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

Hey there -

My guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is Monique Woodard, Managing Partner at Cake Ventures. Cake invests in companies that address the needs of a world undergoing massive demographic changes.

Monique describes her three themes (or rather three layers of a cake) as:

* An aging population

* Increased spending power of women

* The changing technology consumption habits

One of the most impactful takeaways from our conversation is how changing demographics can lead to incredible investment opportunities.

You can listen on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here, Google Podcasts Here.

🙏 Thank you Samara Hernandez for the intro to Monique!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theconsumervc.com/subscribe

Hey there -

My guest today on the podcast is Sara Deshpande, Partner at Maven Ventures. Maven Ventures is a consumer focused micro-fund that focuses on investing in seed stage companies. Some of their investments include Zoom, Wild Type, AngelList and Nuggs.

What I most enjoyed about this conversation was looking at what types of businesses were being built on top of Zoom and opportunities in Telehealth.

Some of the other topics we touch on:

* Learnings from fund 1 to fund 3

* Benefits to having a concentrated portfolio

* How do you access pain points and opportunities

* Has COVID affected how you invest

You can listen Here on Apple Podcasts, Here on Spotify, Here on Google Podcast, and most podcast distribution platforms.

Thanks for reading and listening!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theconsumervc.com/subscribe

Hey there -

My guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is Morgan Hirsh, CEO and founder of Public Goods. Public Goods is your one stop shop for healthy, sustainable, everyday essentials you can trust.

In this episode we talk about Morgan’s approach to entrepreneurship and why he decided to focus on household products. What I think makes this conversation special is learning is why Morgan decided to build a multi-category brand instead of focusing on a single category.

We also discuss -

* What led Morgan to leave Canada and come to New York City

* What sustainability really means

* Investor reaction to his focus on breath and not depth

* His approach to leadership

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here, Google Podcasts Here and other podcast distributers.

I hope you enjoy listening. Thank you Rick Desai for the introduction.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theconsumervc.com/subscribe

Hi there,

It was amazing having Alexandra Fine, founder of Dame Products, on the podcast! Dame creates fun toys for intimacy and is helping to bridge the pleasure gap.

Before my brief summary of today’s episode, I wanted to tell you about our event that’s happening today. Yes, it is happening today. It’s not an April fools!

Upstream Meetup Today (4/1) at 4pm ET / 1pm PT

Mike Duda is our speaker at today’s Upstream event. Mike is one of the founding Managing Partners at Bullish. Bullish were early investors in Peloton, Harry’s, Warby Parker and Sunday Lawn.

We’re going to do Q&A for the first 20 minutes, then 1on1 matching for 10 minutes.

If you haven’t been before, come on out! It’s a fun time to learn and meet new people.

Click here to RSVP

Episode #118 - Alexandra Fine, Founder/CEO of Dame Products

On today’s episode on The Consumer VC podcast, I was so excited to chat with Alexandra Fine, founder/CEO of Dame Products. They were also named one of the most innovative wellness companies in 2020 by Fast Company.

On this episode we explore:

* How she started making vibrators

* Why sexual products should be normalized and not taboo

* Why Dame Products is suing NYC’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority

* The pleasure gap

* Marketing strategies for women’s health products

We touch on a-lot of areas that haven’t been explored yet on the show. Alex was the first founder I’ve had on the podcast that is building a women’s sexual health company. The strategies she’s implemented to reduce the stigma of women’s health are eyeopening.

You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts Here, Spotify Here, Google Podcasts Here and other podcast distributers.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy listening.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theconsumervc.com/subscribe

My guest today is Alex Fine ( https://twitter.com/afinehuman ) , founder of Dame Products ( https://www.dameproducts.com/ ). Dame is the home of phenomenally fun toys for adults, that helps people to upgrade their self care with toys for sex. They were also named one of the most innovative wellness companies in 2020 by Fast Company. We touch on alot of areas in both sexual wellness and femtech that have been traditionally heavily stigmatized and her journey guiding Dame to amazing heights.

Some of the questions I ask Alex

* Let's start at the beginning. What attracted you to entrepreneurship and sex therapy?
* What was the insight that led to Dame?
* How did you start creating vibrators?
* What was the process of testing, finding women to test the product. Was there any hesitancy to sample since they were putting the vibrators under their labias?
* When did you realize this could be a business?
* How did you approach marketing and brand?
* How did you think about the competitive landscape in the vibrator category?
* How do you think about product extensions and launching new products?
* What are some of the hurdles or challenges you've had to face?
* What was your fundraising strategy?
* What's the most surprising thing you've done and thought you'd never do as a founder?
* What's one thing you'd change regarding the fundraising process?
* What's one book the inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
* What's the best piece of advice that you've received?
* What's one piece of advice for founders?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theconsumervc.com/subscribe