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

Thank you Alex Pattis for the introduction to today's guest Pippa Lamb who is a partner at Sweet Capital. Sweet Capital in an early stage investment fund built by the founders of King.com (Candy Crush), following their sale to Activision Blizzard in 2015. Pippa focuses on early stage consumer technology investments ranging from software and next generation social communities to fintech. This is was fun and fascinating conversation as we talked about gamification in social, why she splits her time in LA and London, how she evaluates opportunities and her focuses.I highly recommend following her on Twitter @pippalamb. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions that I ask Pippa -What attracted you initially to become a consumer investor and transition from the world of later stage private equity down to venture capital?Tell me about Sweet Capital.How it came togetherInvestment focusWhy located in Los Angeles, London. What are some of the differences in ecosystems since you travel back and forth?Where do you invest geographically?What qualities or traits in founders do you look for?For folks looking to start companies, what are some questions they should be asking themselves to analyze and see if they do have an unfair advantage and if they should be the ones founding the businesses?Does unfair advantage simply mean experience?How do you think about early traction?Walk me through your due diligence process. You are pre-series A / Seed fund. What type of metrics are you looking for in a consumer tech company?Are you focused primarily on ad rev, marketplace, or SaaS type businesses?Want to discuss COVID, as that’s top of mind for everyoneHave you changed your investment strategy?Is it harder to find conviction when meeting with founders virtually?Has COVID changed how you thought about remote teams in companies?What are you seeing in the future of mobile technology or trends that you are paying attention to?Los Angeles has become one of the hubs of consumer technology, in your view, why has that been the case?I’ve heard some folks say on this show it’s a contrarian time to be investing in consumer. Why do some folks think that and do you believe it?What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What is one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What is your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?What’s one piece of advice for B2C founders?If you’re enjoying the show, if you could leave a review on the apple podcast app as that helps other folks find it, that would be really helpful. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM me and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. Thanks again for listening.

This is a compilation episode about fundraising from the founders perspective. Some of their tactics, strategies when evaluating investors and how they reached out to investors. The founders featured are Kate Boyle, who is the founder of Banjo Robinson, Nadine Habayeb from Bohana, Adelle Archer from Eterneva, George Milton from Yellowbird Sauce, an amazing hot sauce company, and Jessica Rolph and Rod Morris, co-founders of Lovevery. 

I'd like to thank Adelle Archer for introducing me to today's guest Dan Graham, one of the co-founders and General partners of Springdale Ventures. Some of their investments include Eterneva, Literati, and Beatbox beverages. Previously, Dan co-founded BuildASign.com in 2005 and grew it to an over $100 million dollar CPG, Ecommerce business that was purchased by Cimpress (VistaPrint) in 2018 for $280M. This episode we talk all things Austin and CPG - the opportunity he saw to form Spingdale, why he didn't need to fundraise when building Buildasign.com and how he thinks about brand in relation to ecommerce and retail.If you’re enjoying the show, if you could leave a review on the apple podcast app as that helps other folks find it, that would be really helpful. If you are a founder and working on something innovative, have a question you’d like to hear VCs or founders answer on the show you can DM me and follow me on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. Thanks again for listening.A couple of books Dan recommends are Give and Take by Adam Grant and Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.Some of the questions I asked Dan -What attracted you to entrepreneurship and what was the opportunity that you saw when founding BuildaSign?Why did you choose not to fundraise for BuildaSign and bootstrap?Talk to me about what attracted you to investing?Why did you switch from being an angel investor to actually raising your own fund and building Springdale Ventures?NaturelyWhat was the opportunity that you saw in Austin?What makes Austin so compelling as a startup hub? How is it different from New York and the bay area?Talk to me about your due diligence and decision making process and how do you establish conviction that the brands you invest in will break through the noise?Are there specific metrics that you pay most attention to?How do you judge brand authenticity?Growth marketing - organic vs. paidWhat are some qualities you like to see in founders?How do you think about first mover advantage when it comes to consumer brands?Has COVID changed how you invest?Have you shifted your focus from/to any particular verticals?What categories have been disrupted most?Are you spending more time with portfolio companies as opposed to making new investments?What are some consumer trends that you are paying attention to?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one piece of advice for founders of B2C companies?

