Our guest today is Diana Melencio. Diana manages the entire XRC Ventures investment process across three investment vehicles – Accelerator Fund, Brand Capital Fund, and Opportunity Fund.

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter:

https://www.theconsumervc.com/

Our guest today is Dayton Miller, Managing Partner at BFG Partners. BFG Partners help entrepreneurs build exceptional businesses that deliver sustainable growth and outperform competitors in the better-for-you food, beverage, and consumer products space. Their investments include Olipop, Athletic Greens, Caulipower, and Bobo’s. We discuss the inflection points at seed, series A, and Series B in today’s market, categories he’s excited about in consumer today, ozempic, operations metrics, and his time as an entrepreneur building Function Drinks from scratch to $20 million in sales.

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is George Milton & Erin Link, Founders of YellowBird Foods a Modern Hot Sauce business.

We discuss:

• How did they get into Whole Foods?

• How did they also get into Walmart?

• How did their approach to retail expansion?

• How did they approach branding and positioning for Yellowbird

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is Amrit Richmond, Founder of Indie CPG since 2019, and has also joined SecureCPG recently

We discuss:

• What gives a food and drink brand accusation energy?

• What are the different profiles of the acquire today?

• Why acquire emerging brands?

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is Samyr Lainé, an Olympian, an amazing operator who worked with Jay-Z's, Will Smith and Jada Pickett Smith who is now the founder of Freedom Trail Capital.

We discuss:

• How he trained for the Olympics while being a full time law student

• Working at Monumental Sports (owners of the Washington Capitals and Wizards)

• Shifting towards the MLS

• Getting the email that Jay-Z was looking for someone to help run his businesses

• All of Jay-Z's businesses

• His view on how brands can collaborate with talent

• Why he left to work for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's Westbrook

• His thesis behind launching Freedom Trail Capital

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is Matt Weiss, Founder & CEO at RIND Snacks

Matt is the CEO of RIND Snacks, a sustainable fruit snack brand. He has over a decade of experience in the natural food industry and previously worked in investment research. Matt is also known for his advocacy in community and environmental causes, founding a nonprofit that helped establish a park in lower Manhattan.

We discuss:

• We discuss the inspiration behind creating a brand and a product that focuses on the peels of a fruit

• How did he first get into retail?

• Why he was part-time with it for two years? 

• What was kind of the moment that he switched to doing it full-time?

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is Ben Lerer. Ben Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. Lerer Hippeau is a venture capital fund based in New York who were early investors in Warby Parker, Glossier, and Topicals. He also founded Thrillist, an online media website website back in 2004 and was former CEO of Group Nine Media until it was acquired by Vox Media.

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is Fan Bi, Founder & CEO of Hedgehog

Fan Bi is the Founder & CEO of Hedgehog. He founded, grew, and exited many eCom + store menswear brands. He has been in DTC eCommerce for over 13 years. 

We discuss:

• How was Fan was introduced to entrepreneurship and what things he found compelling about man's fashion?

• What multiples were used for early-stage digital brands?

• Why he started Hedgehog?

• What to make of the current market and how do you see it in the future?

Thank you to our Partner –– Propeller Industries – https://www.propellerindustries.com/

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

Our guest today is Sarah Woelfel, Co-Founder & Partner at Cult Capital. She combines her zeal for investing with her affection for cult consumer brands. Their investments include Supergoop!, Babo Botanicals, and Lawless Beauty. Prior to CULT Capital, Sarah served on the investment team at Audax and as an I-banking analyst at Deutsche Bank.

-----------

Thank you to our partner Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

She leads the day-to-day operations and long-term strategy for Belgian Boys and is bringing European treats like Belgian waffles, brioche french toast, crepes, and other delicious delights to the American home. They are now in over 8,400 stores including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods.

Thank you to our partner Propeller Industries

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies.

We discuss:

• Anouck’s journey from fashion to joining her husband in starting a food CPG company

• How they first got into retail

• What it was like years of bootstrapping

• How they landed KIND snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky’s venture firm Camino Partners as investors

• Why they pivoted from frozen food to refrigerator food and much more.