My guests today are Jason Karp and Rohan Oza. Jason is the founder and CEO of HumanCo, a holding company focused on building businesses that help people live healthier lives. Jason formerly ran the hedge fund Tourbillon Capital and was an audience favorite when he was on the podcast several years ago. Rohan is the co-founder of CAVU Venture Partners, one of the fastest-growing venture funds in the CPG space. Before Cavu, Rohan focused on supercharging brands like Vitaminwater and Smartwater at Glaceau which was acquired by Coca Cola for over $4b dollars. You may also recognize his name as a recurring Shark on ABC's Shark Tank. Our conversation covers how to think about investing in brands, what makes for a great brand, how partnerships with influencers and celebrities can turbocharger a brand, how brand ultimately gives you pricing power, and how Rohan and Jason try to add, in their words, sizzle, to the brands they work with. I really enjoyed this conversation with two of the smartest people I know on brands and brand strategy and hope you will too.
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Show Notes
(2:58) – (First question) – Exploring the early part of Rohan’s career with Mars
(4:53) – First time changing a brand’s image
(6:40) – Jason’s transition since his last appearance on the podcast
(9:47) – What parts of a brand excite Rohan as an investor
(11:33) – The marketing machine once you find a brand
(13:13) – Options in the retail strategy
(19:07) – Biggest errors early in a brands lifecycle
(21:04) – The shift where consumers care more about the makeup of a product than just the brand
(26:20) – Finding the fanatical few in the early part of a brands lifecycle
(31:03) – How the role of celebrity has changed in shaping brands
(33:01) – The importance of how a brand makes consumers feel
(36:15) – Will distribution drive market changes in the future
(38:17) – Driving revenue multiples for products
(48:33) – Categories in health and wellness ripe for disruption
(52:20) – How scalable health and wellness brands are as public companies
(55:00) – Challenges that older brands have in today’s environment
(56:46) – Kindest thing anyone has done for Rohan
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
