founder and CEO of Yellowbird Sauce, Spicy condiments crafted to take you on a fiery–fresh food adventure. This is a conversation all about things hot sauce, which I really enjoyed. George takes us through his journey from playing music gigs to becoming known as the hot sauce guy in Austin Texas and eventually scaling his condiment business nationally.You can follow George on Twitter at @geemilton. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book the inspired George personally is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. A couple books that inspired him professionally are Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.In this episode, I ask George -Tell me how you got started making hot sauce?When did you first realize that this could be a business? How did you determine there was a proof in concept?In the early days, when did you have that moment where you wanted to move produce the sauce in commercial kitchens and be able to see it in stores?How did you approach sourcing from the very beginning?How did you think about pricing and brand positioning?How were you able to get into retail? Who do you consider your target audience?Why did you choose to fundraise?What was your fundraising strategy?How has COVID affected Yellowbird?What does the next few years look like for Yellowbird? What are some objectives that you’d like to achieve?What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
I'd like to thank Natalie Dillon for introducing me to today's guest Tyler Handley, co-founder and CEO of Inkbox, the tattoos for now. These are temporary tattoos that last for 1-2 weeks and fade as your skin naturally regenerates. We talk about the state of the tattoo market - both temporary and permanent, opportunity he saw at the early stages, how he was able to fundraise and scale. I'll be honest, before our conversation, I knew nothing about the tattoo market before this conversation, so this was certainly an eye opener for me and an insightful conversation.You can follow Tyler @tyler_handley. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired Tyler personally is Endurance by Alfred Lansing. One book that inspired Tyler professionally is Good to Great and Built to Last.On this episode I ask Tyler -What attracted you to entrepreneurship?What led you to founding Inkbox? What problem were you trying to solve?How were you able to measure if this was a real need?In the early stages, how did you think about your target audience?How did you approach building your supply chain in the beginning?What led you to fundraising?How did you approach fundraising?Early on, what were some of the tough questions from investors?Do artists apply to be Inkbox?We spoke before about how you did a rebrand, in the beginning you were trying to be a tech company you didn't have deep brand guidance. Talk to me about that pivot and if you could give an example of trying to be too tech in the beginning.Talk to me about the $2.5 million investment to release a new product. Talk to me about why that was so important.How has COVID affected Inkbox? How has your strategy changed?Talk to me about the future of Inkbox. What are you most excited about?What's one piece of advice that you have for folks looking to start a B2C type business?
We have a few Office Hours / AMAs coming up -> https://theconsumervc.com/events/Kanyi Maqubela is a Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. Kindred Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital fund, whose mission is to back visionary and dedicated founders who want to solve the most important problems and vastly improve people’s lives around the world. Some of their investments include Uber, Poshmark, Otis and Blue Bottle Coffee.Prior to Kindred, Kanyi was a Partner at Collaborative Fund and co-founded Heartbeat Health. He previously ran growth at One Block Off the Grid and was an early employee at Doostang. Kanyi has also served as a Lecturer and Adjunct at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, a curriculum adapted from his time as a student at Stanford University. This was an amazing conversation about Kanyi’s journey both as a founder and investor, his mission and what he looks for from founders. Without further ado, here’s A couple of books the inspired Kanyi are The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn and Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy by William Janeway. A book that inspired him personally is I highly recommend following Kanyi on Twitter @km. You can also visit his website Kanyi.me to read his articles and listen to some of his other interviews. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Kanyi - What compelled you to drop out of Stanford, founding Doostang and what initially attracted you to technology and entrepreneurship? What were some of the mistakes you made as an entrepreneur? What compelled you to switch to the other side and become an investor? How has venture capital changed? How has venture capital and domain expertise changed? How do you filter inbound opportunities and your due diligence process?What are qualities that a founder needs to have or milestones a company needs to reach in order for you to be interested? What do you most pay attention to when analyzing an opportunity and what do you pay least attention to? For entrepreneurs building a company in a market that may not exist yet, how should they think about market sizing?CoronaVirus is very top of mind. Has this impacted how you invest? Are you more focused on current portfolio companies rather than new investments?How are you adjusting to new work protocols?Is it harder to establish conviction in founders since you are meeting them remotely rather than in person?Has COVID changed how you think about investing in fully distributed teams or teams that are located in secondary markets?How should founders think of pivoting at the early stages? Can founders pivot too quickly?What’s some advice for founders that live in secondary and tertiary markets? Or maybe simply don’t have a network of VCs?What are some consumer trends that you are focused on?Has CoronaVirus changed how you invest at Kindred?Are you starting to see discrepancies in valuations?Are VCs starting to pull back in order to focus on their current portfolio companies?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one company on your anti-portfolio?What’s your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?
Our guest today is Catharine Dockery founder of Vice Ventures. Vice Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital fund conquering stigmas and striving towards superior returns by investing in good companies operating in "bad" industries. Investments include early stage startups from non-traditional verticals including, cannabis, alcohol, CBD, e-sports, addiction recovery, sextech, and others. Some of her investments include Recess, Lucy and Player's Lounge. It was great chatting with Catharine about vice categories since we haven't covered too much of those categories, so without further ado, here's Catharine.You can follow Catharine on Twitter @vice_ventures. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired her personally is The Elegance of a Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. One book that inspired her professionally is The Hard Things about Hard Things by Ben HorowitzIn this episode you will learn -What attracted her originally to startups and investing?What compelled her to start Vice Ventures and the opportunity that she saw?Since there is a vice clause in VCs, is it harder to invest as a syndicate?Her diligence process.Founder qualities that she focuses onHow she judges if a founder is honest?The future of the nicotene industry.I know another focal point is alcohol and I’ve read a few articles about how Americans are drinking less booze. How she is perceiving that macro industry and what do you look for in founders that are building disruptive alcohol brands?How is she seeing the cannabis market?One of the big topics, especially during these times is eSports, which is another area that you focus in. How is she seeing the eSports market develop?How has COVID affected how she looks at new deals?Is it harder to establish conviction in a founder when she is talking remotely?Is she focusing more on the portfolio vs. new deals?How has she been affected by remote work?Is she more comfortable investing in companies that are fully distributed?What’s one piece of advice for founders that are building vice-type businesses?
This is my first compilation episode. I typically ask every guest what is one piece of advice he/she may have for B2C founders? I've pulled together a few that hopefully can be helpful to folks that are founders or are looking to found. Below are the investors featured and the minute marks on the episode when they share their thoughts if you'd like to jump around.Kiva Dickinson - 1:45Gautam Gupta - 4:10Nicole Quinn - 4:47Rishi Garg - 5:44David Wu - 6:28Charles Hudson - 9:03Caitlin Strandberg - 10:15Michael Duda - 11:53Paul Martino - 15:01Lee Hower - 16:00Arie Abecassis - 17:25Natalie Dillon - 18:28
Our guest today is Nadine Habayeb, CoFounder & CEO Bohana. Bohana is a popped water lily seed snack brand that believes in a free-spirited snacking.Thank you Madeline Keulen for the introduction!You can follow Nadine on Twitter @Nadinodxb. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.comOn book that inspired her personally is Sell Your Specialty Food: Market, Distribute, and Profit from Your Kitchen Creation by Stephen Hall. One book that inspired her professionally is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil KnightIn this episode we discuss -What initially attracted Nadine to entrepreneurship and led her starting Bohana?The early days of Bohana. Did she do any market research to see if popped water lily seeds would be something that folks in the U.S. would want to buy? What was the insight? How did she approach the supply chain? Why did she choose to go direct to farmer? Why was investing in the brand so important from the very beginning? How did she think about distribution and price? When did she find product-market fit?Was there a moment when she had the assumption of thinking your target demographic was this specific type of person - interests/age, etc. where when you came to market, it turns out it was actually a different demographic or consumer profile that was loving the product? Once she was able to make a wedge in the market, how did she expand outward from her initial customer base? How did she approach fundraising? What made her consider fundraising?What made her apply to Shark Tank? How was that experience? How has COVID affected her strategy and company? What’s the future of superfood snack food in the United States?What is one piece of advice for early founders?
Our guest today is Daniel Gulati. Daniel has spent the last 6 years at Comcast Ventures, a financially-focused venture capital firm with a 20 year history investing in consumer, enterprise, and frontier technology companies. He joined as Entrepreneur in Residence, and worked his way up the ranks to Principal, Partner and Managing Director at the firm. His seed stage portfolio includes D2C company Away (now worth $1.4B), sports media company The Athletic (reportedly worth over $500M) and digital health company K Health (also worth $500M according to Pitchbook). He recently became Founding Partner of Forecast, an early stage consumer fund.One book that inspired Daniel personally is Personal History by Kay Graham. One book that inspired him professionally is Growth Fetish by Clive Hamilton.You can follow Daniel on Twitter and Medium @DanielGulati. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.On this episode we discuss -What attracted Daniel to startups? What were some of the learnings at FashionStake? How does he think about opportunistic investors vs. thematic and where does he fall on the scale? How does he think about the corporate VC ecosystem and where Comcast Ventures falls on the financial vs. strategic scale? Execution type businesses vs. network type businesses. What does he mean that CAC is the new rent? Attractive vs. mediocre markets.How does he think about winning a category or becoming a leader in a category when he is looking at opportunities? How does he think about first mover advantage? How does domain expertise influence investment decision? How does founders having domain expertise influence his decision making process? Do does he think about investing in first time founders vs. seasoned domain experts differently?Daniel walks us through how he invested in K Health, Away and The Athletic. The effects coronavirus has had on early stage investing. The top mistakes founders make when pitching to VCs. What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is a company that is in his anti-porfolio? (Had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t and in retrospect wish did)What is his most recent investment and what makes him excited about it? What’s one piece of advice for founders of B2C founders?
Thank you again Courtney Nelson for introducing me to our guest today, Byron Ling.Byron is a partner at Canaan. Canaan is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionaries with transformative ideas. Byron invests in consumer companies that are reinventing the way we shop, entertain and educate ourselves. Some of his investments include Roman, Papa, and Bravo Sierra. He was previously an investor at Primary Venture Partners and, prior to the venture world, was an early operator at Gilt Groupe. It was great chatting with Bryon about his diligence process and the effects COVID has on the early stage investing ecosystem, so without further ado, here's Byron.One book that inspired Byron personally is The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. One book that inspired him professionally is Who: The A Method to Hiring by Geoff Smart.You can follow Byron on both Twitter and Medium @byronling1. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.In this episode we discuss -What attracted him to early stage startups and consumer? After Gilt Groupe, what compelled him to head into venture capital? What’s his due diligence process at the seed and Series A? What are the milestones that an entrepreneur has to accomplish at each of those stages? What does he focus on the most at each stage - market size, traction, founding team, product-market fit, founder market fit?What are a few qualities in a founder that he looks for? **How does he think about early traction? How can a founder de-risk product market fit? Difference between opportunistic vs thematic investors, where does he sit on the spectrum?How is he thinking about coronavirus as it relates to consumer investing? Is he shifting strategy away/towards companies/verticals? Are you pausing investments in a particular space? Is he concerned about some current portfolio companies' ability to raise? How is he adjusting to new work protocols (remote working, etc) and if so, is that having an impact?What macro consumer trends is he focused on? What is one thing that he would change about venture capital? What’s one piece of advice for founders of consumer startups?
Our guest today is Claire Fauquier a Principal at Highland Capital Partners. Highland Capital Partners is one of the oldest venture capital funds that invests primarily at Series A and focuses on the early growth stage. Some of their investments include Harry's, Rent the Runway, and Clearbanc. In this episode we explore some of the differences and milestones companies typically have at the seed and series A stages. explore the milestones at Series A for technology startups and the purchase behaviors of small-medium businesses.One book that inspired Claire professionally is Radical Candor by Kim Scott. One book that inspired her personally is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells.You can follow Claire on Twitter @clairefauquier. You can also follow Mike on Twitter @mikegelb. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. Thanks again for listening.On this episode we discuss -What attracted her to finance and venture capital? The differences in criteria from seed to series A? Diligence process at series A. What made her make the jump to Series A/B from Seed? What is hard about Series A/B investing? It seems like with the proliferation of seed-specific funds, it’s easier to track companies from earlier on. What are some mistakes she's made as an investor? Coronavirus is very top of mind. Has this impacted how she invests? Is she more focused on current portfolio companies rather than new investments? How does she think about deals broadly; if she had an investment philosophy, how would she characterize it?In the consumer spectrum, what types of businesses is she focused on? What is her investment criteria for B2C businesses? What does she advise founders to focus on? How does Highland work with consumer businesses once they invest? What is one thing that she would change about Venture Capital?Full transcriptMike Gelb 1:08 So let's start out very early back in your career, what initially attracted you to finance and then specifically venture capital?Claire Fauquier 1:19 Yeah, I kind of want to separate those two things, because I never felt like I was a finance person. And I think that in venture, we're lucky, because we're sort of not finance people. And I've told people that if I must be bucketed, into the finance world, I'm kind of in like, the fun finance. So. So yeah. So I got into investment banking, because I was a finance major, I was drawn to the numbers and the math and thinking about the economic implications of finance, which I felt was really interesting. But of course, when you're, you know, 2021 and deciding on what you want to do after school, there's sort of one career path for finance majors. And that's going into investment banking. So that's where I sort of delineate it and say that I don't ever really thought of myself as a finance person, I sort of just ended up in that career path thinking it would be a good launching pad. And it was I think I learned a lot. I think I learned a lot of what I didn't want as well. And then I moved on from that. What drew me to venture is totally different. For me, it's this real connection with how we're changing the world, how we're thinking about where the world is, in five to 10 years, and interacting with the people that are enabling that I think it's probably one of the absolute best jobs in the world when you feel like you were the dumbest person every day. And I mean that in a humble way. It is fascinating to talk to all these industry experts and people that are devoting their life to something that is really cool and highly relevant and tangible to what we're doing as consumers day to day and how we live our lives. And so it's sort of the story arc of being part of something that's bigger, I think that drew me to VC and less sort of the the aspects that I would attribute to Finance, if I can sort of answer that from a roundabout perspective for folksMike Gelb 3:03 that I know that entered in VC and kind of went, you know, worked a couple years in investment banking, similar sentiments I've heard is that you know, really grateful for my investment banking experience, learned a ton, but really happy. It's kind of over wanted to talk a bit about your experience first working in seed, and then how like the milestones change at the series A and Series B rounds, and what you're more focused on at Highland.Claire Fauquier 3:30 Yeah, that's a good path to go down. And I think there's a lot of meat there. That probably changes at least from my perspective relatively often. But my most recent working theory, I think, is that seed investors are really fantastic when they can be sort of product oriented when they have a view on the entrepreneurial journey. And that is not to be taken lightly. I think that that skill set is incredibly valuable, and I'm incredibly envious of it having only spent a tiny, tiny portion of my career on the operating side, I think that once we get later and later, there's sort of this emphasis on evaluating business models and thinking about the sort of story arc and stage progression of a company rather than just being so focused on product. And so, for me, I felt like I almost didn't have the stomach for being a professional seed investor. And my investment banking background, as good as it was, I think, also made me much more apt to poke holes into things. And so that was sort of, you know, a bit of my mindset coming into things. And series A is fantastic for me, because the best part of this job in my perspective is working with founders, as I mentioned, and I think that series A you still get to spend all that great time working operationally with founders on some of the biggest challenges that they'll be facing going forward. But there's a little bit more of the business model to pull apart and to analyze and so it's sort of this perfect marriage of my background. Having said all that, Do some angel investing and I get to sort of keep my feet wet in that arena to really make bets on people that I think are exceptional. And and I get to sort of scratch that itch, which is a really nice little marriage, sort of an added side bonus that I love about series A that I hadn't fully wrapped my mind around is that just the way the portfolio construction work, seed investors are writing many, many, many more checks, right? at origin we wrote, you know, for per person, we wrote probably three to five more times the amount of checks that that we do now, or that I do now at series A and B. And so just based on that portfolio construction, you naturally can't be as close with all of your portfolio companies throughout the cycle of the company. And so there's this natural progression of sort of rolling off the board and and regular conversation with your companies that probably Series B or C or something like that. Whereas that a because you're you're making sort of more concentrated investments. You stay with that company up until exit and then That's really special to me, because I like creating that really deep bond with founders, I was felt it was kind of sad when the natural progression happened. And the company sort of graduated on to Series B, and C, and things just got so busy that all of a sudden our check ins went from, you know, every week to every two weeks, every month, two every quarter or something like that. So I like really being in the trenches with people. I think that's fun,Mike Gelb 6:23 great point that you're saying about seeing investing in series A and that you don't write as many checks per year? Do you feel that at the series a stage you maybe have to become more specialized in terms of the actual industries itself, knowing those particular maybe business models or metrics?Claire Fauquier 6:40 Yeah, that's a really good question and something that I struggle with, and I think that every VC probably thinks that pretty regularly. Yeah, I would imagine. I think there's pros and cons to specialization. I think the general thread though that you're getting at is that you need to be much more focused and much more thoughtful with your deal sourcing, I Rather than seed seed is very difficult in my mind to be thematic or to be doing any meaningful outbound sourcing, just because it is. So based on network and based on happenstance and who you might meet who leads you to somebody else. Versus at A and B, you can be a bit thematic, because you have generally companies that have been funded in previous rounds. So you get to sort of watch them as they progress up to your stage. And you can be a little bit picky in sort of who you reach out to and sort of go hunting, if that makes sense.Mike Gelb 7:35 No, it does. It does. I wanted to also talk about, you know, maybe the current landscape at the series A and B. stages, seems like there's now this proliferation and has been for the past few years, how there's so much, you know, seed and seed specific funds. Just how are you thinking about series A and Series B as a as a general landscape.Claire Fauquier 7:58 It's funny, you mentioned that in a minute. Hearing this correctly, your perception is that there's more seed funds than there are a and b fund. Right? Yes, yes. Yeah, I see it the opposite. Actually, I think there's very few dedicated seed funds versus series A and B funds. And I think on sheer number, there's a lot of early stage funds, because there's a lot of great emerging managers who are focused on earlier stage because they have smaller checks to write. But in terms of for the big behemoth funds, I think series A and B is much more of an established category. So it's interesting that you see it from a different perspective in my mind, but I when I think of funds that are purely see their institutional funds, you know, maybe on fund two or three, that are willing to lead rounds and really sit on the board and sort of play that institutional seed role, I don't think have a ton of fun. And I think origin is one of them, which sort of made us stood out which was exciting to really be a seed exclusive fund. But then I think once we get to series A and beyond, there's a lot of multi Stage funds, and there's much more capital floating around at the series A and B stage, which, in my opinion, at least makes it more competitive to a certain degree. Because there's less of a chance of finding a company that no one else has talked to.Mike Gelb 9:15 Wow, it's really interesting how you're seeing it. This is probably where we should have started at the very beginning. But how do you think about series? AClaire Fauquier 9:23 good question. I think the benchmarks and KPIs and all that stuff kind of fluctuate as time goes on. And as we, you know, move through economic cycles and stuff like that. But I think of series A and the second sort of true institutional round, they'll say so at origin, we thought about seed as the first institutional round. And so the company had maybe raised some Angel rounds or friends and family rounds or something like that. And this was the first time that they were really thinking about the, you know, transformation of the company into sort of a business where they're putting in place governance and a board and things like that. And, and pre the seed round, they were probably testing products had an MVP had early sales had some pilots in place or early sales with consumers etc seed a in my view was always to test out a couple hypotheses that were narrowing and narrowing in terms of true product market fit. And then at a, I think about it as sort of real product market fit where a especially consumer company has sort of the operating playbook in their minds where they know how to acquire customers with relative certainty. So the band of customer acquisition costs, for instance, starts to narrow and they have relative certainty that if they apply, you know, X amount of dollars to marketing, they'll get X amount of dollars in revenue. And they have a relatively good example of what their ideal customer looks like their supply chain, all those various things. And so for me, that really sort of indicates without thinking about, you know, the KPIs that can move, it's sort of that that true product market fit that we know the company He is ready to take that