Consumer VC

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.Hiring agencies is risky, most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-beloved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, social, and more at preferred rates.Jared Stein is co-founder of Monogram Capital, which closed its third fund last year at $350 million. Monogram invests across consumer, but unlike most firms in the space, it backs thefactories, ingredient suppliers, and service businesses underneath the brands as much as the brands themselves. Olipop, Archer, and Chewy sit in the same portfolio as a 330,000 squarefoot aseptic beverage plant the firm built from the ground up.

Josh Wand joins the podcast to discuss the origins of Founderland, which has become of the marquee events in CPG.Josh Wand, co-founder of Family Fund and Founder Community, sits down with Mike Gelb to break down his approach to ecosystem building. They discuss the strategic collaboration with his partner Sean and why the CPG industry needed a dedicated space like Founderland to facilitate real connections between operators.Subscribe to Consumer VC for more conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of consumer.

"We're going to make soup in a pouch. Hear me out."That's how Chris Jane pitched his sister Jennifer on what became Proper Good. They launched in April 2020, scaled DTC through the pandemic, got a Shark Tank deal with Mark Cuban, and then did something almost no emerging brand does: skipped the natural channel entirely and launched national in Walmart.In this episode, Chris breaks down why that decision made sense on the math, what it took to get a Walmart buyer to underwrite a five to seven year category rebuild, and why the health claims that drove sales online actively hurt them in the aisle. Plus the oatmeal test that killed one of their own brand pillars.Chapters0:00 Intro0:46 Launching a brand in April 20204:11 Montana Mex and building with his sister9:09 Where Proper Good came from15:08 Shark Tank19:32 Why Walmart was the first retail swing24:20 Competing with Campbell's on price26:24 When health claims hurt sales32:35 Raising from family offices38:12 The brand pillar we made up43:51 Taking the Walmart data everywhere else53:46 Biggest win, biggest mistake, and one piece of advice📬 Subscribe to Consumer VC for more conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of consumer. 👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Israel's next breakout wave isn't coming from B2B. It's being built in consumer.

Most people think of Israel as a cybersecurity and enterprise tech powerhouse. Danny Cohen and Oren Charnoff are betting that the country's next defining chapter is being written by consumer founders, and they're building Sticker Ventures to back them.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Danny and Oren, co-founders of Sticker Ventures, to unpack why Israel is quietly producing world-class consumer companies, how Israeli founders approach distribution differently than their American counterparts, and why they believe the next decade will see more massive consumer exits out of Israel than the previous twenty combined.

They discuss the military-to-startup pipeline that shaped Israel's innovation culture, why Israeli consumer founders are obsessive about unit economics from day one, how AI is creating a new wave of vertical consumer opportunity, and why the US market is almost always the first and primary target, even for founders who've never set foot there.

Danny and Oren also share how they came together as co-founders (including the friction that almost kept them apart), their conviction that distribution-oriented founders win, and why they're seeing a surge of physical brand companies entering their pipeline right now.

You'll learn:

✅ Why Israel has always been a consumer powerhouse, not just B2B

✅ How Israeli founders use a "quantitative hedge fund" approach to marketing

✅ Why unit economics matter more than growth at all costs at the early stage

✅ How companies like Resident Mattresses outcompeted Casper and Purple

✅ Why AI creates more consumer opportunity, not less

✅ How the Israeli military network translates directly into startup success

✅ Why 98% of Israeli consumer companies target the US market on day one

✅ What Sticker Ventures looks for in pre-revenue founders

✅ Why 1 in 5 new companies in Israel last year was a consumer business

✅ The missed investments Danny and Oren wish they could get back

If you're a founder, investor, or operator curious about where the next generation of consumer innovation is coming from, this episode delivers a rare inside look at Israel's emerging consumer ecosystem.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:11 Why Israel dominates in tech and startup innovation

