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?
Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing I Brands