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

Our guest today is Elly Truesdell, Founder & Managing Partner at New Fare Ventures. a venture capital fund centered on the modern eater and evolving American palate. Some of the investments include Made By Nacho, Mid-Day Squares, Foxtrot and Tacombi. We discuss her time at Whole Foods, how she ended up meeting Bobby Flay and founding Made by Nacho, why she wanted to start a fund and how she thinks about investing in food and retail.Some of the questions I ask her:Were you always into nutrition and buying food from natural channels? What was your role at Whole Foods? What is the global director of local brands and product innovation?What has to go right for a brand to get into Whole Foods?Why did you decide to leave to become the CEO of Canopy Foods?What attracted you to investing?Co-packers is the #1 issue - can’t scale because they don’t have What led you founding Made by Nacho?How did you meet Bobby Flay?What was it like working with an iron chef who is used to restaurants and creating these incredible dishes vs. starting a CPG brand?Why did you found New Fare? What’s the origin story? What attracted you to venture capital?Why is there room in consumer investing and CPG? Is there a statistic that you keep coming back to?What causes a trend to have it’s moment?Upcycled ingredientsEasy to entry - what’s it like fundraisingHow do you think about portfolio construction?What are some of the trends in consumer that you’re really excited about?How do you approach portfolio construction?How do you think about vertical integration?***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000. Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.

Our guest today is Annie Kadavy, Managing Director at RedPoint Ventures. Redpoint partners with exceptional entrepreneurs starting at the earliest stages of the climb some of her investments include Tend, Shash, and SIlk & Sonder. We discuss her introduction to entrepreneurship building in her garage, tiptoeing the line throughout her career between operator and investor, the business models she’s intrigued by and investible in her opinion. Without further ado, here’s Annie.We discuss:Building products in her garageHow she founded BetterSitterBecoming a GP at CRV VenturesHow she invested ClassPass, DoorDash, PatreonWhat it was like working at UberWhy she joined RedPoint Ventures***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.

Our guest today is Chris Ashenden, Founder & CEO of Athletic Greens and AG1. AG1 is the world’s most comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition product in green powder form. We discuss:Why he founded Athletic GreensApproach to formulationHow he met Tim FerrissHow he built relationships with customersScaling onlineCreating a subscription business and new consumer habitWhy he bootstrapped to $150m in revenueWhen it made sense to fundraise***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.

Thank you Luke Vernon for the intro to our guest today Davis Smith, Founder & CEO of Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi builds gear that fuels both outdoor experiences and global change.We discuss:Why he founded digitally native businessesFounding businesses with his cousinThe mission behind CotopaxiHow he was able to raise capitalEarly approach to promotion for CotopaxiThe differences between Cotopaxi and PatagoniaHow he grew the brandWhy he shut down his store in San Francisco***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.

Today’s guest is Matt Higgins, Founder and CEO of RSE Ventures. RSE is a private investment firm that focuses on sports and entertainment, media and marketing, food and lifestyle, and technology. Most recently he wrote the book “Burn The Boats”, which is a counterintuitive formula for a life of perpetual growth can find a link in the shownotes to get your copy. Some of their investments include Vaynermedia, Milk Bar, Magic Spoon and Banza. We discuss:Why he pivoted his career from the public sector to the private sectorWorking for the NY Jets and DophinsHow he met Gary Vee & why he invested in VaynermediaHis thoughts on direct to consumer brandsWhy he likes investing in restaurantsPickleballWant to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.Want to keep up to date with The Consumer VC? Subscribe to my newsletter Here.

Our guest today is Josh Cliffords, Founder & CEO of FreeWater. FreeWater is exactly what you think it is. FreeWater. Where they give away water and make money on selling ads on the bottle. We discuss the origin story of FreeWater, the economics of an ad-based physical product business, how he approached his distribution and finding sponsors, reactions to him building FreeWater, other products he wants to move into. Without further ado, here’s Josh.***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.

Our guest today is Sean Riley, co-founder and CEO of DUDE Wipes. DUDE Wipes makes flushable wipes—billions of 'em—assembled right here in the USA. DUDE is bootrapped, only taking outside investment of $300k from Marc Cuban on SharkTank and are set to do $90 million this year in sales. We discuss his entire journey from the aha moment up until scaling the brand.***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for everyoneWith aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options.If you agree, sign-up for their waitlist at aventure.vc. aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform, http://aventure.vc. aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status. Mike is a paid spokesperson for aVenture and is compensated $6,000.