much larger round of capital and apply it to the business and have some idea of what the output then will be. That makes sense. So it's like a more of a stabilized CAC, I've talked to other investors too, and they say, like, at the series A, that's really when a company should really have product market fit. Yeah, I would agree with that. I don't think it means necessarily that the company has got everything figured out. You know, I think I think there's a lot of caveats that we and founders could throw on things that things can change quickly. And we all know that especially right now, right, like a lot of safer industries from an investment perspective have been thrown on their head during the COVID environment, but series A doesn't mean necessarily that the company is you know, off to the races, there's going to be operational challenges and I think a good investor can help with a lot of that stuff. But I think it does mean that once a company's raising series A they're not spending expensive venture dollars figuring out product market fit and figuring out who best to sell their product to this have an idea. Now it's time to really execute and pour that fuel on the fire. I wantedMike Gelb 12:05 to also talk about your like transition from a seed to a series A like what was maybe the toughest thing from changing from, you know, from origin seed investing to series, a investing,Claire Fauquier 12:17 very quick kind of cop out answer is that the hardest part is, is giving up the relationships you have with your existing companies and relinquishing board duties. And so I still spend a lot of time with my portfolio companies from origin because it just simply really missed those founders. But I know that's not what you're getting at. The trickiest thing I think are the biggest sort of difference is the sourcing machine, I think, at seed is. So my sort of view at seed is that it's typically the first time that founders are accessing institutional capital. They may have had startups in the past and so they may sort of know the process, but general there probably isn't existing institutional investors on the cap table with which that founder can get some help in introductions and talking to people and stuff like that. So at seed, it's sort of to a certain degree a bit of a numbers game, which is why there's a lot of networking involved and a lot of chat amongst a lot of different seed investors to try to get deal flow. And that includes a ton of different outbound facing things like demo days, and coffee chats, and introductions to founders through other founders and meetups and happy hours and all those various things. At series A, my view is that the sourcing machine or how those companies finds us is very different. And then at that point, those companies tend to have institutional investors at that point, which they get coaching from in order to raise series A which is a great thing. But it means for me, I need to be much more proactive and keeping those companies on my radar I need to start building a relationship six months out because the the connection between the Of Us isn't so happenstance based, it's much more deliberate. And then I need to have probably a little bit more of a view or a thesis on what the company is doing. Because I'm now going to be doing much more diligence and diving into the business model and various other things. And I find it harder to take a bet on big macro trends at series A versus it is at seed, because seed tends to be about, you know, smart people and products and stuff like that, which I think series A is as well on top of sort of some of the metrics and stuff that we talked about.Mike Gelb 14:32 So when you're doing your outreach and outbound, are you reaching out to companies directly, that are on your radar to like establish relationships, maybe six months out when they'd be raising A's? Or are you almost like relying on your network of seed investors to you know, think of you when they're raising a series A,Claire Fauquier 14:52 it's both I'd say so I typically have a couple theses. I'm working through and I We'll both you know, check in with my seed investor friends make sure they know the theses that I'm working on make sure they know the types of companies I'm looking at. So that hopefully I'm one of the first calls when one of their portfolio companies is raising and or thinking about raising. But I'll also keep tabs on companies I hear about that are funded or companies that are in adjacent spaces to companies I've already chatted with, or, you know, various other trends that sort of pick up on what I've looked at. And so I'd say it's, like everything in venture there's no perfect process, but it's it's a combo of sort of the network in building up that network, planting the flag of our brand and telling people what we do and sort of hunting for some of the extraordinary opportunities that we can try to create a proprietary relationship with earlier on and other peopleMike Gelb 15:52 know that that that's fascinating, and something that we actually haven't really talked about at the series, a part about how you actually solve In the differences between sourcing at seed in series A, I'd love to learn a little bit more about your due diligence process,Claire Fauquier 16:05 probably the same priorities as it isn't seed, it's just a little bit more of a digging process. And so at Highland, we think about people market and product. And in that org, so people have to be there for sure. Right. So we have to believe that these founders are the founders we want to work with for the next five to 10 years, we have to believe they're the extraordinary people that are going to tackle the problem they've laid out in front of them. And we do a lot of testing in that area. And that can be over a number of different calls. That's a ton of reference checks, that is speaking with a lot of members of the team to hear about their perception of the founders and the leadership that exists at the company. And so a lot of sort of pressure tested on that side. Market is probably the next most important thing and then product thereafter. And it kind of follows that that same methodology that I just mentioned, in that we need it to be really big market, we need to test the market, we need to make sure that the company is well suited to enter that market to really take market share. That sort of, you know, a lot of customer calls, a lot of industry calls a lot of speaking to people in our network who might have a proprietary view that we might want to tap into. And then on the product side, that's really digging into the business model. And that can be everything from you know, go to market strategy, monetization strategy, the financial model and the various things that are wrapped up in that.Mike Gelb 17:36 What do you mean by testing the market?Claire Fauquier 17:38 I think it starts sort of top down probably and so the top that is really the total addressable market and so right so that needs to be a huge market but then when I say test, I think there's sort of a big difference between you know, the headline Tam number but then what's actually addressable for a company and how much they can really take market share. From incumbents create market share if that's the type of market that they're in, this is something new. How much they can actually deliver and the value and then the type of customer set that would resonate with the product, sort of sort of mean poking holes in that way getting a little bit late deeper of a layer than just sort of the overall Tam number.Mike Gelb 18:18 Got it. Got it. So of course Coronavirus, very top of mind, you know, how has this impacted how you invest? Yeah,Claire Fauquier 18:26 you know, we're really lucky. Hyland has a 33 year old fund, and so has a very stable lineup of investors. And so we're certainly open for business. Our portfolio companies are in a really safe spot right now, which is very lucky for us. And so we're we're in a good place. We're certainly open for business. We're looking for deals. We are in process with one deal right now, which, you know, hopefully will close but TBD So it definitely means that we're willing to do deals, I think where it changes for us is that the bar is just that much higher now. It's just a little bit harder to get deals done. It has to be something that's really, really special and something unique and something that we think has real lasting and staying potential because the capital markets are a little bit tighter. And we can't necessarily just rely on, you know, multiple rounds of funding for the next couple years. Not that we necessarily want to do that before anyway. And it probably means that we will take advantage of some extraordinary situations like companies that had maybe unfortunate funding structures in the past or maybe have investors who are unable to fund future rounds of companies or things like that, where we can get into some companies that we think again, are really high quality companies, but might have some advantageous financing situations for us. How'sMike Gelb 19:55 the diligence process slowed down at all or are you not seeing as many new companies These days,Claire Fauquier 20:00 we're certainly writing checks and the diligence process has probably stayed the same. It's just sort of the bar and the threshold of the companies we look at has gotten higher. So it has to be a pretty special company or a pretty special situation. For us to invest it doesn't necessarily mean that you know, the diligence process has changed or that we evaluate things differently. It just means that you know, we have to feel something really greatMike Gelb 20:27 how has Coronavirus changed your focuses or your thesis says that you develop prior to Coronavirus.Claire Fauquier 20:35 I don't know if I have anything right now, other than some views I had before Coronavirus that I feel like have strengthened. And so and I sort of want to make that distinction because I think it's easy to go to some of the obvious things like remote work and remote education and things like that because, you know, why wouldn't everybody focus on those kinds of things and I think there's a ton of opportunity there. Say that I sort of had these before that have strengthened in that. On the e commerce side. I'm incredibly bullish on the pipes and infrastructure behind e commerce because I think there's just so much opportunity on that side. And when we look at ecommerce penetration, it's incredibly low compared to retail sales. And that's something that I was really focused on before Coronavirus. Now I'd say I'm even more bullish on it, because I think that every retailer who's got a significant portion of their sales from brick and mortar is now thinking about how they can make their eecom more efficient. So I think in a way, you could sort of make the argument that ecommerce has taken a bit of a hit right now and it will take a bit of a hit because discretionary income probably will tighten, which is probably true. But when I think about the next five to 10 years or so, I just think there's absolutely no way that ecommerce won't grow. It's just so inevitable to me that we're doing things in a much more digitally connected way. So that's kind of one example, I'd say. And then I sort of had a bit of a thesis before on some SMB software and some workplace collaboration software and tools. And that seems to be strengthened, like times 100, because we're all working remote, and it seems to be working somewhat. Okay. And so I like that kind of stuff. And you and I had talked about this offline. I like that kind of stuff, because I think some of the consumer habits and patterns match the consumer side a little bit more for SMBs, rather than enterprise. And that sales cycle is really appealing, but can create some really nice sticky businesses kind of like the enterprise side. So it's sort of this like nice marriage. And so those views obviously are very strongly held now because I think we're seeing that even if we all can go back to work, and I mean, us who can work remotely unfortunate ones who can do that. It might take us a long time to do that until we feel really comfortable going into offices or getting on planes or taking Ubers everywhere. If we don't necessarily have to So therefore, I think these tools sort of, you know, give us greater flexibility. For example, I'm seeing chatter amongst some VCs that people are trying to think about what the next tool is beyond zoom, because we're sort of already seeing some of the limitations on zoom. Right? And so sort of, if we're already as VCs in a way and and technologists of early tech trends, I think thinking about what comes after zoom, right? A lot of the corporate world is sort of just getting on to zoom but we're sort of thinking, Okay, now what, how can we make this better? And I'm sure there are founders that are working on it, I would love to talk to them.Mike Gelb 23:35 I hear you I think there's a lot of innovation that's coming in video communication, what are what are maybe some other businesses or or even business models that you're focused on,Claire Fauquier 23:44 that you can't one remains something that I focus on, especially in the consumer space. Otherwise, I'm starting to look now and have been before anything that can be sort of an end consumer experience through a marketplace or through A digital distribution channel. This is incredibly cliche, but I've been chatting with a telemedicine provider for the last six months or so. And now it sort of really accelerated my conversations with them because again, this seems like something that is not going to go away from a telemedicine perspective, Igot sort of lucky that I've been talking to the company before.But that's an example I think of my lens on consumer, which is really to think about anything that impacts the life of the end consumer. And I think about that in both terms of the sort of end, you know, consumer with their discretionary income, but also SMBs or mom and pops or small businesses are sort of the prosumer mentality. And that's interesting to me. And so that category is probably what a lot of people are looking at right now which is things like digital health, digital finance, digital education, workplace tools, and Selling tools, as I mentioned, for small proprietors, and mom and pops and stuff like that in the marketplaces sort of behind that the two sided marketplaces.Mike Gelb 25:08 Thanks for that. Those are quite a few exciting trends. I wanted to also touch on a point that you've made a couple times now about you've been focused on products that are for small medium businesses, and how small medium businesses purchase behavior are more similar to consumers than enterprise. I wonder if you would mind elaborate of what you mean by that. That'd be great.Claire Fauquier 25:31 I think about it in terms of, you know, the SMB, and consumer, I think, is sort of limited in their budget. The way that they buy is very different from an enterprise it typically is a self serve process. It is typically handled, I would assume, by a marketing department content lead often things like Shopify and Etsy and those storefronts are often attracting consumers through commerce. intent through digital marketing, that kind of stuff versus having a an enterprise sales force with, you know, six to 12 months selling period, and really lumpy contracts that need to go through 456 layers of review within a company before they can get implemented. Similarly, the adoption process of the product tends to look much more like consumer adoption process, sometimes a little bit heavier with sort of a bit of an onboarding and a sort of customer success person or that kind of thing. But we also that in the consumer world, versus maybe, you know, a two to six month pilot program or implementation or service fee implementation or something like that on the enterprise software side of things. So I think that my sort of view on that is that these businesses hopefully can scale a little bit more quickly. The average contract values tend to be much smaller, obviously than enterprise for obvious reasons. You need much more volume, but because they're sort of self serve, they tend to be one through digital marketing and content and stuff like that they sort of think and act a little bit more like a consumer, rather than having sort of a real enterprise sales engine within the company.Mike Gelb 27:11 Thanks for that. I think that's really well put about small medium businesses and how their buying patterns are similar to consumer.Claire Fauquier 27:17 I'm just trying to stretch the definition of consumer. Absolutely.Mike Gelb 27:21 After you invest in a company. Let's talk about how you've worked with the founders and businesses. And what do you see first time founders after raising a series A might struggle with the mostClaire Fauquier 27:31 Yeah, so the first tenant I'd say is that we both have to be excited to work with each other. I've seen the best partnerships and the best way for me to add value and I think vice versa for a founder to feel comfortable to come and ask for advice and resources and the network that we can bring is if we both are excited to work together. I think the moment a founder thinks about it as a check in the moment the investor thinks about it as a money making opportunity then you You've lose some of that magic, which I think is special about this business and kind of gets back to what you mentioned in your first question, which is that I don't think of this necessarily as just finance. It's a lot more fun than that. But I think that, for first time founders, the best thing we can bring that I want to emphasize is the role of an institutional investor and an institutional board member. Right? So it's not my job, in my view, to be changing product or changing, you know, go to market strategy, or trying to change the founders view of the vision of the company, right? Like, that's the founders job. They're living this so much more than I am living and breathing the problem. And I've invested in the founder, because I'd be up most face that most faith that they are the best person to be running the company and to tackling this challenge. And I want them to know that I believe in them, right. However, there's a lot of stuff that a founder has to worry about on sort of the corporate business building side, that user Don't think about. When you're building a product, right, or when you're launching a business or when you're trying to get customers that we can do, and we've seen over and over and over again, and that's things like governance and thinking about how to hire the right people at the right time, how to think about corporate layers, and how to think about the hierarchy within the company, how to think about when to enable managers to take over certain roles versus others, how to think about fundraising and cash management and how to think about, you know, the long term views and strategy of the business and to be a partner to make those decisions with them. It's sort of how to anticipate all of those things from a board level that the founder might not necessarily know because they've probably never been through before. Whereas with our fun, we've got a 33 year history. And amongst that we've got I think, 47, IPOs and 100 ish, m&a outcomes or something like that. And so we should have seen some of this stuff and I think the value that we can bring is to bring that sort of knowledge of pattern recognition. So we don't have to reinvent the wheel for the founder every time, we tend to be very even keeled and very steady, because we've seen so much in the past too, right. And so our view is really to be a partner to the founder, in both good times and bad times, because I think we all recognize that even with all those great exits and outcomes, there's never a company that only has good times that just doesn't exist. And so that sort of even keel of seeing things for many, many years, I think can be very helpful in balancing for a founder when they realize that we're, you know, their partner and we can be the first call and things are not going well because they'reUnknown Speaker 30:40 not by themselves. That makes a lot of sense.Mike Gelb 30:43 What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?Claire Fauquier 30:48 I wish I wish there was a way forfounders and investors to test out their working relationship before they started working together. That's sort of a real like touchy feely pie in the sky. Kind of one. But I do believe that there is a kind of magic when an investor and a founder have a really good relationship. And I think that a lot of founders can get really turned off of VCs, if they have the wrong experience or have the wrong investor in their company. And I've heard founders before, say, they you never want to take VC dollars or whatever, again, which is a totally fine thing to say. But oftentimes, I think it's because they've either had a mettlesome board member or you know, something hasn't quite gone the right way. And vice versa, I think for VCs, you know, sometimes there are certain founders who just have a certain working style and those things don't click and so maybe if I had to answer off the top of my head right now, it would be to have a way to sort of pressure tests the relationship before, you know, to date before getting married.Mike Gelb 31:48 No, that makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah. Because of course, you know, it's a, as you talked about a lot on this show. It's not just a check. It's it's a relationship. You know, you're obviously going to be involved anywhere from five Five 710 years, I guessClaire Fauquier 32:02 it sort of goes back to again, why a and b can be a fun stage because you can build a relationship with a founder for a year or two or so that's not quite the same as being in board meetings. But, you know, that's kind of fun to doing deals with founders when you've known them for a year or two.Mike Gelb 32:17 Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And also, in some ways, I'd imagine to just to kind of do on the pressure testing side talking to previous investors in the company, although they would probably sing the praises of the company and the founders. So it might be tough to, you know, but even just being able to maybe do a little bit diligence on how the board meetings actually go or, you know, just a little bit of of what that cadence is like, yeah,Claire Fauquier 32:43 totally, we try to do the best we can, but there's a bit of a dance of no one wanting to show their cards too much. Of course,Mike Gelb 32:50 of course. What's one book that inspired you personally, and one book that inspired you professionally, professionally,Claire Fauquier 32:56 I keep going back to radical candor by Kim Scott. It's a Fantastic I think of thinking about the motivators and drivers of individual people. It's technically a book that is written for managers on how to be a good manager to their, to their employees. But I think it's so much more than that, to be honest, and it's taught me a lot, I think of interpersonal relationships and skills within a workplace, which is pretty great. And then on the personal side, I tend to skew to memoirs a lot. I love memoirs. And so I really like the glass Castle by Jeannette walls, and I really like educated by Tara Westover. I think those arefantastic books.Mike Gelb 33:39 Cool. That's great. And no one's mentioned any of these books before on the show. So very original, very original. What's one piece of advice that you have maybe for a founder that's raised a seed looking to raise an A, and are kind of in that stage of their business?Claire Fauquier 33:53 I did lean on seed investors. They're there to help. I think that for My vantage point most often than not, founders don't rely on VCs enough. There's a reason why we're talking about all of this stuff. Like it's more than a check and whatever. And I think that founders are so good at being hard workers and crushing hours and stuff like that, but forget to ask for help sometimes. And investors are there for this exact thing, which I just mentioned, which is to be the institutional investor, they should be good at least at helping you raise a series A and so focus as much of your effort as possible on the business and get your investors to help you with the series a process.Mike Gelb 34:41 I think it's a great piece of advice so founders put your investors to work well. Claire, thank you so much for coming on. This is a great conversation. I really enjoyed it.Claire Fauquier 34:51 I didn't tell us some great questions. This was fun. Thank you.Mike Gelb 34:54 And there you have it. It was such a treat having clear on I particularly enjoyed our conversation about the purchase. Be euro small and medium businesses. If you'd like to keep up with Claire, you can follow her on Twitter at Claire folk. Yeah, this will also be in the show notes. If you're enjoying the show. If you could please leave a review on the apple podcast app as it helps other folks find it. That would really be helpful. If you are a founder and working on something innovative. have a question you'd like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show. You can DM me and follow me on twitter at Mike galp. You can also follow for episode announcements at consumer VC for all episodes, please visit the consumer VC calm. Thanks again for listening folks, and please stay safe.
Anna Whiteman, Vice President at Coefficient Capital. Coefficient Capital is a new venture capital fund that leads early growth investments in fast-moving consumer goods, typically investing in Series A and B rounds. So far they've invested in Just Spices, NomNom, Hydrant and Personal Care. Anna also founded Rad Ladies, a private network of female founders. Previously Anna worked at VMG on investments including Health Warrior and Vermont Smoke and Cure, and also at Tribeca Venture Partners and Credit Suisse.One book that inspired Anna professionally is Stress Test by Ian Robertson. One book that inspired Anna personally is A Theory of Justice by John Rawls.You can follow Anna on Twitter @AnnaWhiteman2. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.In this episode you will learn -What attracted her to finance, consumer and startups? Anna walks through her diligence process at the Series A and Series B. What are some of the milestones that startups need to achieve? At what stage do DNVBs usually expand to offline retail? How does she think about subscription vs. non-subscription DNVB businesses? Is there a difference to how she approaches due diligence? How is she thinking about optimizing for profitability vs. growth in today’s landscape?What she think about the future of online advertising? What is Rad Ladies? What are some changes in consumer behavior that she’s focusing on? I’ve heard some folks say on this show it’s a contrarian time to be investing in consumer. Why do some folks think that and does she believe it? What is one thing that she would change when it came to venture capital?What is a company that is on her anti-portfolio? What (if any) lessons did she learn from that? What is one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? What is your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? What’s one piece of advice for B2C founders?
