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

My guests today are Wendy Tsu who is a partner of new business ventures at AlleyCorp and Susannah Shipton, Head of Platform and investor at AlleyCorp. AlleyCorp was founded by Kevin Ryan and both founds and funds companies in New York. On this particular episode, we're going to focus more on the founding / incubation side of AlleyCorp, which I thought was truly fascinating. Some of the companies AlleyCorp founded was MongoDB, Zola, Business Insider, GILT and Nomad Health.Some of the questions I ask Wendy and Susannah:What was each of your attraction to innovation and startups?Tell us about AlleyCorp because it's a bit of a different type of fund that we've discussed on the show.What is an incubation studio and how do you think about innovation?How do you think about ideas that could be businesses? Where do you start?Walk us through your process of once you have a compelling idea what happens next?This concept of idea-market fit. How do you approach ideas, markets and evaluating pain points?What are some of the ways you conduct market research?Once you have conviction in an idea, do you have to have your full team's support to move forward or what are the next steps?How many companies do you typically launch per year?Are you able to walk through a couple examples of consumer facing businesses from ideation stage all the way to a proper business?What's your approach to building teams for young companies?How do you interview potential CEOs for these businesses that you're building and structure team?What do you think are the most important interview questions or the goal of an interview?What's one thing you would change about venture capital or the fundraising process?What's one book that inspired each of you personally and one book that inspired each of you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for founders today?

Thank you Elizabeth Edwards for introducing me to our guest today. Leigh Radford, the Senior Vice President, Founder & General Manager of P&G Ventures. We discuss what is corporate venture capital, how P&G partners with brands, and the advantages for aspiring brands. Without further ado, here's Leigh.Some of the questions I ask LeighWhat was your initial attraction to consumer products?How did you end up working at P&G?Of course, when it comes to building brands, P&G are one of the world's best at doing so. What were some of your learnings of brand building at P&G?Tell me a bit about P&G Ventures.Startup studio, partners with entrepreneurs both inside and outside of the company.What do you look for when analyzing brands?Walk me through your due diligence process.What are some of the advantages for aspiring brands that's hard for incumbents to adapt to?What are some of the advantages for an aspiring brand to partner with corporate venture capital arm vs. a "normal" venture capital firm?When you are analyzing online brands, what are some of the attributes they need to have in order to work in retail?Going the other way, what types of brands might work in retail without having an online presence?What are the KPIs you look for when brands are in retail?What's one thing that you would change about venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?

My guest today is Carey Smith. Carey is the founder of Big Ass Fans, which in less than two decades he took the company from 0 to $250 million in revenue, without the help of investors. Following the sale of Big Ass Fans, Carey started Unorthodox Ventures, where he partners with extraordinary founders, providing capital and expertise to build companies faster. Their portfolio includes Fit Joy, Go Fish and Lumun. This was a great conversation whre we chat about Carey's transition from a founder to investor and how that has helped shaped his decision making process. Without further ado, here's Carey.And there you have it. It was great learning from Carey and what it means to be a contrarian investor.One book that inspired Carey is Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim.Some of the questions I ask Carey:What was your attraction to entrepreneurship?What was the insight that led you to founding Big Ass Fans?Why did you want to sell Big Ass FansWhy did you decide to become an investor?You don't have a sector of focus, how do you think about opportunities?What's your approach to investing in companies?How did you go about building your team?What are some of the advantages for entrepreneurs fundraising from a family office as opposed to a VC fund.How do you approach portfolio construction and exercising pro-rata?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?How do you think about sourcing?What's your most recent investment?What's one company you had the opportunity invest in, didn't, and in retrospect wish you did?What's the best piece of advice you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?

