Consumer VC

My guest today is Mike Ghaffary who is a partner at Canvas Ventures, a firm that specializes on leading Series A. Some of their investments include Flyhomes, Nubrakes, and Zola. This is Mike’s second time on Consumer VC and is our first second time guest. His first appearance we went deep on how to evaluate and invest in marketplace businesses. On this episode, we discuss what is the next big thing in consumer after the iPhone? Is it web3, metaverse, remote work applications or something completely different?

This is a recap episode of my conversation with Greer Terrler and Cara Kaufman, founders of Simple Food Ventures. Simple Food Ventures is an early stage venture firm that invests in the future of healthy foods and products. We discuss how they both began investing in better for you products, do they only invest in better for the planet or better for you, and what makes a product work on shelf.

This was our first LIVE episode, which we recorded at Cosmic Coffee & Beer Garden in Austin, TX during SXSW. I chatted with Jason Karp, Founder of Hu Kitchen, Hu Chocolate and CEO of HumanCo. HumanCo is a holding company that’s invested in healthy living. We’re going to learn more about their brands Snow Days, Against the grain and Cosmic Bliss. We discuss the rebrand of Coconut Bliss to Cosmic Bliss and question if there is a current bifurcation within the better for you movement. Without further ado, here’s Jason.

Today’s highlight episode features Nagraj Kashyap, Managing Partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund one of the world's largest venture capital firms, with over $100 billion in capital. Nagraj leads their consumer investment practice for north America. It was amazing chatting with him about how Vision Fund 2 is different from fund 1, his thesis around the future of healthcare the ecommerce stack and how he thinks about scale for non-tech consumer businesses. WIthout further ado, here’s Nagraj.

Thank you Anna Whiteman for the introduction to our guest today, Sarah Foley, Partner at SWAT Equity Partners. SWAT Equity Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in emerging consumer brands across various product, service, and commerce sectors. Some of the investments include Supergoop!, Banza, and Mad Rabbit.

We discuss:

• Why invest in consumer right now
• Difference when investing in consumer vs. tech
• Consumer macro trends she’s bullish vs. bearish on
• The balance between retention and growth
• Her due diligence process and how she measures traction

Thanks for listening.

Our guest today is Brigette Wolf, VP and Global Head of SnackFutures at Mondelēz International. Mondelez International is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage holding company. Some of their brands include Oreo, Cadbury, Chips Ahoy, Ritz, and Tate’s Bake Shop. SnackFutures is Mondelez’s innovation and venture hub.

We discuss:

• When to partner with a corporate venture capital fund
• Her investment criteria and stage
• How tightly SnackFutures is tied to Mondelēz’s core business
• The ultimate goal when SnackFutures makes an investment
• What value add means
• Snack trends

Our guest today on the podcast is Ashley Hartman, Managing Partner at Bluestein Ventures. Bluestein Ventures is one of the premier family-backed venture capital fund in the food industry whose mission is to transform the food system into a better, more nutritious, and sustainable world. They invest at the Seed to Series A rounds and some of their investments include Factor, Meati, and Foxtrot.

We discuss:

• Why she became an investor in food
• Opportunities throughout the food value chain
• The difference in investing in food tech vs. brands
• When to vertically integrate
• How founders should approach their cap table
• The future of food

Our guest today is Vijen Patel, who is the co-founder of Pressbox (now Tide Cleaners) and The 81 Collection. Pressbox was a 24/7 dry cleaning and laundry service that Vijen bootstrapped to a very successful exit to P&G. The 81 Collection is a VC fund that focuses on the hard industries.

We discuss:

• Why he had no choice but to bootstrap his dry cleaning tech business
• His approach to scale and expanding to multiple cities
• How P&G tried to destroy his business
• Why he eventually sold to P&G and became CEO of Tide Cleaners
• The founding story of The 81 Collection
• Why investing in hardware is underrated

This is a recording of a live interview I did with Ty Haney last month in Austin, TX. Ty is most famous for founding Outdoor Voices, the technical apparel brand whose on a mission to get the world moving. My apologies in advance, we had a lot of technical issues on the day and the quality of the recording is not great. I really appreciate Ty for being incredibly open about her journey.

We discuss:

• The origin of Outdoor Voices
• Why she left OV and what went wrong
• Her introduction to crypto
• How she founded Joggy, a plant-based / CBD brand for activity
• Her platform TYB and why community-led brands are the future
• Scaling a digitally-native brand today & much more

Our guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is Jesse Pujji, Founder of Gateway X and Ampush. Gateway X is a venture studio and holding company founded by Jesse Pujji. Ampush is a growth marketing partner that crafts holistic strategies and executes throughout the funnel.

We discuss:

• Why he left Goldman Sachs to start a performance marketing company
• Why he was bullish on Facebook ads early on
• How early brands should approach social media marketing today
• The biggest mistakes companies make in customer acquisition
• What is a venture studio
• His process for incubating companies
• When to raise money vs. bootstrap
• Future of performance marketing