Adelle Archer is the founder of Eterneva, which celebrates remarkable lives by making diamonds from Ashes. Eterneva was featured on Shark Tank, in which Mark Cuban joined other incredible angels and VCs as an investor. This episode focuses in the end of life space.You can follow Adelle on Twitter @adellearcher. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb and for episode annoucements, you can follow @consumervc.A couple books that inspired Adelle are Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss and Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. A book that inspired her personally is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.In this episode you will learn -How she started Eterneva? How consumer attitudes and cultural traditions around death changed over time and what opportunity did she see in this market? What is it about the work she's doing is disruptive? How is she changing the deathcare space? Where does she envision Eterneva being in five years?How does she market such a sensitive topic? What's been the most surprising and unexpected insight / learning she's had in building Eterneva so far? What is experience innovation? In the very beginning she bootstrapped to $1 million. What was your launch strategy and how was she able to find product-market fit? How did she think about her target demographic? Fundraising strategy?What led her to going on Shark Tank? What was her strategy for Shark Tank? How did she think about value add when it comes to investors, were there particular investors she was targeting?How she is thinking about growth today? Has she been able to expand into different demographics? How is she thinking about channel diversity & distribution? How is she thinking about customer acquisition today?Is she focused on top line growth or profitability? What are some ways or strategies that she implements in order to get a pulse on your customer? How does she constantly monitor the customers' preferences and needs? How has she approached COVID and what is her focus during this pandemic? What’s one piece of advice that she has for founders who are fundraising?Full transcriptMike Gelb 0:00 Hello and welcome to the consumer VC. I am your host Mike Gelb, and on this show we talk about the role of venture capital and consumer facing startups. Our guest today is Adele Archer, founder of a turnover, which celebrates remarkable lives by making diamonds from ashes. A turnover was featured on Shark Tank in which Mark Cuban joined other incredible angels and VCs as an investor, Adele story and why she chose to found a company in the end of life space, I think it's just fascinating. To be honest, it's not a space that really came to mind before meeting Adele. So lots of learnings and takeaways from mine. So without further ado, here's Adele. Thank you so much for joining me today. How are you?Adelle Archer 0:49 I'm good. How are you? I'mMike Gelb 0:51 Tell me a little bit about how you started your innovative venture.Adelle Archer 0:58 We celebrate remarkable people and pets when they pass away by making diamonds from ashes or hair. And now as you can imagine, that's probably not something that you would ever expect getting into a 10 year old Adele and say, What do you want to be when you grow up? But you know, I think it just more than anything, you know, when you look back on your life, sometimes there there is a common thread that connects at all. And so, you know, for me, I have my MBA and entrepreneurship, you know, knew I was going to be starting my own company and I worked in tech for a couple of years. And originally the company that I was working on was a lab grown diamond company. Just thought that was really interesting technology. And as we were starting this company, though, I had a really close friend and my business mentor actually get diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she passed away. So total, like personal side of my life was trying to figure out how to honor Tracy and you know, just I think when you lose some Someone really remarkable, you know, you go on a quest, you're like, what, like, what can I do that is really deserving of her. So probably five months of research did not find anything, and was just blown away by just what felt like a total lack of options and lack of innovation. And, you know, it's just shocking to me how little has been done in this space, you know, for something that affects all of us. So, it was really over dinner one night with a diamond scientist, that he even mentioned, that this could be done, there was one company that was doing it at the time, I went to go start the process completely as a customer, and, you know, just in my experience, you know, kind of connecting with them. And, you know, it was just it was very transactional. It was not, you know, the experience I kind of wanted with somebody with that was going to be the guardian of my ashes and, or my loved ones ashes. So that was really the point that we kind of looked at this and go, gosh, you know, this is a space that really, really needs just a better experience for people and this feels like an amazing option. Why don't we focus here, so try You was the first time and we made and we refocus everything to be you know completely about celebrating someone's lifeMike Gelb 3:07 that's amazing and really inspirational how you took a really close friend's death and made it you know, an experience for you that that you know, you can remember and cherish for years to come in creating a diamond out of out of her ashes. I also didn't know that lab diamonds were were a thing whatsoever. So talk to me a little bit about how you think about consumer attitudes and cultural traditions around debt has changed a bit over time. And what what opportunity Did you see in this market,Adelle Archer 3:38 a lot of great businesses are built when you are the customer to start out, you know, you're just so intimately aware with what the pain points are that you're solving. But it was just really remarkable to me, I think there has been such a shift in how we think about death. You know, and wanting things that are more personal and more meaningful, you know, we're not as traditional anymore with you know, just how kind of the the different traditions you're seeing a huge shift from burial or cremation, for example, in 1980 were like 10% cremation, and we're approaching 70% in the United States, like, that's how fast is the thing. And I think as more people are, you know, potentially more spiritual versus, you know, religious, they also are just kind of like, you know, allowing themselves to be more open minded to what are my other options and what feels like personal and special and meaningful to honor my loved one versus what's just always been done. And so I think as people are asking that the industry hasn't adapted or responded or you know, really created things that you know, kind of meet that need. So, I think there's a lot of opportunity to give people better products and give people better experiences in this space.Mike Gelb 4:49 How are you thinking about different religions folks that might be more in tuned are more interested in in in these types of products for honoring loved ones that have passed away,Adelle Archer 5:00 we needed to really learn, you know, when we first launched, we weren't sure how much religion was really going to factor in or not. And we've been surprised that it really hasn't factored in as much as we expected. You know, I think there, there are a few faiths that still tend to prefer burial to cremation. And, and if you face that, you know, if you're really kind of following the book, then you're burying, you know, but we saw the Catholic Church actually, you know, say give cremation, its blessing. And that was a huge cultural shift. You know, we see families of the Jewish faith tend to bury their loved ones, but they cremate their pets and so they come to us to do a diamond for their pet, for example. So I think we're just at this total, you know, kind of crossing point where there's just a lot of change that's happening and and I think it's going to look radically different even in the next five years is, you know, people are more willing and open to do cremations when maybe their entire family in the past buried forMike Gelb 5:57 one of the kind of like the main areas that you're kind of focus on that you think that in terms of differentiation and changing the actual death care space?Adelle Archer 6:05 Well, and by the way, one thing that I wrote, I really should know as well is that we can do this from the, from the carbon in someone's hair as well. So somebody that is being buried, they can still do this process. You don't necessarily need to have ashes to do it. When you look across the entire death care space, and you pull really anybody that's kind of gone through it, a lot of the time, it's a certain kind of tone. And it's the experience that you have with, you know, different service providers or you know, different just kind of at every touchpoint across that experience, that it can be dark and overwhelming. And you know, in some cases depressing and I think a turn of A is really a massive departure from all of that we're very bright, or positive or celebratory, you know, we're never tone deaf. But I think there is always some levity to be had we talk about, you know, we're unafraid to Talk about somebody that passed away, but really focus on how to celebrate their life. And oftentimes, when our customer, you know, first talks to us about this process, we're not telling them about diamonds to start, we're saying like, hey, like, tell us about your loved one and what made them extraordinary. And that's like, the first time they've been asked that question, which is crazy. And so I think that there's just something really special that we're doing from everything from kind of the customer experience and service side all the way through to the brand side. You know, we have this kind of vibrant conversation that's happening on our social media, we're getting higher engagement rates, then Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift on a topic that's supposed to be really hard to talk about. So I think it really is kind of opening up that conversation and changing a culture around death, grief and remembrance, you know, from a brand side and this is a community you want to be a part of. And then on the experience side, it's really giving people you know, kind of a very special experience around the diamond that you know, will parallel process with their grief of it.Mike Gelb 7:57 You You alluded to a little bit but you No, even though what you're doing is extremely positive. It's still obviously a very sensitive topic and wanted to know, you know, how are you thinking about weight, especially at the early stages? How do you think about marketing?Adelle Archer 8:13 You know, this is certainly a huge part, I think of what has been a successful as we figured this out, you know, early on, one of our first investments we ever made was actually in our brand identity. This was back when we were like bootstrapping, and every dollar like really, really counted where we put that money. And I remember that was like, the first major investment we ever made was developing a brand book, but I think that's really important to be very to know what your identity is, as a company and what you know, you're really here to do. And for us, you know, starting out, we talked about remembering remarkable people, because that behind every diamond is an extraordinary person that you know, you're coming to us because they earned that diamond in some amazing way. So everything that we did you know, from us PR standpoint, from a social media, you know, advertising standpoint, was really telling the hero story of these remarkable people. It's not talking about ourselves, it's not talking about ashes to diamonds. You know, that's interesting. But I think, you know, what's more powerful is, is kind of humanizing these people. And that's something that people can really lean into, and they can find their loved one story, you know, in someone else's story. And we just found that those stories started catching fire, you know, and that became kind of our flywheel on social media is, you know, you put a video out there, and then it would just go and get shared like crazy, you know, across these tribes of people that, you know, say, Oh my gosh, my dad was just like that, you know, I are, so and so's dad was just like that she should do this, you know, for her dad who just passed. So I think authenticity is very key. And, you know, kind of anchoring yourself around what is the you know, bigger purpose that you're doing is a brand because that resonates with people and they'll talk about it.Mike Gelb 9:57 That makes sense. And it seems like that was probably Part of the missing factor that you were seeing when you first tried to do this, it's talking a little bit about what's been the most like surprising and unexpected insight, or learning that you've that you've had an ability it turned out so far.Adelle Archer 10:12 I mean, I definitely like we learned so much from our customers we very much are a company in a brand that's built on being incredibly close to our customer, and just always looking for ways we can add value and innovate based off of what we know. And, you know, one of the things that really blew us away early on, like this is a very intricate process. On average, our diamonds take about seven months to create. It's completely, you know, a custom made diamond from your loved ones carbon and so we weren't sure you know, whether that was going to be felt perceived as long or not. And what we ended up finding was that, you know, kind of starting out, we were sending pictures and videos and updates and just trying to like be as transparent as we possibly could. And people were just absolutely blown away with every single update we sent. You know, they'd be like, Oh my god, like I I'm at work and I was crying. And I showed everyone around me and I emailed it to my whole friends and family, and we're just like, man, they are getting so much value out of these updates, you know, what more could we do? So we started really kind of upping the ante around, you know, just the experience that we were giving people and, you know, videoing everything and kind of productizing those videos and designing them to be shared socially. And I think that that was just a really important insight, you know, early on is like, no, the the lead time did not matter to people at all, if anything, they wanted an experience. And what we learned was like, as we kind of built up more and more of this experience that we were giving, that was parallel processing with someone's grief and they had something positive to look forward to, over a period of time that otherwise they would have nothing to look forward to losing the most important person in their world. And that was something that rallied their community in a way that like it kept people talking about that person, you know, which wasn't happening when you know, you just have a one And then funeral and everyone goes home and stops talking about the person. So I think the experience is what we didn't expect to be as valuable and as important, you know, to ourMike Gelb 12:12 process as the diamond itself. I think when we were talking Previously, we spoke about the experience innovation, and how that is part of your core strategy. And remember you saying about how it's, it's almost everywhere in the journey customer be part of that journey as you build the diamond and make them remember that loved one?Adelle Archer 12:30 Absolutely, absolutely. And that's just where we we put our time and our energy is just how can we kind of up the ante around the experience that we're giving people and, you know, the connection that they get to have with our team and seeing like, how much we really care as a whole team. You know, we literally learn the stories of every single one of our loved ones. We tell their story on social media, you know, Instagram, Facebook Live, like we broadcast their stories. You know, every single person In our entire process, you know, all the way out to our scientists, you know, in Switzerland, know the stories of these people and are part of, you know, telling that story, you know, throughout the entire experience. So it's every single person in the entire company that knows your loved one and is a part of celebrating them and telling their story.Mike Gelb 13:19 That's fantastic. So in those kind of early beginnings, you you bootstrap your way to a million bucks. Talk to me about about like the launch strategy and how you were thinking or finding product market fit.Adelle Archer 13:30 It was a very interesting way to start a company because you know, obviously, I was insanely motivated to figure this out because I wanted a diamond for Tracy Darn it. And so, you know, I think that that was really great is designing the process that and designing the experience that you would want to have. So how do you go through a process of completely scientifically validating the process tested her ashes for carbon content, you know, then went and found the absolute best scientists. We could be? partnered with across every step of our process and, you know, that kind of took us all over the world really to partner with the absolute best. So, you know, setting this up was was very intricate and very challenging, you know, but a something that I was relentless, and you know, and we were relentless and making happen, but then, you know, once we kind of had proved it all out, then it was a matter of putting together a website and seeing Okay, well is my need actually reflected in the broader world. And it was just amazing. I mean, it was just an immediate product market fit, you know, our first customers, you know, we're buying our largest diamonds, you know, for I remember our first customer, he did it for his daughter, who he had lost, you know, at nine years old, and it was him and his wife, and that was just like the most meaningful first sale you could have. And so, what was really amazing about or what is amazing about our model is that you know, we have an inverted cash model. So you know, we receive payment up front and then we don't have to incur most of Costs are cogs you know until later in the process so it allowed us to actually, you know, be able to self fund in the beginning. And I just think that that's such a wonderful experience for any entrepreneur you know, because you really have to think about where every dollar is going and make every single dollar count make every single dollar make you more dollars. SoMike Gelb 15:20 that's something they didn't really realize in terms of cash flow that's actually a really good like position to be in in that you receive the cash up front and then you have you don't have your cost of goods you know already there you actually have to then make the product as bad as x 10 months doing it and yeah, that's also inspirational story about the parents getting the ring. Want to talk a little bit too about target demographic where you first primarily thinking since Of course, it's a diamond diamonds are expensive. Are you thinking, were you thinking about targeting like older folks at the very, very beginning or kind of how do you how do you think about your actual customer base in terms of age,Adelle Archer 15:57 I think you know, if there's anything that I learned From my MBA in entrepreneurship, they made us go out and sell dictionaries door to door and they're like, you know, just throw out all your assumptions about who your customer really is, because you're about to find out and I think that's just so onpoint you know, because and we've certainly seen that with a turnover, you would think that this is something you know, for the wealthier that this is a luxury, you know, product but it's really not, you know, our customers. We do have quite a few different kind of tribes, you know, as we call them segments, you know, across our loved one side and our pet side, you know, certainly do see, I would say the most common loved one that we're honoring is a spouse a significant other, and you know, but certainly work with a lot of parents who have lost kids. We've worked with a lot of, you know, I would say majority or people we've lost too soon, grandparents are probably one of the ones we do the least diamonds of you know, we on the pet side of the business, you know, are doing a lot for actually millennials because a lot of millennials there first child is their pet, you know, before they go on to have a baby and, you know, we're working for longer and you know, so a lot of the time that was your first baby. So it's, it's, it's a little bit, you know, more diverse than we were even expecting in the beginning. Wow, that's reallyMike Gelb 17:15 interesting how you also see younger folks with their pets. Absolutely. And weAdelle Archer 17:19 also see like, a lot of millennials and Gen Z influencing their parents. You know, a lot of the time they're the ones to even discover that this is an option or this is an idea. They'll have, you know, seen a viral video on Instagram, and they're like, Mom, like, you should really do this for dad. And what we see is that younger people actually have a different perspective on death, you know, they tend to just be more open minded about it and you know, wanting to talk about it and wanting to find a way to celebrate you know, they're important people and, you know, so in a lot of ways, like younger people get this right away, they're like, Oh my god, this is amazing. I need to go tell everyone about it and they influence our customer who ends up you know, coming to do thisMike Gelb 17:58 interesting Wow. But talk to you a bit about your first time fundraising.Adelle Archer 18:02 So I mean, when we, you know, kind of we hit a special inflection point and we're like, okay, you know, clearly we've proved this out, you know, this, this? Absolutely. There's absolutely a business here and a big business here. So, you know, why not take on some investments so that we can really start to accelerate growth. So q1 of 2019, we did a strategic Angel round target there was 800,000. We oversubscribed to 1.2. And you know, really that was we were very intentional about who we brought into that round wanted, ideally mostly prior founders and that's exactly what we did both technology and consumer founders and entrepreneurs that have all had you know, 250 million plus exits under their belt and I just can't say enough amazing things about our angels and our investors. They just are winded our back and have been so incredibly helpful opening doors and you know, supporting us And you know, just just everything. They're amazing. And then after that we did a, we were on Shark Tank. So we received an investment from Mark Cuban. So that was super awesome and exciting. And then we also just completed a seed round right now in the midst of a pandemic. So that was pretty exciting as well.Mike Gelb 19:21 That's amazing. That's amazing. Congrats on the first as well. What do you have a particular strategy for Shark Tank or like, what also compelled you to apply?Adelle Archer 19:30 Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, we were actually recruited on the show, so that was kind of Yeah. And yeah, it was, you definitely want to go into shark tank with a strategy. I would say, you know, I think it's not for everybody's business. You know, you certainly are, are not getting the best deal terms. You know, that you would go get on the market but i think you know, it If it if you are a company that you know, benefits from or you know, needs to raise awareness, you know, in our case, a lot of people don't even know that this is something that you can do. So this is a wonderful way to share and to educate. We're also an incredibly word of mouth friendly business, on average, when somebody hears about us, they tell 20 other people about us, and there's 7 million people that watch Shark Tank, so you know, seven times 20 Okay, like, I feel like the math makes sense, you know, to, to go do this. And, you know, going into it, you know, I feel like if I am to advise anybody going on to it, you really want to know, kind of what your parameters are of, you know, deals that you will and won't take, but, you know, optimizing to take a deal. You know, there's I can't conclusively say, you know, how they end up deciding who airs who doesn't, but about 25% percent of people that film don't air and so, you know, we believe your odds of airing, you know, go up and You take a deal. So it's a, it's important to kind of know your parameters and you know, then just, you know, do everything you can to share how special, you know of a company you've built, you know, and share that with the world. And we were, we were really fortunate we actually got one of the top 5% valuations ever offered on shark.Mike Gelb 21:17 And that was great, amazing. Congratulations. That's fantastic. Why don't want to just kind of hear feedback in terms of what was the most or what kind of your biggest skeptics? What were the most concerns from, from investors throughout the fundraising process?Adelle Archer 21:29 I would say so probably to bubble up, you know, our, our price point is higher than, you know, I'd say like kind of the normal DDC play as you know, a few like kind of 50 to $100 price point and it's all about volume, whereas we're at a higher price point. And so I think it's demonstrating to people that this is a massive opportunity and, you know, kind of like really walking them through the math on how you really don't need that many customers, you know, to build very quickly to hundreds of millions of dollars. And revenue. So that was one and the way that we ended up doing that that was really effective was, you know, really kind of like creating a graph that's really about take rate. It's, you know, here's how many people are passing away in the United States every year. You know, here's how many say that they would do a diamond. Here's what our funeral home partners are forecasting is the sell through, you know, 2% of all deaths in the United States. Well, that's $500 million in addressable. And that's not including pets. That's not including International, that's not including urns that are sitting in family homes. So I think really kind of like breaking it down and walking them through the math, they can see that holy cow, this is $2.5 billion, just with diamonds alone. So that was a big one. And then the other one is, a lot of VCs have seen different plays in in the death care space, that and really haven't been a ton of kind of breakout stories. So I think, you know, you'll probably see that as a founder as you get kind of lumped in with other companies that have tackled an industry before and they haven't seen a breakout, yet. So I think it was very important for us to kind of show how, you know, other folks were looking at, like, trust and we'll, you know, design tools and, and we're, you know, very much focused on the person that's left behind after a loss not planning ahead. And when you think about that intensity of customer need, you know, somebody is coming to us as a way to honor somebody and to, like, help heal some, like, major pain that they're feeling, you know, and that's quite a bit different than somebody who you're trying to encourage, you know, to go and write their will out when, you know, they think they're invincible and they're not going to die. So, it's, it's kind of important to differentiate yourself, you know, in terms of what you're doing and how it's meeting a realMike Gelb 23:42 need for people, right? No, I think that's that's a lot of great points there. How do you think about true value add investors and non value add investors?Adelle Archer 23:52 Well, I think the number one non negotiable is like they have to see the vision they have to see the mission. If they're not aligned with that, then you know, It just is a non starter. That's right. And our mission is to change a culture around death, grief and remembrance, we plan to build the leading brand and death care that does that. But if we lose sight a lot of our mission, you know, along the way, then, you know, I consider that a failure, even if we do have a massive exit. And so, you know, really kind of starting out, many of our investors have experienced personal losses, you know, important, big VCs that, you know, came to us and you know, cried over, you know, a coffee saying, like, Hey, I lost, you know, a boyfriend in a car accident or, you know, I lost my parents very young, like, I get what you're doing and this needs to exist in the world. And when you understand it at that level, you know, I think just everything that you know, you know, about building a business is just going to be so tailored to what we're really driving it here. So that was very important and, you know, they don't need to experience a personal loss, but you know, it's it's that personal connection, you know, and then from there, it is somebody that is kind of a Realizing that there's no playbook for what we're doing, you know, there's, there's nobody that's going to have the right experience necessarily, you know, to then apply to our business. So it's looking for investors that have built disruptive brands before that ever redefine their categories that, you know, have kind of thrown out the playbook and done something completely different. So, you know, that was really important. So I would say those are kind of the two biggest is that flexibility and how you think about building a totally new and disruptive company, and that personal connection and clear resonance with what we're building?Mike Gelb 25:35 If you don't sign on to the vision, then you know, why are we even having a conversation? Right, so it makes it that makes a lot of sense. Has it been harder fundraising since you're located in Austin, as opposed to say you were located in the Bay Area or New York?Adelle Archer 25:48 Yeah, not an issue at all. Really? You know, I yeah, I think a lot of coastal VCs are looking for, you know, operators. They are actually looking a lot in Austin and trying to break into the Austin market. Cuz they know there's a lot happening down here. We have a wonderful new VC founder collective out of Boston that just joined us. And they were saying they're finding kind of better and better deals or just companies being built down in the Midwest. So yeah, I think we're a great place to source.Mike Gelb 26:17 That's great to hear when you were first fundraising. Were you reaching out cold? Or was there any strategy for reaching out cold? Or Or did you already have a bit of a network since you got your MBA in entrepreneurship? You might have met some investors through that network.Adelle Archer 26:30 Yeah, absolutely. Well, and that's actually, you know, stumbled into it, I would say wasn't like, hugely by design. But if I went back and redid our fundraising path, I would have done it all over again, we're starting with the strategic Angel round, you know, and I worked in tech here in Austin, for about three and a half years. So I did get the opportunity to meet like a lot of technology executives and founders, you know, in the Austin ecosystem, and having entrepreneurs and founders You know, that have joined and become investors, they just become your biggest advocates. I can't tell you, you know, to funds that actually just joined our most recent round, I think they had like three of our angel investors, bringing us up at different board meetings being like, you know, who you really need to talk to a turn of a, they're crushing it. And like, by the time they talk to us, they're like, okay, I've had four board meetings at this point or three board meetings where you guys have been brought up so like, let's talk, you know, so yeah, I would say start withMike Gelb 27:29 entrepreneurs and founders, they get it you know, you didn't think about a strategy like BB at the very, very beginning, but it worked out that you obviously already had a bit of a network is working in tech and, and it just from your past experiences that's really helpful. Talk to me a bit about growth. How are you thinking you've just fundraise which Congratulations, especially in this environment? How are you thinking about growth today?Adelle Archer 27:53 Gosh, well, COVID there's there's the COVID growth strategy and then there's the normal growth strategy. We can talk about COVID after. Yeah, I mean, for us, I think we have a, we have a very interesting acquisition model, we're very diversified channel diversified. So we have the direct to consumer side of our business, and then we've got the channel side, the b2c side. And so we really started out, you know, building our entire company around the direct to consumer side and, you know, kind of establishing our credibility, you know, as, as a company and a brand that was doing something totally different. And, you know, we needed to prove that out we needed to get the PR that we did you know, and really see that traction on social media and begin to build that tribe and that following in order to successfully launch in the channel and you know, convince folks that we should be trying something totally different. So, you know, there's the growth strategy on the direct to consumer side is really like community focused, you know, a lot our fastest growing channels are organic and earned and our absolute fastest is actually word of mouth, believe it or not, you know, we were like 9% Our customers were word of mouth beginning of last year 15% by the end of last year, and now is 20%. