The Feed

John Nelson is the Founder & CEO of Vroom Delivery, the first white-label online ordering platform designed exclusively for convenience stores. In this episode, we’ll chat about why the c-store industry is unique from grocery and restaurant categories, the technology stack powering these retailers, and how Vroom is helping smaller chains compete against players like Gopuff and DoorDash’s DashMart.

Stefan Kalb is the Co-Founder & CEO of Shelf Engine, an automated ordering and intelligent forecasting system that helps regional and national grocers like Target and Kroger improve their gross margins by an average of 30%. In this episode, we’ll chat about Shelf Engine’s unique pricing model that guarantees gross margin improvements, how it forecasts store-level inventory, and how its auto-replenishment modules create a better customer experience online and offline.

Michael Saunders is the Co-Founder & CEO of Captain, a white-label restaurant ordering platform that recently launched Supper Club, a web3 eating community where foodies get rewarded for supporting their favorite restaurants. In this episode we’ll chat about the potential for the blockchain to power restaurant transactions, the evolution of restaurant delivery, and the myriad use cases for web3 at chains like Starbucks and Chipotle.

Kevin Honaker is the Co-Founder & CEO of BiomeSense, a startup developing a novel biosensor platform that continuously measures the trillions of microbes in our guts with just a single piece of toilet paper. BiomeSense counts the leading researchers in the microbiome space like Dr. Jack Gilbert and Dr. Rob Knight as co-founders and advisors. In this episode, we’ll chat about the links between gut bacteria and various aspects of our health, how the industry suffers from unreliable data, and the potential for BiomeSense to develop precision nutrition and probiotic-based interventions.

Carle Stenmark is a General Partner at VMG, a hybrid consumer growth equity and software venture fund with over $1.2bn in committed capital. The fund has backed names like Spindrift, Stone Brewing, and Kind on the consumer side and Wee!, Afresh, and Swell on the tech side. In this episode, we’ll chat about how VMG leverages its software investments to help its portfolio brands, the state of valuations for CPG and tech startups, and the future of personalization and sustainability.

Art Sebastian is the VP of Digital Experiences at Casey’s, the third-largest convenience chain and the fifth-largest pizza retailer in the US. In this episode we’ll chat about the role of convenience stores in a world of quick commerce, how Casey’s has leveraged loyalty to drive customers to order prepared food alcohol, and groceries, and the digitization of the supply chain.

Brandon Hill is the Co-Founder & CEO of Vori, an inventory management platform optimizing the supply chain for underserved independent grocers. In this episode we’ll chat about how Vori’s software helps reduce retailers’ food waste, manages their pricing, and brings real-time inventory to online marketplaces.

Zach Noren is the Enterprise Partner Manager of Restaurants at Uber Direct. In this episode, we’ll chat about how Uber is providing whitelabel logistics for global QSR, grocery, and convenience chains, how it’s leveraging its earner base to drive down the cost of last mile delivery, and the role of middleware that makes everything talk to each other.

Sarah Mastrorocco is the VP & General Manager of Access to Food & Nutrition at Instacart. In this episode, we’ll chat about the $100bn+ opportunity for grocers to accept online SNAP EBT payments, how the platform is expanding nutritional access for tens of millions of Americans, and the future of content and commerce.

Note: The host is an investor in a limited partnership that is a shareholder of Instacart.

Karuna Rawal is the CMO of Nature’s Fynd, a fungi-based protein platform with $500mm in funding from investors like Bill Gates and Al Gore. In this episode, we’ll talk about how Nature’s Fynd can be used across applications like dairy and meat, its strategy to sell itself as an ingredient to other CPGs, and the future of decentralized fermentation in emerging Asian and African markets.