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

Mike Gelb
undefined
Dec 10, 2021 • 35min

Holiday Recap: Madeline Haydon, CEO of nut pods

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1 Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort This is a highlight episode of my conversation with Madeline Haydon, founder & CEO of nut pods.
undefined
Dec 9, 2021 • 32min

Holiday Recap: Jeremy Cai, Founder & CEO of Italic

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1 Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort This is a highlight from my conversation with Jeremy Cai, Founder & CEO of Italic
undefined
Dec 8, 2021 • 23min

Holiday Recap: Denise Woodard, Founder & CEO of Partake Foods

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1 Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort This is a highlight of my conversation with Denise Woodard, Founder & CEO of Partake Foods.
undefined
Dec 3, 2021 • 36min

Holiday Recap: Mark Gainey, Founder of Strava

Mark Gainey, Founder of Strava, shares his journey of starting a business, the challenges of B2B and B2C companies, targetting the cycling market, Strava's commitment to software, and reflections on sports and entrepreneurship.
undefined
Dec 2, 2021 • 27min

Holiday Recap: Andy Dunn, Founder of Bonobos

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1 Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort This episode is a highlight from my conversation with Andy Dunn, the founder of Bonobos.
undefined
Nov 30, 2021 • 23min

Holiday Highlights: Alex Fine, CEO of Dame Products

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1 Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort This episode is a highlight from my conversation with Alex Fine, Founder and CEO of Dame Products. To listen to the full episode, Click Here. 
undefined
Nov 23, 2021 • 36min

Denise Woodard (Partake Foods) - How Her Daughter Inspired Denise to Leave Her Well Paying Job and Create A Cookie Everyone Can Eat, How She Started in Retail from Day One, and Impact of COVID

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now open - use the exclusive code EARLYBIRD2021 if you apply before Dec 1 Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort Thank you Charlie Hanna for the intro to our guest today, Denise Woodard CEO and founder of Partake Foods. Partake Foods is produces super delicious cookies are made with real, healthy, and safe ingredients that everyone can enjoy gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO and free of the top 14 allergens, our super delicious cookies are made with real, healthy, and safe ingredients that everyone can enjoy. We discuss the origin story of Partake and inspiration from Denise's daughter, that decision of leaving Coca-Cola, how she managed to get into grocery stores and raise capital. A few questions I ask Denise Why did you decide to leave big corporate CPG and your job at Coke in order to start Partake Foods? How did you approach experimenting with ingredients, tastetesting and finding the right formula? How did you go about building your supply chain? What were some of your learnings working for Coke that helped you build Partake Foods? Once you had your product what channels did you start off with? When did you realize you were on to something? When and why did you decide to raise venture capital?What was your fundraising strategy Once you got into retail, what was the strategy to expand? How did COVID affect Partake Foods? Since you grew and are growing so fast, how do you think about leadership and building/hiring a team? What's the future of Partake Foods? What's next on the horizon? What's one thing that you would change about venture capital and fundraising? What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? What's the best piece of advice that you've received? What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?
undefined
Nov 18, 2021 • 37min

Lori Coulter (Summersalt) - How She Built an Inclusive Swimwear & Apparel Brand

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort   Thank you Madeline Keulen for the intro to Lori Coulter, founder of Summersalt. Summersalt produces flattering swimwear designed to fit you, not the other way around. The internet’s favorite swimwear — & your new go-to for everything from activewear to PJs. It was so fun chatting with Lori about how she developed Summersalt into one of the fastest growing swimwear brands. Without further ado, here's Lori. Here are some of the questions I ask Lori. What was your attraction to fashion? You were designing swimwear for 10 years, what sparked Summersalt? Body scanning Could you IP Scanned over 10,000 women, 1to1 fit Customer who was neglected What was the insight that you found that incumbents weren't understanding? How did you approach distribution? What was the old way to distribute swimwear and gain consumer trust? Resort businesses Privacy from the own home, direct mail How did you approach brand and your positioning? Swimwear (I'd imagine) is a seasonal business. How do you think about introducing new products so you aren't only a seasonal business? How did you go about hiring a team? Why did you decide to raise venture money?How was that process? What's the biggest reason why a fund passed on you? What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process? What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?Peter Thiel Zero to OneBillion Dollar Brand What's the best piece of advice that you've received?The highs are never as high as you think they are What's one piece of advice for founders?
undefined
Nov 16, 2021 • 42min

Sarah LaFleur (M.M.LaFleur) - Changing workwear for women and adapting through COVID

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort   Thank you Will McClelland for the intro to our guest today, Sarah LaFleur, founder of M.M.LaFleur. M.M.LaFleur creates luxury apparel and accessories with the same attention to detail as high-end fashion houses. This was a great chat about how to launch an apparel brand and as well as how to adapt during COVID and new market tastes. Without further ado, here's Sarah. Some of the questions I ask her: What was your attraction to entrepreneurship? Why did you decide to focus on women's workwear? What were the current options for women when it came to workwear and what did you set out to change? What were the first steps when deciding you wanted to found the company? How did you think about sourcing materials? What was your approach to production? How do you approach personalization to your customers? What was the launch strategy? How did you reach your target audience? Has COVID changed your business since people are not yet going back into the office? As we come out of COVID (hopefully soon), what do you see changing when it comes to formal wear (if anything)? When did you decide to raise capital?What was that process like?What was the most common reason why an investor would pass? What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process? What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?The Second Sex by Simone DebuarInternal What's one piece of advice for founders? What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
undefined
Nov 11, 2021 • 28min

Michael Markesbery (OROS) - How he is Sciencing the S*** Out of Everything and Bringing Space Tech to Outdoor Apparel

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort My guest today is Michael Markesbery, co-founder and CEO of OROS. OROS produces award winning apparel with their patented SOLARCORE® Insulation. It's the warmest Zero-Bulk Gear. In Michael's words, they science the shit out of everything when it comes to outdoor apparel that keeps you warm. This was such a fun chat about how he's building this incredible brand that uses space technology to build their product. Without further ado, here's Michael. What was your attraction to space? How did you develop a relationship with NASA? Arogel - very brittle Arogel to foam Solarcore Really warm fiber What IP How did you come up with the idea for OROS? Walk us through the technology. Why did you think there was a need for this? What was your first product? When did you decide to fundraise?How was that experience?What was investor reactions? Where did you decide to sell? What was the launch strategy? How do you describe your target consumer? What were some of the stumbling blocks along the way? Are you the exclusive holder of the license with NASA? What's that relationship like? What's your percentage of B2C vs. B2G sales? What do you have on the roadmap for new products? What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process? What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? What's the best piece of advice that you've received?Don't ever ask for favors, ask for advice What's one piece of advice for founders?Take the moonshot

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app