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's remarkable and you know, we have an NPS of 88 with our customer base, you know, we know that they're telling 20 other people about us. So a lot of you know, what we're doing is really kind of like designing a flywheel around that word of mouth, you know, channeling it in a way that kind of allows for people to be referring kind of gifting this forward to somebody in need, you know, and bringing them into our community and you know, our organic social media community, a lot of that is just about like, you know, grief, wellness, and what is kind of an uplifting grieving experience look and feel like so regardless of whether you decide to do the diamond or not, we're a community and a tribe that you want to be a part of, and it just so happens that is the best way to then convert somebody into the diamond experience because they want that full experience. But you know, a lot of what we've designed is really around kind of accelerating that community driven play. Rafi is is a brand that did a community play really well, for example. So it's it's it is that tribe, we also do a lot of kind of on the partnership side. Now that being a major focus, there's a lot of different kind of distribution channels that we have from funeral homes, to veterinarian offices, to affiliate partnerships, you know, and those have all been performing exceptionally well. And, you know, again, this is an area that there's been next to no innovation. So any brand, you know, that has had some experience, you know, let's say like a major pet brand, and they have a recurring subscription. Well, when that pet passes, you know, what is something really nice that you can offer the family, you know, that kind of acknowledges that. So, in a lot of ways, we kind of are inserting ourselves to partner with all different brands across the spectrum and all different channels across the spectrum to be able to be that, you know, special Memorial option that wasn't there before.Mike Gelb 30:51 Thanks for like outlining that in terms of how you're thinking about growth, especially from the DTC world and then as well as the b2b to see how is this kind of maybe shifted Your focuses in this pandemic or change how you think about growth currently?Adelle Archer 31:03 Well, I think, you know, there's, there's definitely I've felt such a different kind of difference in conversation that we're having with VCs around kind of unit economics and profitability over top line revenue growth. We've had phenomenal top line revenue growth, you know, hundred 30 hundred 40% year over year, you know, but we've always been very focused on kind of profitable growth as well. LTV to CAC is our mantra, and we're just finding that that's true to be the case across, you know, every VC that we're talking to you right now. So I feel like that was just a huge shift that really happened this year is is that obsession with profit over top, but you know, from a business standpoint, for us, our space is getting you know, it has been so affected by this as you can only imagine, you know, just with COVID happening right now, especially in areas that are really affected. Many of our funeral home partners in our just our funeral home industry is being completely overrun. You know, the the The volume of families that they're serving and the cases that they're seeing are, you know, two to three X, what their home's actual capacity is. And, you know, you're seeing this huge shift, where people can't actually gather to have a funeral, you know, and they can't come into the funeral home to actually have the consultation. So these funeral homes are having to completely change their business model, you know, bring everything online at a time that they're experiencing, you know, more volume than they've ever seen, you know, and then these poor families are not able to see their loved ones, they're not able to have a funeral. And so, you know, it's going to be a really difficult time, you know, for grief in the United States. So what we've really done as a company is we put a lot of time and focus on you know, just serving our industry as best as we possibly can, you know, as millennial, a very kind of technology first millennial company, we knew we'd be able to add a lot of value to funeral homes, helping them digitize. So we actually are offering a free digitizing service to take all their arrangement materials that you usually go over in person and quickly digitize it for them. So that's been a huge lift. And we're currently doing a big fundraiser to raise funds and awareness for PPP for funeral homes, because a lot of people don't realize they're on the front line too. And they're getting no media attention whatsoever. So they're out of masks. And you know, we've had partners literally shut down because their whole team is sick. So they need our support just as much as doctors do, you know, and then we also accelerated the launch of our dedication pages, which is a whole experience allowing you to share the diamond journey with friends and family over a digital medium. So it's sharing all those updates and like really kind of allowing for people to kind of share this online and on social media and, and have that fulcrum point, you know, at a time they can't physically get together, you know, well, at least there's a way for them to, to kind of come together over a digital medium and celebrate something well i think that's that's really simply terrific how you're helping, you know, funeral homes, especially during these tough times because I'd imagine that part of the industry, the funeral homes destroyed Not digitized, that's great that you've been able to kind of give back, what are some of the strategies that you're implementing in order to get a pulse on your customer or,Mike Gelb 34:09 you know, being able to constantly monitor like customers preferences and needs,Adelle Archer 34:13 by design, we are very much in touch with our customer, you know, every single month, our customer experience team is, you know, touching base with our customers, you know, kind of providing those updates, but building relationships too, you know, a lot of week we text with people, you know, over the course of the process, we follow them on social media, like they become friends, you know, and so that's kind of, we have weekly ways for our customer experience team to be sharing with the rest of the company, you know, highlights about customers and homecomings when their diamond comes home and, you know, cool stories around that. So, you know, they keep a very close tab from an executive side. I actually q4 of last year went on a customer feedback tour and this is something I'm absolutely going to do every year going forward. kind of comes from my product marketing days. But I spent 20 hours, you know, literally an hour long phone calls with our customer saying, how was the experience? What more could we have done to blow your mind? You know what, talk to me a little bit about your grieving journey, you know, what did that look like who showed up who didn't show up, you know, and kind of looking for every opportunity where, you know, we might be able to add value throughout that journey, you know that and I just think that that's some of the best time you can possibly spend, you know, is is really kind of on that front line hearing from your customer. I also have a customer advisory board I have a Facebook group of 15 customers and you know, I share everything with them. I say hey guys, here's this crazy idea we have what do you think eat it up? You know, and and these people are just the most unbelievable folks. And so getting a customer point of view on everything I think is just you know, you can ever spend enough time with your customers. They add value to everything.Mike Gelb 35:49 Totally agree and I love I love that you create this like customer advisory board. I think that's what's so crucial and you know, great just to kind of keep a pulse on your customers. And and their needs, and seeing how you can help them through the grieving process. So, so we've talked about the early stages of you forming the turn of a, we've talked about the present and COVID want to talk about the future? And what are you thinking about the vision of a tournament for the next few years?Adelle Archer 36:16 Well, our vision is to become the leading celebration of life brand in the entire care space, you know, so it's an ambitious vision to become the Zola of death care, you know, you've come to a turn of a and there's just every possible way to, you know, honor your loved one in a really extraordinary way, you know, all kinds of different Memorial options and experiences, you know, grief journeys, that you can go on, you know, content that can help support you through this time, gifts that you can gift, somebody that you know, is grieving. So, you know, there's just, I think, a tremendous need for all of that and a wonderful opportunity for us to be, you know, the one that go and completely kind of re invent this, this space in this category. So that's very much, you know, the future and the vision. And, you know, our goal is to serve more families in death care than any other company. That's awesome. What'sMike Gelb 37:07 one book that inspired you professionally, in one book that inspired you personally,Adelle Archer 37:11 nationally, probably the ones that I read over and over again, tactically would be never split the difference, just such a brilliant book, anytime you prepare for a negotiation of some kind, but I would say the one that really kind of resonated with me, you know, as a leader, was Extreme Ownership. I love that principle. I just think, you know, when you start with what was my personal, you know, role in any outcome, and how could I have done better and, you know, how do I completely take ownership for outcomes and lead in that way, you build an entire team around you that, you know, is built on that same Extreme Ownership mindset and, you know, so not looking ever to cast blame, but always, you know, being the first to say, here's what I could have done differently. And I, you know, we've really embraced that at a tournament And I just, I'm so proud of my whole team. You know, when everybody exhibits that we just become that much more powerful. And on a personal level, I would say it's probably the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle a gosh that guy is just a genius you know, anytime I would say he just he's so smart about helping you kind of master your own internal experience and not let anything really have power over you. You know, if you're having kind of a really difficult low in your business or the environment or you know, whatever it is that got kind of thrown your way I would recommend going for a walk and letting a cart give you a little pep talk and you know, he just will get you anchored in the present moment and kind of let everything else melt away and I think he's been an incredible teacher to me over the years.Mike Gelb 38:48 Yeah, all three of those books on terrific excited to add them to my reading list as well as put them in the show notes. So my final question is, what's one piece of advice you have for founders who are currently fundraisingAdelle Archer 39:00 You know, when everybody tells you that it'sa process and it can be a grind, like, you know, they're absolutely right. And I think, you know, you learn so much through the process and you learn so much from, you know, objections that some VCs will have. And, you know, I think it's always smart to be kind of listening and hearing patterns and trends, because there's absolutely truth, you know, you'll learn a lot about like, what things you need to work on. But at the same time, you also will hear a ton of conflicting, you know, pieces of feedback. So I think you you do take certain things with a grain of salt and saying, you know, somebody will see this thing one way and then somebody will see it the absolute opposite way and both will be convinced they're right. So, you know, know that like, kind of stay true to like what you know about your company, you know, and just lead with confidence every single time. So it's kind of that willingness to be open and know what you need to work on based on what you're learning and the feedback you're hearing but also kind of staying resolute on what you know to be true. And then, again, I I just can't emphasize enough getting really awesome kind of badass angels involved. You know, it's just been a wonderful experience for us. And, you know, you get to a certain stage like series A Series B, where you know, your rounds too big that they're not going to be investing at that size and scale. So getting them in early, you know, I just think that they've been our biggest value add. So if you're raising a strategic Angel, round a seed, something like that, go get some badass angels, because you know, they can be really helpful.
Sasha Strauss is the founder and Managing Partner of Innovation Protocol, a full-service strategic brand consulting and design firm based in Los Angeles, with a presence in San Francisco and New York. Some of his clients include Google, Doordash, Nestle, Paypal, and Concur Endurance Group. Sasha also teaches Brand Strategy to MBAs at UCLA, USC and UC Irvine.Highly recommend Sasha's TED Talk if you are looking for more resources about the power of brand and want to be inspired.One book that inspired Sasha professionally is Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind by Al Ries. and one book that inspired Sasha personally is XXXX by Joseph Campbell.You can also follow Sasha on Twitter @sashastrauss. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.On this episode we discuss -What is brand? What led him to starting Innovation Protocol? When an entrepreneur is thinking about brand for their startup, what types of questions should they be asking themselves? If you were starting a B2C brand, what would be his starting point? Importance of positioning/competitive analysisIs building a brand the most expensive asset one can build and the hardest? How does he think about brand today? Consumers have more choice and can have more of a connection with a brand than ever before because of the various ways they can interact with brands (social media, D2C ecommerce channel). Does he think that this is the golden age of brands and consumers will pay a much larger premium than ever before just because of the brand or does he see due to competition and the fewer barriers to entry to start a D2C business online, that it’s going to be harder than ever for a brand to charge a premium?How does he think about brands that have a social missions or are eco friendly, because if brand is an emotion and if the consumer has a deeper connection to brands that have a social or environmental initiative, would consumers be willing to pay larger premiums for those brands? How does he measure the impact of brand on a consumer’s purchase decision?What is one thing he would change when it came to the perception of brand? What is one piece of advice for founders when it comes to brand?Here's the full transcriptMike Gelb 0:00Sasha, thank you so much for joining me today. Especially during these difficult times how are you and your family doingSasha Strauss 1:10 glad to connect and my family's doing okay, everyone's huddled down and hunkered down I guess is the right word but huddled together as a family and indeed be making it through staying busy keeping our minds active all the things you need to do to make it you know,Mike Gelb 1:25 absolutely it's that's really good to hear your brand strategist,Sasha Strauss 1:28 what is brand brand is a relationship. It's the simplest way to understand its purpose, but it's a relationship which means that for spur human to have a have a connection to something, there has to be some dialogue or experience or understanding your interface and just like people knowing people, you you know someone by name, a product or a service also needs that same kind of identity. So a brand is just a mechanism that you use to bridge a relationship between a product or Service and the audienceMike Gelb 2:01 got it. brand is not only external, it's also internal. Right? Right.Sasha Strauss 2:05 So that's what when I say that a brand is you know, relationship between a product and service and its audience, the audience may be internal, it may be the the builders, it may be the salespeople, and maybe the HR department, it doesn't matter. Again, you work, let's say you work for a big company that manufactures products. If you don't have a dynamic relationship with that product, if you don't feel emotionally connected to it, you're just a transactional talent, you're just kind of doing the job. Whereas if you feel again, connected, inspired, informed, you start to care deeply. And that helps you perform at a higher level. It helps you if you're an HR, it helps you recruit with fervor, you know, you're like, oh, come work for this organization. Because we do these things and we make this stuff and it affects these people. And so brand is that it's kind of crazy wrapper that takes all of the aspects of an organization and its outputs and and humanizes them In a way that can build connection, got it. TellMike Gelb 3:02 me a little bit about your background. I mean, we're also gonna put the link into your TED Talk, as well in the show notes. That was, to me really inspiring. I actually teared up during when I first watched it really powerful. What interested you in having a career in brand, also a little bit about what a brand strategist is what led you to starting innovation protocol.Sasha Strauss 3:21 I've never met anybody in my life who was a brand strategist. And in fact, when I was young, there wasn't such thing as one. So it was a it wasn't the kind of thing where it was passed down from an uncle or I read about it in a book while I was a student. It was honestly a physiological psychological response. It was a defense mechanism on my part, I'll make it really simple like this. anyone listening will remember when they were 10. And they saw a TV commercial or they heard a radio commercial or they saw a billboard. And there are those people who are like, oh, okay, fine stimulation. And then there were those people were like, Oh my gosh, I need that hamburger. Oh my gosh. Oh, I want to buy that car. My gosh, I want to play that sport. And I was one of the people who was wired to have the oh my gosh, I want that thing. I want to experience that thing. I want to believe that thing. And so my, my childhood experience was one of being pulled by all of these communications, it didn't matter if it was from a religion or a car company. I was pulled by it. And until I was sort of, I don't know, awoken when I was 1718 years old, and started to realize, like, wait a minute, I don't I don't actually need that thing. Or I don't really like that kind of car. Why am I called to desire it? And that was because someone communicated to me or to people like me in such a particular way and in such an engaging and relevant way that it was hard for me to look away. So the short answer to how did I become a brand strategist was I needed to protect myself from all of the communications that were encroaching on my consciousness, and the only way I got to be able to do that was to figure out how they were made. So after turning 18 from that day forward, I only Worked for advertising firms, marketing firms, public relations firms, you name it just constantly while I was in school, after school, etc. And then inevitably, you graduate and you work hard, and I worked very, very hard. I absolutely worked seven days a week for a decade. And what it enabled me to do is become, quote, an expert, you know, someone who's had enough exposure and enough time on the topic to, to be good enough to basically hang up my own shingle. And that's what I did in 2006. With innovation protocol, it was just simply me saying, alright, I've practiced this enough, I've been around it enough, I've worked it enough. Let's see if people will pay me directly then that's what started the business.Mike Gelb 5:38 That's awesome. That's awesome. So tell me tell me a little bit as well about what is a brand strategist like the actual role when a company like hires you on as a consultant.Sasha Strauss 5:47 So if I was describing earlier that in my youth I was highly impacted by the communications of organizations. And then as I aged up, I found ways to understand those communications and and defend myself against them as a professional, what I've been able to figure out is how to actually create those connections. And I don't mean create those connections in a distorted way where I'm trying to get you to buy something you don't need. But what a brand strategist does is it figures out individual figures out who the audience is what they are experiencing, and then tries to meet them in the middle with with language and ideas and explanations that fit within their lifestyle. So here you are doing a podcast. Imagine that whoever's marketing to you a microphone or cables or audio editing or headphones, they come at it with a very technical spec driven motive, you know, like, okay, here, buy this microphone because it has the specs. But the fact is, is that you're not a microphone expert. You may be able to do some research and collect some details, but you're not a microphone expert. And so, what the microphone company has an obligation to do is not only tell you what it technically can do, but also connect to you based on how you might use it like produce the best part Cast Do you ever could or, or maybe you'll podcast more because this thing works so well or it makes it easy for you to podcast. And you see that those are explanations expressions beyond the functional capability of the device. And that's what a brand strategist does. Whether you're selling airplanes or bubblegum, the responsibility is the same, it's to sort of contextualize the capability of the product in a way that the audience can relate to and connect to.Mike Gelb 7:26 I know you've worked with a ton of Fortune 500 companies, some of the biggest companies in the world. But I mean, this podcast is mostly focused on startups. And how do you think about or should an entrepreneur approach brand from the very, very beginning?Sasha Strauss 7:42 I actually really appreciate the question because believe it or not, whether it's b2b or b2c, or startup or fortune 100. The actual approaches remain very, very similar. So my, I'm in a lot of entrepreneurs, societies, and I get that question. You know, someone comes up to me and they say, I don't have these fortune 100 budgets. Come on. You know, what can I do here? And my reaction is the same. My reaction is, Well, okay, are you going to be communicating? Do you know, people don't buy what they don't know exists? So you've got this direct to consumer offering. I don't know what exists, so you're going to have to talk to me. Okay. Well, are you talking to me the same way that an alternate product is talking to me? Or the product that I already use to do that activity? Are you speaking in the same words with the same tone, because if you are, I'm gonna have a really hard time telling the difference between the two of you. So the key factor for a startup is go about it as if you were building it with intention that you're not just trying to get quarterly revenue. You're trying to build annual revenue trying to build multi year connection with your audience. And that means that you have to do the things that big commercial brands do too. For example, commercial brands, always, excuse me, big larger brands always consider their competition. They're, they're following their tweets. They're walking by them at trade shows they're buying their products. And what that what that does for you is it really helps ensure that you don't sound the same. So that's one quick action that I would take as a start up. And the second quick action that I would take as a start up is, well, who is your audience? Who is your buyer? And how are they thinking, behaving, learning, getting informed, etc. Because again, no matter how powerful your capabilities, if one, you don't communicate them, then your audience is not going to receive them. But two, if you don't communicate them in a way that's contextually relevant to that audience, it doesn't matter how innovative your solution, it's not going to break through and change their life. And so my ask is, not only consider who your competition is, but consider who that consumer is, consider what situation they might be in, consider what language they use to describe that situation. And that will help even the smallest of startup get their brand, right.Mike Gelb 9:48 I really appreciate that. I mean, it seems like a lot of what you said is really about looking at the actual competitive analysis and, you know, how are you communicating versus the versus the rest of the competition and how you can actually differentiate yourself on that front.Sasha Strauss 10:02 Yeah, exactly like I see a lot of I see a lot of really inspired entrepreneurs, they come out with a blast, you know, they're tweeting and instagramming. They're building their web page. They're so excited about what they're releasing. And then what they realized is, for example, they might be using non industry terminology, you know, there entrepreneur who's moved between categories. And so they're using non specific language to describe their capabilities. And when you're a technical buyer, or you're a consumer who's trying to decide whether to give this to your child, like if it doesn't fit within your psyche, within the space of your consciousness as you're going about your purchase, then you're, then it feels a little weird, it feels like something strange. And so that's why this is such an imperative. And by the way, in the internet era, most of this is free. For example, when it comes to evaluating competition, you can surf the internet to the enth degree and you will find a lot about what your competition is doing. Same thing with your consumers. You can do social listening, you can join social media channels and pay deep attention to what consumers are saying within those channels. So these are not beyond the grasp of a startup with, you know, low income if you're a startup buildingMike Gelb 11:12 How do you think about first mover advantage when it comes to brand?Sasha Strauss 11:18 It's a really interesting question. Because first mover advantage before the internet was gold, because if a consumer didn't necessarily know that a solution existed, and you were the first to introduce it to them, you got this kind of first in line, you know, priority. It's interesting in the internet era, because everyone can talk and discuss and share and respond. Being first may be that you are the first to start the conversation. But that doesn't give you ownership over the entire idea. Just because you suggest making a sandwich in a certain way doesn't mean that for the rest of time that that idea is yours. And so first mover advantage, believe it or not, unless you're working on it. patented or trademark process, first mover advantage has kind of lost its significance in the internet era. We're all using applications like you and I are on zoom right now. Zoom is not the first, you know, web meeting tool. It's totally not and we don't even remember who the first one was. So that's the point is that what matters now is who's best communicated? Who's most consistently communicated? Who's most relevantly communicated? Everything else after that is nice to have. Or it's really interesting to say you were the original, but it doesn't seem to matter like it used to. Do you believe that building a brand is the most expensive asset that you can build and also the hardest asset you can build? Well, I'm not I'm not one to speak about what it costs to invent something. You know, you're inventing a new pharmaceutical or a new kind of