Consumer VC

By Mike GelbBusiness Investing

Consumer VC episodes

November 22, 2022Marcos Gonzalez (VamosVentures) - Why he left PE to start a VC fund that invests in minority-led businesses
Our guest today is Marcos Gonzalez, Founder & Managing Partner of VamosVentures. VamosVentures is committed to creating a pipeline of diverse VC investors. Their investments include Stix, DRNXSMYTH, and Suma.

We also discuss:
How he invests in both software and consumer businesses
Approach to portfolio construction
How to increase the number of diverse founders who are venture-backed
His diligence process
Why he’s bullish about Los Angeles
Latin American products that will be adopted by the U.S. & much more
Thank you for listening.
32 min
November 15, 2022Steve Case (AOL, Revolution & Rise of the Rest) - Why He's Optimistic About Innovation in Secondary and Tertiary American Cities
Thank you Tige Savage for the introduction to our guest today, Steve Case. Steve is the co-founder / former CEO of AOL. He also founded Revolution & Rise of the Rest. Revolution focuses on early-stage venture capital investments in technology-enabled businesses in the growth, venture and seed stages.
Rise of the Rest is a nationwide bus tour to work with entrepreneurs in emerging startup ecosystems. We focus this conversation around his latest book “The Rise of the Rest”.

We discuss:
What Steve did after he left AOL in the early 2000s
The origin of Revolution Ventures
What inspired him to found a bus tour
The most surprising lessons he’s learned when visiting non-obvious startup ecosystems
How Rise of the Rest’s seed fund is structured and how it’s performed
Why he’s optimistic about innovation in America
What leads to a vibrant entrepreneurial community & and much much more
Thank you for listening.
47 min
November 08, 2022Joe Welch (In Good Taste) – How you can make money in wine and why he left tech to found a beverage company
Thank you Connor Ryan for introducing me to our guest today, Joe Welch, Founder & CEO of In Good Taste.
In Good Taste allows you to explore the world of wine with their eight 6-ounce bottle wine flights.

We discuss:
Why he left tech to start a wine company
Can you make money in wine
His focus on packaging and what he set out to accomplish with In Good Taste
Zoom wine tastings during COVID
His approach to retail
Wine subscription businesses
Creating his own tasting locations
39 min
November 03, 2022Wayne Hu and Josh Constine (SignalFire) - The Current State of NFTs & Which Web2 media Platform is Best Positioned for Web3?
Our guests today are Wayne Hu (Partner) & Josh Constine (Venture Partner & Head of Content) at SignalFire. SignalFire is the first Venture Capital firm built from the ground up as a technology company.

