The Retail X Series Podcast

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How can a startup with a small, lean team institute a 4-day workweek? Especially one that has customer service at its core? Matt Hornbuckle, co-founder of Stantt, talks about how Stantt implemented a 4-day work week and what needed to change at his company to make it successful.

Topics:

How Stantt started the 4-day workweek as a trial
Why getting the team involved from the beginning was crucial
How Stantt set expectations with the team
What else need to change to make the 4-day workweek a success
How the team manages customer service on Fridays
When and why the company goes back to a 5-day workweek temporarily
How Stantt is measuring success of the program
Why Matt wishes they had done this sooner

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Everyone knows that markteplaces are hard to build. And apparel marketplaces are even harder. This episode features Trisha Bontigue, CEO of formalwear marketplace Queenly, who talks about how she built a fashion marketplace using tech innovation to create a better, stickier customer experience, in an apparel sector that has historically had low trust, low frequency and high return rates.

Topics:

How Trisha’s background made her uniquely qualified to start Queenly
Why starting with power users was important and why she chose to start with a P2P marketplace
Why and how adding brands to the marketplace made sense for Queenly
The various technologies that Queenly has built and incorporated into the app
Why Trisha believes the tech Queenly built works well for them
How Queenly started selling their virtual try-on as an API to other brands
Why your “why” is so important in the startup journey

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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How do you craft a customer journey for brick and mortar retail? How do you get to know your customer deeply? How do you build a company with the customer at the center? This episode features Louisa Schneider, CEO and Founder of Rowan, who will talk about how Rowan built a focus on the customer, from the earliest days through their retail expansion to over 40 locations.

Topics:

How Louisa thinks about fundraising for a brick and mortar business
How the Rowan model evolved based on the need for better branding and customer focus
How product and service problem areas became opportunities to improve the customer experience
Why Rowan hired a firm to do customer research and the surprises they found
What the customer journey looks like
How the brand reflects the customer experience and how that consistency is maintained across 40+ stores
Which metrics Rowan uses to track their customer cohorts
Louise’s advice to be present during the key foundational activities in your startup

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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When you’re just starting up your company, it may feel too early to be thinking about a future potential exit. But how does that exit ultimately happen? This episode features Ju Rhyu, co-founder and CEO of Hero Cosmetics, who sold her company for $630 million dollars to a strategic acquiror. Ju will talk about the decisions she and her co-founders made along the way that ultimately led them to a great outcome.

Topics:

Why a focus on what your ultimate outcome is important for how you set up your business from the beginning
How bootstrapping and a deep focus on profitability set up Hero for success
When and why Hero thought outside investors would be helpful
The key metrics that the co-founders of Hero focused on to be ready for exit
How the co-founders decided it was time to exit
How the exit process works, including if founders stay post-acquisition or not
The emotional side of selling your startup
Why a focus on fundamentals is the most critical thing you can do in your own company

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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How can a startup with only two full-time employees sell their food product into Costco? This episode features Michelle Razavi, Founder & CEO of Elavi, a startup that specializes in gut-friendly, low-sugar dessert spreads. Michelle will tell us all about her journey getting her product into Costco.

Topics:

When in Elavi’s growth did Costco appear on their radar
Why Costco was a fit for Elavi, and how they got in the front door
How Elavi managed diligence and leaned on advisors for help
What steps Elavi had to take to be ready to sell into Costco
What is a Costco roadshow and how Elavi managed it
Key metrics that Michelle and her co-founder tracked during roadshow days
How Elavi turned the roadshow into a purchase order
What launching in stores required – including more financing
Why doing the research and being prepared is so critical when considering wholesale sales

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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How do you build a successful large consumer brand without raising any VC dollars? Is VC the best fit for consumer brands? This episode features Sarah Kauss of iconic water bottle brand S’well and Amanda Herson, General Partner at Founder Collective – a founder and investor both talking about when VC is right for consumer brands, and when it isn’t.

