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

Sophie Bakalar is the founder of Fable, an e-commerce pet store help pets (and their humans) lead healthier, happier lives through better design. She is also a Venture Partner at Collaborative fund, a seed stage fund that focuses on the growth of the creative class and the concept of collaborative consumption. Some of their investments include Reddit, Impossible Foods, Tala, Lyft, and Kickstarter. Previously, Sophie a credit trader in a hedge fund and started a B2B and founded digit charts, a company specializing in image processing software for charts, which was acquired in 2016. You can follow Sophie @sophiebakalar. If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow me @mikegelb and @consumervc. A book that impacted her personally is The Overstory by Richard Powers. A book that impacted her professionally is Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough What attracted her to startups and venture capital? What were some of her learnings as the founder of di8it chart that transferred and influenced on the other side of the table as a venture capitalist? What attracted her to Collaborative fund and early stage investing? What excites her about consumer investing? What Consumer insights is she most focused on? How does she think about the future of retail? When she was full time at Collaborative fund, what are some qualities that she liked to see from founders? What are consumer trends that she focused on in today’s landscape? How does she think about D2C brands in the current era with online acquisition costs continuing to rise since there is so much competition for SEM and Facebook ads? What led her to founding Fable? What is something that she would change when it came to venture capital? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?

Sumeet Shah is the Portfolio Support Associate at Swiftarc Ventures. Swiftarc Ventures is an early- and growth-stage venture capital firm mainly focused on North America-based consumer brands making major economic and social disruptions. Prior to Swiftrc, Sumeet was a Principal at Brand Foundry Ventures and has coached hundreds of founders on their investor decks and fundraising strategies. I had so much chatting with Sumeet as we discuss the 4th generation of retail, what is wrong with venture capital, and his due diligence process. I’d like to thank Sumeet personally as well as he has been vital to the growth of this podcast. So without further ado, here’s Sumeet. You can follow Sumeet on twitter @PE_Feeds and his website Le Cinq, If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow me @mikegelb and @consumervc. On this episode you will learn - What attracted Sumeet to head into venture capital and what made you switch your focus from Biomedical engineering? Swiftarc’s thesis and focus and how the fund came together. His due diligence process when evaluating consumer startups and some qualities that you like to see from founders? How does he measure good growth vs bad growth? When should a startup optimize for profitability rather than growth? Does he think in this era of the DTC channel and low barrier of entry to start a brand and the more choice than ever for the consumer in brand that this is the golden age for brands? Consumer trends that he is most focused on in today’s landscape? What makes New York’s startup ecosystem an ideal place to be, especially in terms of consumer? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish he did? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?

Jason Stoffer is a General Partner at Maveron. Maveron is a premier consumer focused fund that invests in seed and Series A companies that empower consumers to live on their terms. Some of Maveron’s investments include Everlane, Allbirds, General Assembly, eBay, and Coursehero. Jason is focused on investing in education, e-commerce, and technology-enabled consumer businesses. Jason Stoffer was an early Board member at zulily. He sourced Maveron's investments in, and currently serves on the boards of General Assembly, Julep, Lively and Dolls Kill. He also led several of Maveron's most promising seed investments, including CourseHero, Everlane and Peach. Jason Stoffer was formerly a member of the advisory board of the Lumina Foundation’s Next Generation Learning Initiative. He is also a mentor for TechStars. Previously, he was a board member of Startl, an education incubator. You can follow Jason on Twitter @jstoffer. You are welcome to follow along behind the scenes @mikegelb and @consumervc. One book the inspired Jason personally is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and one book that inspired him professionally is Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter. In this episode you will learn - What attracted Jason to startups, technology and venture capital? Why the focus on consumer, what attracted you to invest in purely consumer companies at Maveron?How he thinks about early momentum and traction? What makes investing in consumer companies difficult? When does a company need to have product market fit? What are some qualities in first time founders that he looks go? What’s the Maveron founder scorecard? How he analyzes mediocre markets and why he’s a fan of  the Warren Buffet quote “When a great team meets a mediocre market, only the market maintains its reputation” strong markets.” What has changed in how he invests throughout the years? How does he think of the term “Founder Friendly” and what has happened with WeWork changed anything on his view. Qualities his diligence process when analyzing founder-market fit? What are consumer trends that he is focused on in today’s landscape?  How does he think about D2C brands in the current era with online acquisition costs continuing to rise since there is so much competition for SEM and Facebook ads? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is your most recent investment and why is he excited about it? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish you did? What is one piece of advice that he has for founders of consumer companies?