03:33 Oren's perspective as an immigrant founder in Israel

04:53 Israel's consumer moment; it's not new, it's accelerating

06:31 How Resident Mattresses beat Casper and Purple

08:10 How Sticker Ventures thinks about marketing spend vs. ROI

09:50 Why unit economics matter more than growth at all costs

10:02 Why Israeli companies go US-first from day one

11:55 Balancing profitability and growth at the early stage

14:16 How to build conviction in pre-revenue companies

23:41 Balancing consumer tech vs. physical inventory businesses

25:22 Why distribution-oriented founders win

28:06 How AI is changing consumer behavior and opportunity

29:28 Why vertical AI products will outlast generic platforms

31:35 The gap Sticker Ventures is filling in Israel's VC landscape

33:02 Why Israeli founders build world-class global consumer companies

35:15 Misconceptions Israeli founders have about the American consumer

37:49 How Danny and Oren came together, including the conflict that shaped them

41:16 Fund size, check sizes, and investment strategy

42:46 Bringing American capital into Israeli consumer deals

44:16 Why the US is almost always the first target market

45:17 Companies Danny and Oren wish they had backed

47:30 One takeaway about Israel and consumer you need to know

48:36 Books that have shaped Danny and Oren personally and professionally

52:16 Closing thoughts

📬 Subscribe to Consumer VC for more conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of consumer. 👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Follow Mike Gelb:

Twitter/X: @mikegelb

Instagram: @consumervc

TikTok: @consumervc

The future of consumer health is being built right now.

Consumers are becoming the CEOs of their own healthcare. From GLP-1s and peptides to protein, wearables, functional foods, and preventative wellness, entire industries are being reshaped by changing consumer behavior.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Nicolas McCoy, Managing Director of Whipstitch Capital, to unpack the biggest trends driving consumer health, food & beverage, supplements, wellness, and M&A. Nick spends his time analyzing what separates niche brands from the companies that break into the mainstream and get acquired.

They discuss why better-for-you products continue to outperform, how GLP-1 adoption is changing consumer spending habits, the rise of peptides and hormone optimization, why protein isn't slowing down anytime soon, and what strategic buyers are looking for in today's market.

Nick also shares his framework for evaluating brand headroom, explains why profitability matters more than ever in consumer M&A, and breaks down how founders should think about timing an exit.

You'll learn:

✅ Why consumers are becoming the CEOs of their own healthcare
✅ How GLP-1s are changing food, supplements, and wellness
✅ Why better-for-you products continue to outperform the market
✅ The future of peptides, hormones, and preventative health
✅ How investors evaluate brand headroom and acquisition potential
✅ Why some brands successfully cross from natural to mass retail
✅ The growing role of wearables in consumer health
✅ Why protein is still growing and where it goes next
✅ How strategic buyers think about acquisitions today
✅ What founders should know before trying to sell their company

If you're a founder, investor, operator, or simply curious about where consumer health is headed over the next decade, this episode is packed with data, trends, and practical insights.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
01:11 Consumers becoming the CEOs of their healthcare
06:07 The state of consumer M&A today
09:48 Why profitability matters more than ever
12:09 How to know when to sell your company
13:51 Understanding brand headroom
17:11 Which retail channels create the most value
20:00 Crossing from natural to mass retail
24:30 The K-shaped consumer economy explained
27:45 Why lower-income consumers are adopting health trends faster
29:13 The surprising growth of injectable health products
32:40 RFK Jr., MAHA, and peptide awareness
34:42 The future impact of GLP-1 adoption
37:26 Protein's next phase of growth
39:24 The future of peptides and personalized health
42:17 Why injections are becoming more mainstream
44:31 The rise of gummies as a supplement format
48:19 Women's hormone health opportunities
51:31 Mental health, wellness, and consumer behavior
53:23 Are founders selling because they want to or have to?
54:36 Is the consumer market back?
57:06 The growing role of private equity in CPG
59:23 The evolution of billion-dollar consumer exits
01:01:17 Why more capital is flowing into consumer brands
01:02:13 Categories Nick is watching closely
01:07:51 Personal experiences that shaped Nick's career
01:11:15 Closing thoughts

📬 Subscribe to Consumer VC for more conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of consumer 👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter/X: @mikegelb
Instagram: @consumervc
TikTok: @consumervc

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.

Hiring agencies is risky. Most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-loved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, and more — at preferred rates.

Free for Consumer VC listeners → https://thehiddengems.com/

Most venture capitalists have never actually built companies.

Tony Conrad did both.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Tony Conrad, Partner at True Ventures and one of the earliest investors behind companies like Blue Bottle Coffee, Sweetgreen, Madison Reed, Modern Animal, WordPress and more. Before venture capital, Tony spent a decade at Danone before leaving corporate life to build startups during the earliest days of Silicon Valley’s internet boom.

Tony shares what it was really like living through the dot-com crash, why he believes AI is creating another major market correction and the lessons founders keep ignoring when it comes to fundraising, valuations, and building sustainable companies.