Topics:

How Sarah started her brand S’well and how Amanda become a VC
Why Sarah didn’t raise VC funding for her company – and how she thinks about that now
What Sarah had to do since she had no VC dollars (spoiler – she had to get to profitability)
All the ways in which Sarah had to be scrappy
How Sarah got into retail accounts early on
Why Amanda and Founder Collective say that VC can be dangerous and is a “VC is a hell of a drug”
When VC is a good fit for a consumer brand in the early days
What needs to change in the ecosystem to change the current investor hesitation around consumer businesses
Great advice from Sarah and Amanda on other options if VC doesn’t work for your consumer company
Why picking the right partners is so important – in venture and other areas

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Selling into wholesale accounts is a really different proposition than selling through your own DTC channel. This episode features Niki & Ritika Shamdasani of Sani, an apparel brand inspired by South Asian culture. They walk us through how they built their brand, pitched to Nordstrom, made their launch at Nordstrom successful and so much more.

Topics:

How two sisters started the Sani brand
How they turned a warm intro into a pitch meeting by utilizing their strengths
How they prepared for the first meeting at Nordstrom – and what went into their deck
How working with a big brand can be different than your expectations
Why studying the Nordstrom supplier website was so critical for their success
How Sani set up their manufacturer for success
How Sani supported the Nordstrom launch
How much time and effort it takes to work with a wholesaler like Nordstrom
What’s next for Sani

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Fundraising at the early stages is hard, and it’s been especially difficult over the last year or so – and even more so for a solo founder. This episode features Ann Wehren of In-seam, a private marketplace and sourcing toolkit for connectors whose relationships power the luxury fashion industry. She walks us through her step-by-step guide to raising a pre-seed round from VCs, from how she found warm intros, dealt with all the no’s, confirmed a lead investor and filled out her round. Note: this episode was recorded in November 2023.

Topics:

How Ann launched her company with friends and family funding
Why she decided to raise outside capital versus bootstrapping – and managing timing
Why the financial models she built were critical in her decision-making
How Ann prepared for the fundraising process as a solo founder
How she built a list of 250 warm intros and how she sent them out
How Ann managed the process (including the no’s) with investors to gauge interest
How she secured the lead investor she wanted - not the first one that offered terms
What Ann did to keep herself motivated through the process
Resources Ann recommends:
- Class Rebel: Fundraising 101 ($99)
- Kelly Nyland’s How to Fundraise (free)
- Financial modeling help (hire someone if you don’t have the excel skills)

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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How do you do customer research before launching your product? This episode features Ann Rosenstein, CEO of Amante 1530, a newly launched aperitif brand. Ana tells us how she developed Amante 1530 from the ground up, based on the research she did early on – both with bartenders and end customers.

How Ana’s background led her to launching an aperitif brand
How she identified a hole in the aperitif market
The critical research insights Ana gained from talking to bartenders and learning from them – on the product and the packaging
How Amante 1530's brand identity came out of intense study of other brands
How Ana and the founding team came up with the name of the brand
Ana’s previous startup failure – and how that helped her with Amante 1530
How you should build a product that all the stakeholders (not just the end consumers) will love

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Ever wondered how brands make the decision to implement a particular retail tech product? This episode features Monica Royer, Founder & CEO of Monica & Andy, a baby & children’s apparel brand. Monica gives us an inside look into how she thinks about technology, what types of solutions are interesting to her as a founder, and tips for retail tech founders in selling to brands.

The criteria for incorporating new tech products at various stages of the brand’s growth
Monica & Andy's build vs. buy decision with technology products
Why retail tech companies need to understand the brand’s internal stakeholders and capabilities when selling – and why alignment is key
How the brand thinks about holistic cost analysis when contemplating new tech tools (long-term vs. short-term)
When Monica & Andy is open to working with very early-stage retail tech vendors
How the internal process at Monica & Andy works when evaluating tech products
How tech vendors need to communicate during implementation, discuss expected ROI, and define success metrics
How retail tech providers should think about pricing their product
Tips for when the sales process or implementation gets stalled

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Hi everyone, a quick Retail X Series update for you. There won’t be any new podcast episodes during the summer. Instead, I’m going to take the summer to plan out and record episodes for the fall. But I’d also like to hear what topics you’re most interested in hearing about in future podcast episodes. So if you’ve got a topic or speaker you’d like to hear from, shoot me an email at info@redgiraffeadvisors.com or reach out to me on Twitter @retailxseries. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts. And in the meanwhile, have a great summer!

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Marketplaces are notoriously hard to build. This episode features Jaclyn Grauman, CEO of The Verticale, a social shopping platform that enables customers to discover brands that align with their values. Jaclyn discusses her journey building a DTC marketplace that is focused on brand discovery, the challenges of connecting customers to brands, and the pivots along the way.