automobile. I don't. I don't have the right to pontificate on what the cost of that is. The reason why though I think branding by nature is expensive, is because it doesn't work doing it. Why It's not the kind of thing when you buy an office chair, you've got it and you can use it. Branding is the kind of thing that once you once you start doing it, you can't stop doing it, it becomes a daily responsibility. And whether you're the CEO giving a speech or you're the social media Community Manager, and you're posting a tweet, in a brand doesn't stop. And so I would say over the long term brand is one of the most expensive things that you will invest in.Mike Gelb 13:25 Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And thinking about brand today, consumers now have more choice. There's more disruptive companies than ever, how do you think about the value of brand because it seems like starting a company, you're you're able to do it now so easily. There's not this like high threshold anymore in order to enter. So how do you how do you think about starting a brand and as well as Do you think this is the hardest time to build a brand, considering there's so much competition?Sasha Strauss 13:52 Yeah, I really appreciate what you say the word I use in class is that there's never been such a cacophony of noise you know, so many brands encroaching into our daily daily life. You know, 15 years ago before the mobile phone was so prominent, you know, you would only be exposed to so much media, you know, you might have listened to the radio might have watched a TV commercial. That was it. And now, every hour of every day, including when you're sleeping, and your phone is buzzing, you know, you're being outreached too. And so breaking through that clutter, like showing up emits that cacophony of noise. Yes, that that I have to say it's never been as hard to break through. Now one caveat, which is that it used to be that when you would, outreach as a brand, you kind of had to just yell to the masses, you know, you would, let's just say that you're an employer and you're trying to recruit new graduate students from USC, you kind of have to advertise across the campus or in the campus newsletter, etc. But now because you can target audience so specifically based on where they hang out in social media, based on their social media identity, Now you don't have to worry about the wide broadcast. Now you can focus on the targeted broadcast. And that's something that is actually quite empowering today.Mike Gelb 15:09 Yeah, I actually loved your example as well in one of your YouTube videos about the superbowl commercial about how before the superbowl commercial was this big thing now it's not you know, people are on their phones or you know, there's, you know, in the bathroom during it, you know, it's not it's not as big of a deal they could always watch it later if they wanted to. I also wanted to know because you know, on the show, we talk a bit about brands that have social missions or social values, you know, eco friendly, sustainable supply chains because it's brand is an emotion if consumer has a deeper connection to brands, do you think that these bad brands will be able to charge and be successful at charging like a larger premium?Sasha Strauss 15:48 I really appreciate your question, Mike. Because for the longest time, being kind to the world or kind to people with a nice to have right it was like, Oh, this company also has an eco friendly component to its right. I'm actually what's so interesting now and I see this a lot with my graduate students at all the universities I teach up is that now it's like one of the top two reasons people choose something is how is that organization behaving? Now, let's just pretend that you know, you're not an environmentalist. So that doesn't intrigue you. But what if you care about children? Or what if you care about power efficiency? Well, fine, but each of those things is kind of a cause beyond product function that gets you to care like a little bit more. And like we were discussing, describing earlier, like, you know, consumers need buyers need a relationship with what they're buying. And if if product feature and function is not enough to have a relationship around it, well, then fine. Maybe you can talk about the people that make it. Okay, that's interesting. Maybe you could talk about the origin of it. Okay, that's really interesting. But one thing that you can definitely also talk about is, what is what good happens to the world because we're doing this or how do we use this to to create Good in the world. And the interesting thing about the answer to that question is, people will listen, they'll kind of be intrigued by it, even if the product isn't like built for them, they'll kind of be like, Alright, well, I see how that company is doing things that's really, really interesting. In fact, in this time of COVID-19, you know, we're seeing a lot of organizations who are getting out of their core manufacturing capability, and they're getting their manufacturing things like gowns and masks and such. And you save yourself like, Well, why are they doing it? You know, there's clearly no margin. And not only that, but they're kind of like most of their workforce is not working. But these companies are putting some workforce into risk, you know, to try and manufacture these products. And even though I really, really appreciate that they're doing it, why are they doing it, they're doing it because it looks and feels good internally and externally. That's why they're doing it. And so you have to acknowledge that that means that consumers are so engaged and how an organization is behaving that if you are not doing that, CSR are you're not doing some cause related activity attached to your business, you're going to be written off, you're going to be ignorable. And your competition is going to smarten up, get on top of it and do things that are good for the world while they make a profit.Mike Gelb 18:15 excellent examples, as always, Sasha cow I think about it is, you know, brand is, of course, an emotion. And if you're, if you're having, you know, CSR or you know, a social impact mission, then that emotion just gets deeper, or it could get deeper and so more powerful. Now, do you think that this would that for these types of brands that then there's higher switching costs for consumers?Sasha Strauss 18:37 Oh, beautifully said that is exactly. The point is that, in fact, switching costs are quite low. Now, if you know, for example, you see the movement moving from one bank to the next was so hard people never did it, but the switching costs now because everything is a digital account, it's so much easier to move between A and B, you're right. When I care about what an organization is doing, when I believe in what they're doing the most. switching costs is higher. And that's the key.Mike Gelb 19:02 How do you measure the impact of brand? On a consumers purchase decision?Sasha Strauss 19:09 Yeah, my first answer is you can't, but you can try. Okay, so let me tell you why I say I can't. Okay. So let's just pretend that you and I are working on a we're the brand strategist and we're working on a product that shows up in grocery retail, okay. And we have convinced ourselves that we thought the packaging, right, we got the name, it's so good. And we're doing all these great activities that are going to make people care about this product. And then let's say the product sells really, really well. Mike and I are high five and we're like, dude, we totally got this right. We got the packaging. It was perfect. The name was correct. Look, what competitors did or didn't do that month. Also probably mattered and, and how the retailer puts your product on the shelf also mattered and what the market pricing was at the time also mattered. So for making it take credit for the brand success for the product success being tied to the brand specifically would be unfair. So that's the challenge is that the brand cannot be evaluated in a vacuum. You can't say product new because brand, but what you can acknowledge is that the brand makes everything a little bit better. So, okay, we're thinking about what we're going to name the product a brand strategist would evaluate, well, what are the other products on the shelf called? How do we not name ourselves the same way? Okay, well, there you go. That's how the brand might help the brand might help minimize confusion. Okay, check next. Okay, we also made sure that the brand's voice is unique enough that when you look it up online, when you look up our message online and how no one else is also using that message. That makes it much easier to find. Okay, point for the brand team. The business is easier to find and learn about because of the decisions that you make. And so long answer to your question about how can you use, you know, how can you measure a brand impact? Theoretically, you can't measure it in a vacuum, but you can acknowledge its contribution across an organization across a product offering. I'll end by suggesting, for example, you know, when you say, can you measure a brand? Well, you know, you and I have both worked for companies that did not have a strong brand. And then we work for a company that did have a strong brand. And you know, when a company has a strong brand, you might work a little harder, you might work for less money, you might not look for another job as fast because that brand looks really good next year identity. So I am how do I how do I quantify what that's worth? employee retention employees work 10% harder 10% longer and look for jobs 10% less because their brand is strong? I don't know. I don't know what the measure is. But I it's kind of like you know what, when you see it on to your last point, even when it comes to hiring right and you're trying and you're a founder you're looking to recruit it might come back Taking a smaller paycheck because it more identifies with your brand. So, you know, I had on a couple investors that talked about the importance of distribution, one investor said, starting out a company, they believe that 80% of your time should be devoted towards distribution and unique and you and your own unique discipline strategy 20% just everything else.Mike Gelb 22:19 Why don't I hear how you think about distribution as it relates to brand.Sasha Strauss 22:24 I, you know, I appreciate what those folks said, because, again, no matter how original or interesting your product capabilities, no matter how passionate you are, as a founder, if your product can't get to the consumer, then who cares? So stop getting so excited about your innovation. And so I agree, you know, if you can't figure out how to get the product on shelf, you can't figure out how to get the product to the consumer, then there's no point in doing any brand building. And that's why we see such a boom in direct consumer behavior, even for very large expensive products going direct to consumer. like think about airlines. airlines for the longest time were using these aggregators. You know, for decades, were using these website aggregators that would pull all of their flights into the same list. And then Southwest Airlines was like, No, like, I'm not, I'm not going to be a part of this, this sort of erratic distribution behavior, we're going to create our own distribution platform, and they pulled back all flights, you can only book a Southwest Airlines flight from a Southwest comm website. And everyone looked at that, like, oh, Southwest, you're gonna screw yourself. But what Southwest realized was that getting direct to the consumer, getting the pricing as accurate and specific as possible direct to consumer that was more important than the cacophony of choices from every single flight that possibly could be offered. And so interestingly enough, Southwest has quickly climbed from one of the leading airlines to like top two most productive airline in North America, and their entire approach has been direct to consumer. So to rewind back to your question about, you know, distribute Yes, distribution is everything. And then once you've got distribution, I'd argue that brand becomes everything. Because all of that work to get it into that retail channel was significant. But if you show but the retail channel non differentiated, non engaging, none not relevant, not contextually applicable, then it doesn't matter that you have distribution, the product isn't going to sell. So everyone's asking about like, Alright, well, what are the best ways to market these days? Because you know, everyone's blasting on social and it's so confusing. This is absolutely the case. I've heard this a lot over the last six months email is now back at the top. And it's like one of the best ways to engage your target on email and all of us are like screw email, I hate email. I want to be on slack and what don't you tweet me etc. Well, it turns out because email is really about opting in you, you you kind of find a site you put your name in it, you join a club, you're part of a society. That email opting in basically says, tell me engage me, you know, encroach on my consciousness. It's a permission, it's a really interesting key to permit people to come into your private spaces email. And it turns out that the click through rates on email, through the roof, especially because we now can block so much better because we can kind of control who gets into our inbox. But you know, this, let's just say that there's a sports team that you love, or you know, you're an alumni of a school, you opt in and you're getting extremely targeted, highly relevant sets of information. And it turns out that you do open them, you do read them, you do not just us, push them to spam or junk. And so it's just really interesting to see these days that you kind of almost have to return to old ways of engagement because there's so much frivolous, you know, of noxious, sporadic marketing outreach, hitting us on all channels that sometimes the opt in channel is actually as powerful or more powerful than it's ever been.Mike Gelb 25:59 Yeah, no I mean, that's a great point. Because because there's so many ways now to communicate, I mean, I feel like I use five or six different apps, if not more, just to communicate to, you know, my family. So it's a just, you know, only like 1010 or so individuals. So it's, it's, it's crazy. And then you have like, like I was in China last year part of the program. And then, you know, I kind of learned a bit more about WeChat. And about how it's really just they have this block, really, of just the entire, like communication vertical. People aren't, you know, giving out their emails, it's just connecting on WeChat. It's quite quite, it really made me think it was just quite remarkable.Sasha Strauss 26:39 Oh, my gosh, man in the Middle East. If you don't have WhatsApp, you don't exist. You're not a real person. I don't care if you have a Facebook page, you got some corporate profile on your website. Like that doesn't matter if you're not in WhatsApp. You're not real. You can't. And I've been dealing with clients in Middle East for a long time when you're messaging on WhatsApp. It's it's not a chat. It's not like a youth chat thing, you know, it's not like oh, you know, message. It's like literally you're brokering multi million dollar deals in WhatsApp, that's just to show you how targeted that kind of communication is that invite in communication gives the brand permission to have a much more robust dialogue.Mike Gelb 27:15 And it's, I think, to your point as well, that, you know, it really also depends on the on the geographic areas, right, like email in the US is unruly is, as you say, kind of back on the top in terms of how people want to be communicated. ButSasha Strauss 27:28 what I liked about it, you know, we're living in a really dynamic time, no question,Mike Gelb 27:32 what is one thing that you would change when it came to the perception of brand,Sasha Strauss 27:37 I guess I work really hard to convince nonprofits that branding is a priority. So I guess I would change their disbelief. They really kind of like it's so interesting. I'll be having a meeting with a nonprofit and blast them a question like, so who do you think your competitors are? And they'll have like this. We don't have competitors. You know, we're saving lives here. And So we say in response like, Oh, well, so your donors only donate to you, you know, are those grants that you're applying for. You're the only organization applying for those grants. And of course, that the donor is donating to lots of different institutions. And the grant making institution is giving grants a lot. So you have to consider who you're quote, fine, call them, your peers, call them, your friend said if you want, but please, for goodness sake, nonprofits need to understand that branding is as important as their strategic plan. And I'll tell you an example. I've never been a part of a nonprofit and I've been a part of so many nonprofits. it's astounding, just through the work I do have never been part of a nonprofit that doesn't have quote, a strategic planning process, you know, they they hunker down and and get their board together. And it's a strategic planning retreat. And so interesting because they talk about all their revenue intentions and their service delivery intentions. And then you ask them, Okay, great, so you got this big plan. Is this plan, market relevant? like is this how The donors want to see you behaving or is this how the and the applications for the fundraising channel here for your grants channels? Are these the questions they asked in the grant application? Because it's not that I really appreciate your strategic plan, but it's something for you. It's something for you to feel good about yourself. Brand help audiences feel good about you. And you have to take that into consideration when building a nonprofit institution. So that would be my answer of your question. One thing I would change about the perception of brand was that it's not just for commercial application, in fact, as powerful or more powerful in community service state level, you know, school level programming as well. Yeah, I mean, that makes a lot of sense. Well, think about like, let's just pretend that you you're a nonprofit and you you, you know, that this, the thing that you're doing is you're creating, like, life saving solutions, okay? You're, you're aggregating data, you've got all these volunteers and these scientists and you're creating these life saving solutions. And, and, and it turns out that the best way to to fund your program is to get the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund you. Okay, because what you what you're producing or whatever service you're offering, it fits right within their social mission, you and everyone else also believes that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation should be funding them. So if you're not thinking about how you articulate your value, and package that capability in a manner that fits right in, I mean, I wish your listeners can see my hands I'm making, like two sets of fingers coming together seamlessly. Because if you don't apply for that grant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation the right way with the right tone with the right sort of identity, then you're just going to be looked at like not structured well enough or you don't have a clear vision, and so they're not going to fund you. And so that's where nonprofit brand programming is so so important is that you might not say to yourself, well, we're not trying to get all these consumers like Amazon, okay, I get that. But there are buyers decision makers and builders on the receiving end If your brand is not well built, strong, articulate and intentional, they're going to look like you're a risk. You know, giving you money is potentially a loss situation,Mike Gelb 31:10 not a net contribution. It's i think it's it's part of your point that brand is everywhere. It needs to be taken everywhere, like religion, for example, the first brand soSasha Strauss 31:18 I have a, you know, your your fun like this. I'll point out I have two books. I have a lot of books around me right now. But I have two books sitting on my desk right now. One of them is from the Masons. And it's actually like a ceremonial facilitation guide. It's from my grandfather. He was amazing. And it's just so interesting to read the protocol and process and purpose. But let me tell you, this is a brand book, this is a brand book, How to facilitate Sonic ritual and why is it Why does it matter? And how do you communicate it and I have another book on my desk, which is my work with the Catholic Church, which is this is basically called the intellectual life. It's just so interesting. And it talks about how to wake up in the morning how to go to bed at night, how to gauge your family. etc. Now listen, this is this is Catholicism, I'm telling you it's like it's like the ritual the practice of Catholicism. But what is it really, it's really about an identity of how you feel your place in the world, your relationship with the people around you. And that's what branding is branding. Again, it takes the actual regiment of a faith and it says, Well, wait a minute, let me make it a little bit more relatable to you. Let me make it a little bit more engaging and emotional to you. And that will you'll follow the ritual. This is my take on the situation. I thought you'd get a kick out of these books.Mike Gelb 32:29 That's great. Thanks so much for those examples before I took your course ever thought about religion in terms of the brand and the actual and everything so that was that was pretty eye opening for me.Sasha Strauss 32:38 Once you see it, you can never look away.Mike Gelb 32:40 What's speaking of books. What's one book that inspired you personally, and one book that inspired you professionally?Sasha Strauss 32:46 I'll tell you about a book that inspired me professionally. I'll grab the book here while I'm speaking with you. And it's actually a go to price. It's been a go to resource in the branding business for over 40 Yours. Um, it's called positioning the battle for your mind. And it's a very easy to find book, it's probably on the desk of any marketer you ever met. And it basically introduced Originally, it really introduced the notion that the best thing that you can do for your business for your brand, is to consider the the marketplace of offerings, and figure out where you fit in the marketplace of offerings, and make sure that there's a space for you in that arena. And it's just such a simple notion. I almost do not work on a branding project ever, without saying to myself, okay, great. Here's the lay of the land of all the offerings, all the competition, is there, a space that we can claim all our own and build our messaging and tone around that unique space. So this is called positioning the battle for your mind by Al Reese, and jack trout. That's the one that's probably influenced me the most professionally the books that have probably helped influence me the most personally are by Joseph Campbell, he's an author of world religions. He's dead now. But he was a great he had this reverence for World faith. It didn't matter if we're talking about first American religions, or we're talking about, you know, the Viking sagas. And what he basically did is he spent his lifetime studying them all and understanding the wisdom tradition, the the wisdom that came from each of them without judgment on one versus the other. And that's really helped me as a brand builder, build brands, for organizations that make things or do things that I don't necessarily relate to. Like that I don't like, for example, I'm not a sports enthusiast. So like, if I'm working for a hockey brand, I could say, well, that's not my religion, so I can't respect and appreciate it. Or I can take the Joseph Campbell view, which is, there's something beautiful and interesting and inspiring in every religion, go find that and that's the duty I put on myself. If I'm working on a hockey brand, I will put on that responsibility and say Sasha, doesn't matter whether or not you're a hockey fan or not. What matters is the There are things that are true about hockey that drive people connect people unite people, and you need to go find those things. So that's my answer to the second question about the content that's probably influenced me the most personally, socially, professionally, books by Joseph Campbell. I have questions about each of those.Mike Gelb 35:17 First of all on positioning, when do you might have like found that wedge in the market? Right? Like you're you maybe found that product market fit, as they say, how do you think about like expansion?Sasha Strauss 35:27 I really appreciate your point, because a lot of times founders really want to be many things to their core audience. And you know, and ultimately, I think we've all heard this in our lives, you know, you can't be all things to all people. A brand is supposed to be something very specific to a narrow view. And we got to remind ourselves that there's only so much space for Amazon and apples in the world. The truth is, is that most of the businesses in the world are not of that scale. 99% of all businesses in North America are small to medium sized businesses. So we kind of have to remind ourselves that it's not it's not our job to necessarily become The next Amazon or Apple. But back to your question about, Alright, fine, you've carved out a niche for yourself. Is that dangerous? Is that limiting? Because you can't expand from there? Actually, no. Let's go back to the Southwest Airlines example. So if you recognize the Southwest Airlines colors are like purple and yellow and red, it's almost like the southwest of the United States, kind of like Arizona, the sunset, you know, that desert kind of color set. Right, okay. And Southwest literally refers to the southwestern region of the United States. That's where they fly because there used to be Northwest that used to be, you know, all these different regional airlines. And so you say to yourself off Southwest like little dangerous you know, why would you want to position yourself you're going to pitch in your hotel, pigeonhole yourself into just a regional supplier. And what you realize is that Southwest was visionary enough to think through that and get it get into their head that Southwest is, is a it's a lifestyle. It's like it's a warm, engaging, happy lifestyle, and it's a way of thinking not necessarily a region. Now, Southwest flight all over North America, they fly to Mexico, things that are not in the southwest. And you say, Oh, no, not gonna buy tickets from Southwest Airlines because it's Mexico. And that feels weird. You say, Well, no, I'm going to take into account how they behave, how they think and how that manifests in their products and services. And I'm going to use that as the filter for how I choose my flight. And so it's interesting is that even though you can position your product, your brand around a certain position, as we described, it doesn't mean that that position can't expand over time. But with key is owning that position. Once you own that position, then usually your market will not be distracted by your expansion. They'll they'll not be offended by you offering them more things. For example, Nike, first and foremost went after shoes, right? That was it, the shoes that enable you to just do it, that was that was the product. Okay? Then once they kind of delivered on that unique position. Now they've been able to scale up and do it. Virtually everything from apps to training regimens and things of that effect and you realize you're not offended, you're not offended by them because they've expanded beyond their core position. That core position is what initially built their trust your trust in them to begin with, and that's why you're willing to try additional things from them. First ofMike Gelb 38:20 all, thanks so much for explaining that and you know, coming from the east coast, totally understand how Southwest is a mind like, I can totally relate to that just because I actually it actually wasn't my intention to move out to LA but a lot of my peers like LA and like the Southwest, it was utopia. You know, where you didn't have seasons, you didn't have snow. I mean, I actually love snow. But you know, I very much understand that point. And then on your second point about the hockey example, it just reminded me of a conversation I had with with a venture capitalists who invested in this company called Sunday and what they what Sunday produces his lawn products and he was trying to he invested And he was, you know, trying to get other investors on board for Sunday. And he said that this one investor like he's like it was really hard to actually get investors on board in New York City, because none of the investors had lawns, they could relate to it. But then there was one investor who I actually also had the show and is really excited about it. And he was like, sat down with him. He's like, all right, like, help me try to understand I don't own a lot, but try to like, just help me understand what it is. And he ended up investing in the companies on really well. And so it just goes back to a bit of your example about the hockeySasha Strauss 39:32 Yeah, and that's my that's the point is that, you know, once you figure out what that core need is for a core audience, now what let's just take this Sunday lawncare I don't know anything about it. First, I heard about it was what you just said. So your listeners and I are on the same level, okay. Right. So I suspect that once Sunday owns the contemporary practice of lawn care, they're probably also going to be able to sell other things. For example, Maybe like lawn decor, maybe also maybe things that you might use to recreate on your lawn like lawn furniture. Oh, you know, because it all fits within the perimeter of these guys care about lawn. And so you see that just because you initially positioned yourself for the lawn care giver doesn't mean that once you've proved that, that you can't expand into adjacent things, we tend to call that brand extension. And what's key about brand extension is that you intentionally only offer things that are just just outside the realm enough to be like, Oh, yes, I get why Sunday offers that. But oh, that's not lawn mowing that lawn enjoying. But no, that's still fit. Why do you mow your lawn to enjoy your lawn? Okay, great. And it kind of gives you kind of give yourself over to it, you're more willing to trust it. So I actually think that that's the best way to build a brand is to hunker down and focus on what core lifestyle product arena you can really, truly own. And then from there, from there, you can extend out and offer an array of things that complete the solution.