Thank you Katie Shea for introducing me to today's guest Helaine Knapp, founder and CEO of CITYROW. CITYROW is a boutique fitness studio which started in New York City that specializes in a total body, high-intensity, low-impact workout using a water-based rowing machine and strength-training exercises. They have since launched Cityrow go, taking the boutique rowing experience into your home with on demand classes.I highly recommend following her on twitter @HelaineKnappA few books that inspired Helaine:The Four Agreements by Don Miguel RuizShoe Dog by Phil KnightGood to Great by Jim CollinsQuestions I ask Helaine:Let's begin before you became an entrepreneur. How did your experiences at Olapic and Buddy Media help you as a founder?What was your attraction to fitness and athletics?What was the insight the led you to founding CITY ROW?Why rowers?What were some of the biggest hurdles when starting out?Why did you decide on the franchise model?Since we haven't discussed the franchise model on this show before, could you walk us through some of the innerworkings?How did you think about growth?What led you to create CITY ROW Go?What were some of the biggest challenges when you decided to introduce this product?What has been some of the challenges with the roll out?What has been some of the effects of COVID?How do you think about the future of the in store rowing experience once we all have the vaccines and people are able to work out in studios and gyms?Walk me through your fundraising process.What was the biggest hangup from investors?People invest in what you knowWhat's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?Not so much of a dance, wish more of a equalityWhat's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?What's one piece of advice for founders?

Thank you Carlton Fowler for the introduction to today's guests Brandon Schwartz and Lawrence Cisneros, co-founders of DRNXMYTH. DRNXMYTH Makes The Best Cocktails Ever Bottled. I have to say, these are amazing. I tried the product a few weeks ago and think what they are building with DRNXMYTH is very innovative and I hope you'll see that as well. We discuss their origin story of how they created this amazing bottle for cocktails, how their business is becoming a marketplace, how they think about collaborations.A couple of books that inspired Brandon and Lawrence:Zero to One by Peter ThielRich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. KlyosaklThe questions I ask Brandon and Lawrence:Let's start from the beginning. How did you two meet and become interested in the alcohol and beverage industries?What was the insight or pain point that you wanted to solve that led to the founding of Drnxmyth come together?When you started realizedHow did you develop the technology and your supply chain?What were some of the early hurdles?How did you think about brand and brand positioning?LunchablesPancakesHow were you able to validate your idea?What was some of the early growth levers you used and your approach to retail and ecommerce?How were you able to pivot during COVID?What was your approach to fundraising?What was the biggest hang up from investors when they were evaluating your business?How did you approach building community with Drnxmyth?How did you think about flavors and creating different cocktails?Do you plan on creating your own hard alcohols?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders currently building?

Thank you Sumeet Shah for introducing me to our guest today Kelsey Moreira, founder and Co-CEO of Doughp. Doughp makes 100% raw cookie dough. As you probably can guess, we talk all things cookie dough as well as why Kelsey moved from Oakland to set up shop in Las Vegas, effects of COVID in her store and ecommerce, her mission and her experience on Shark Tank.And there you have it. It was wonderful chatting with Kelsey. I highly recommend following her @kelsey_moreira on Twitter.A book that inspired Kelsey -You Are a Badass by Jen SinceroSome of the questions I ask Kelsey -You worked in tech for a long time, what attracted you to entrepreneurship and the food and beverage space?What was the insight that led you to founding DOUGHP?How did you decide to approach creating the product?How did you think about DOUGHPs brand and positioning?Why Las Vegas?DOUGHP for Hope initiativeMental health days for staffWhat did you want to raise capital?How was your experience on Shark Tank?What was your fundraising approach?How did you distribution and different channels?What has been the effect of COVID on your business?What's one thing you would change about fundraising?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice for folks building a consumer product?

My guest today is Mercedes Bent, who is a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and is on their consumer investing team. Lightspeed Venture Partners's mission is to serve the world’s most extraordinary people who are building tomorrow’s companies today. Some of her portfolio includes Forage, Stori Card, Outschool and Flockjay among other amazing companies. Mercedes is primarily focused on investing in edtech/future of work, fintech, and consumer products. We talk about how consumer businesses are building new models that involve ownership for consumers, parts of edtech where there is opportunity, and how she thinks about optimism.I highly encourage you to follow her on Twitter @mercebent. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book that inspired Mercedes is:Delivering Happiness by Tony HsiehSome of the questions I ask Mercedes:Let's start at the beginning. What was your initial attraction to technology and consumer facing businesses?What were some of your experiences that had a lasting impact in how you approach investing?What are some of the changes you've seen in consumer spend and how has that helped shaped where you spend your time when looking at opportunities?What are some of the sectors you're currently focused on?We've heard the expression the future of consumer is fintech. How do you think about the future of consumer relating to business model?Walk me through your due diligence processWhat are some of the milestones you have to see in order to be interested?What are some qualities in founders you like to see?What's one thing that you would change in venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's one piece of advice that you have for founders?