Using community and word of mouth as a tool to build customer acquisition
Partnering with brands in a different way versus typical B2C marketplaces
Utilizing customer and creator feedback as a tool to iterate the platform
Why dropshipping didn’t fit with their model
Gaining customer engagement and sharing brand stories through video
Building a marketplace that is optimized for the consumer
Fundraising for a marketplace (spoiler: it’s not easy!)
Focusing on one consumer segment and why that’s critical

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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For many founders, raising outside capital, including venture capital, is the accepted path. But is this always the case? This episode features Leigh Sevin, co-founder of Endear, a retail clienteling software startup. Leigh and I talk about her fundraising journey, choices they’ve made and how to think about VC versus other fundraising options.

Raising early-stage funding for a tech startup with a profitability-first mindset
The difference between pre-seed angels and VCs and how they think about investing at the early stage
The concept of “portfolio of one” and potential alignment or misalignment with VCs
Finding your own right path for fundraising
What alternatives exist to VC, because you still probably need to raise at least some outside capital
When different kinds of debt make sense for startups
Exit considerations for founders, and the importance of cap tables
Use your founder network to get help throughout the process

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Cracking the code on B2B sales, particularly in retail tech, is not easy. This episode features Casey Golden, CEO of Luxlock, an omni-retail experience platform startup. Casey talks about how she targeted her first customers, utilized her network, and how she is now scaling sales after those first efforts.

How to utilize your network to build relationships before you start selling
Which brands to target in the early days
Trying an unusual approach to get product feedback
Getting that first customer – and the trial and error process
Why retail tech sales are so hard as a startup
Who to target for sales at brands and retailers
The “waterfall” of sales in retail tech
Why Casey doesn’t like warm intros
Considering free versus paid pilots and how to price pilots and your annual contracts
The customization trap and how to avoid it
Sales cycle considerations and how to manage it
Hiring your first salesperson and some resources that can help

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Most new brands today want to be omnichannel right from the beginning. This episode features Vanessa Dawson, Founder & CEO of Arber, a startup that specializes in organic plant biologicals. Vanessa talks about why an omnichannel approach was important for her company right from its launch, how she has gotten into wholesale accounts from tastemakers, to independents to Walmart, and how she measures success in a seasonal category. Topics:

What organic plant biologicals are, and why they’re important
Which distribution channels were most critical at first
Getting those early accounts and education around the product
Preparing the brand and product for wholesale distribution
Setting pricing for omnichannel distribution
When product bundles make sense and when they don’t
Adding educational content and creating customer connection at wholesale
Key metrics for retail channels and measuring success

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Building a beverage brand from the ground up? Then this episode is for you. This episode features Lan Pham, who recently founded Sang, a ready-to-drink Vietnamese coffee brand. Lan talks about how she raised money pre-launch, how she thought about distribution, and the marketing activities she planned for launch.

How Lan found the right investors for a beverage business pre-launch
Why using a paid advisory brand incubator was a good move
How using expert advisors helped with finding the right co-packers
Cold messaging on LinkedIn
Figuring out which products to launch with – and how many
Landing on the right pricing and understanding your margins
Making sure that the packaging is appropriate for retail accounts
Dealing with supply chain issues pre-launch
The chicken and egg dance with distributors and retailers
Launching in both DTC and retail – and the marketing to support both

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Building an apparel brand, particularly in womenswear, is incredibly challenging. This episode features Siyana and Andy Huszar, who founded and scaled Marcella from zero to success by prioritizing slow, profitable growth. Siyana and Andy talk about their early moments on Etsy to dealing with a COVID pivot to fundraising in difficult environments. Topics:

Why Etsy was a great place to learn about retail and launch a proof of concept
Early keys to success on Etsy
How starting small with production and making small mistakes was important for early testing
Moving off Etsy onto their own DTC channel
Why they took the slower growth approach and how that has paid off now
How the COVID curveball resulted in a pivot to face masks – and a test of wholesale partners
Production planning tips to reduce inventory risk
The challenges of fundraising for an apparel business, and what has worked for Siyana and Andy to date (spoiler: profitability!)

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Should early-stage founders sell their brands on Amazon? And if so, how? This episode features Annalisa DeMarta, who founded and scaled a children’s brand on Amazon, and is also the founder of Ridgeline Insights an agency focused on helping brands succeed on the Amazon platform. Annalisa talks through how built her brand on Amazon, and tips she’s learned along the way.

