Steve Berg (Stride Consumer Partners) - How to invest in consumer companies at the growth stage, what types of brands work in both natural and conventional, and how to analyze retail outlets

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:

1. From my understanding, you’ve worked with consumer facing businesses throughout your career. Why consumer and retail?
2. How did you end up founding Stride Consumer Partners and why did you end up leaving Castanea Partners?
3. What did you learn 
4. What is your overall thesis at Stride Consumer Partners? What’s the typical revenue a company needs to be?
5. When you partner with a company, what are the elements of the business that you have to like or be true?
6. What is your due diligence process?
7. 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?
8. How do you think about portfolio construction?
9. What’s been the biggest challenge to completing deals in 2022?
10. How will 2023 shape out in the consumer deal making world?
11. How do you think about down rounds and bridge rounds during these times?
12. 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?
13. What is a competitive advantage in consumer?
14. What consumer data points do you track when you think about macro trends
15. How are you thinking investing in consumer during these times?
16. What’s one book that has inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
17. Shackleton, Endurance
18. Boys in the Boat

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