Consumer VC

By Mike GelbBusiness Investing

Consumer VC episodes

January 16, 2020Paul Martino (Bullpen Capital) - What it Means to be a Contrarian Investor, The Arbitrage Opportunity at Post Seed, and Founders That Have Chips On Their Shoulders
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
38 min
January 13, 2020Anna Barber (Techstars) - What makes the Los Angeles Tech Ecosystem So Special, Breakdown of Techstars Accelerator Program, Tips on How to Reach Out to Investors
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
30 min
January 13, 2020Anna Barber (Techstars) - What makes the Los Angeles Tech Ecosystem So Special, Breakdown of Techstars Accelerator Program, Tips on How to Reach Out to Investors
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
41 min
January 09, 2020Mike Ghaffary (Canvas Ventures) - How to Evaluate Online Marketplaces, Why This is a Contrarian time to Invest in Consumer
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
41 min
January 09, 2020Mike Ghaffary (Canvas Ventures) - How to Evaluate Online Marketplaces, Why This is a Contrarian time to Invest in Consumer
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
41 min
January 06, 2020Leah Solivan (Fuel Capital) - The Importance of Passion, When a Company Should Have Product-Market Fit, and What Founders Should Pay Attention To In Their Pitch Decks
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.
34 min
January 06, 2020Leah Solivan (Fuel Capital) - The Importance of Passion, When a Company Should Have Product-Market Fit, and What Founders Should Pay Attention To In Their Pitch Decks
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.
34 min
December 19, 2019 Will McClelland (Elizabeth Street) - The Changing of Retail on High Streets, How to Analyze Competitive Advantages, ROI on Consumer Companies
Will McClelland is the Co-founder and Partner of Elizabeth Street Ventures, an early stage investment firm focused on the digital consumer and next generation brands that improve daily life. He is also the Co-founder of Bambike, a family business that builds bamboo bicycles and operates eco-tourism activities in the Philippines.
One book that impacted Will personally is The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and one book that impacted him professionally is Pioneering Portfolio Management by David Swensen
You can follow Will on Twitter @data_01. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.
On this episode you will learn -
1. What attracted Will to invest in startups and transition his career in investment banking and hedge funds to co-founding a bamboo bicycle company and early stage investing? When evaluating startups, does it help when you are the target consumer? How Elizabeth Street came together? Why consumer could be its own asset class?
2. What’s the difference when having a family office as a partner rather than a venture capital fund? The growth expectations for consumer companies. How he looks at the DTC landscape currently and how the funding model has evolved? What Elizabeth Street’s check size? What qualities Will looks for in founders? What types of qualities does he look for in a founder?
3. When should a founder know when they have found product-market fit? How Will thinks about market sizing. How he thinks about investing in digitally native brands today when online marketing and online customer acquisition costs are becoming so expensive? Consumer trends that Will is focused on.
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
56 min
December 19, 2019 Will McClelland (Elizabeth Street) - The Changing of Retail on High Streets, How to Analyze Competitive Advantages, ROI on Consumer Companies
Will McClelland is the Co-founder and Partner of Elizabeth Street Ventures, an early stage investment firm focused on the digital consumer and next generation brands that improve daily life. He is also the Co-founder of Bambike, a family business that builds bamboo bicycles and operates eco-tourism activities in the Philippines.
One book that impacted Will personally is The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and one book that impacted him professionally is Pioneering Portfolio Management by David Swensen
You can follow Will on Twitter @data_01. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.
On this episode you will learn -
1. What attracted Will to invest in startups and transition his career in investment banking and hedge funds to co-founding a bamboo bicycle company and early stage investing? When evaluating startups, does it help when you are the target consumer? How Elizabeth Street came together? Why consumer could be its own asset class?
2. What’s the difference when having a family office as a partner rather than a venture capital fund? The growth expectations for consumer companies. How he looks at the DTC landscape currently and how the funding model has evolved? What Elizabeth Street’s check size? What qualities Will looks for in founders? What types of qualities does he look for in a founder?
3. When should a founder know when they have found product-market fit? How Will thinks about market sizing. How he thinks about investing in digitally native brands today when online marketing and online customer acquisition costs are becoming so expensive? Consumer trends that Will is focused on.
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
56 min
December 16, 2019Mike Duboe (Greylock) - Learnings as Head of Growth at Stitch Fix & Tilt, The Importance of Saying No, and Analyzing Health of Acquisition
Mike Duboe joined Greylock Partners in 2018 and leads investments in commerce, marketplaces, and consumer more broadly. Previously, he led growth at Stitch Fix, Tilt, and others and has created, scaled, led growth teams from Series A through IPO across a span of businesses. Greylock Partners is one of the oldest venture capital firms, founded in 1965. Some of their investments include Facebook, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Instagram, RedFin, Pandora and many many more.
Two books that impacted Mike were Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and The One Thing by Gary Keller
You can follow Mike on Twitter @mduboe. You are also welcome to follow your host @mikegelb and @consumervc for updates.
In this episode you will learn -
What attracted you to leave consulting in order to pursue working on growth at startups? Lessons learned as head of growth at Stitch Fix and Tilt? The reason why Mike switched from being an operator to investor? How Mike thinks about online customer acquisition costs in today’s landscape? When should a founder make his/her first growth hire?

How does a consumer company know when they have found product market fit? In the early stage, during the pitch, what do you like to see from founders when there isn’t much data to go on when evaluating opportunities? How he thinks about health of acquisition and customer acquisition costs?

What are some of the challenges when evaluating consumer businesses? What are some consumer trends and opportunities that he is most excited about?

What is something that he would change when it came to venture capital? What is one piece of advice that Mike has for founders of consumer companies?
36 min

About Consumer VC

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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…