Why Amazon is an important channel for early-stage brands
Why understanding your product’s fit on Amazon is critical – and how to figure out your fit
- Do you have the “right to win”
- Who is your customer on Amazon
- Competitive analysis
The importance of early reviews for social proof, sales and more - and how to incentivize them
Driving consumers to your brands on Amazon from outside the site
How to balance sending traffic to Amazon versus your own website
The keys to successful fulfillment and Amazon Prime
Why knowing your numbers is so critical
How long it takes to find real success on Amazon (spoiler – approximately 3 years!)
The biggest mistakes to avoid and Annalisa’s best advice for brands

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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How do you build successful partnerships with big brands when you’re still a startup? This episode features Trisha Goyal, Founder & CEO of Break the Love, an early-stage marketplace that connects lovers of racket sports with underused spaces. Trisha talks through how she built some key B2B partnerships with large, marquee brands by starting small and being focused. Topics include:

How strategically to use B2B partnerships to build consumer demand for a marketplace
Figuring out your “why”
Why testing a partnership with a smaller brand is key before going after larger brands
How LinkedIn + a consultative approach work in the early days of partnership
How case studies of early partnerships can lead to partnerships with bigger brands
Measuring success – for both your company and the brand partner
Creating a playbook over time for how B2B partnerships will work for your company
The biggest challenges in creating B2B partnerships – and how to avoid them
Why your traction is critical in signing B2B partners

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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How do you raise a seed round? This episode features VC Anna Palmer, General Partner at Flybridge Capital. Anna talks through how the fundraising market has changed, why founders need to seek out “true believers,” and how to build relationships with VCs. Don't miss this informative episode, whether you’re a pre-seed or seed stage founder (note: this episode was recorded in late October 2022).

What has changed in the seed fundraising environment in the fall of 2022
How valuations are shifting at seed stage versus later stages – and the implications for pre-seed valuations
What seed stage founders are doing to adjust to the current environment
How investors are viewing metrics at the seed stage
Why founders should seek out their true believers
What preseed founders should be doing now to set up for a seed fundraising round in the future
How to build relationships with VCs even when you’re not ready to raise
The biggest mistakes founders make when pitching VCs
Anna’s best advice to keep in mind when pitching a VC – especially around founders’ mental health

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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You might have heard that building a consumer app is hard, and scaling it is even harder. In this episode, Genevieve Bellaire, Founder & CEO of Realworld, a “super-app” for adulthood, gives her advice on building consumer apps. Genevieve talks through why an app was important for her business, the launch of the app, how she thinks about user cohorts and more.

Thinking through the decision to build an app versus a mobile web site
How to think about launching a consumer app in terms of timing and “splashiness”·
How to optimize your go-to-market strategy at launch
What metrics are most important to measure success and how they can change as you learn more about your customer
How to identify which cohort of early users is best to focus on
How fundraising for consumer apps is changing and what investors are looking for in consumer tech
What growth metrics are important to investors in today’s environment
Why listening to your users is critical in the early days

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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Can DTC companies raise early-stage capital right now? Well, it’s a little more complicated right now. This episode features VC Sarah Foley, Partner at SWAT Equity. Sarah talks through how digitally native brands can raise equity rounds right now, what valuations and round sizes are important to note, and where the market is going. Don't miss this informative episode (note: this episode was recorded in mid-October 2022).

What kinds of rounds are getting done right now at the early stages
Where valuations are trending in the fall of 2022
What size of rounds can get done right now (spoiler: smaller ones)
Do investors required DTC companies to be omnichannel in order to fundraise
Does the specific DTC category affect omnichannel expectations
How to think more creatively around omnichannel to gain traction
Which metrics are most important at seed stage and how they’ve changed in the current environment
How the next year or so may look for growth expectations and fundraising
How investors feel about alternative financing (working capital lines, inventory financing, etc.)

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

Learn more at Retail X Series and follow @retailxseries on Twitter and Instagram.
To submit a pitch or to find out more about Sapna Shah, check out Red Giraffe Advisors.