The conversation goes deep into founder psychology, venture incentives, why most investors get founders wrong and how Tony evaluates companies before there’s even product-market fit.

He also breaks down:

- Why he instantly invested in Blue Bottle

- The danger of overheated seed valuations

- Why most founders choose the wrong investors

- The real role of storytelling in fundraising

- What separates iconic founders from everyone else

- Why “fast money” creates long-term pressure

- How AI is reshaping both enterprise and consumer investing

- Why he still believes consumer is massively underrated

You’ll learn:

✅ Why Tony left Danone for Silicon Valley startups

✅ What the dot-com crash taught him about AI today

✅ The founder traits most investors overlook

✅ Why inflated valuations hurt founders later

✅ How True Ventures thinks about ownership and returns

✅ Why Blue Bottle was an obvious bet for him

✅ The difference between scalable venture bets vs angel investing

✅ Why founder-investor alignment matters more than valuation

✅ How to know if you have the right investors around the table

✅ Why consumer investing always comes back

👉 If you’re a founder, operator, or investor trying to understand how great companies are actually built across multiple cycles, this episode is packed with hard-earned lessons.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:00 Leaving Danone for Silicon Valley

04:00 Why tech felt more exciting than CPG

05:30 The early days of startup investing

08:00 Moving to San Francisco during the internet boom

10:00 Lessons from the dot-com crash

13:00 Is AI in a bubble right now?

15:00 How Tony joined True Ventures

17:00 Building startups while investing simultaneously

20:00 The burnout of being both founder and VC

22:00 Why Tony loves four-wall retail businesses

23:00 The Blue Bottle investment story

27:00 How True Ventures makes investment decisions

29:00 Why being a generalist investor matters

32:00 Angel investing vs venture investing

34:00 What “venture-scale” really means

35:00 The one mistake Tony hates making

36:00 How to identify the right founders

39:00 Why founders shouldn’t rush fundraising

41:00 The danger of inflated valuations

45:00 What founders should look for in investors

47:00 When founders should step aside as CEO

50:00 Balancing founder support with LP responsibility

51:00 Lessons from building About.me

55:00 Why digital identity still matters

56:00 Why consumer investing is underrated

58:00 AI infrastructure vs AI applications

01:00:00 Consumer AI opportunities Tony is excited about

01:02:00 Investing in competing companies

01:05:00 The problem with mega funds

01:07:00 Lessons from Slack & Stewart Butterfield

01:08:00 Favorite books & leadership lessons

01:11:00 AI, job displacement & optimism for the future

01:14:00 Final thoughts

📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:

👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Follow Mike Gelb:

Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.

Hiring agencies is risky. Most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-loved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, and more — at preferred rates.

Free for Consumer VC listeners → https://thehiddengems.com/

Most founders won’t do this.

They’ll hold onto their first product… even when it’s clearly not working.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Michelle Razavi, Founder & CEO of Elavi, the fast-growing better-for-you snack brand known for its protein brownies and desserts.

Michelle shares how she went from working 16-hour days at Sephora and Equinox to building a breakout CPG brand, why her first product line failed, and how a bold pivot into a completely different category unlocked massive growth.

From protein bars → dessert spreads → protein brownies, this is a story of constant iteration, brutal decision-making, and understanding what consumers actually want.

The conversation also dives deep into retail strategy, why Costco can completely change a business overnight, and how to build a profitable CPG company in a market where “growth at all costs” no longer works.

You’ll learn:

✅ Why your first product is probably wrong

✅ When to kill a product (and why most founders don’t)

✅ How one retail partnership can change everything

✅ The real economics behind retail, margins, and cash flow

✅ Why profitability matters more than hype growth today

✅ How to use in-store demos to understand your customer

✅ Why simple packaging outperforms “good branding”

✅ The biggest mistakes founders make when fundraising

✅ How AI is becoming a real operator inside CPG companies

✅ Why building in public is now a competitive advantage

👉 If you’re building a consumer brand, this episode is a raw, honest look at what actually works.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:00 Working 16-hour days before starting

