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

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This Episode is Brought to You by Propeller Industries.

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies. Thinking about profitability, extending your runway, and improving efficiency in your operations? Managing your company’s finances requires multiple skill sets. Propeller’s fractional model offers a dynamic solution that provides a cost-effective alternative to hiring full-time finance talent.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Vanessa Larco, Partner at NEA. NEA is one of the largest and most iconic VC firms with $25 billion in committed capital. Vanessa started her career in the gaming industry, but doesn’t invest in gaming. Some of her consumer investments include Mejuri, Kindred and Greenlight.

We discuss:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:03:23 - Microsoft's Early Touch Screen Technologies

0:05:36 - Designing Surface Device Controls Without Mouse

0:09:11 - Xbox Connect Speech Recognition Evolution

0:14:33 - Innovative Technologies and Timing

0:17:12 - A-B Testing and Data-Driven Decisions

0:23:10 - Profitability and Growth in Different Industries

0:26:55 - Investing Across Different Categories

0:29:53 - Robinhood Revolutionizes Commission-Free Investing

0:36:33 - Identifying Winning Consumer Companies

0:54:15 - Venture Capital in Tech Innovation

You can also listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube

This Episode is Brought to You by Propeller Industries.

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies. Thinking about profitability, extending your runway, and improving efficiency in your operations? Managing your company’s finances requires multiple skill sets. Propeller’s fractional model offers a dynamic solution that provides a cost-effective alternative to hiring full-time finance talent.

Hi friends,

Our guest today is Osman Khan, CEO and Co-Founder of Squared Circles. Squared Circles, a consumer-focused venture studio incubating brands grounded in science and already launched three businesses. Magic Molecule, Algae Cooking Club and Freaks of Nature. The studio is committed to using bioscience IP with generative AI to create highly targeted product experiences

We discuss:

* What IP is valuable?

* How they partner with IP providers

* Constructing IP licensing deals

* What can be commercializable vs. not

* Consumer categories that are ripe for innovation

* How they use generative AI to craft brands

* The next stage for plant based products

* IP exclusivity & much much more

I hope you enjoy listening!

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. Brought to you by Propeller Industries.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Anouck Gotlib, CEO of Belgian Boys. Belgian Boys is bringing european treats like belgian waffles, brioche french toast, crepes and other delicious delights to the American home. They are now retailers like Walmart, Target, Whole Foods.

This episode is brought to you by Propeller Industries.

Propeller Industries is the leading strategic finance and accounting partner for venture-stage companies. Thinking about profitability, extending your runway, and improving efficiency in your operations? Managing your company’s finances requires multiple skill sets. Propeller’s fractional model offers a dynamic solution that provides a cost-effective alternative to hiring full-time finance talent.

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On today’s episode we discuss:

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

* How they first got into retail

* How they financed and grew their business during years of bootstrapping

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

* How they rebranded how they described Belgian Waffles to make the product more accessible to consumers

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

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Caleb Wang, CEO and Co-Founder MìLà – which produces authentic soup dumplings, chinese noodles and chef crafted sauces.

We discuss:

* Brief history of the soup dumpling

* Why his wife, Jen, and him first started a restaurant

* How that expanded to an ecommerce business

* Brand positioning & approach to marketing

* Why they eventually needed to raise capital

* Getting into retail and rebranding strategy

Hope you enjoy listening & Happy Holidays

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. The full transcript will be released on Friday to premium subscribers. Upgrade your subscription for full access.

Hey Friends,

Our guests today are David Wagner and Jesse Marble, Co-Founders of Wildwood Ventures. Wildwood Ventures is backed by VF corporation, a holding company whose portfolio includes iconic outdoor and activity-based lifestyle and workwear brands like Vans, North Face, Timberland, Dickies. Wildwood Ventures invests in consumer technology companies that make lives better.

We discuss:

* The origin of Wildwood Ventures and its relationship with VF Corp

* How they typically structure deals as an incubator

* The venture studio model

* How they position themselves as a new fund and approach sourcing

* Consumer technology they want to be part of & more

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers. Upgrade your subscription for full access.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Denise Lambertson, Managing Partner at Constellation Capital and Chairwoman & Founder of LMS, the influencer marketing agency. We actually didn’t get into the Constellation Capital / VC / Investing side for this episode, we ran out of time. We focused on the relationship between talent and brand and how that partnership could work and how it could not work.

We also discuss:

* How she became Madonna’s assistant & why she left the music industry after 6 years

* How she started working with celebrities and Fortune 500 brands

* Her shift to focus on emerging companies

* How talent thinks about business opportunities

* Relationship between talent x brand & more

📖 The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers.

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers. Upgrade your subscription for full access.

Hey Friends,

Today’s episode we focus on the wonderful world of consumer fintech and our guest today is Drew Glover, General Partner of Fiat Ventures and Founding Partner of Fiat Growth. Fiat Growth is a growth consultancy helping to scale some of the largest fintech companies out there - Chime, Lemonade, Copper. They decided to launch a VC fund that focuses on emerging fintech companies.

We discuss:

* His journey into fintech

* Creating marketing funnels for FinTech companies

* Transitioning into VC

* How to identify real problems in FinTech world, with a focus on access, saving money, earning money and building generational wealth

* How Gen Zers are thinking about money a little differently than millennials

📖 The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers.

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. If you aren’t subscribed, come and subscribe below.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Brian Fenty, Co-Founder & CEO of TodayTix. TodayTix is the digital gateway to live shows, arts, and cultural experiences.

We discuss:

* His introduction to Broadway & ticketing

* How Broadway initially tried to appeal to younger demographics and failed

* How TodayTix partners with theatres

* The threat of TicketMaster

* Why they didn’t pivot during COVID

* Their acquisition strategy & more

📖 The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers.

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. If you aren’t subscribed, come and subscribe below.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures. Index Ventures is a global firm that operates as one team across three offices (London, SF, NYC) and invests at all stages. Martin opened Index’s office in New York a couple of years ago.

We discuss:

* The future of urban transportation

* Will there be a European city that bans cars?

* Differences between investing in U.S.-based companies vs. European

* Why Index opened an office in New York City

* His approach to investing at different stages & much more

📖 The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers.

Welcome to The Consumer VC, a newsletter and podcast about venture capital and consumer. If you aren’t subscribed, come and subscribe below.

Hey Friends,

Our guest today is Miguel Leal, co-founder and CEO of SOMOS foods. SOMOS Foods makes Mexican food with authentic recipes and plant-based, Non-GMO ingredients.

We discuss:

* The gap they identified between the rich, flavorful Mexican cuisine in restaurants and the uninspiring options in grocery stores

* How the majority of Mexican food is consumed in the U.S. vs. how the majority of Italian food is consumed in the U.S.

* What’s amazing about Taco Tuesday from a brand perspective

* Why they had to pivot early from DTC to grocery

* Miguel Leal's vision of making Mexican cuisine accessible to mainstream consumers and focusing on the culinary experience rather than just the product & much more

The full transcript will be released in 24 hours to premium subscribers.