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This bonus episode of the Retail X Series podcast features Meha Agrawal, founder and CEO of Silk + Sonder, a self-care membership experience for modern women that makes daily and proactive mental wellness easy and fun from the comfort of women’s homes. Meha has raised over $4m in capital to date, with the most recent seed round being led by Redpoint Ventures. Meha shares her secrets to writing great cold emails - ones that have resulted in investments from her early investors.

Topics:
- Example of a successful cold email outreach during Meha's preseed round
- When and why you should use a cold email versus a warm introduction to an investor
- The seven key elements of every well-written cold email
- Thinking through how an investor will "fit" with your values, your cap table
- How many cold emails to send out during a fundraising round
- Writing great cold emails for hiring and other purposes
- Why cold emails get responses - and even if they don't "convert," how they can lead to other things

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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"Simplicity is king." Think of this episode of the Retail X Series podcast as your "Cap Tables 101" class. This episode features attorney Allison Cooper, Corporate Partner at Fenwick & West. Allison talks through the importance of keeping your cap table organized even at the earliest stages, how to manage dilution, best practices for option pools and more. If you're a founder who has ever had questions about your cap table, or want to plan ahead for future fundraising rounds, don't miss this informative episode.

Topics:
- How early you should be thinking about your cap table
- How much of the company founding teams should own after early fundraising rounds
- What a typical early stage cap table should have on it
- Why good recordkeeping is critical
- How dilution works and how to think about future dilution for the founders
- What standard option pools look like
- How many fundraising rounds can you have before a priced round and why this matters
- Examples of clean and messy cap tables
- When 409A valuations should be done and why they matter
- SAFEs and notes - how they typically convert in a priced round
- Common cap table mistakes for early stage founders

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features Kate Anderson, VP of Revenue Operations at IFundWomen. Kate goes through the critical steps founders need to take to successfully run a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign. She also shares some resources to help founders get started. This episode is a can't-miss for any founder considering a crowdfunding campaign on any platform.

Topics:
- The difference between equity and rewards-based crowdfunding
- At what stage and for what type of businesses is crowdfunding most appropriate for
- Key preparation before commencing a campaign: honing the pitch, evangelizing your business, and building a network
- What to do if you don't have a network (spoiler: you do!)
- How to set crowdfunding rewards - and be creative about it
- What you need to do once the campaign is launched to keep the momentum going
- Best times to launch a campaign and how much you can or should raise
- How COVID has positively affected crowdfunding
- The number one mistake founders make early on

Resources Kate mentions:
Intro webinar and e-course
Workshops

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features the story of Janji, and how co-founder & CEO Dave Spandorfer built this DTC startup in a saturated market, while focusing on profitability, and not multiple venture capital fundraising rounds. Dave shares his take on what he and his co-founder did well, and how being scrappy helped build Janji to EBITDA positive. This episode is a must-listen if you're a founder in the early stages of building a DTC brand.

Topics:
- How to think about brand differentiation, even within a crowded market
- Building community through membership and creating rabid fans
- How your brand vision can align with your fundraising strategy
- Creative and scrappy ways to use your strengths in early customer acquisition
- How wholesaling allows you to finance you business, increase volumes and more
- Dealing with unforeseen events (like COVID), and how they can affect the path to profitability
- Why raising capital once you're on a path to profitability can be the right strategy
- The importance of aligning your company vision with the rest of your life

Note: You can reach Dave at dave@janji.com.

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast covers the branding and marketing building blocks for successfully launching your DTC startup, from creating the brand identity to pricing to launch tactics and more. Sara Adams Slywka, Co-founder & CMO of Nestig, shares her experiences in being scrappy, some do's and don'ts and some of the hard choices she had to make in launching her brand in 2020. This episode is a great listen, particularly for early stage founders who are building and launching their DTC brand before raising much funding.

Topics:
- Alternatives to hiring a pricey branding firm - and other ways to create your brand
- Hacks for creating enough visual and branding assets, especially when money is tight
- The reflective questions to ask yourself when identifying the key elements of your brand
- Thinking through pricing of your product in relationship to your brand
- How to make your launch splashy - even on a budget and during COVID
- How influencers, partnerships and social media can contribute to a successful launch
- Fundraising pre-launch, and how to make those dollars stretch
- Why you should trust yourself in your brand journey

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features is all about the do's and don'ts when pitching a venture capitalist. Mac Conwell, Managing Partner at RareBreed Ventures, talks about what VCs are looking for, what you should ask a VC in your first meeting and demystifies what "traction" really means at the early stages. If you're a founder about to pitch your first VC, don't miss this episode!

