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

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

Mike Gelbredcircle.com

Consumer VC takes a look into early-stage consumer investing and venture capital. If you are interested in learning about consumer trends, have a b2c business and interested in learning about the fundraising process at the early stage, you have come to the right place.


Mike interviews some of the top venture capitalists in the world that focus on B2C and consumer type companies or have a deep track record investing in these categories such as marketplaces, SaaS, social, CPG and non-tech subscription.


Mike also interviews founders that are building some of the most disruptive consumer facing companies in the world. The conversation usually includes the insight the founder discovered, fundraising strategy, and the pitch.


This podcast also includes bonus episodes. Each bonus episode dives into a particular subject that might not have to due with the fundraise or venture capital, but still would be helpful to founders. For example, a bonus episode on brand strategy or how to construct a board of directors. All bonus episodes will be clearly labeled.


For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.com. For updates, you can follow @mikegelb on Twitter.

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Episodes

Holiday Recap: Andy Dunn, Founder of Bonobos

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now...

Dec 02, 202127 min

Holiday Highlights: Alex Fine, CEO of Dame Products

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now...

Nov 30, 202123 min

Denise Woodard (Partake Foods) - How Her Daughter Inspired Denise to Leave Her Well Paying Job and Create A Cookie Everyone Can Eat, How She Started in Retail from Day One, and Impact of COVID

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Early bird applications for the Core Sprint are now...

Nov 23, 202136 min

Lori Coulter (Summersalt) - How She Built an Inclusive Swimwear & Apparel Brand

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort Thank you Ma...

Nov 18, 202137 min

Sarah LaFleur (M.M.LaFleur) - Changing workwear for women and adapting through COVID

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort Thank you Wi...

Nov 16, 202142 min

Michael Markesbery (OROS) - How he is Sciencing the S*** Out of Everything and Bringing Space Tech to Outdoor Apparel

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort My guest tod...

Nov 11, 202128 min

Jeremy Cai (Italic) - How he created THE C2M Online Marketplace for Luxury Goods, What he learned from Amazon and Costco, and The Evolution of eCommerce

Presenter: Burkland Associates helps you build the right systems that can keep up with your growth and can handle all the finance, accounting, tax and hiring services that consumer startups need to scale. For more information head to burklandassociates.com Presenter: Skillful runs online, immersive programs that help people launch and accelerate their careers in business roles in tech - Strategy & Ops, Product, Strategic Finance and Growth. Click Here to Apply to the Next Cohort Thank you Da...

Nov 09, 202142 min

Tali Vogelstein (Avid Ventures) - Are Valuations High, How to invest globally, and What Verticalized Fintech means

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free. Click Here to get started. O...

Nov 04, 202150 min

Jon Sebastiani (Sonoma Brands + Krave) - Growing up as a winemaker, How he started, scaled, sold Krave and why he decided to buy back the brand, & What's next in consumer

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free. Click Here to get started. T...

Nov 02, 202138 min

Stuart Landesberg (Grove Collaborative) - How he built a brand devoted to eco-friendly products and why inve

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free. Click Here to get started. T...

Oct 28, 202153 min

Carter Reum (M13) - Why LA is the Place to Build a Consumer Company, His Approach to Fund Differentiation, and Starting a Venture Capital Fund with you Brother

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free. Click Here to get started. O...

Oct 26, 202152 min

Will Schmitt (Miroma Ventures) - Investing with a value add, considerations before heading to retail and pulling the right levers for growth

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free. Click Here to get started. O...

Oct 21, 202147 min

Doug Hudson (Tend) - The First Dentist You Look Forward To Visiting

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2 months of Gorgias for free. Click Here to get started. M...

Oct 19, 202144 min

Claire Díaz-Ortiz - Why solo female founders are underserved, investing early in LATAM, and getting the Pope on Twitter

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist. https://www.ferret.ai/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=consumervc&utm_campaign=Q4 Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business...

Oct 14, 202145 min

Andy Dunn (Bonobos) - How he created Bonobos, why they sold to Walmart, the current state of DNVBs, and a sneak peek of what he's doing next

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Click Here to jump to the top of the waitlist - https://www.ferret.ai/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=consumervc&utm_campaign=Q4 Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your busines...