Jessica Rolph, Co-founder and CEO of Lovevery, and Roderick Morris, Co-founder and President, discuss their journey in creating developmental toys for babies and toddlers. They delve into the significance of interactive play in child development and share insights on navigating fundraising in the early childhood market. The duo reveals how customer feedback shapes their brand and reflects on the challenges of working from home during the pandemic. They also highlight the importance of building relationships and their experiences with hiring talent in secondary markets like Boise.

I'd like to thank Fernando Gentil for introducing me to today's guest, George Milton, co-founder and CEO of Yellowbird Sauce, Spicy condiments crafted to take you on a fiery–fresh food adventure. This is a conversation all about things hot sauce, which I really enjoyed. George takes us through his journey from playing music gigs to becoming known as the hot sauce guy in Austin Texas and eventually scaling his condiment business nationally.You can follow George on Twitter at @geemilton. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.A book the inspired George personally is Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. A couple books that inspired him professionally are Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.In this episode, I ask George -Tell me how you got started making hot sauce?When did you first realize that this could be a business? How did you determine there was a proof in concept?In the early days, when did you have that moment where you wanted to move produce the sauce in commercial kitchens and be able to see it in stores?How did you approach sourcing from the very beginning?How did you think about pricing and brand positioning?How were you able to get into retail? Who do you consider your target audience?Why did you choose to fundraise?What was your fundraising strategy?How has COVID affected Yellowbird?What does the next few years look like for Yellowbird? What are some objectives that you’d like to achieve?What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What’s one piece of advice that you have for founders?

I'd like to thank Natalie Dillon for introducing me to today's guest Tyler Handley, co-founder and CEO of Inkbox, the tattoos for now. These are temporary tattoos that last for 1-2 weeks and fade as your skin naturally regenerates. We talk about the state of the tattoo market - both temporary and permanent, opportunity he saw at the early stages, how he was able to fundraise and scale. I'll be honest, before our conversation, I knew nothing about the tattoo market before this conversation, so this was certainly an eye opener for me and an insightful conversation.You can follow Tyler @tyler_handley. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired Tyler personally is Endurance by Alfred Lansing. One book that inspired Tyler professionally is Good to Great and Built to Last.On this episode I ask Tyler -What attracted you to entrepreneurship?What led you to founding Inkbox? What problem were you trying to solve?How were you able to measure if this was a real need?In the early stages, how did you think about your target audience?How did you approach building your supply chain in the beginning?What led you to fundraising?How did you approach fundraising?Early on, what were some of the tough questions from investors?Do artists apply to be Inkbox?We spoke before about how you did a rebrand, in the beginning you were trying to be a tech company you didn't have deep brand guidance. Talk to me about that pivot and if you could give an example of trying to be too tech in the beginning.Talk to me about the $2.5 million investment to release a new product. Talk to me about why that was so important.How has COVID affected Inkbox? How has your strategy changed?Talk to me about the future of Inkbox. What are you most excited about?What's one piece of advice that you have for folks looking to start a B2C type business?

We have a few Office Hours / AMAs coming up -> https://theconsumervc.com/events/Kanyi Maqubela is a Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. Kindred Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital fund, whose mission is to back visionary and dedicated founders who want to solve the most important problems and vastly improve people’s lives around the world. Some of their investments include Uber, Poshmark, Otis and Blue Bottle Coffee.Prior to Kindred, Kanyi was a Partner at Collaborative Fund and co-founded Heartbeat Health. He previously ran growth at One Block Off the Grid and was an early employee at Doostang. Kanyi has also served as a Lecturer and Adjunct at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, a curriculum adapted from his time as a student at Stanford University. This was an amazing conversation about Kanyi’s journey both as a founder and investor, his mission and what he looks for from founders. Without further ado, here’s A couple of books the inspired Kanyi are The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn and Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy by William Janeway. A book that inspired him personally is I highly recommend following Kanyi on Twitter @km. You can also visit his website Kanyi.me to read his articles and listen to some of his other interviews. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Some of the questions I ask Kanyi - What compelled you to drop out of Stanford, founding Doostang and what initially attracted you to technology and entrepreneurship? What were some of the mistakes you made as an entrepreneur? What compelled you to switch to the other side and become an investor? How has venture capital changed? How has venture capital and domain expertise changed? How do you filter inbound opportunities and your due diligence process?What are qualities that a founder needs to have or milestones a company needs to reach in order for you to be interested? What do you most pay attention to when analyzing an opportunity and what do you pay least attention to? For entrepreneurs building a company in a market that may not exist yet, how should they think about market sizing?CoronaVirus is very top of mind. Has this impacted how you invest? Are you more focused on current portfolio companies rather than new investments?How are you adjusting to new work protocols?Is it harder to establish conviction in founders since you are meeting them remotely rather than in person?Has COVID changed how you think about investing in fully distributed teams or teams that are located in secondary markets?How should founders think of pivoting at the early stages? Can founders pivot too quickly?What’s some advice for founders that live in secondary and tertiary markets? Or maybe simply don’t have a network of VCs?What are some consumer trends that you are focused on?Has CoronaVirus changed how you invest at Kindred?Are you starting to see discrepancies in valuations?Are VCs starting to pull back in order to focus on their current portfolio companies?What’s one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?What’s one company on your anti-portfolio?What’s your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?