Topics:
- What early rounds look like right now - preseed, seed and seed plus
- Why investors look for a startup to have the pathway to becoming a unicorn
- Which early "metrics" are important to VCs
- What traction can look like at preseed, and some unique ways founders have shown traction
- How the first meeting with a VC should go
- What questions founders should be asking VCs in the first meeting
- How to think about valuation at the early stage (hint: it's more art than science)
- Why raising (or trying to raise) too early doesn't work

Follow Mac on Twitter @MacConwell

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features an in-depth conversation about how to create a great pitch deck, particularly aimed at preseed and seed stage companies. Jenny Fielding, Manager Director of Techstars and General Partner of The Fund, talks about how to build a deck and why the elements of the deck are so important. Jenny has seen thousands upon thousands of decks, both good and bad, and her advice is a must-listen for founders that are about to start their fundraising process.

Topics:
- Why a pitch deck is important
- How conveying your vision and story is more important than educating an investor
- Why flow matters - and how to kick off your deck with your biggest strengths
- How to include your "secret sauce" without giving away confidential info
- Why all decks (B2B, DTC) must have a customer acquisition/go-to-market slide
- Why you shouldn't include an exit slide or estimated valuation in your deck
- How to make your deck look "pretty" without spending a lot (or any) money
- How not to make these common deck mistakes

Note: Jenny mentions some easy/free tools for making a beautiful deck even if you have no design skills. They are: Beautifully, Canva and Keynote.

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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Welcome to Season 2 of the Retail X Series Podcast! This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features an in-depth conversation about choosing an accelerator or incubator program, featuring the Managing Director of New York Fashion Tech Lab, Jackie Trebilcock. Jackie gives her tips and advice to founders trying to understand what criteria they should use to evaluate programs, how the process work and even how to take advantage of program resources. For founders who are considering to NYFTL, or any other program, don't miss this episode.

Topics:
- What these sorts of programs look for from startup applicants
- How being virtual has affected timelines since the start of COVID
- What questions founders should ask a program that they are considering applying to
- Why founder/program "fit" matters
- How to leverage mentors in a program - and track that
- Why demo days exist - and can they help you fundraise
- Why program alumni networks can be important
- How to compare and think about programs that take equity versus those that are fee-based
- Jackie's best advice for founders considering applying to an incubator or accelerator

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast features an in-depth conversation about offline sales strategies for DTC brands including pop-ups, wholesale and bricks & mortar, with Kirk Keel, Co-founder & Co-CEO of Stantt, a menswear brand. Kirk talks about how Stantt built up their wholesale business to over 400 stores, including specialty stores and Nordstrom, while also running pop-ups and their online channel. For founders who want to crack the wholesale code, this is a can’t-miss episode.

Topics:
- Why and when Stantt started focusing on offline channels for growth
- The pros and cons of pop-ups and how to some locations work better than others
- Testing mall versus urban pop-up experiences and how they’re different
- Networking to get the right contacts at department stores to build a relationship
- Testing wholesale with larger chains like Nordstrom and the keys to making that test successful
- Working with salespeople at wholesale to make your brand a success
- Optimizing time and effort at trade shows to gain more wholesale accounts
- How wholesale has been affected during COVID and how Stantt is working to support wholesale partners
- What the bricks and mortar world and consumer preference might look like in the future

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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“Understand your customer like a friend.” This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth conversation about fundraising and building a business with Elana Reinholtz, Founder & CEO of Bird + Stone, a cause-based jewelry company. Elana talks about her building her brand, how she built it starting with an Etsy shop and how she stays in touch with her customers. She also shares resources and tools that have helped her along the way.

Topics:
- Getting initial insights from early sales and testing in a scrappy way
- Finding ways to understand your early customers at launch and beyond
- Running partnerships with complementary brands as an acquisition strategy
- Paid advertising: what worked and what didn’t in the early days
- Building and launching products based on early customer insights
- Thinking through PR and press including DIY versus using agencies
- Figuring out how and which influencers could work for your brand
- Measuring metrics like CAC and LTV

Resources Elana Mentions: - Women Entrepreneurship NYC and the WE Fund (offers debt financing)
- Dojo Mojo – CRM software system
- Shogun – Tool for landing pages, works with Shopify
- Hotjar – Heatmapping tool
- Facebook Insights – Tool for paid Facebook insights

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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“Investors are looking for a reason to say no.” This can’t-miss episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth conversation about fundraising and building a business with Melanie Elturk, CEO of Haute Hijab, talking all about her brand, how she built it and how she’s raised multiple rounds of outside capital. Melanie shares her story of how she took her side hustle to a growing brand, raised funding, the lessons she learned and more.