Jordan Nof is a Managing Partner and the Head of Investments at Tusk Venture Partners, where he oversees all aspects of the firm’s venture capital investment practice and is a member of the Investment Committee. Jordan has led many of the Fund’s capital investments including Lemonade, Bird, Alma, and Sunday. He currently serves on the board of directors of Alma and Sunday. Prior to Tusk Venture Partners, Jordan spent six years as a Director at Blackstone, where he focused on the development of the firm’s corporate venture capital portfolio. During that time, Jordan focused on investing in early-stage technology companies that could accelerate operations across Blackstone and the firm’s underlying portfolio companies. He led Blackstone’s first real estate technology investment and worked within the Innovations team to execute investments in financial technology and cyber-security startups. You can follow Jordan on Twitter @jordannof. A book that inspired Jordan both personally and professionally is Zero To One by Peter Thiel In this episode, you will learn - What made Jordan leave Blackstone in order to go into Venture Capital with Tusk? Tusk’s thesis and why they invest in regulated industries. The difficulties when it comes to investing regulated industries and the Tusk advantage? What makes him excited about investing in consumer companies in today’s landscape? What are some consumer verticals that he is most excited about and are ripe for disruption? At the early stage when a company doesn’t have a lot of data, what are some qualities that he look for in a founder? When does a company need to find product market fit in their fundraising stage? How he thinks about the future of regulation in certain industries? How do you think about good growth vs. bad growth today? Does he think Nike announcing that they are not selling on Amazon a big deal? What is something that you would change when it came to venture capital? What is his most recent investment and why is he excited about it? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?

Eamonn Carey is the Managing Director at Techstars London. Techstars is a global seed accelerator and worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed and is currently in over 150 countries worldwide. Some of their alumni include Classpass, Pillpack, and Contently.He was previously MD at Techstars Connection in partnership with AB InBev in New York, and has been a long term mentor, advisor and angel investor in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US. In the past, Eamonn started, succeeded and failed with several startups in Europe and the Middle East - including Farmvillain - an app which some described as the 'South Park of Facebook'. A book that impacted Eamonn professionally is The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande and one that impacted him personally is A Third Plate by Dan Barber. In this episode, you will learn - What attracted Eamonn to startups, entrepreneurship and then move to the other side of the table to investing? What are the advantages for startups being part of Techstars London? How is London’s ecosystem is different from New York and the bay area? What is his due diligence process like, what are some of the qualities that you look for in founders and determining founder-market fit? What are some metrics that he pays attention in the diligence process and how do you determine if you’ve found product market fit? What is different about London’s ecosystem compared to maybe The bay area or New York? He also sources deals for Zeroth which is a Hong Kong based accelerator. What trends are looking at since you’re quite global? What is his view of remote working? How he thinks about consumer trends in different markets and how consumer companies are expanding to different markets? Consumer verticals that he is excited about or focused on for expansion in Asian markets? What are some of the difficulties when investing in consumers? Has today’s landscape with round sizes booming changed how he invests? He wrote about how raising too much money can kill you, how does he think about good growth vs. bad growth in a startup? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that is part of his most recent cohort and why did you invest? What is one company that he had the opportunity to invest in, didn’t, and in retrospect wish you did? What is one piece of advice for founders of consumer companies?

Greg Bettinelli is a partner at Upfront Ventures. Upfront Ventures is a Los Angeles early-stage venture capital fund has been integral to the LA emerging tech ecosystem, with investments including GOAT, Bird, Parachute Home and Ring. Prior to Upfront, Greg was the CMO for LA-based HauteLook, EVP of Business Development and Strategy at Live Nation and held a number of leadership positions at eBay, including Sr. Director of Business Development at StubHub. He is Mr. #longla and we talk about how LA’s ecosystem has evolved, how he thinks about founder-market and product-market fit and much much more. It was simply terrific chatting with Greg, so without further ado, here is Greg. You can follow Greg @gregbettinelli If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes of the show, you can follow me @mikegelb and @consumervc. For all episodes, please visit theconsumervc.com. A book that impacted Greg is Moneyball by Michael Lewis On this episode you will learn: What attracted Greg to the world of venture capital and startups from his impressive career at eBay, Stubhub, Live Nation, and Hautelook? What were some of the learnings, working at these tech companies that have influenced you as an investor? What are some of the differences when investing in consumer vs. enterprise? Why do you focus on investing in consumer and what makes you excited about consumer in this current investment landscape? What’s the average check size at Upfront ventures and what stages does he focus on? What are some metrics that you focus on in your due diligence? How does he evaluate if a company has found product-market fit? How does he approach founder-market fit? How does Greg think about good growth vs bad growth? What was the Los Angeles venture capital and startup scene like when he started investing and the transformation?Why is Los Angeles becoming such a hotspot for consumer companies and innovation? What are some consumer trends that he is most excited about? How important is it where you are based geographically as an investor since you have lots of different online communication options and are able to invest in different parts of the world? What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one company that you either invested in or worked with that you are proud of?What is one company that is on his anti portfolio? What is one piece of advice that you have for founders of consumer companies?