We discuss:
The promises of the creator economy & how to invest in it
Which Web2 media company is best positioned for Web3
The current state of the NFT market
What is the metaverse
Where does venture capital fit into Web3 communities
What is the future of owning the connection to your audience & is it something different to email
44 min
November 01, 2022Ben Jones (Haus Labs by Lady Gaga) - Inside Lady Gaga's Beauty Brand
Our guest today is Ben Jones, CEO of Haus Labs by Lady Gaga. Haus Labs by Lady Gaga is Lady Gaga’s clean artistry makeup brand powered by innovation.
Here's some of the questions I ask:
How did you meet Lady Gaga and what was your first impression? and can you tell me about the founding story of what was originally Haus Laboratories? What was the reason she wanted to start a makeup brand?
Lady Gaga is one of the busiest celebrities in the world, touring the world, acting, and engaging in a number of activities. How does she engage and interact with the brand and team? What role does she play in the company?
There have been so many celebrity beauty launches in the last few years. Some may argue that the consumer could be a bit fatigued and incredulous of these types of brands. How does Haus Labs break the mold and cut through the celebrity brand launch noise?
Why did you decide to launch originally on Amazon? Why wasn’t that successful, what did you learn? Do you think you can build a brand on Amazon? Haus Labs originally decided to launch with Amazon and did not achieve the growth and success originally planned. This was a bold move at the time. (FYI Amazon is a great place to leverage brand awareness and scale but not the best to create it or brand build).
Do you thnk you’re original thesis about beauty correct?
Haus Labs quickly pivoted distribution to Sephora (now almost in 500 doors) and executed a full brand and product relaunch.
What did you learn from Sephora?
What are the lessons learned since the original launch and what is the future for Haus Labs 2.0?
Why did you change the name from Haus Laboratories to Haus Labs by Lady Gaga.
Why did you rebrand to be “clean”? What does that mean to you?
What are the challenges building an ecommerce brand?
Makeup has seen a major resurgence post Covid. How do you see the beauty industry continue to evolve? What trends and categories are most exciting to you?
Building community is so crucial to creating a successful beauty brand. How does Haus Labs leverage Lady Gaga’s existing community to drive product sales and build strong consumer loyalty in this category?
In a very challenging DTC environment, how is the company thinking about omni-channel growth? What is the role of DTC, if any, vs wholesale (Sephora, etc)?
What changed in their product or marketing as a result of learning from their users
What tech do they experiment with as a brand?
What are their role models when it comes to product and customer experience?
What’s one book that’s inspired you personally and a book that has inspired you professionally?
Shoe Dog
Save the Cat - storytelling
What’s one piece of advice for founders?
Don’t underestimate experience and pattern recognition
40 min
October 27, 2022Katlin Smith (Simple Mills) - How She's Building a Next Generation Food Company
Our guest today is Katlin Smith, founder and CEO of Simple Mills. Simple Mills are Clean, nutritious foods for a better life - it’s that simple. I’m a big fan of their products. We discuss the insight and inspiration behind founding Simple Mills, her approach to raising capital and picking the right investors, how consumer preferences have evolved since she first got started, her approach to nutrition and thinking about better-for-you products in general.
Some of the questions I ask:
What was the inspiration behind starting Simple Mills?
You built a large company without raising too much outside capital. What was your strategy and for someone starting a consumer brand today, what suggestions would you give them?
You’ve been able to grow your company to incredible heights. How have you thought about the shift in the number of brands that are focused on better-for-you products and people that have dietary restrictitions or sensitivities?
How has Simple Mills evolved to focus not just on people’s health, but also the planet’s health?
How has consumer preference evolved since you started?
How Simple Mills has evolved not just people’s health, but also planet’s health?
How do you think about your own process for creating your products and what are some of the changes you’ve had to make?
Conscious capitalism
How do you think about ingredient choice and sustainability?
How has your mission evolved?
As a consumer, how have your preferences changed when eating or deciding new products to try?
With conventional and natural grocery blurring, how do you approach your retail strategy?
There are lots of narratives when it comes to nutrition and what is and what isn’t good for you. What’s one aspect that you think might be overlooked or misunderstood that’s your belief?
What were some lessons that you learned throughout your journey in the tough moments?
What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that has inspired you professionally?
All we can save - truth, courage
The Art of Possibility
What’s one piece of advice for founders?
What’s the best piece of advice that you received?
34 min
October 20, 2022Eze Vidra (Remagine Ventures) - Investing in Israel, Media, and the Metaverse
Our guest today is Eze Vidra, Managing Partner of Remagine Ventures. Remagine, focuses on a cluster of these interconnected sectors, specifically media, entertainment, sports, commerce and data. We discuss consumer tech investing in Israel, VR & AR, and different use cases when it comes to the metaverse. Without further ado, here’s Eze.
We discuss:
I know you’re very focused on Israel. Why has Israel thrived as an entrepreneurship center?
Since it is a small market, how do companies approach expansion? Do you see it more spreading into europe or U.S. or east?
What was your initial attraction to technology and entrepreneurship?
At what point did you become a venture capitalist and why did you no longer want to be an operator?