Topics:
- How a founder with little fundraising knowledge approached fundraising
- How Melanie ultimately got her first check (from a VC!), and ultimately closed a pre-seed round
- Creating FOMO in a fundraising process – even at pre-seed
- How to educate investors on a category they don’t know much about
- Why debt wasn’t an option for this startup
- How a monthly stakeholder newsletter can be helpful in fundraising – especially early on
- How a seed round can be different than a pre-seed round
- Why VC advice and ideas aren’t necessarily ones you should take
- Dividing and conquering with your co-founder during a fundraise
- Valuation mistakes you can make in the early rounds and how to avoid them
- The importance of your own mental health during fundraising – and dealing with the “no’s”

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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“Brand is your point of view and marketing is its extroverted cousin.” This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Carolyn Rush, formerly of Worn, a brand agency, and now Head of Brand & Strategy at Robyn, talking about all things branding. Carolyn shares her take on early stage brands, how to think about branding at the earliest stages of a company and some tips and advice on how think about the evolution of your brand.

Topics:
- The definition of a brand and how it’s different from marketing
- The first steps to take when you’re thinking about your brand
- Doing research and thinking about brand strategy as the foundation for your brand
- Changing your name and brand mid-stream
- When hiring an agency makes sense – or even freelancers
- Spending on branding versus building your product
- Living your brand internally in your company culture
- A tool to start thinking about your brand (see below)

Resources:
Carolyn mentions this framework as a place to start thinking through your brand: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fm9aH1tXqJDWeJXaCAJZqmiqmsFQn36C5PTdxrbHcTY/edit?ts=5eac583e

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with the two co-founders of Mobley, a DTC furniture rental startup. Daniel Ramirez-Yunque and Aditya Khilnani share their experiences about fundraising at the pre-seed and seed stage for their company, with tips and advice for early stage founders.

Topics:
- Timing and traction that is right for a pre-seed or seed round
- Figuring out how much to raise
- Honing your list to find the right investors for your round
- How your founder friends can help you in a fundraise
-Pitching as co-founders and improving your pitch over time
- Handling the “no’s” from investors
- The tough questions from investors and how to handle them
- Fundraising on notes/SAFEs vs. preferred equity

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Meghan Cross Breeden all about fundraising at the earliest stages. Meghan shares her tips and advice about fundraising at the pre-seed and seed stage.

Topics:
- The definition of pre-seed vs. seed fundraise
- Valuation rules of thumb
- What it means to be a venture-backable company
- Thinking through if a lead is necessary for an early stage fundraising round
- Pitfalls to watch for you in the market slide in your pitch deck
- Structures that are trending right now (convertible debt, SAFE, equity) and some pitfalls to watch out for
- What does the current environment means for founders raising during these unprecedented times?

Resources:

Meghan mentioned this article by Ed Zimmerman of Lowenstein Sandler:
When The Music Stops: SAFEs & Convertible Notes Give VCs Massive Price Protection

Note: Apologies for the sound on this episode, which was recorded during NY’s shelter-in-place order via a very shaky wifi connection.

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Irene Ryabaya, Co-founder of WarmIntro. Irene shares her experiences growing B2B sales for her company, from her very first pilot customer to today - and all the lessons she's learned along the way.

Topics:

How to get that critical first pilot customer.
Why enterprise customers might not be a good target for a startup in the early days.
Why qualifying leads is so important in the sales process.
How to think about paid vs. unpaid pilots.
How experimenting with pricing for early stage B2B software companies is challenging and ever-changing.
Pitching your company to customers virtually in these uncertain times.
Building your sales process and how the founder’s role in sales continues – for quite some time.
Advice for founders looking to make that first B2B sale.

Resources Irene mentioned in this episode:

Five Ways to Build a $100 Million Business

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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In this episode, Rachel Wexler talks about the nitty gritty of fundraising. Think of this episode as your "Fundraising 101" class, all about how to raise outside capital in a pre-seed or early stage round.