Oct 12, 202151 min

Rui Ma (Tech Buzz China) - Chinese Crossover Brands, C2M Supply Chains and Future of Livestreaming

Presented by Ferret: Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Head to [ferret.ai](http://ferret.ai/) using promo code: CONSUMERVC to jump to the top of the waitlist. Presented by Gorgias: Gorgias is the #1 helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce stores, and can turn your customer support into a profit center.If you’re looking to increase your retention for your business, mention Consumer VC and get 2...

Oct 07, 202145 min

Andrea Hippeau (Lerer Hippeau) - Investing in Pet Care, When a Digitally Native Brand Should Head Into Retail and Raising from Family Offices vs. VCs

Ferret is the first relationship intelligence tool for all business savvy investors to know, for the first time, who they can trust Head to [ferret.ai](http://ferret.ai/) using promo code: CONSUMERVC to jump to the top of the waitlist. Our guest today is [Andrea Hippeau](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-hippeau-64658227/), Partner at [Lerer Hippeau](https://www.lererhippeau.com/). Lerer Hippeau is a New York based early stage venture capital fund with some of their investments include Allbirds...

Oct 05, 202135 min

Kevin Campos (Fifth Wall) - Why Landlords Should Love Tech Enabled Tenants, Omnichannel Strategy For DNVBs and Growing Up in Retail

My guest today is [Kevin Campos](https://fifthwall.com/team/kevin-campos), Partner and Head of Retail at [Fifth Wall](https://fifthwall.com/). Fifth Wall manages the largest fund specialized in real estate technology. On the retail side, some of their investments include Allbirds, Cotopaxi and Foxtrot. This was an awesome conversation about Kevin's upbringings in retail, how that shaped his career, the changes in retail during COVID and why landlords should be open to tech enabled tenants and th...

Sep 30, 202142 min

Gabby Etrog Cohen & Tehmina Haider (Harry's) - Building Harry's Portfolio of Brands

Thank you Mike Duda for the intro to our guests today, [Gabby Cohen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabby-etrog-cohen-b91a635/) and [Tehmina Haider](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tehmina-haider-9081614/). Gabby is the Global head of intergrated marketing at [Harry's Inc](https://www.harrys.com/en/us). and Tehmina is Head of Harry's labs. It was amazing learning about the evolution of Harry's from a razor and shaving company, developing products in new categories and creating a portfolio of brands by ...

Sep 28, 202137 min

Neil Sequeira (Defy) - When to invest before the Series A, the verticalization of social and the future of celebrity co-founded business

Our guest today is [Neil Sequeira](https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-sequeira-76739a40/), Co-Founder & Managing Director at [Defy](https://defy.vc/). Defy backed exceptional entrepreneurs at the early stages. Some of their investments include Fable, Triller, and Boom Sports. Previously, Neil served as Managing Director of General Catayst and has been a venture capitalist for the past 20 years. I had a blast chatting with Neil about the current state of VC, celebrities cofounding consumer comp...

Sep 21, 202147 min

Alexa von Tobel (Inspired Capital) - The evolution of New York's startup ecosystem, staying price discipline and what it means to be a generalist

My guest today is [Alexa von Tobel](https://twitter.com/alexavontobel), Founder of [Inspired Capital](https://inspiredcapital.com/) and [LearnVest](https://learnvest.com/). Inspired is a generalist fund based in New York City that backs early-stage founders with transformative ideas. Some of their companies include Chief, Geneva, Public and Snackpass. They recently closed their second fund of $281 million investing in seed and series A companies. She also founded LearnVest, which was an American...

Sep 16, 202142 min

Andrew Gluck (irrvrntVC) - How to evaluate DTC brands with a growth marketers lens, starting a rolling fund and what's next for commerce

Our guest today is [Andrew Gluck](https://twitter.com/irrvrntVC), GP at [irrvrntVC](https://angel.co/v/back/irrvrntvc). Irreverant is a rolling fund that focuses on investing in NextGen Commerce, DTC, & AdTech. Some of Andrew's investments include Haus, Caraway, Cadence, Italic, Poppy and Simple. Previously, Andrew founded and was the COO of the marketing agency Agency Within which generated over $5B for brands looking to maximize profitability. In this episode, we discuss the intersection o...

