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

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Our guest today is Mark Samuel, Founder & CEO of IWON Organics. IWON Organics snacks are delicious, high-protein, Non-GMO, gluten-free, plant-based snacks made from purely organic ingredients.

We discuss:

* All the businesses he founded

* The origin of IWON Organics and why he wanted to start a CPG brand

* His own health journey

* The challenges when building a CPG brand

* Why he started producing content on LinkedIn

* How he thinks about new sales channels

* The current fundraising climate in CPG & much more

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Our guest today is Dario Wolos, Founder and CEO of Tacombi and Vista Hermosa. Tacombi is a taqueria chain that is one of the fastest-growing restaurants in the U.S. Their mission is to bring 100% authentic Mexican food and flavors to the U.S. Vista Hermosa is their CPG line, which produces tortilla chips and tortillas.

We discuss:

* Why Dario converted a VW Kombi van into a taco truck in the first place

* How he got traction in Mexico

* Why he thought New York City was the right city to start a taqueria

* How they are expanding in the U.S.

* Why start a CPG line

* How he was able to get Danny Meyer to invest & more

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

This past week we threw The Consumer VC Live – at SXSW. It was an event full of interviews, panels, and lots of hanging. Thank you Marc Nathan for co-producing the event with me.

Today’s episode is my conversation with the headliners of the event, Allison Ellsworth & Stephen Ellsworth, Founders of Poppi. Poppi is the fun(ctional) prebiotic soda for all that has experienced wild growth in a few short years. If you were there with us on the day – I hope you had a great time!

We discuss:

* How they learned about prebiotics and why they created a soda brand

* Their approach to selling under the name “Mother”

* Going on SharkTank and rebranding to “Poppi”

* Launching during COVID

* Their approach to content and how they got to over 1 billion views

* What’s next for growth expansion

Thanks for listening.

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Our guest today is David Friedberg, Founder of The Production Board and Bestie on The All-In podcast. The Production Board is a holding company that builds and invests in businesses that transform global systems of production and distribution across Agriculture, Life Sciences, Energy and Manufacturing. On the consumer facing side, some of their investments and/or companies they’ve built include Supergut, The Every Company, Cana, and Soylent. The All-In Podcast is one of the top podcasts in the world.

We discuss:

* Why he sold his previous company, The Climate Corporation for $1 billion

* Lessons from Google

* How he analyzes founders he wants to work with

* The premise and the consumer side of The Production Board

* How he thinks about the future of brand building

* One thing he’d change about The All-In Podcast & more

Thank you for listening

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Our guest today is Mike Fata, Founder of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods, which sells hemp-based foods, oils, and supplements. The company was acquired for 9 figures by Tilray in 2019. Now he’s an investor, coach, writer and author of “Grow: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur”, which will be released on March 29th 2023. Highly recommend pre-ordering your copy.

We discuss:

* Why he dropped out of high school & his health journey losing over 100 lbs

* What led him to hemp

* How he started and scaled Manitoba Harvest

* The number of sales to aim for before moving to another city or region

* Why he sold Manitoba Harvest

* His investment philosophy

* What compelled him to write a book & more

Thanks for listening.

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Thank you Deb Benton for introducing me to Carle Stenmark, General Partner at VMG. VMG, short for Velocity Made Good, is one of the premier consumer private equity funds known for their investments in KIND, Quest Nutrition, Sun Bum, and Justin’s. However, Carle leads their technology practice.

We discuss:

* How Carle ended up in VMG

* Why VMG raised a fund focused on technology

* The evolution of their thesis and growth opportunities for digitally-native brands

* Why they decided to rebrand from “VMG Catalyst” to “VMG Technology”

* How investing in technology is different to consumer & much more

Thanks for listening

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Thank you Alex Pattis for the intro to our guest today, Kyle Cooke, Founder & CEO of Loverboy. Loverboy is a better-for-you alcohol beverage brand that produces sparkling hard teas, spritzes, and RTD cocktails brand. Kyle also stars in the reality shows “Summerhouse” and “Winterhouse”.

We discuss:

* The origin story of the show “Summerhouse”

* Kyle’s entrepreneurial journey before Loverboy

* Why Loverboy worked and how he leveraged Bravo’s audience

* Thoughts around product formulation and releasing new SKUs

* Why alcohol doesn’t have labels

* How they got into retail stores, their overarching retail strategy & much more

Thanks for listening.

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Our guest on The Consumer VC podcast is Marc Washington, Founder & CEO of Supergut. Supergut is the world's only clinically validated food that nourishes the gut microbiome and delivers meaningful results across gut health, blood sugar levels, well-being, sleep, weight management, and other categories of overall health. I’ve personally been very impressed with their products.

We discuss:

* Marc’s health journey

* How Dave Friedberg pushed him to think deeper about the microbiome

* How the microbiome affects gut health

* What is DNA sequencing

* What is real product innovation within CPG

* Why he’s focused on creating real foods instead of supplements

* His approach to marketing, positioning, and the right sales channels

Thanks for listening.

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Our guest today is Steve Berg, one of the founders and Partners at Stride Consumer Partners. Stride Consumer Partners is a private equity firm that specializes in partnering with talented and dynamic founders, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to build the next generation of great consumer brands. Last year they closed their debut $420 million fund 1. Some of their investments include Chomps, Jeni’s Ice Cream, DryBar and TRX.

We discuss:

* How Stride Consumer Partners came together

* His investment philosophy and how he measures if a brand has a passionate base

* What types of CPG brands work both in natural and conventional

* Due diligence and his ideal stage

* The signs a retail outlet could be ripe for success & much more

Thanks for listening

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.

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

This issue is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

Hey friends,

Thank you Yuriy Dovzhansky for the introduction to our guests today Joey Guerra and Alex Dashefsky, founders of Airsign. Airsign makes tools for modern living, starting with their award-winning HEPA vacuum.

We discuss:

* Joey’s industrial design background and why this was the opportunity to start a brand

* The history of innovation within vacuum cleaners

* When Alex joined and the opportunity he saw

* Winning awards and building an organic audience

* How customer feedback altered their approach to pricing & more

I hope you enjoy it.

This episode of The Consumer VC is brought to you by aVenture - venture capital for everyone.

With aVenture everyone can now invest directly into venture capital funds through our platform while also benefiting from periodic liquidity options. For fund managers, aVenture can help streamline your operations while providing the infrastructure to raise from accredited & non-accredited investors.

aVenture believes this will revolutionize the venture capital industry by unlocking a latent supply of capital from public investors.

Disclosures: aVenture is a San Francisco, California-based financial technology company that permits users to launch, manage and invest in venture funds on its platform aVenture operates independently of any investment advisors on its platform. Certain funds listed on the aVenture platform are provided by independent fund managers and may be registered as investment advisors in the U.S., or qualify for exempt reporting status.