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

Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, dives into the evolving landscape of venture capital and the significant impact of AI in the industry. He discusses the challenges startups face in securing funding, particularly the troubling gap from seed to Series A. Walker details why valuations are stable despite fewer deals and how mega funds are reshaping investment dynamics. He highlights the frustrations of limited partners and the need for founders to focus on strong business fundamentals to thrive in this turbulent climate.

Clayton Christopher, co-founder of Astro Consumer Partners and creator of Sweet Leaf Tea, and Brian Goldberg, former CFO of Sweet Leaf Tea and SkinnyPop, dive into the secrets of scaling consumer brands. They discuss the shift from early to growth-stage investing and how to recognize when a brand is ready for capital. The duo emphasizes navigating the distribution trap, the contrast between DTC and retail, and the importance of strong partnerships. They also unpack the strategic risks in the CPG landscape and the evolving marketing strategies that fuel brand success.

Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali, co-founders of Chomps, share their inspiring journey of bootstrapping a meat snack brand from a $500 side hustle to $500 million in sales. They discuss scrappy marketing tactics that fueled early growth, like leveraging grassroots efforts and influencers. The pivotal deal with Trader Joe's transformed their trajectory, showcasing the importance of strategic retail partnerships. Their complementary personalities and resilience in navigating challenges exemplify how discipline and collaboration can create a successful and profitable brand.

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 historyWhy Volition bets on unsexy markets and skips the Valley hypeHow Chamberlain Coffee learned the hard way that virality cuts both waysWhy most VCs misunderstand capital efficiency—and how it actually creates alphaWhat makes a founder irresistible without raising a single VC dollarIf 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 virality00:00 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:Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...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 missionHow he scaled a life-saving formula into a national brandWhy he believes the energy drink industry is brokenThe strategy behind launching Lucky Energy in a saturated marketHow to build trust, win retail, and raise capital in 2024If you're in CPG, startup land, or just love founder stories with real heart and hustle—this is the one. Topics:Surviving tragedy and finding purposeBuilding Kate Farms from kitchen to $75M Series CWhat makes energy drinks so hard to win inWhy 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  🍎 Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...📱 Follow Mike Gelb Instagram → @mikegelb TikTok → @consumervc Twitter → @mikegelb#richardlaver #energydrinkstartup #founderstory #consumerbrands #katFarms #luckyenergy #cleanenergy #startuplife #venturecapital #founderjourney #consumervc

Shamin Walsh, Managing Director at BAM Ventures, shares her expertise on spotting early-stage consumer brands. She discusses balancing brand identity with infrastructure and consumer tech. The conversation highlights the significance of price discipline amidst market hype and what defines sticky consumer products. Shamin also emphasizes the importance of strong founder relationships and navigating fundraising strategies. With insights into leveraging AI effectively, this engaging discussion reveals key lessons for building successful consumer companies.

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=consumervcIn 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 brandHow Ithaca Hummus was born at a student farmer’s marketSelling without brokers & scaling through scrappy growthWhy they said NO to VCs and focused on unit economics & velocityHow packaging and taste-first branding drove national expansionStrategic 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.🕒 Timestamps00:00 - Opening Quote: The Magic of Farmer’s Markets03:24 - From Fine Dining to Culinary Burnout06:36 - Discovering a Gap in Ithaca’s Food Scene10:46 - Launching Ithaca Hummus from a Camp Kitchen13:54 - The Addictive Energy of Farmer’s Markets19:15 - No Brokers: Selling to Co-ops Door-to-Door24:33 - Sampling, Promotions & Retailer Education28:10 - $1M to $3.5M: Strategic Investment from Co-Man33:50 - Saying No to VCs: Building Without External Pressure37:17 - What Strategic Actually Means in CPG41:50 - 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 Launch50:00 - Long-Term Vision: Legacy, Not Liquidity53:50 - Lightning Round: Books, Beliefs & Brands#venturecapital #consumervc #vcfunding —📬 Subscribe to The Consumer VC newsletter for startup trends:https://www.theconsumervc.com/🎧 Listen on:Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hjm74Z...Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...📲Follow Mike:Twitter / Instagram / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

#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 CapitalWhether 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 Valuable44:00 Rapid Fire: Consumer Trends, Favorite Products, VC Myths 52:00 Sid’s Book RecommendationsSubscribe 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-COVIDWhat metrics EMERGING looks at before writing $2–8M checksHow restaurant-tech is evolving for both consumers and operatorsWhat makes a concept scalable, profitable, and defensibleWhy EMERGING focuses on experience + IP, not just marginsIf 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