Topics:
- How angels evaluate companies at the earliest stages
- What entrepreneurs should be prepared with at pre-seed, including team, traction/metrics, financial model, etc.
- What makes a good and compelling pitch deck
- Ranges of valuations, dilution and structures at pre-seed
- Running a pre-seed fundraising process
- How and where to find angel investors
- Rachel's critical advice to founders

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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"Panic doesn’t help.” This can’t-miss episode (recorded on 3/24/20 in the midst of New York's lockdown) features Mona Bijoor, entrepreneur, investor, best-selling author and startup advisor, talking about what startups should be doing right now in the current uncertain environment to make their businesses stronger, as well as fundraising advice and more.

Topics:
- How angel investors think about their startup investments in context of other opportunities
- How angel investors think about investing in this uncertain time
- How founders should think about their businesses right now “amass power”
- Key thought exercises founders should be doing right now
- Why “recession-proof” businesses will matter even more

In this episode, Mona mentions her book, Startups and Downs: The Secrets of Resilient Entrepreneurs. You can find it HERE.

Note: Apologies for some of the sound quality issues in this episode due to overloaded wifi circuits.

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Del Johnson, Principal at Backstage Capital. Del shares his thoughts and advice for early stage founders raising outside capital, including how the VC process works, how to be best prepared to raise money and what he looks for in the investments he makes. This is a must-listen episode if you're raising for the first time. For more of Del's thoughts on VC and fundraising, follow him on Twitter @DelJohnsonVC.

Topics:

How to be prepared to raise early stage capital
What VCs look for in early stage investments
How the VC process works
Why traditional venture capitalists can miss great opportunities
And more

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Meha Agrawal, Founder & CEO of Silk + Sonder. Meha shares her experiences with bootstrapping her company to get to product/market fit before raising her first round of outside capital. She has great tips for founders that have physical subscription products and are looking to build enough traction to fundraise.

Topics:

Finding product/market fit in the early days
Getting to the first few customers utilizing your network
Reaching profitability early
Listening to your customers to find out who they are and what they want
Raising capital based on early traction
And more

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Meg He, Co-founder of Aday. Meg shares her experiences with getting her early customers for her apparel brand, especially before there was a lot of money to spend on customer acquisition. She has great advice for early stage DTC founders who are looking for the best ways to acquire early customers.

Topics:

The best channels for customer acquisition at the early stages
Building an email list before you launch
Considering offline channels like press, pop-ups, showrooms and more
Finding success in paid channels/social
Measuring early customer acquisition efforts and scaling them
The metrics that matter

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Jacquelyn Ward, Co-founder of Our Story Bridal. Jacquelyn shares her experiences with bootstrapping her company to profitability before raising the first round of outside capital. She has great advice for founders in the DTC space and those that have bricks and mortar presences.

Topics:

Early stage sources of cash
Bootstrapping in creative ways
Reaching profitability early in the business' life cycle
Taking small risks and iterating
Getting to good, not perfect in the early days
And more

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Leigh Sevin, Co-founder of Endear. Leigh shares her experiences growing B2B sales for her company, from her very first pilot customer to today - and all the lessons she's learned along the way.

Topics:

How to get the critical first enterprise pilot customer.
How to convert a pilot into a contract.
How to price product for B2B software companies at the early stages.
Building and managing the sales pipeline once that first customer is in place.
Growth hacking strategies/PR for retail tech and B2B companies.
Advice for founders looking to make that first B2B sale.

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

Edited by Deven Shah

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This episode of the Retail X Series podcast is an in-depth interview with Amanda Patterson, CEO of The Call List. Amanda shares her experiences and thoughts in growing B2B sales for her company, from her first enterprise customer to today - and all the lessons she's learned along the way.

Topics:

How to get the critical first enterprise pilot customer
How to convert a pilot into a contract
How to price product for B2B software companies at the early stages
Building and managing the sales pipeline once that first customer is in place
Growth hacking strategies/PR for retail tech and B2B companies
Advice for founders looking to make that first B2B sale

Resources Amanda shared in this episode:

Monarq Incubator
Copper for managing sales pipelines
NY Fashion Tech Lab incubator
NYC Media Lab with Havas

Music by Eino Toivanen, kongano.com

The Retail X Series Podcast: Recent Episodes

Sapna Shah