Michael Duda is the Founder and one of the Managing Partners at Bullish.Bullish is a creative agency and a pre-seed fund, investing in early stage consumer companies. Some of their investments include Warby Parker, Peloton, Casper and Birchbox. Prior to founding Bullish, Mike spent 13 years at Deutsch Inc., where he became the youngest Partner in the company’s 35-year history overseeing business development, marketing and corporate strategy.You can follow Michael on Twitter @mikeduda You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.What compelled him to start a fund? His stage, due diligence process, milestones founders had to achieve in order for him to consider? It’s natural for VCs to promote themselves as contrarian investors. How does he think about VC behavior, is it actually more of a herd like mentality? What were some of his early investing mistakes? Why is he bullish (pun intended) about DNVB brands and the DTC channel when you no longer have this advertising arbitrage that you had in the early 2010s?How does he think about the power of brand in today’s environment, especially for Gen Z and Millenials? Does brand have more meaning? Contrasting trends: sustainability and fast fashion. Has coronavirus changed how he is seeing new opportunities? Where is he currently spending most of his time? An example of competitive advantages that modern brands might have when there isn’t technological innovation in the product?One thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What’s one company on his anti-portfolio? What’s his most recent investment and what makes him excited about it? What’s one book that inspired him professionally and one book that inspired him personally? Investing in secondary and tertiary markets. What’s one piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?
Joe Tonnos is a Principal at Mistral Equity Partners and a Co-Founder of Ketch Ventures. He invests across the consumer spectrum from seed/pre-series investments at Ketch to growth equity, private equity buyouts and even some public market investments at Mistral Equity Partners. Joe is also a Venture Partner at Natureza – a newly formed consumer VC focused on Series A investments. Some of his investments include Los Sundays, byCHLOE, and Oros.In this episode we discuss -What attracted him to investing and venture capital? What attracted him specifically to consumer How does he think about portfolio construction? How did he start Ketch? At the early stages when there isn’t much traction, what's his due diligence process? What qualities does he like to see in founders?How he's thinking about coronavirus as it relates to consumer investing? Is he shifting strategy away/towards companies/verticals? Is he pausing investments in a particular space? Is he concerned about some current portfolio companies' ability to raise? How he'sadjusting to new work protocols (remote working, etc) and if so, is that having an impact?What are some consumer trends that he is excited about? What is one thing that he would change about venture capital? What is one company that is in his anti-portfolio? What did he learn from that experience? What’s one piece of advice for founders of consumer startups?This episode is brought to you by WeStock. WeStock streamlines the product request process and helps your brand get on retail shelves faster. Learn more at WeStock.io and when scheduling a demo, use promo code ConsumerVC for 25% off for your first year.You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.
Arie Abecassis, is the founder and partner of ICONYC Labs and was the chairman of the board at SeatGeek. ICONYC labs is a business and funding acceleration platform customized for early-stage Israeli tech startups looking to accelerate growth and cut time to market. SeatGeek is the largest internet event ticket search engine. Arie also is a venture partner / mentor at DreamIt Ventures and has over twenty years of experience in building technology companies as an operator, advisor and venture capital investor.A book that inspired Arie personally and professionally is Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull.You can check out Arie's article at Entrepreneur here. You can also follow him on Twitter @arieabec If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM and follow your host on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com.In this episode we discuss -What attracted Arie to technology and startups?What led him to founding ICONYC labs? What does it mean to be an advisor? What is the role of a board member and how should one think about the value a board member will add to a company? What should founders think about when finding their lead investor? How should founders think about structuring their board of directors? Why have a board?Examples of good governance vs. bad governance, founder friendly vs. non founder friendly. For first time founders, what has he seen them struggle with the most when it comes to board meetings? At what point do companies need to think about having a board of directors? What’s typically the structure in a board?How should founders put their board of directors to work? What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital? What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?
Kate McAndrew (Bolt) - Distributed Teams, Fundraising Outside the Major Hubs, and Impact of COVID
Brian is an executive coach and owner of Dashing Leadership. He helps early-stage founders grow into more effective leaders. Previously he started and ran Fitocracy, one of the largest fitness social networks of its time, and sold it in 2015. Afterwards, he joined 500 Startups as a venture partner and later led major product initiatives at Credit Karma and Eaze.If you’re interested in learning more about how coaching can help you perform better as a leader, please schedule an introduction call at www.dashingleadership.com If you want to keep up to date on Brian you can follow him on Twitter @brianmwang. If you are a founder and working on something innovative,, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM me and follow Mike on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One of Brian’s favorite author’s is Haruki Murakami. A book that inspired Brian personally is Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. A book that inspired Brian professionally is Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson.On this episode you will learn - What attracted him to entrepreneurship and founding Fitocracy? What were some of the learnings from his experience as a founder? What is coaching and what attracted you to it? How is coaching different to advising and mentoring?What are some of the ways that you help founders? How is the impact different to advising and mentoring? What’s typically the cadence?What are some typical or common areas that founders might need help in that you think about?How do you think about effective leadership?What is one piece of advice that you would have for all founders?
This episode explores the Paycheck Protection Program as it relates to venture backed small businesses. Zac Dearing is a J.D. Candidate at Harvard Law School and Venture Fellow at AlleyCorp. Zac has a deep appreciation for start-ups and small businesses starting when he was 12 when he founded and ran his own computer assembling business. He has gone on to have quite the career in consulting, finance, and technology.Here is a link to Zac’s tool for companies to understand how much government assistance they could expect to receive from PPP.You are also welcome to follow Zac on Twitter @zacdearing.In this episode we discuss -What is the PPP / SBA Loans program? How did Zac become interested in learning about PPP? Who is the program intended for? What types of businesses should apply?What makes a company eligible for PPP? What’s the affiliate rule? How can companies change their governance terms with VCs in order to become eligible? Does the affiliate rule only concern those that own a certain percentage of the business?What has been VCs response to the affiliate rule? Are venture backed companies eligible? Does he see any potential change regarding PPP eligibility regarding the affiliate rule? Will a business need to repay the loan? What’s the forgiveness factor?What does the good faith certification of necessity mean? Where does one apply? Are all payroll costs eligible?
Rishi Garg is a partner at Mayfield. Mayfield global venture capital firm with a people-first philosophy of investing. Mayfield invests primarily in early-stage technology companies in the enterprise and consumer sectors. Some of Rishi’s investments include Grove Collaborative, Oliver Space and Projector.Rishi backs consumer focused entrepreneurs and has been a longtime executive and entrepreneur at some of the world’s most innovative companies. He’s held senior positions at Twitter, Square, Google, MTV, co-founded FanSnap,a leading venture-backed live event ticket search company acquired by Nextag, Inc. It was great speaking with Rishi about the future of social, consumer distrust in legacy brands, and curation. It was a really fascinating conversation, so without further ado here is Rishi.Thank you Gautam Gupta for the introduction!You can follow Rishi @rishigarg. You can also read his latest article Why Trusted Commerce Platforms Will Redefine Key Categories in the Next Ten Years. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM him and follow on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book that inspired Rishi both personally and professionally is Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl.In this episode you will learn - What fascinated him working in technology then becoming a founder? What made him interested in venture capital? When a B2C startup doesn’t have alot of traction, what are some qualities he looks for in founders? His due diligence process?How does he think about commerce and retail in today’s landscape? What are some solutions that he gets excited about in retail that is solving some of these issues? What are changes in consumer behavior is he most focused on?I’ve heard some folks say it’s a contrarian time to be investing in consumer. Why is that and does he believe it? What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one book that inspired him personally and one book that inspired him professionally? What is his most recent investment and what makes him excited about it? What’s one piece of advice for B2C founders?
This episode is brought to you by WeStock.io. WeStock streamlines the product request process and helps your brand get on retail shelves faster. Learn more at WeStock.io and when scheduling a demo, use promo code ConsumerVC for 25% off for your first year.David Goldberg is a General Partner at Corigin Ventures. Corigin Ventures is a New York based venture capital firm leading seed stage investments in the founders defining the future of daily living. Some of their investments include Perch Interactive, The Inside, Classpass and Imperfect Foods. Previously, David Founder/CEO of FreshNeck, an online, subscription-based, men's neckwear exchange service. He also was the Assistant District Attorney, representing the people of Brooklyn, New York and then worked at Merrill Lynch and Jefferies & Co.You can follow David on Twitter @davidrgoldberg. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM him and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book that inspired David professionally is Measure What Matters by John Doerr. A book that inspired David personally is Reboot by Jerry Colonna.In this episode you will learn - How did David go from a criminal defense attorney to finance to founding freshneck.com? What compelled him to shift to angel investing and transition to venture capital and how did some of your prior experiences help him as an investor? How Corigin came together? At the seed stage, what is he looking for? A walk through his diligence process.When personalization and customization are you differentiators, how do you scale? How is the sharing economy going to evolve? How he thinks about the consumerization of software. What he thinks about the future of venture capital? What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?What is his most recent investment and what makes him excited about it? What is one piece of advice that he has for founders of consumer companies?
Please note this episode was recorded back in January before the global pandemic.Natalie Dillon is a Principal at Maveron. Maveron is a premier consumer focused fund that invests in seed and Series A companies that empower consumers to live on their terms. Some of their investments include eBay, Everlane, and AllbirdsPrior to Maveron, Natalie was at Susa Ventures, a premier seed-stage fund in San Francisco. At Susa, Natalie worked with the team to source and help diligence several investments, largely in the consumer space. Before Susa, Natalie was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs and a research associate at Silicon Valley Bank.I would like to thank Sumeet Shah for the introduction!A book that inspired Natalie professionally is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight. A book that inspired her personally is Why We Sleep by Matthew WalkerYou can follow Natalie on Twitter @ntdillon. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM and follow on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.What attracted Natalie to venture capital and consumer investing? Walk us through Maveron’s due diligence process and founder checklist? What are specific attributes that you think are non-negotiable and what founders need to have? What subculture trends she is focused on? What makes Natalie interested in consumer vs. enterprise?How she thinks about the future of social applications and what are you noticing about Gen Z? What is her most recent investment? What is one thing that she would change when it came to venture capital?What is one company you had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t and in retrospect wish you did? What is one piece of advice for B2C founders?For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.com.
This episode features two conversations I’ve had with KivaKiva Dickinson is the managing partner at Selva Ventures. Selva Ventures invests in emerging brands that make their consumers’ lives better. Some of their portfolio includes Haus, Mud Water, and Three Wishes.Prior to founding Selva Ventures Kiva was a Partner at CircleUp, where he joined during the launch of the Company’s first discretionary equity fund CircleUp Growth Partners. While at CircleUp Kiva led Series B investments in Nutpods and Liquid I.V., working closely with both companies following investment.You can follow Kiva on Twitter @kivadickinson. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM and follow the host @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired Kiva personally is How Will You Measure Your Life by Clay Christensen. One book that inspired him professionally is Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke.On this episode, you will learn - What attracted Kiva to VC? How Selva came together? His due diligence process. How he thinks about competitive vs. non-competitive categories? How does he think about the future of retail and O2O strategy for companies? How has DTC changed retail?How does he think about portfolio management and construction when it comes to return on investment? How does he think about geography when it comes to starting a brand and investing and why did he choose the bay area to set up shop? What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one company that is in his anti-portfolio - you had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t and in retrospect wish you did? What’s your most recent investment and what makes him excited about it? What is one piece of advice he has for founders of consumer companies?His reaction to coronavirusIs he shifting strategy away/towards companies/verticals?Is he pausing investments in a particular space?Is he concerned about some current portfolio companies' ability to raise?Is he having to adjust to new work protocols (remote working, etc) and if so, is that having an impact?
Please note that this episode was recorded before the coronavirus global pandemicMadeline Keulen is Vice President at Victress Capital. Victress Capital is an early stage venture capital firm that provides visionary and diverse founding teams in the consumer space with capital and resources for growth. Victress has backed 21 innovative companies led by tenacious founders including Alyce, Daily Harvest, Harper Wilde, Rae, and Summersalt. Prior to Victress, Madeline developed her consumer expertise as an operator, experiencing first-hand the importance of customer-centric values while working at Apple and The Walt Disney Company. She then moved to Oliver Wyman, where she focused on partnering with leading consumer product and services businesses on strategic growth initiatives, operational improvement, and post-merger integrations.You can follow Madeline on Twitter @mkeulen and check out her blog mkeulen.com To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.One book that inspired her professionally and personally is How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clay Christensen. A couple other books that inspired her professionally are Sam Walton’s Made in America and Phil Knight’s Shoedog.On this episode you will learn - What attracted Madeline to startups and venture capital in the first place? How was she able to break into venture? A bit about Victress Capital? What she looks for at the seed stage? Her diligence process?Boston’s startup ecosystem. What is the value of a brand? How to think about competitive advantage and moat? How she thinks about contrasting trends? Is this the hardest period to build a brand in today’s climate since it seems so easy to launch a brand?How the DTC channel has changed? Why she is so bullish on consumer? What she would change about venture capital? Advice for founders in secondary and tertiary markets. The importance of knowing your why.
Please note that this episode was recorded before the coronavirus global pandemicLogan Langberg is a Principal at Imaginary Ventures. Imaginary is a Venture Capital Fund that invests in early–stage opportunities at the intersection of retail and technology in Europe and the US. Some of their investments include Everlane, Glossier, and Daily Harvest.Logan was previously an investor at Alliance Consumer Growth, a leading consumer growth equity fund, where he invested in and supported Harry’s, LOLA, Honest Kitchen among other innovative consumer companies. It was a blast talking with Logan about food and bev, future of retail and much more.You can follow Logan on Twitter @LangbergLogan. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.A book that impacted Logan personally is Boris Johnson’s The Churchill Factor. One book that impacted Logan professionally is Brad Feld’s Venture Deals.In this episode you will learn - Why did Logan come down from growth equity to venture capital? What interested him in consumer? How does he think about good growth vs. bad growth? How does he think about optimizing for growth vs. profitability? What is his investment criteria for companies? What’s his due diligence process? How important is market expertise? How does he think about price in this current investment landscape? What is the reason that PE firms have come down stream? Do founders need to be concerned with over raising? What are some metrics that he focuses on the most? How does he think about portfolio construction and returns for each investment? How Logan thinks about the future of retail? What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is his most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? What is one piece of advice for consumer entrepreneurs?
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures. Precursor Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Some of their investments include The Athletic, Goodr and Co-Star.Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at SoftTech VC and Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup. He also was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business (acq. Zynga) and Director of Business Development at Gaia Interactive.You can follow Charles on Twitter @chudson. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.A couple books that impacted Charles professionally are The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Maretti and Who Gets What and Why by Alvin Roth . A book that impacted him personally is The Wright Brothers by David McCullough.On this episode you will learn -How did Charles make his way into Venture Capital? How did Precursor come together? How does Charles think about the early investment landscape? His due diligence and decision making process. How he thinks about domain expertise. Why are there two different seed markets with radically different round sizes and valuations and what does seed look like today? What are some of the differences in the diligence process when investing in consumer vs. enterprise startups? How he thinks about pivoting in the early stages? How he thinks about portfolio composition? Advice for founders that are in tertiary or secondary markets or have a network of VCs when fundraising? What consumer trends is he most focused on? What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?
I reached out to all past investors that came on the show and future investors that will be coming on and asked them the following questions pertaining to the impact of corona: Are you shifting strategy away/towards companies/verticals?No. We're long term, early stage investors so we look at companies with a 5-10+ year time horizon. While we take the health, economic, and societal impacts of COVID-19 very seriously, especially in the next few months and quarters, our expectation is that over the long run the broad societal and economic impact will be modest.I wouldn’t say we’re changing our strategy [yet?]. One thing we have been developing a thesis on, even prior to coronavirus, is curation in the consumer environment given how fragmented the various sectors have become with abundance of brand choices. That being said, we’re looking for opportunities that de-risk the exposure to a particular brand, but opportunities to play a broader category based on consumer preferences and behaviors. We continue to look for disruptors in the market that change age-old behaviors, come up with a better mousetrap, are vertically integrated creating strong supply chains or have a lifestyle component (among other attributes). We love businesses that touch 2 of 3 categories – DTC, B2B, retail/wholesale.Not really. As seed investors, we take a long-term approach. And while there will be some behavioral shifts that come from this, at some point I believe we’ll get pretty close to ‘normal’. That being said, we are leaning more into companies that are ‘building’ v ‘selling’ immediately. Are you pausing investments in a particular space?No. We're long term, early stage investors so we look at companies with a 5-10+ year time horizon.We have some exposure to the travel industry. We do believe that this industry will be the last to recover, much like after 9/11, so we’re monitoring it closely and will probably sit on the sidelines in the near-term for this sector. If there was a business that showed some resiliency and was at an attractive value, we’d certainly look at it. Depending on the slowdown and how long things play out, discretionary purchases are likely to decrease so we like to be positioned with necessity purchases. Are you concerned about some current portfolio companies' ability to raise?Yes to some extent. We haven't seen early-mid stage investors change their activity levels at this juncture, but obviously the concerns and work environment (more remote, less F2F) mean we'd anticipate some slowdown or lengthened deal processes. Early-mid stage investors may also look to allocate incremental capital to existing investments rather than new investments in this environment. For late stage companies that may be raising from "cross-over" type investors, we anticipate the decline and volatility of public market portfolios may reduce some investors appetite for late stage private companies.Yes. I think all startups will have a difficult time later this year raising. Not right now, but my prediction is to give the market another 2-4 months. My advice here would be to raise some money now if you know you need to be in the fundraising market in the next year. Are you having to adjust to new work protocols (remote working, etc) and if so, is that having an impact?We already had a flexible work culture – not a huge hurdle for usSo far, so good. Some great tools out there, and many companies are moving fully or partially distributed/remote anyways, so it’s good to eat our own dogfood.