Why did you leave Google Ventures to start Reimagine?
Walk me through your due diligence process.
How do you evaluate opportunities?
Do you think of your selves more thematic or opportunistic?
What are some of the areas/categories that get you excited?
What are the biggest opportunities that are overlooked?
What is the current state of the creator economy?
46 min
October 18, 2022Abraham Shafi (IRL) - Building a community rather than an audience
Our guest today is Abe Shafi, co-founder and CEO of IRL. IRL is Your group messaging app where you can Chat, create polls, post photos, and coordinate plans with your friends. We discuss: The founding story of IRL and the original thesis, growth, how they had to pivot their strategy during COVID, the approach to fundraising and where the company is currently at. Without further ado, here’s Abe.
We discuss:
Why entrepreneurship?
Why did you want to create a consumer company?
What was the insight that led you to found IRL?
What were people using at the time?
What was the pain point you were initially trying to solve?
What was your approach to UI and organizing communities on your product?
How did you approach growth? What did success look like/what did you want a user to accomplish when they visited IRL?
During COVID, how did you have to pivot?
Despite the pivot, why do you think you became a unicorn in 2021 and raise money from Softbank?
What happened from that moment to now where you had to lay off 25% of your staff?
What’s this change in market conditions been like for your company?
With all of these transitions, what does community mean to you?
How do you build community and what’s different between a community and an audience?
Seems like community has become one of the main themes of Web3. How do you position IRL in a Web3 world that has this promise for different revenue streams for creators?
What is the future of rented platforms i.e. social media channels and channels you own i.e. email? Will these come together? How do you think about your own position at IRL?
How do you think about this transition from Web2 to Web3?
What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
Thích Nhất Hạnh
No such thing as stability
Hard Things About Things
Netflix “No Rules
The biggest piece of advice?
41 min
October 14, 2022Ashleigh Hinde (Waldo) - Building a brand with a product you can't see - contact lenses
Our guest today is Ashleigh Hinde, Founder and CEO of Waldo. Waldo makes daily contact lenses without the hassle or price tag. We discuss how she’s building a brand with a product that you can’t see, how she approaches e-commerce and retail, and why she founded a contact lens company in the first place.
Some of the questions I ask:
What was the insight or pain point you went through that led you to founding Waldo?
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
How much do contacts usually sell for? How did you think about pricing strategy?
How did you approach your supply chain/manufacturing?
On the price point / margin side
Efficient customer acquisition
So you think about sustainability and
It seems similar to what you are doing in contact lenses - making them more affordable, building a digitally native brand - it sounds similar to what Warby Parker did with eye glasses. What are some of the differences selling contacts vs. glasses?
How important is having buy-in from eye doctors for customer acquisition? Does their recommendation have a big effect on the customer on which contacts they should buy from? How do you approach partnerships?
How did you come to strike a big partnership with Walmart? Why?
What does the customer journey look like?
How do you build a brand with a product that you can’t see?
What was the geographical distribution strategy? Why did you start in the UK then come to the US and how do you think about the contact lens market from a global perspective?
How do you think about impact?
How do you think you’ve grown since founding Waldo?
What is the stickiness part of your business or how do you think about competitive advantages
How did you approach fundraising? What was the biggest reason why an investor would pass or make the investment? What was the bet?
What is one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
Professionally: The Hard Things About Hard Things
Personally: Designing Your Life
What’s the best piece of advice for founders?
32 min
October 11, 2022Mike Hirshland (Resolute Ventures) - The state of pre-seed & seed investing
Our guest today is Mike Hirshland, co-founder of Resolute Ventures. Resolute Ventures is a lead seed and “pre-seed” investor focused on backing and connecting a community of Founders who share an entrepreneurial spirit and energy. Some of their investments include Bark Box, Clutter, and Lumen. We discuss what pre-seed and seed investing is today, the opportunity within Web3, and how he builds conviction within founders. Without further ado, here’s Mike.
Some of the questions I ask
How did you enter venture capital?
What were some of the learnings from that
How did Resolute come together?
What got you interested in the seed stage?
How do you describe seed today?
10 financing in a year
How do you think about risk in this market?
Henrik Werdelin of BARK recently told Mike his "superpower is authenticity" which is what founders need now. What does that mean? Why is authenticity so important?
One of your big themes is community. What’s your approach to building community, why is it so important and why did you create the Resolute DAO?
How do you think about the opportunity within Web3? What are use cases that get you excited?
Emotionally support
Can we imagine a world where solving a problem
What parts of Web3 is investible?
How do you think about the current market/landscape?
What’s you diligence process?
What’s one thing you would change about venture capital?
What’s one book that inspired you professionally and one book that inspired you personally?
As It Is
25 min

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Consumer VC takes a look into early-stage consumer investing and venture capital. If you are interested in learning about consumer trends, have a b2c business and interested in learning about the…