03:00 The problem with protein snacks

05:00 Building products at home

07:00 Launching right before COVID

10:00 Losing in-person sampling overnight

14:00 Why the first product didn’t scale

18:00 Finding product-market fit with a new category

22:00 Killing the original product line

27:00 The “permissible indulgence” thesis

31:00 Launching protein brownies

35:00 Getting into Costco

39:00 How Costco changed the business

43:00 Retail strategy: profitability first

47:00 The dangers of bad retail deals

51:00 Channel strategy & cash flow realities

55:00 Cold outreach that actually worked

59:00 Why demos matter more than you think

01:03:00 Packaging that converts instantly

01:07:00 Fundraising mistakes founders make

01:11:00 Why chasing investors doesn’t work

01:15:00 Building a profitable vs hype-driven business

01:19:00 Founder-led brands and social media

01:23:00 Using AI as an operator

01:27:00 Burnout and founder resilience

01:32:00 Final lessons

📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:

👉 https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Follow Mike Gelb:

Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.
Hiring agencies is risky. Most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-loved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, and more — at preferred rates.

Free for Consumer VC listeners → https://thehiddengems.com/

Building a food brand through DTC sounds great.

Until you realize… it might not actually work.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Krishna Kalyan, Founder of Catalina Crunch, the high-protein, low-sugar cereal brand that went from a personal health experiment to a multi-million dollar business sold in major retailers.

Krishna shares how being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes forced him to rethink everything he ate, why he spent years eating eggs before creating his own cereal, and how a simple Venmo from a friend turned into the start of a company.

They break down the realities of building a food brand from scratch, why DTC doesn’t always work for low-price products, and how Catalina Crunch scaled through retail instead. The conversation also dives deep into product development, functional foods, category expansion, and the balance between taste and nutrition.

You’ll learn:

✅ Why DTC is hard for food brands (and when it works)
✅ The real economics of shipping low-cost products
✅ How Krishna validated demand before scaling
✅ Why retail became the core growth channel
✅ The importance of word-of-mouth in grocery
✅ How to balance taste vs function in CPG
✅ Why most “functional” products don’t actually deliver
✅ How to think about trends vs fads (keto, protein, etc.)
✅ The right way to expand SKUs and categories

👉 If you’re building a food or beverage brand, this episode is a real look at what actually works beyond the DTC hype.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
01:00 The problem with DTC food economics
02:00 Krishna’s diabetes diagnosis
05:00 Changing diet and lifestyle
07:30 Getting tired of eating eggs
08:00 Why cereal became the focus
10:00 Experimenting with protein ingredients
12:00 The first “aha” business moment
14:00 Realizing the market opportunity
17:00 Launching online from his kitchen
19:30 Early demand and validation
22:00 Scaling beyond a home kitchen
24:00 Raising capital from angel investors
27:00 The original DTC strategy
29:00 Why DTC didn’t work long-term
32:00 The shift to retail
34:00 Getting into Whole Foods
37:00 What actually drives shelf velocity
40:00 Expanding into new categories
43:00 Managing complexity in CPG
46:00 The time he almost quit
49:00 Building in-house manufacturing
52:00 Taste vs function trade-offs
56:00 The rise of functional foods
59:00 Trends vs fads (keto, protein)
01:03:00 Rebranding Catalina Crunch
01:06:00 When to follow trends vs ignore them
01:09:00 Book recommendations & final thoughts
01:12:00 Outro

📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:
👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Follow Mike Gelb:
Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.

There's a lot of bull$#!+ in the Agency landscape. That's why Founders and Executives of brands both big and small trust: The Hidden Gems. They provide the most optimal boutique Agencies to conquer any brand goals with top quality and efficiency. Brands get preferred rates. Can't lose. They’re supporting the growth of incredible brands like Dr. Squatch, Monster Energy, Gorilla Mind, Saatva, and many more. David Drexler (founder) has agreed to provide the service for FREE forever to anyone in the Consumer VC community or mentions Consumer VC.

Get Started Here –> thehiddengems.com

Early-stage consumer investing sounds glamorous. But according to investor Manica Blain, the entire venture structure behind it might actually be broken.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Manica Blain, founder of Top Knot Ventures and former co-founder of Campfire Capital. She raised one of the first dedicated early-stage consumer funds and helped back brands like FIGS and Cotopaxi. Today she invests her own capital and works directly with founders building the next generation of consumer brands.

Manica shares why she stepped away from the traditional venture fund model, what she believes is fundamentally misaligned about the GP-LP structure, and why investing your own capital can create a very different relationship with founders.

They also discuss what actually makes a consumer brand successful, why slower growth can sometimes be healthier than viral success, and the real traits she looks for in founders building enduring brands.