Laura Chau is a Principal at Canaan. Canaan is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionaries with transformative ideas. Some of her current investments include Coterie, Curtsy, and Jumpcut. At Canaan, she focuses on consumer technology. She previously worked in Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations practice. She has also worked in sales and marketing functions within Kabam (acq. by Netmarble), Branch Metrics and Greenhouse, as well as working closely with Marie Kondo to launch the author’s product business.Thank you Caitlin Strandberg for the introduction!In this episode, we focus on Laura’s chapter in Finding Genius by Kunal Mehta. Here is a link to excerpts of her contribution to the book.Worked at KabamIn this episode you will learn -What attracted Laura to work in startups and technology? What were some of the learnings while she worked at Kabam that influenced her as an investor and what attracted her to venture capital, specifically early stage investing? In the early stages, when there isn’t much data, what are some of the qualities that she looks for in founders? What’s her due diligence process? What makes consumer investing challenging compared to enterprise? What is some advice for founders that might live in secondary or tertiary markets? A recap of the five pillars of social media in her “Finding Genius” chapter. At what stage does social media hit saturation? How she thinks about privacy? The future and opportunity in social media? Consumer trends that she is most excited about? What is one thing that she would change about venture capital? What is one book that inspired her personally and one book that inspired her professionally? What is her most recent investment and what makes her excited about it? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?
Ethan Austin is the Managing Director of Techstars Western Union Accelerator. Techstars Western Union Accelerator is the premier program for global startups shaping the future of money movement. Companies participating in the program gain direct access to the world's best fintech execs, founders and investors covering everything from customer development, global go-to-market strategy, access to capital and biz dev opportunities. You can currently apply Here to be part of their summer cohort. The application deadline is April 5th, 2020.Previously, Ethan co-founded Giveforward, the world's first medical crowdfunding platform which was acquired by gofundme, and Deal Gooder, an E-commerce site where proceeds benefitted local non-profits and schools.You can follow Ethan on Twitter @ethanaustin. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.One book that inspired Ethan professionally is Hug Your Customers by Jack Mitchell. One book that inspired Ethan personally is Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle.In this episode you will learn -What attracted Ethan to entrepreneurship? Why he is mission-driven. How going through Techstars changed his life? How to analyze teams? The importance of distribution. The requirements of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator. Some trends that Ethan is focused on in fintech? What is one company in your most recent cohort that you are excited about? What is one thing that you would change about venture capital? What is one piece of advice that he has for founders?
Lee Hower is the Co-Founder and Partner of NextView Ventures. NextView is a high-conviction hands on seed-stage VC firm that invests in founders who are redesigning the everyday economy. Some of their investments include Grove Collaborative, Skillz, Plastiq, Attentive, LetGo and TapCommerce. Previously, Lee was an early employee at Paypal and served as the Director of Financial Services. He then went on to co-found LinkedIn and serve as a Principal and Venture Partner at PJC.Thank you Gautam Gupta for introducing me to Lee!One of Lee’s blog posts that we discuss on the show is Denouement. All of Lee’s and NextView’s blog posts are available here.One book that inspired Lee professionally is Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins. One book that inspired Lee personally is Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles NordoffIf you would like to keep up to date with Lee, you can follow him on Twitter @leehower. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.In this episode you will learn -What attracted Lee to work in technology and what was it like working with the Paypal Mafia? What were some of the learnings from those moments and what led him to co-founding LinkedIn? Is operational experience important to an investor? What are some of the qualities in a founder that he focuses on and look for? His due diligence process? How does he think about portfolio construction at the seed level? What are data points when it comes to consumer companies that you most focus on in the early stages? What he means by the everyday economy? How he thinks about today’s venture capital era and why he refers to it as the denouement era? How does he think about the future of venture capital in the new decade? What are some consumer trends that he is most excited about? What is one thing that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is his most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? What’s one piece of advice for early stage B2C founders?
Matt Hirst is the Managing Partner at West. West is a venture studio, a team of market and brand experts with investor discipline. Since 2011, West has partnered with some of the world’s most innovative companies and founders to maximize their opportunity and make impact including Impossible Burger, GofundMe, Square and Twitter.Matt joined West 4 years ago after serving as the Global Head of Brand Experience at Google. Prior to Google, Matt spent 10 yrs at Red Bull as head of Sports, Events and Culture and the Director of Culture Marketing.One book that inspired Matt personally and professionally is Alchemy by Rory Sutherland.In this episode you will learn -Some of the differences working for Red Bull vs. Google. How he thinks about the differences between brand strategy vs. growth marketing. How he thinks about data vs. trusting your gut when it comes to brand and marketing? What are questions founders should ask when building a brand identity? The differences in skill set that founders should be aware of if they are hiring a brand management professional from a large company vs. someone with startup experience to join their team? When an entrepreneur is thinking about brand for his or her startup, the types of questions should they be asking themselves? Why does he feel that brand is still undervalued asset? Why is building a brand the most expensive assets you can build and the hardest? How he thinks about the brand agency ecosystem and if a startup is looking to hire an agency, what are some questions should they be asking? Is this best time or worst time to build a CPG Brand? His due diligence process at West. One thing he would change when it came to the perception of brand? One piece of advice for founders when it comes to brand? To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.
Elizabeth Yin is a co-founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, a pre-seed fund for software entrepreneurs. One of Hustle Fund’s missions is to level the playing field in the world of venture-backed businesses by investing in non-Stanford and non-Ivy League founders.Previously, Elizabeth was a partner at 500 Startups where she invested in seed-stage companies and ran the Mountain View accelerator. Elizabeth also co-founded and ran an ad tech company called LaunchBit (acq 2014). Her work and writing on startup fundraising have been featured in numerous publications including TechCrunch, Forbes, Huffington Post, BetaKit, and more.If you’d like to keep up to date with Elizabeth, you can @dunkhippo33 and subscribe to her insightful blog posts at www.elizabethyin.com. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.One book that inspired Elizabeth personally is Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. One book that inspired Elizabeth professionally is The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.In this episode you will learn -What compelled Elizabeth to start LaunchBit and what attracted her to startups in general? Why did she switch to become an investor? What were some of the learnings from being a founder that influenced her as an investor? What compelled her and Eric to leave 500 startups and start Hustle Fund? Advice for founders that didn’t go to Stanford or Ivy League schools? Advice for founders that live in secondary and tertiary markets? What are some of the differences in her diligence process when investing in consumer vs enterprise? What is her own due diligence process? What are her expectations for companies at pre-seed? What are some qualities she likes to see founders have? What are the ideal traits of an investor for startups? What are some consumer trends that she is excited about? What is one thing that she would change when it came to venture capital? What is your most recent consumer investment and what makes her excited about it? What is one company she had the opportunity to invest, didn’t, and in retrospect wish she did? What is one piece of advice she has for founders of consumer companies?
Jason Shuman is a Principal at Primary Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm responsible for backing NYC's most promising founders. Some of their investments include Ticketfly, Jet, Deliveroo, and Package Free.Jason has been working in New York as a VC for the past four years. In college, Jason launched a direct-to-consumer footwear company that sold hand-sewn boat shoes and driving moccasins. He later went on to work at New York-based seed fund Corigin Ventures, where he invested in several companies including Latch, Loftsmart and Morty.Thank you Sumeet Shah for the intro.One book that inspired Jason personally is Attached by Amir Levine. One book that inspired Jason professionally is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.If you’d like to keep up to date with Jason, you can follow him on Twitter @boatshuman. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.In this episode you will learn -What attracted him to start his own footwear company and become an entrepreneur? What were some of the learnings from that experience? How does he think about market timing? What attracted him to switch from being a founder to venture capital and working on the other side of the table? What makes seed investing as a stage so interesting to him? What attracted him to consumer? What are his own KPIs for founders that are looking to fundraise a seed round? What are some qualities in founders that you look for? What is his own due diligence process? What metrics does he focus on and how has his evaluation changed the past few years What should the diligence process be for an early hire? How does he think about growth - organic vs. paid. Why does Primary Ventures only invest in New York Companies? What is some advice for founders that live in secondary and tertiary markets? What are changes in consumer behavior or consumer trends that he is most excited and focused on and looking at investment opportunities? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish he did? What is one piece of advice that he has for founders of consumer companies?
Kate Boyle is the founder and CEO of Banjo Robinson. Banjo Robinson is a magical cat that writes personalized letters that turn reading, writing and learning about the world into a magical game for 5-8 year olds. Banjo Robinson graduated London Techstars Accelerator fall 2019 and recently raised a pre-seed round led by Collaborative Fund and Sesame Ventures. Previously, Kate worked at William Morris and in screenwriting and script development.Thank you Eamonn Carey for the introduction!You can follow Banjo on his journey @banjo_robinson_. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.A book that inspired Kate personally and professionally, is The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. A book that also inspired her professionally is The Lean Startup by Eric RiesIn this episode you will learn -Why Kate founded Banjo Robinson? What makes her uniquely qualified and her superpowers? What are her areas of weakness and how does she think about hiring? A glimpse of being in the Techstars accelerator. How did she approach the fundraising process? What was your due diligence process when evaluating venture capital firms? How did she think about expanding Banjo Robinson geographically? What were some of the initial target markets and what is the customer acquisition strategy? What is one piece of advice that she has for other founders?
Gautam Gupta is a Partner at M13 and founded and previously was the CEO of Naturebox.M13 is a venture fund headquartered in Los Angeles that has invested in some of the most innovative consumer companies like Pinterst, SnapChat, Lyft, Bird, and Ring.Naturebox, a subscription online delivery service that home-delivers all-natural snack foods. Before that, he started his career as an early stage investor at General Catalyst when he was just 18.If you would like to keep up to date on Gautam, you can follow him @gramblings.To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.A book that inspired Gautam professionally is The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William N. Thorndike. A book that inspired Gautam personally is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight.In this episode you will learn -When did he know that he wanted to be an entrepreneur? What got him into Venture Capital? What made you want to leave venture capital to found NatureBox? I think you’re the first guest I’ve had on this show that started his or her career in VC, then became a founder/CEO then came back to VC. The learnings and takeaways when he founded his own company that impacted him as an investor? Why he decided to join M13? What’s his advice for founders that live in secondary and tertiary markets that are outside LA, SF and NYC? How should founders think about board construction for their companies? What are changes in consumer behavior that he is focused on? What’s one thing he would change when it came to venture capital? What is his most recent investment and what makes him excited about it? One company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t and in retrospect wish he did? What is one learning that was impactful and could be helpful for founders of venture backable B2C consumer companies?
Tim Katt is the managing partner and co-founder of TACK Ventures, TACK Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm based in Brooklyn and focused on investing in game-changers across sports, media, lifestyle and entertainment. Investments include Overtime, ShotTracker, Roam, Greenfly and .Tim also Co-Founded the Global Sports Venture Studio (“GSVS”) with R/GA Ventures and the Los Angeles Dodgers. As Managing Director of the GSVS, Tim advised executives at leading organizations in the sports industry including adidas, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fox Sports, Levy Restaurants, MLB, MLS, the NHL, Octagon and UEFA, on corporate innovation and venture investment.One book that inspired Tim personally and professionally is Principles by Ray Dalio.If you’d like to keep tabs on Tim, you can follow him on Twitter @tim_katt. To follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow @mikegelb and @consumervc.In this episode you will learn -What attracted Tim to venture capital from a career in media? The uniqueness of TACK and typical check size? What makes New York unique? The Rise of Venture Capital in Sport. Tim’s diligence process. How he thinks about the landscape of the media industry changing from advertising model to a subscription model? How he’s thinking about media and ecommerce converging? Qualities he likes to see in founders during your evaluation process? For consumer companies, how do you know when you’ve found product-market fit? Consumer trends Tim’s focused on. How he thinks about investing in today’s landscape with the abundance of capital that is currently in the ecosystem? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What’s one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish he did? What is his most recent (announced) investment and why are he excited about it? What is one piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?
Sophie Bakalar is the founder of Fable, an e-commerce pet store help pets (and their humans) lead healthier, happier lives through better design. She is also a Venture Partner at Collaborative fund, a seed stage fund that focuses on the growth of the creative class and the concept of collaborative consumption. Some of their investments include Reddit, Impossible Foods, Tala, Lyft, and Kickstarter.Previously, Sophie a credit trader in a hedge fund and started a B2B and founded digit charts, a company specializing in image processing software for charts, which was acquired in 2016.You can follow Sophie @sophiebakalar. If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow me @mikegelb and @consumervc.A book that impacted her personally is The Overstory by Richard Powers. A book that impacted her professionally is Mornings on Horseback by David McCulloughWhat attracted her to startups and venture capital? What were some of her learnings as the founder of di8it chart that transferred and influenced on the other side of the table as a venture capitalist? What attracted her to Collaborative fund and early stage investing? What excites her about consumer investing? What Consumer insights is she most focused on? How does she think about the future of retail? When she was full time at Collaborative fund, what are some qualities that she liked to see from founders? What are consumer trends that she focused on in today’s landscape? How does she think about D2C brands in the current era with online acquisition costs continuing to rise since there is so much competition for SEM and Facebook ads? What led her to founding Fable? What is something that she would change when it came to venture capital? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?
Sumeet Shah is the Portfolio Support Associate at Swiftarc Ventures. Swiftarc Ventures is an early- and growth-stage venture capital firm mainly focused on North America-based consumer brands making major economic and social disruptions.Prior to Swiftrc, Sumeet was a Principal at Brand Foundry Ventures and has coached hundreds of founders on their investor decks and fundraising strategies. I had so much chatting with Sumeet as we discuss the 4th generation of retail, what is wrong with venture capital, and his due diligence process. I’d like to thank Sumeet personally as well as he has been vital to the growth of this podcast. So without further ado, here’s Sumeet.You can follow Sumeet on twitter @PE_Feeds and his website Le Cinq, If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow me @mikegelb and @consumervc.On this episode you will learn -What attracted Sumeet to head into venture capital and what made you switch your focus from Biomedical engineering? Swiftarc’s thesis and focus and how the fund came together. His due diligence process when evaluating consumer startups and some qualities that you like to see from founders? How does he measure good growth vs bad growth? When should a startup optimize for profitability rather than growth?Does he think in this era of the DTC channel and low barrier of entry to start a brand and the more choice than ever for the consumer in brand that this is the golden age for brands? Consumer trends that he is most focused on in today’s landscape? What makes New York’s startup ecosystem an ideal place to be, especially in terms of consumer?What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish he did? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?
Jason Stoffer is a General Partner at Maveron. Maveron is a premier consumer focused fund that invests in seed and Series A companies that empower consumers to live on their terms. Some of Maveron’s investments include Everlane, Allbirds, General Assembly, eBay, and Coursehero. Jason is focused on investing in education, e-commerce, and technology-enabled consumer businesses.Jason Stoffer was an early Board member at zulily. He sourced Maveron's investments in, and currently serves on the boards of General Assembly, Julep, Lively and Dolls Kill. He also led several of Maveron's most promising seed investments, including CourseHero, Everlane and Peach.Jason Stoffer was formerly a member of the advisory board of the Lumina Foundation’s Next Generation Learning Initiative. He is also a mentor for TechStars. Previously, he was a board member of Startl, an education incubator.You can follow Jason on Twitter @jstoffer. You are welcome to follow along behind the scenes @mikegelb and @consumervc.One book the inspired Jason personally is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and one book that inspired him professionally is Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter.In this episode you will learn -What attracted Jason to startups, technology and venture capital? Why the focus on consumer, what attracted you to invest in purely consumer companies at Maveron?How he thinks about early momentum and traction? What makes investing in consumer companies difficult? When does a company need to have product market fit? What are some qualities in first time founders that he looks go? What’s the Maveron founder scorecard? How he analyzes mediocre markets and why he’s a fan of the Warren Buffet quote “When a great team meets a mediocre market, only the market maintains its reputation” strong markets.” What has changed in how he invests throughout the years? How does he think of the term “Founder Friendly” and what has happened with WeWork changed anything on his view. Qualities his diligence process when analyzing founder-market fit? What are consumer trends that he is focused on in today’s landscape? How does he think about D2C brands in the current era with online acquisition costs continuing to rise since there is so much competition for SEM and Facebook ads? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is your most recent investment and why is he excited about it? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish you did? What is one piece of advice that he has for founders of consumer companies?
Jordan Nof is a Managing Partner and the Head of Investments at Tusk Venture Partners, where he oversees all aspects of the firm’s venture capital investment practice and is a member of the Investment Committee. Jordan has led many of the Fund’s capital investments including Lemonade, Bird, Alma, and Sunday. He currently serves on the board of directors of Alma and Sunday.Prior to Tusk Venture Partners, Jordan spent six years as a Director at Blackstone, where he focused on the development of the firm’s corporate venture capital portfolio. During that time, Jordan focused on investing in early-stage technology companies that could accelerate operations across Blackstone and the firm’s underlying portfolio companies. He led Blackstone’s first real estate technology investment and worked within the Innovations team to execute investments in financial technology and cyber-security startups.You can follow Jordan on Twitter @jordannof.A book that inspired Jordan both personally and professionally is Zero To One by Peter ThielIn this episode, you will learn -What made Jordan leave Blackstone in order to go into Venture Capital with Tusk? Tusk’s thesis and why they invest in regulated industries. The difficulties when it comes to investing regulated industries and the Tusk advantage? What makes him excited about investing in consumer companies in today’s landscape? What are some consumer verticals that he is most excited about and are ripe for disruption? At the early stage when a company doesn’t have a lot of data, what are some qualities that he look for in a founder? When does a company need to find product market fit in their fundraising stage? How he thinks about the future of regulation in certain industries? How do you think about good growth vs. bad growth today? Does he think Nike announcing that they are not selling on Amazon a big deal? What is something that you would change when it came to venture capital? What is his most recent investment and why is he excited about it? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?
Eamonn Carey is the Managing Director at Techstars London. Techstars is a global seed accelerator and worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed and is currently in over 150 countries worldwide. Some of their alumni include Classpass, Pillpack, and Contently.He was previously MD at Techstars Connection in partnership with AB InBev in New York, and has been a long term mentor, advisor and angel investor in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US.In the past, Eamonn started, succeeded and failed with several startups in Europe and the Middle East - including Farmvillain - an app which some described as the 'South Park of Facebook'.A book that impacted Eamonn professionally is The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande and one that impacted him personally is A Third Plate by Dan Barber.In this episode, you will learn -What attracted Eamonn to startups, entrepreneurship and then move to the other side of the table to investing? What are the advantages for startups being part of Techstars London? How is London’s ecosystem is different from New York and the bay area? What is his due diligence process like, what are some of the qualities that you look for in founders and determining founder-market fit? What are some metrics that he pays attention in the diligence process and how do you determine if you’ve found product market fit? What is different about London’s ecosystem compared to maybe The bay area or New York? He also sources deals for Zeroth which is a Hong Kong based accelerator. What trends are looking at since you’re quite global? What is his view of remote working? How he thinks about consumer trends in different markets and how consumer companies are expanding to different markets? Consumer verticals that he is excited about or focused on for expansion in Asian markets? What are some of the difficulties when investing in consumers? Has today’s landscape with round sizes booming changed how he invests? He wrote about how raising too much money can kill you, how does he think about good growth vs. bad growth in a startup? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that is part of his most recent cohort and why did you invest? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish you did? What is one piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?