Sep 14, 202131 min

Rex Woodbury (Index Ventures) - Web 3.0, Culture and Investing in the Metaverse

My guest today is [Rex Woodbury](https://twitter.com/rex_woodbury?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor), who is a Principal at [Index Ventures](https://www.indexventures.com/). Index Ventures is one of the largest and prestigious VC funds inthe world, Some of the companies they've invested in Robinbood, Roblox, and Glossier. Rex focuses his time on thinking how people, culture and technology intersect. He has an amazing weekly newsletter called Digital Native where he shares wh...

Sep 09, 202143 min

Allon Bloch (K Health) - Founding two public companies, the future of health and how to approach which markets are ripe for disruption

Thank you Daniel Gulati for the introduction to my guest today [Allon Bloch](https://www.linkedin.com/in/allon-bloch-70b1223/), founder and CEO of [K Health](https://www.khealth.com/). K Health is where you can get personalize heath answers and fast. It's the closest doctor's office is in your pocket, Trusted by over 4 million patients. Allon is also a serial entrepreneur who founded not one but two companies that went public - Wix and Vroom. On this show, we ask what's his process to determine ...

Sep 07, 202143 min

Ali Hamed (CoVenture) - The Amazon Opportunity, Future of Social, and Credit at the Early Stages

My guest today is Ali Hamed , co-founder and Partner of CoVenture . CoVenture offers entrepreneurs multiple ways to finance their businesses. Ali is one of the more unique guests we've had on the show simply because CoVenture's model is quite unique as they can underwrite both equity and debt into technology startups. When Ali and I first got talking, he mentioned that he was consumer curious as opposed to a straight consumer investor. We'll unpack that on the show. We also talk about why Ali is...

Aug 31, 202147 min

Paul Hsiao (Canvas Ventures) - How the Data Economy Is Impacting Consumer and the State of the Series A

My guest today is Paul Hsiao , co-founder and General Partner at Canvas Ventures . Canvas is one of the leading Series A firms having invested in Zola, Thrive Global and Roofstock. You'll learn what are the ingredients that could make for a spectacular marketplace businesses, what the series a currently looks like, and much much more. Without further ado, here's Paul. And there you have it. It was a pleasure chatting with Paul. You can follow him @paul_hsiao on Twitter. Some of the questions I a...

Aug 24, 202140 min

Sam Corcos (Levels) - Solving the metabolic health crisis with real time glucose monitoring

Our guest today is Sam Corcos, co-founder and CEO of Levels. Levels makes it easy for people to see how their diet is affecting both their health and their lifestyle in a quantifiable way by measuring biomarkers in real time. In previous episodes we've discussed tracking your sleep, your exercise. Levels is tracking your blood glucose so you can make better decisions about what you consume. This was a fascinating conversation about how to optimize what you eat and how wearables can help you unde...

Aug 19, 202156 min

Ben Savage (Clocktower Technology Ventures) - Why the future is Fintech, Fractional Ownership and Lessons Learned from Ray Dalio

Our guest today is Ben Savage , Partner at Clocktower Technology Ventures . Ben and his fund focuses on investing in Fintech and financial services. As you could image, we're going to be talking about the consumer side to fintech. You'll also learn how his time working under Ray Dalio at Bridgewater shaped him as an investor, why digitally native financial services haven't taken off as fast as digitally native CPG brands, and opportunities in fractional ownership. Without further ado, here's Ben...

Aug 17, 202154 min

Katie Shea (Divergent Capital) - Why Consumer Brands Have Higher Benchmarks Than Ever

My guest today is Katie Shea , Managing Partner of Divergent Capital. Katie has had alot of experience on both sides of the table as a founder, operator and angel investor and venture capital. Some of her investments include Cityrow, Parade and Topicals. We discuss why and how she launched a venture fund in the middle of the pandemic, how she approached angel investing, where the bar is for digitally native brands. Without further ado, here's Katie. You can follow Katie on Twitter Here . Some of...

Aug 12, 202143 min

Henri Pierre-Jacques (Harlem Capital) - His mission to invest in 1,000 diverse founders over 20 years

My guest today is Henri Pierre-Jacques , Managing Partner at Harlem Capital . Harlem Capital is a venture capital firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders over 20 years. Some of their investments include Aunt Flow, Blavity, and Repeat. We discuss how to think about impact and opportunity in the early stages of investing, Harlem's thesis and why Harlem wants to be a multi-stage investment firm. And there you have it. It was a pleasure chattin...

Aug 10, 202147 min
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