Our guest today is Catharine Dockery founder of Vice Ventures. Vice Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital fund conquering stigmas and striving towards superior returns by investing in good companies operating in "bad" industries. Investments include early stage startups from non-traditional verticals including, cannabis, alcohol, CBD, e-sports, addiction recovery, sextech, and others. Some of her investments include Recess, Lucy and Player's Lounge. It was great chatting with Catharine about vice categories since we haven't covered too much of those categories, so without further ado, here's Catharine.You can follow Catharine on Twitter @vice_ventures. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.One book that inspired her personally is The Elegance of a Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. One book that inspired her professionally is The Hard Things about Hard Things by Ben HorowitzIn this episode you will learn -What attracted her originally to startups and investing?What compelled her to start Vice Ventures and the opportunity that she saw?Since there is a vice clause in VCs, is it harder to invest as a syndicate?Her diligence process.Founder qualities that she focuses onHow she judges if a founder is honest?The future of the nicotene industry.I know another focal point is alcohol and I’ve read a few articles about how Americans are drinking less booze. How she is perceiving that macro industry and what do you look for in founders that are building disruptive alcohol brands?How is she seeing the cannabis market?One of the big topics, especially during these times is eSports, which is another area that you focus in. How is she seeing the eSports market develop?How has COVID affected how she looks at new deals?Is it harder to establish conviction in a founder when she is talking remotely?Is she focusing more on the portfolio vs. new deals?How has she been affected by remote work?Is she more comfortable investing in companies that are fully distributed?What’s one piece of advice for founders that are building vice-type businesses?

This is my first compilation episode. I typically ask every guest what is one piece of advice he/she may have for B2C founders? I've pulled together a few that hopefully can be helpful to folks that are founders or are looking to found. Below are the investors featured and the minute marks on the episode when they share their thoughts if you'd like to jump around.Kiva Dickinson - 1:45Gautam Gupta - 4:10Nicole Quinn - 4:47Rishi Garg - 5:44David Wu - 6:28Charles Hudson - 9:03Caitlin Strandberg - 10:15Michael Duda - 11:53Paul Martino - 15:01Lee Hower - 16:00Arie Abecassis - 17:25Natalie Dillon - 18:28

Our guest today is Nadine Habayeb, CoFounder & CEO Bohana. Bohana is a popped water lily seed snack brand that believes in a free-spirited snacking.Thank you Madeline Keulen for the introduction!You can follow Nadine on Twitter @Nadinodxb. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.comOn book that inspired her personally is Sell Your Specialty Food: Market, Distribute, and Profit from Your Kitchen Creation by Stephen Hall. One book that inspired her professionally is Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil KnightIn this episode we discuss -What initially attracted Nadine to entrepreneurship and led her starting Bohana?The early days of Bohana. Did she do any market research to see if popped water lily seeds would be something that folks in the U.S. would want to buy? What was the insight? How did she approach the supply chain? Why did she choose to go direct to farmer? Why was investing in the brand so important from the very beginning? How did she think about distribution and price? When did she find product-market fit?Was there a moment when she had the assumption of thinking your target demographic was this specific type of person - interests/age, etc. where when you came to market, it turns out it was actually a different demographic or consumer profile that was loving the product? Once she was able to make a wedge in the market, how did she expand outward from her initial customer base? How did she approach fundraising? What made her consider fundraising?What made her apply to Shark Tank? How was that experience? How has COVID affected her strategy and company? What’s the future of superfood snack food in the United States?What is one piece of advice for early founders?