Greg Bettinelli is a partner at Upfront Ventures. Upfront Ventures is a Los Angeles early-stage venture capital fund has been integral to the LA emerging tech ecosystem, with investments including GOAT, Bird, Parachute Home and Ring. Prior to Upfront, Greg was the CMO for LA-based HauteLook, EVP of Business Development and Strategy at Live Nation and held a number of leadership positions at eBay, including Sr. Director of Business Development at StubHub. He is Mr. #longla and we talk about how LA’s ecosystem has evolved, how he thinks about founder-market and product-market fit and much much more. It was simply terrific chatting with Greg, so without further ado, here is Greg.You can follow Greg @gregbettinelli If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow me @mikegelb and @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com.A book that impacted Greg is Moneyball by Michael LewisOn this episode you will learn:What attracted Greg to the world of venture capital and startups from his impressive career at eBay, Stubhub, Live Nation, and Hautelook? What were some of the learnings, working at these tech companies that have influenced you as an investor? What are some of the differences when investing in consumer vs. enterprise? Why do you focus on investing in consumer and what makes you excited about consumer in this current investment landscape? What’s the average check size at Upfront ventures and what stages does he focus on? What are some metrics that you focus on in your due diligence? How does he evaluate if a company has found product-market fit? How does he approach founder-market fit? How does Greg think about good growth vs bad growth? What was the Los Angeles venture capital and startup scene like when he started investing and the transformation?Why is Los Angeles becoming such a hotspot for consumer companies and innovation? What are some consumer trends that he is most excited about? How important is it where you are based geographically as an investor since you have lots of different online communication options and are able to invest in different parts of the world? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that you either invested in or worked with that you are proud of?What is one company that is on his anti portfolio? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?
Our guest today is Paul Martino, Managing Partner of Bullpen Capital, an early-stage, post-seed venture fund investing in technology companies that have been funded by super-angels and institutional seed funds. Some of their portfolio companies include FanDuel, Namely, Ipsy.Prior to founding Bullpen, Paul was a serial entrepreneur of companies including Ahpah Software (a computer security firm acquired by InterTrust); Tribe (one of the world’s first social networks), and Aggregate Knowledge (a big data advertising attribution company acquired in 2014 by Neustar). He is the holder of over a dozen core patents covering social networking and big data.He was also an active angel investor and personally invested in the first rounds of Zynga, TubeMogul, and uDemy.One book that impacted Paul professionally is Play Bigger by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, and Christopher Lockhead. One book that impacted him personally is The Burden of Bad Ideas by Heather MacDonaldIn this episode you will learn:Why Paul became an entrepreneur? Why he ended up on the other side of the table and switched to venture capital? Why it’s important for investors to have operational experience? Why investing at the post seed stage is an arbitrage opportunity? What are some of the challenges when investing in consumer vs. enterprise? Should founders be aware of signaling risk? What should founders be asking venture capitalists that are looking to invest? What is his diligence process and how does he analyze founders and opportunities? When should a founder switch from optimizing to profitability from growth? What makes the Philadelphia ecosystem interesting? One thing you would change when it came to venture capital? How does he feel about the cold email? What his latest investment is and why he’s excited about it? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies You are welcome to follow along behind the scenes @mikegelb and @consumervc
Anna Barber is the Managing Director of Techstars - Los Angeles. Techstars is a global seed accelerator and worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed and is currently in over 150 countries worldwide. Some of their alumni include Classpass, Pillpack, and Contently. Previously, Anna has experience as a corporate lawyer, McKinsey consultant, product executive and entrepreneur in ed tech, retail and e-commerce.For all founders in the Los Angeles area, applications to be part of Techstars LA Accelerator 2020 cohort are open! You have until April 5th 2020 to apply. Click Here To ApplyThree books that inspired Anna personally and professionally are Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna and Why We Buy by Paco Underhill.On this episode you will learn -Why Anna became an investor in Tech? What is the criteria for startups looking to apply to Techstars accelerator? The three different phases in the Techstars 12 week program. What are some qualities she looks for in founders and founding teams? Why engagement metrics are so important. Why in the early stages, CAC/LTV is not an important metric. “The Pied Piper Effect”. If you have a better name, she’s all ears. Why is investing in consumer so challenging? What are some of the consumer trends that she’s most excited about? Why consumer is not formulaic. Why it is such an exciting time to be in the Los Angeles tech ecosystem? What are some of the reasons why a Techstars alumnus startup might fail to raise the next round? What’s one thing she would change about venture capital? Tips how to reach out to venture capitalists You can follow Anna on Twitter @annawbarber. You are also welcome to follow along behind the scenes @mikegelb and @consumervc
Mike Ghaffary is a General Partner at Canvas Ventures, one of the premier thesis-driven early-stage venture capital funds in San Francisco that invests in Fintech, Digital Health, Marketplaces, and New Enterprise. Prior to Canvas, Mike was a General Partner at Social Capital and as an angel investor, some of his investments include Strava, Skip Scooters, Pocket, Philz Coffee, Atrium, and Superhuman. He also has 10 years of operating experience as CEO of Eat24, VP Business and Corporate Development at Yelp, Director of Business Development at TrialPay, and co-founder of Stitcher and BarMax. And before that, Mike started his investing career at Summit Partners.For this episode, we talk quite extensively about evaluating marketplaces. Mike has written a few articles on the subject, the one we touch on is “Where I’m Investing and 15 Marketplace Questions”.Two books that have impacted Mike professionally and personally is Give and Take by Adam Grant and Drive by Daniel PinkYou can follow Mike on Twitter @newmike for updates. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.On this episode you learn -What attracted Mike to working in startups and becoming a founder? How important having operational experience is? What’s makes him excited to invest in consumer tech in this current climate? What is a marketplace? An overview of the advantages of marketplaces. What marketplace founders need to consider when identifying and building marketplaces? Cross-side and same-side network effects & negative network effects. How important is having your own unique distribution? Evaluating switching costs. Online customer acquisition costs for both supply and demand. The current outlook of online CAC in today’s climate. One thing he would change about venture capital. How an entrepreneur should think when a venture fund says they need a lead investor in order to invest? ...and much much more!If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com and follow Mike on Twitter or Instagram
Leah Solivan is General Partner at Fuel Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on consumer, SaaS, and cloud infrastructure companies dedicated to giving outsiders the inside edge through unrelenting commitment, authenticity, and hustle. Some of their investments include Bark, Flexport, Crowd Cow. Previously, Leah was the founder and CEO of Taskrabbit, which was acquired by IKEA.You can follow Leah on Twitter @labunleashed.You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.A book that impacted you personally and professionally is Founders at Work by Jessica LivingstonOn this episode, we discuss:Why Leah left her job at IBM to start Task Rabbit? Her learnings from founding Task Rabbit and why she became a venture capitalist? Some of Fuel Capital’s strategic advantages and what makes Fuel unique? The differences when analyzing consumer vs. enterprise businesses. Qualities in founders that she is focused on. How do you know when a company know they have found product-market fit? When should a company have product-market fit in relation to the fundraising round? How she thinks about traction and milestones. In a pitch deck, an element that’s very important but often overlooked. When a fund says they need a lead investor, does it automatically mean bad news for the founder? How she thinks about online customer acquisition costs in today’s landscape? Consumer trends she’s focused on? One thing she would change about venture capital and advice for consumer startups.
Will McClelland is the Co-founder and Partner of Elizabeth Street Ventures, an early stage investment firm focused on the digital consumer and next generation brands that improve daily life. He is also the Co-founder of Bambike, a family business that builds bamboo bicycles and operates eco-tourism activities in the Philippines. One book that impacted Will personally is The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and one book that impacted him professionally is Pioneering Portfolio Management by David Swensen You can follow Will on Twitter @data_01. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates. On this episode you will learn - 1. What attracted Will to invest in startups and transition his career in investment banking and hedge funds to co-founding a bamboo bicycle company and early stage investing? When evaluating startups, does it help when you are the target consumer? How Elizabeth Street came together? Why consumer could be its own asset class? 2. What’s the difference when having a family office as a partner rather than a venture capital fund? The growth expectations for consumer companies. How he looks at the DTC landscape currently and how the funding model has evolved? What Elizabeth Street’s check size? What qualities Will looks for in founders? What types of qualities does he look for in a founder? 3. When should a founder know when they have found product-market fit? How Will thinks about market sizing. How he thinks about investing in digitally native brands today when online marketing and online customer acquisition costs are becoming so expensive? Consumer trends that Will is focused on. If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com and follow Mike on Twitter or Instagram
Mike Duboe joined Greylock Partners in 2018 and leads investments in commerce, marketplaces, and consumer more broadly. Previously, he led growth at Stitch Fix, Tilt, and others and has created, scaled, led growth teams from Series A through IPO across a span of businesses. Greylock Partners is one of the oldest venture capital firms, founded in 1965. Some of their investments include Facebook, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Instagram, RedFin, Pandora and many many more.Two books that impacted Mike were Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and The One Thing by Gary KellerYou can follow Mike on Twitter @mduboe. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.In this episode you will learn -What attracted you to leave consulting in order to pursue working on growth at startups? Lessons learned as head of growth at Stitch Fix and Tilt? The reason why Mike switched from being an operator to investor? How Mike thinks about online customer acquisition costs in today’s landscape? When should a founder make his/her first growth hire? How does a consumer company know when they have found product market fit? In the early stage, during the pitch, what do you like to see from founders when there isn’t much data to go on when evaluating opportunities? How he thinks about health of acquisition and customer acquisition costs? What are some of the challenges when evaluating consumer businesses? What are some consumer trends and opportunities that he is most excited about? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one piece of advice that Mike has for founders of consumer companies?
David Wu is a Partner at Maveron. Maveron is a premier consumer-focused fund that invests in seed and Series A companies that empower consumers to live on their terms. Some of Maveron’s investments include Allbirds, General Assembly, eBay, and Coursehero.David joined Maveron to help identify new investments in emerging direct-to-consumer brands – especially those in the hardware and tech categories. Some of David’s investments include Booster, Eargo, Illumix, Modern Fertility, and August.If you would like to keep up to date with David, you can follow him @davewu. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.In this episode, you will learn:How building a houseboat to cruise down the Mississippi River has its parallels to building a company? What being a professional bassist taught David about himself? What attracted David to work at high growth startups? What led you to move from being an operator to investor? Why he is so interested in early-stage consumer investing and why is it so difficult? Traits he likes to see in founders. Advice for founders in secondary and tertiary markets that are looking to fundraise. What makes a good venture capital partner? What does founder-friendly mean to you? Why Maveron turned down $70 million in investment? How he thinks about the importance of ecosystems and startup hubs? What are some consumer trends and opportunities that he is excited about? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? Will an impact mission brand lead to higher margins? Maveron’s core values. What his most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? One company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish he did? One piece of advice he has for founders of consumer companies? How he thinks about online customer acquisition in today’s age?
Rick Heitzmann is a founder and partner of FirstMark Capital and focuses on consumer and enterprise investments. Rick has led investments in market leaders such as Pinterest, StubHub (acquired by eBay), Riot Games (acquired by Tencent), Airbnb, Shopify and much more.Prior to founding FirstMark, Rick was an entrepreneur including being a founding member of the senior management team at First Advantage which he helped grow and sell to First American. Rick has been recognized by CB Insights and the New York Times as a Top 100 Venture Capitalist globally. He serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Venture Capital Association.If you want to follow Rick on Twitter, you can do so here @rickheitzmann. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow him Here on Twitter.New episodes released every Monday and Thursday. If you would like to follow along, you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review.What attracted Rick to venture capital and high tech? What types of qualities in a founder he looks for? What makes investing in consumer difficult and different than investing in enterprise? FirstMark Capital’s competitive advantages.How founders should conduct due diligence on VC funds? What is the cadence of communication amongst founders in his portfolio? How he thinks about product market fit? What are the kinds of new marketplaces that Rick is paying attention to?How Rick thinks about online customer acquisition costs today? What are some consumer trends that Rick is excited about?What is something Rick would change when it came to venture capital? What Rick thinks about entrepreneurs building companies in secondary and tertiary markets? What is something that founders could believe is a competitive advantage, but Rick feels actually isn’t? When should a founder focus on profitability and sustainability rather than growth?One company that Rick had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t and in retrospect wish he did? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies.
Susan Lyne is the co-founder and Managing Partner of BBG Ventures, a fund that invests in visionary entrepreneurs building the next generation of market-defining consumer products and services. Every company in their portfolio has at least one female founder. Some of their investments include Zola, Blueland, Beautycon, and NextGenVest (acq. by CommonBond)Susan began her career in the magazine industry, where she founded and led Premiere Magazine. She spent almost a decade at Disney, rising to President of Entertainment at ABC. She was the CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; CEO and then Chair of Gilt.com; and she led AOL’s Brand Group, overseeing such brands as TechCrunch, Engadget and Moviefone, immediately before launching BBG Ventures.A couple of books that Susan recommends are The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger and Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century by George PackerYou can follow Susan on Twitter Here @smlyne, where she posts lots of great content on startups. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow him Here on Twitter.New episodes released every Monday and Thursday. If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review.In this episode, you will learn -1. Why Susan decided to leave her prestigious career in media, television, ecommerce and as an operator for some of the world's biggest companies to start her own fund?Her mission when founding a venture capital fund and some of her learnings as an operator.2. Does she think venture capital is moving quickly enough to bridge the gap between the number of women founders that are able to fundraise compared to male founders that are able to fundraise? What are some of the things that need to happen to help empower women entrepreneurs?3. When should startups optimize for profitability rather than growth? How does she think about price and evaluation in today's climate?4. In her due diligence process when evaluating startups, how she knows if the startup is solving a real consumer pain point? How she thinks about founder-market fit? How she thinks about online customer acquisition today given the rising prices?5. How she thinks about time allocation and cadence of communication amongst her portfolio companies. Consumer trends she is most excited about and some of the differences between millennials and Gen Z.
Caitlin Strandberg is a Principal at Lerer Hippeau, the most active early-stage venture capital fund in New York. The firm has more than 250 active portfolio companies with investments in leading consumer and enterprise companies, including Allbirds, Casper, Guideline, and K Health. Lerer Hippeau invests across all sectors, backing founders with product vision, customer insight, and a keen instinct for brand building.Previously, Caitlin was an early employee at LearnVest (acquired by Northwestern Mutual) and Behance (acquired by Adobe), as well as served as Vice President of FirstMark Capital.You can follow Caitlin on Twitter Here, where she posts lots of great content on startups. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow him Here on Twitter.Two books that Caitlin would like to recommend are The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon by Brad Stone and Ready Player One by Earnest Cline.In this episode, you will learn –What attracted Caitlin to startups and venture capital? The learnings and takeaways from being an operator at early-stage startups to venture capital? The challenges when investing in consumer startups at the early stages? How she evaluates opportunities and identifies if a startup is solving a real consumer pain point? Is the DTC area the golden age of brand? How she thinks about margin in relation to DTC? How much do consumers care about sustainable, eco-friendly products in relation to price? After investment, the cadence of communication among founders. What makes New York special? How she thinks about online customer acquisition today. What is one company that she is excited about investing in? What is one company she wishes she invested in? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies? If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com and follow Mike on Twitter or Instagram
Ajay Kamat is a Partner at Pear, one of the premier early stage venture capital funds in Silicon Valley. Prior to Pear, Ajay founded Wedding Party, which was acquired by Instacart. Pear was founded by Mar Hershenson and Pejman Nozad, who were early investors in Dropbox, Lending Club, Zoosk, Addepar, Path and many others. Some of Pear's notable investments include DoorDash, Philz Coffee, Instaread, and Memebox.You can follow Ajay on Twitter Here. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow @mikegelb and the show @ConsumerVCIn this episode you will learn:Ajay's journey from biomedical engineering to founding Wedding Party. Some of the lessons Ajay learned from being a founder and how it has influenced him as a venture capitalist. The importance of grit when founding a company.The importance of complementary skills and vetting co-founders. The reason why he switched from being a founder to a venture capitalist.What qualities Ajay looks for from founders at the pre-seed and seed level? How he evaluates startups building products in markets that don't exist yet?The advantages of being in Silicon Valley. How he thinks about customer acquisition costs in today's age.What industry consumer verticals he's excited about the most? One company that he is excited to be an investor in? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com and follow Mike on Twitter or Instagram
Amit Mukherjee is a Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the premier and global venture capital firms that invests in all stages. Amit focuses on investing in consumer technology. He is a Board Observer for Casper, MasterClass, Brandless, and The Players’ Tribune, and was previously a Board Observer for Jet.com. Amit has led a number of seed stage investments for NEA, including Aquabyte, Holloway, Yumi and PumpUp.You can follow Amit on Twitter Here, where he posts a ton of great thought-provoking content about consumer and venture capital. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow him Here on Twitter.In this episode you will learn -How Amit made his way into venture capital and what attracted him to consumer investing. In the pitch and his due diligence process, how he determines if there is a real pain point? How to evaluate two companies in the same space when there isn't much data?Difference when evaluating startups when it's a serial entrepreneur vs. first time founder? How he thinks about the investment landscapes today? Cold/No introduction vs. warm introduction - how should founders reach out to VCs?How he deals with time allocation across his portfolio? One thing he would change about venture capital?How he thinks about the D2C landscape today? Trends in consumer that he is most excited about. The Gen Z consumer and characteristics he focuses on? One company that he worked on or invested in that he's proud of? One company that in retrospect wish he did invest in?A business book that Amit would like to recommend is The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William N. ThorndikeA book that helped shaped him personally is 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris.
Nicole Quinn is a partner and investor at Lightspeed Venture Capital, a venture capital firm that is engaged in the consumer, enterprise, technology, and cleantech markets. Some of Nicole's investments include Calm, Goop, Rothy’s, Cameo, Brandable, Girlboss, Illumix, Zola, Daily Harvest & Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs.You can follow Nicole Here on Twitter. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow him Here on Twitter.In this episode, you will learn -What attracted Nicole to early-stage investing from Morgan Stanley? Why she shifted from angel investing to joining Lightspeed? Her personal mission of venture capital becoming more inclusive to women founders. How she thinks about the successful qualities of a founder and how she assesses founder-market fit? How you know when a company has found product-market fit? In the due diligence process, how do you assess if the product is solving a real problem? The challenges and metrics she pays attention to when evaluating consumer startups? The major turn offs or deal-breakers from startups when they pitch their business to Nicole? Her thoughts about the future of media and the transition from an advertising model to a subscription model? What trends in media and consumer that she is most focused on? How she thinks about price in the diligence process? Some of the changes that need to happen in venture capital? Consumer trends that she’s focused on? What is one company that she should have invested in but didn’t? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?
Hayden Williams is a Partner of Investments at Brand Project, a venture capital fund that focuses on consumer investments at the early stage. Brand Project is hyper-focused on adding their operational value to founders as the team collectively has launched 100 new products and services for some of the most iconic companies.Hayden joined Brand Project this year and previously was an investor at BBG Ventures as well as has experience as a founder of Treatings, the business networking app. You can follow Hayden on Twitter here. If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow him Here on Twitter.In this episode, you will learn -Learnings and takeaways Hayden had as a founder that has influenced him as an investor. The advantages in having a smaller portfolio as well as Brand Project’s thesisWhen a founder should look to raise from one investor rather than a syndicate in a round? How Hayden thinks about investing in D2C brands.Trends he’s excited about in consumer? What makes consumer investing difficult? His investing due diligence and establishing trust amongst founders?Why a company might not be able to raise a round? How do you establish founder-market fit? One company that he’s particularly excited to work with? One company that he had a second chance to invest in?A book that has inspired Hayden both professionally and personally is “Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life” by Steve Martin“The Consumer VC” is a podcast hosted by Mike Gelb devoted to interviewing early-stage consumer-focused venture capitalists and founders of b2c businesses to educate and learn about the inner workings of consumer startup investing.A new episode will be released every Tuesday at 3:00 AM EST / 12:00 AM PST.If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com and follow Mike on Twitter or Instagram.
Jay is a Principal at Launch Capital, one of the pioneers of seed-stage investing firms. They often write the check to startups that they invest in. Some of their big consumer wins include Spotify and Snap.Jay has worked at Launch since 2018 and also has experience working in corporate VC and Techstars. He's written some great articles and thought-provoking Twitter updates on venture capital and startups. You can follow him @jaykapoornyc and on Medium.In this episode, you will learn the following - 1. Jay's background and how he became passionate about early investing? The challenges when it comes to conducting due diligence on consumer-facing businesses. A day in the life working with founders at Techstars. 2. How he approaches decision-making processes and establishing trust amongst founders in their decision-making abilities.3. How investor attitudes towards D2C companies changed over the past few years? How successful founders are adapting to increasing online marketing customer acquisition costs and continue to scale? 4. What are some of the reasons why a company in an accelerator is not able to raise a seed round or progress to the next phase of fundraising? A specific metric that is insightful that other investors might gloss over when evaluating startups?5. One company that he either invested in or worked with that he's proud of? One company that he wished he invested in?A book that has impacted Jay both professionally and personally is Daniel Pink's "To Sell Is Human".
This is an introductory episode explaining what will be covered and the goals for this podcast "The Consumer VC". For this episode, I recruited my brother Rob Gelb to interview yours truly about the podcast, the range of topics I hope to cover in the coming interview episodes in this podcast. For more information about this podcast, please check out our site or follow on Twitter.