Our guest today is Paul Martino, Managing Partner of Bullpen Capital, an early-stage, post-seed venture fund investing in technology companies that have been funded by super-angels and institutional seed funds. Some of their portfolio companies include FanDuel, Namely, Ipsy. Prior to founding Bullpen, Paul was a serial entrepreneur of companies including Ahpah Software (a computer security firm acquired by InterTrust); Tribe (one of the world’s first social networks), and Aggregate Knowledge (a big data advertising attribution company acquired in 2014 by Neustar). He is the holder of over a dozen core patents covering social networking and big data.He was also an active angel investor and personally invested in the first rounds of Zynga, TubeMogul, and uDemy. One book that impacted Paul professionally is Play Bigger by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, and Christopher Lockhead. One book that impacted him personally is The Burden of Bad Ideas by Heather MacDonald In this episode you will learn: Why Paul became an entrepreneur? Why he ended up on the other side of the table and switched to venture capital? Why it’s important for investors to have operational experience? Why investing at the post seed stage is an arbitrage opportunity? What are some of the challenges when investing in consumer vs. enterprise? Should founders be aware of signaling risk? What should founders be asking venture capitalists that are looking to invest? What is his diligence process and how does he analyze founders and opportunities? When should a founder switch from optimizing to profitability from growth? What makes the Philadelphia ecosystem interesting? One thing you would change when it came to venture capital? How does he feel about the cold email? What his latest investment is and why he’s excited about it? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies You are welcome to follow along behind the scenes @mikegelb and @consumervc

Anna Barber is the Managing Director of Techstars - Los Angeles. Techstars is a global seed accelerator and worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed and is currently in over 150 countries worldwide. Some of their alumni include Classpass, Pillpack, and Contently. Previously, Anna has experience as a corporate lawyer, McKinsey consultant, product executive and entrepreneur in ed tech, retail and e-commerce. For all founders in the Los Angeles area, applications to be part of Techstars LA Accelerator 2020 cohort are open! You have until April 5th 2020 to apply. Click Here To Apply Three books that inspired Anna personally and professionally are Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna and Why We Buy by Paco Underhill. On this episode you will learn - Why Anna became an investor in Tech? What is the criteria for startups looking to apply to Techstars accelerator? The three different phases in the Techstars 12 week program. What are some qualities she looks for in founders and founding teams? Why engagement metrics are so important. Why in the early stages, CAC/LTV is not an important metric. “The Pied Piper Effect”. If you have a better name, she’s all ears. Why is investing in consumer so challenging? What are some of the consumer trends that she’s most excited about? Why consumer is not formulaic. Why it is such an exciting time to be in the Los Angeles tech ecosystem? What are some of the reasons why a Techstars alumnus startup might fail to raise the next round? What’s one thing she would change about venture capital? Tips how to reach out to venture capitalists You can follow Anna on Twitter @annawbarber. You are also welcome to follow along behind the scenes @mikegelb and @consumervc

Mike Ghaffary is a General Partner at Canvas Ventures, one of the premier thesis-driven early-stage venture capital funds in San Francisco that invests in Fintech, Digital Health, Marketplaces, and New Enterprise. Prior to Canvas, Mike was a General Partner at Social Capital and as an angel investor, some of his investments include Strava, Skip Scooters, Pocket, Philz Coffee, Atrium, and Superhuman. He also has 10 years of operating experience as CEO of Eat24, VP Business and Corporate Development at Yelp, Director of Business Development at TrialPay, and co-founder of Stitcher and BarMax. And before that, Mike started his investing career at Summit Partners. For this episode, we talk quite extensively about evaluating marketplaces. Mike has written a few articles on the subject, the one we touch on is “Where I’m Investing and 15 Marketplace Questions”. Two books that have impacted Mike professionally and personally is Give and Take by Adam Grant and Drive by Daniel Pink You can follow Mike on Twitter @newmike for updates. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates. On this episode you learn - What attracted Mike to working in startups and becoming a founder? How important having operational experience is? What’s makes him excited to invest in consumer tech in this current climate? What is a marketplace? An overview of the advantages of marketplaces. What marketplace founders need to consider when identifying and building marketplaces? Cross-side and same-side network effects & negative network effects. How important is having your own unique distribution? Evaluating switching costs. Online customer acquisition costs for both supply and demand. The current outlook of online CAC in today’s climate. One thing he would change about venture capital. How an entrepreneur should think when a venture fund says they need a lead investor in order to invest? ...and much much more! If you would like to follow along you can click “Subscribe” on the Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com and follow Mike on Twitter or Instagram

Leah Solivan is General Partner at Fuel Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on consumer, SaaS, and cloud infrastructure companies dedicated to giving outsiders the inside edge through unrelenting commitment, authenticity, and hustle. Some of their investments include Bark, Flexport, Crowd Cow. Previously, Leah was the founder and CEO of Taskrabbit, which was acquired by IKEA. You can follow Leah on Twitter @labunleashed.You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates. A book that impacted you personally and professionally is Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston On this episode, we discuss: Why Leah left her job at IBM to start Task Rabbit? Her learnings from founding Task Rabbit and why she became a venture capitalist? Some of Fuel Capital’s strategic advantages and what makes Fuel unique? The differences when analyzing consumer vs. enterprise businesses. Qualities in founders that she is focused on. How do you know when a company know they have found product-market fit? When should a company have product-market fit in relation to the fundraising round? How she thinks about traction and milestones. In a pitch deck, an element that’s very important but often overlooked. When a fund says they need a lead investor, does it automatically mean bad news for the founder? How she thinks about online customer acquisition costs in today’s landscape? Consumer trends she’s focused on? One thing she would change about venture capital and advice for consumer startups.