Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter about venture capital and consumer startups delivered straight to your inbox. If you aren’t subscribed, come and subscribe below.

Hey There,

Our guest today on The Consumer VC is Brian Reilly, co-founder of Will Ventures.

Will Ventures is a venture capital fund that focuses exclusively on leveraging the power of sport to shape the future. We don’t talk about investing in sport-related businesses that much on the podcast, so this episode was quite refreshing.

In this episode you’ll learn about:

* Moments in Brian’s life that impacts how he invests

* Why he’s bullish on sports-centric businesses

* How COVID has changed the way he invests

* Why he decided to first create a sports innovation lab before raising a fund

You can listen on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here and most other podcast players.

Thanks for listening!

Hey There,

Our guest today on The Consumer VC is Sandy Gibson, founder of Better Place Forests.

Better Place Forests is America's first conservation memorial forests. Instead of graves and tombstones, families choose a private, protected family tree to return their ashes to the earth together.

We don’t typically talk about death on the show, so by default this is one of the most unique conversations I’ve had. We discuss:

* The impact of Sandy’s childhood on Better Place Forests

* How BPF secures land

* Examples of how customers plan their memorials

* Sandy’s approach to leadership & hiring

* How he measures impact

* Managing an enterprise sales model in a consumer company

You can also listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here, and other podcast distribution channels.

Thank you Adelle Archer for the introduction!

Hey there,

My guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is Ben Zises, founder of SuperAngel.Fund. SuperAngel.Fund is an early stage rolling fund investing in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work companies.

Ben was one of the first investors in quip, Caraway and Arber.

On this episode we dive into:

* The differences between a rolling fund and a traditional venture capital fund

* How he thinks about building a consumer company now vs. early 2010s

* How to analyze founders and companies when you are the first check

* Takeaways as a founder of a PropTech company

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming an LP in SuperAngel.Fund, you can subscribe Here.

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here and other podcast distribution channels.

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter about venture capital and consumer startups delivered straight to your inbox. If you aren’t subscribed, come and subscribe below.

My guest today is John Gannon, founder of GoingVC. GoingVC is a VC career accelerator. John designed the program to help folks break into venture capital by directly connecting motivated VC job seekers with VC firms.

If you are interested in heading into venture capital and want to understand what skills are important, this episode is for you.

We also touch on:

* How venture capital has changed over the past 15 years

* His approach to cohort based learning

* The consumerization of enterprise and the enterprization of consumer products

* Specialized vs. generalists funds

* His evaluation process when investing

You can also listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here, and other distribution channels. Thanks for tuning in!

Hey there,

Our guest today on The Consumer VC is Justin Kolbeck, CEO of Wild Type. Wild Type is on a mission to create the cleanest most sustainable seafood on the planet, starting with salmon.

After I watched Seaspiracy, I wanted to learn more about the current state of the ocean and sustainable seafood alternatives to traditional fishing. I reached out to Justin on LinkedIn and in this conversation he does an amazing job of teaching me. In this episode, you’ll learn:

* His mission and inspiration when founding a business

* How the price of Wild Type’s fish compares to normal fish

* The process for creating cell based foods

* Why he decided to start with salmon

* Fast feedback loops for testing product

* Approach to fundraising

You can listen on Apple podcasts Here, Spotify Here, and other distribution channels.

Thank you for listening!

Hey there,

Our guest on today’s episode of The Consumer VC is Steven Sashen, co-founder and CEO of Xero Shoes.

Xero Shoes produces lightweight minimalist footwear designed for walking, running, and athletics.

I first found out about Xero Shoes from one of Peter Attia’s podcast episodes on the evolution of the foot.The next day, I purchased my first pair of Xeros. They have been my go-to shoe for running, walking and hiking for the past 8 months.Steven is also the second founder I've had on this show whose business was inspired by the book "Born to Run". The first was Daniel Gluck.In this episode we cover:- The difference between minimalist and zero drop- The history of running shoes in the past 60 years- What sustainability means and doesn’t mean- Sourcing issues and why supply chains all end up back in China- Testing distribution channels in the early days

You can also listen on Apple podcasts Here, Spotify Here and other podcast distribution channels.

Thanks again for listening!

Hey there,

Our guest today on The Consumer VC is Ariel Kaye, founder of Parachute.

Parachute is a high end bedding company that is designed in LA, manufactured in Italy and delivered directly to you. My favorite part of my time with Ariel was learning about the insight that led her to create a bedding brand.

We also discuss:

* Her approach to sourcing fabric at the very beginning

* How she describes her customers

* Wholesale vs. direct to consumer models

* Why she decided to open her own store

* The impact of the pandemic

* Her retail predictions in a post-COVID world

You can listen on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here and other podcast distribution platforms.

Thanks for listening!

Hey There,

Our guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is Lindsay Kaplan, co-founder of Chief. Chief is a private network focused on connecting and supporting women leaders. Previously, she was part of Casper’s founding team and led communications and brand engagement.

In this episode you’ll learn:

* What it was like scaling Casper

* What led her to think about starting a professional network for women

* Who Chief is for and what focus really means

* Pivoting to digital during COVID and the opportunities it presented

* The difference between raising a seed round vs. Series A

* Why she decided to become a for-profit entity instead of a non profit organization

If you ever wanted to learn about the inner-workings of professional networks, this is the episode for you. It’s the first of its kind for the podcast and was such a fun, engaging conversation.

You can also listen on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here and other podcast distribution channels.

Thank you Mike Duda for the introduction and appreciate you all listening!

Hey There!

Our guest today on The Consumer VC is Kate Shillo Beardsley, Partner at Hannah Grey. Hannah Grey is a first check venture fund investing in founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life.

It was really fun chatting with Kate. We went down a lot of fun rabbit holes like -

* What could we learn from Martha Stewart?

* New York VC and startup scene in the late 2000s/early 2010s

* Why founders are artists

* How she views DNVBs today vs. 10 years ago

* Products for creators

* How VC and startup hubs have changed

You can listen on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here and other podcast distribution networks.

Thank you Samara Hernandez for the introduction!

As always, thanks for listening,

Mike

Hey friends,

Today’s Consumer VC podcast episode is with Mark Gainey, the founder of Strava.

Strava is the #1 app for runners and bikers and is THE destination to record any activity.

In this conversation we talk about -

* How Mark's passion for sports compelled him to start Strava

* Why he decided to first focus on bikers

* How to get specific with your target demographic

* His approach to building community and scale

* Some of the differences building a consumer software business vs. enterprise

You can also listen on Apple Podcast Here, Spotify Here, and other distribution channels.

Thank you Mike Ghaffary for the introduction.