You’ll learn:

✅ Why Manica believes early-stage consumer VC may be structurally broken

✅ The hidden misalignment between GPs and LPs in venture funds

✅ Why some investors make more from management fees than investing

✅ The alternative investing model she built with Top Knot Ventures

✅ Why founders should be able to “fire” their advisors

✅ Why slow growth can signal stronger consumer brands

✅ The metrics she looks for before investing $1M–$5M stage companies

✅ Why she stopped investing in food & beverage entirely

✅ How loyalty and retention signal real brand strength

👉 If you're building a consumer brand—or thinking about raising venture capital—this episode offers a candid look at how the investment side actually works.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:05 Manica Blain’s investing journey

03:00 Why she started writing on Substack

05:15 Her first major portfolio exit

07:30 What makes founders who actually win

09:30 Is early-stage consumer venture broken?

12:30 The GP-LP structure problem

17:30 Why investor “skin in the game” matters

20:05 Why VC carry structures can create misalignment

23:30 The management fee problem in venture funds

27:00 Are SPVs a better investing model?

31:20 Why Manica refuses to run SPVs

34:00 Why VC fund structures pull investors away from founders

37:20 Building Top Knot Ventures with her own capital

41:00 How she structures advisory relationships with founders

44:20 Why founders must be able to fire advisors

48:00 Why slow growth can actually be a good sign

52:00 What makes a truly sticky consumer brand

55:00 Why she stopped investing in food & beverage

57:00 The future of beauty and wellness investing

📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:

👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc

This episode is brought to you by The Hidden Gems.
Hiring agencies is risky — most overpromise and underdeliver. The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-beloved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, social, and more — at preferred rates.

They’ve supported brands like Dr. Squatch, Monster Energy, Gorilla Mind, FIGS, and Saatva.

David Drexler is offering his service free forever to anyone in the Consumer VC community who mentions the show.
Learn more: https://thehiddengems.com/

Early-stage consumer investing sounds glamorous.

But according to investor Manica Blain, the entire venture structure behind it might actually be broken.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Manica Blain, founder of Top Notch Ventures and former co-founder of Campfire Capital. She raised one of the first dedicated early-stage consumer funds and helped back brands like FIGS and Cotopaxi. Today she invests her own capital and works directly with founders building the next generation of consumer brands.

Manica shares why she stepped away from the traditional venture fund model, what she believes is fundamentally misaligned about the GP-LP structure, and why investing your own capital can create a very different relationship with founders.

They also discuss what actually makes a consumer brand successful, why slower growth can sometimes be healthier than viral success, and the real traits she looks for in founders building enduring brands.

You’ll learn:

✅ Why Manica believes early-stage consumer VC may be structurally broken
✅ The hidden misalignment between GPs and LPs in venture funds
✅ Why some investors make more from management fees than investing
✅ The alternative investing model she built with Top Notch Ventures
✅ Why founders should be able to “fire” their advisors
✅ Why slow growth can signal stronger consumer brands
✅ The metrics she looks for before investing $1M–$5M stage companies
✅ Why she stopped investing in food & beverage entirely
✅ How loyalty and retention signal real brand strength

👉 If you're building a consumer brand—or thinking about raising venture capital—this episode offers a candid look at how the investment side actually works.

Timestamps00:00 Intro
01:05 Manica Blain’s investing journey
03:00 Why she started writing on Substack
05:15 Her first major portfolio exit
07:30 What makes founders who actually win
09:30 Is early-stage consumer venture broken?
12:30 The GP-LP structure problem
17:30 Why investor “skin in the game” matters
20:05 Why VC carry structures can create misalignment
23:30 The management fee problem in venture funds
27:00 Are SPVs a better investing model?
31:20 Why Manica refuses to run SPVs
34:00 Why VC fund structures pull investors away from founders
37:20 Building Top Notch Ventures with her own capital
41:00 How she structures advisory relationships with founders
44:20 Why founders must be able to fire advisors
48:00 Why slow growth can actually be a good sign
52:00 What makes a truly sticky consumer brand
55:00 Why she stopped investing in food & beverage
57:00 The future of beauty and wellness investing

📬 Subscribe for more founder stories & scaling insights:👉 The Consumer VC Newsletter – https://www.theconsumervc.com/

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Follow Mike Gelb:Twitter / IG / TikTok → @mikegelb / @consumervc