Our guest today is Hugh Thomas, founder of Ugly. Ugly is the refreshingly honest sparkling water in a can. No sugar, no calories, no sodium, no sweetners. We discuss his background and how working at Vita Coco impacted him to found Ugly, why he went retail on day one, and his expansion strategy and why being in two markets is like running two different companies.You can follow Hugh at @uglyhugh on Twitter.A couple books that inspired Hugh are:The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan HolidayGive and Take by Adam GrantSome of the questions I asked Hugh:What was your initial attraction to the food and beverage industry?Talk to me about the early days and some of your learnings scaling Vita Coco?What was the inspiration that led you to founding Ugly?How did you approach ingredients and then your supply chain?How did you think about brand in the early days?Why did you decide to launch omnichannel off the bat?What were some of the hurdles in the early days?What was your strategy for growth in the U.K?Why did you decide to expand so quickly into the U.S.?We talk on this show about when it comes to ecommerce, getting past the noise. There's so many brands out there since it's easier then ever to start a brand. How do you think about differentiation?Why did you decide to fundraise and what was your fundraising strategy?How did you manage to pivot or change your strategy during COVID?What's one thing you would change about the fundraising process?What's the best piece of advice that you've ever received?What's one piece of advice that you have to founders?

My guest today is Tyler Morgan, Vice President at BFG Partners. BFG Partners invests in entrepreneurs that build exceptional businesses in the better-for-you food, beverage, and consumer products space. Some of their investments include Olipop, Quinn Snacks, and Bear Naked. I really enjoyed my time with Tyler where we discuss his due diligence process, effects of COVID within CPG and the evolution of BFG. Without further ado, here's Tyler.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple of books that inspired Tyler:Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary KinderEndurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred LansingSome of the questions I ask Tyler -What was your initial attraction to consumer products?Wellness in hospitalsWhat was your interest when it came to investing and venture capital?Tell me a bit about BFG it seems like you did a rebrand. What are your focus areas?Why did you expand to invest in other consumables?What are some current trends that you're most interested in? Food as medicineThere are so many brands out there since it's never been easier to start a brand then at any other point in time. What's your evaluation process to judge if a brand might be able to cut through the noise?Walk me through your due diligence process?What makes a compelling brand?What's one thing you would change about Venture capital?Do you only invest in brands that have an online presence?in store demoingWhat's one thing that you would change about venture capital?Do you only invest in companies that are DNVBs or do invest in companies that are already in retail?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece that you've received?What's one piece of advice to founders?

Thank you Sunny Dhillon for the introduction to today's guest, Deborah Benton. Deb is the founder and general partner of Willow Growth Partners. Willow provides early growth capital to entrepreneurs building the next generation of transformative consumer brands and the disruptive technologies that power them. Prior to launching her fund, Deborah held many senior operational positions in companies like Nasty Gal, Shoe Dazzle and eToys. We discuss what investors don't get about investing in consumer brands, lessons learned working for established and aspiring brands and her approach to trends.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple books that inspired Deborah -Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. FranklThe Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoSome of the questions I ask Deb:I'd love to first start with your career. What was your initial attraction to work in retail and consumer products?You've witnessed companies raise lots of money and have lots of momentum and then not be able to become profitable or reach their goals and end up falling apart. What were some of the learnings from these experiences?What attracted you to the world of investing and how did you make decisions as an angel investor?When it comes to consumer products in 2020 where you no longer can scale efficiently like you could of 10 years ago, what is the key?You're currently closing your first fund, what attracted you to shift to become a VC from being an angel investor?What are current retail trends that you are focused on?We've seen large corporations finally wake up to ecommerce during COVID. Do you think, even though ecommerce penetration has increased substantially this year, it's more competitive than it was pre-COVID?What's one thing that you would change when it comes to venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?