Our guest today is Bilal Zuberi, Partner at Lux Capital. Lux Capital Investing in people inventing the future. Some of their investments include Happiest Baby, Citizen, Carbon Health and Duck Duck Go. Bilal also founded GEO2 Technologies and comes from an extensive technical and science background. What we explore on today’s episode is how to invest at the intersection of deep tech and consumer. Some of the questions I ask him: One of your focuses is investing in Deep Tech. We haven’t covered De...
Apr 13, 2022•44 min
Thank you Erin Grant for pitching this as an episode idea and making it happen. This episode is all about storytelling. What does a good story need, what are the mechanics, and how to build a compelling brand through the power of storytelling. To tackle this topic, I’m joined by Brentos Fernandez, Head of Creative at Listen Ventures and Jeff Cantalupo who is the founder and General Partner at Listen Ventures. Listen Ventures. Backs and builds the brands of tomorrow Including Calm, Kiwi Co, Facto...
Apr 11, 2022•31 min
Thank you Radha Kapoor for the introduction to Michele Romanow, co-founder and CEO of Clearco. Clearco offers fast affordable funding for ecommerce companies to fund your inventory or marketing needs. Michele is a serial entrepreneur and also one of the dragon’s on Canada’s Dragon’s Den. We discuss what’s misunderstood about scaling ecommerce companies, when venture capital makes sense vs. revenue based financing, her aha moment on Dragon’s Den that led to founding ClearCo and much more. Without...
Apr 04, 2022•31 min
Our guest today is McKeever Conwell II or as he’s most well known Mac the VC, Founder and managing partner of Rarebreed Ventures. RareBreed Ventures is a pre-seed fund that invests in exceptional founders primarily outside of large tech ecosystems, earlier than everyone else. We discuss how Mac built relationships on Twitter with investors and founders and was able to raise a VC fund all on Twitter, his due diligence process and how he thinks about customer acquisition. What led you to becoming ...
Mar 30, 2022•34 min
Our guest today is Michael Ronen, co-founder and President of Branded. Branded acquires and partners with top performing Amazon sellers. So as you can imagine, we’re going to be talking about creating brands on Amazon. Previously, Michael was one of the Managing Partner’s at SoftBank Investment Partner’s historic Vision Fund 1. We discuss the opportunity within eCommerce while at SoftBank vs. Branded, building brands on Amazon vs. off Amazon. What was your initial attraction to invest in early a...
Mar 28, 2022•43 min
So this was our first LIVE episode, which we recorded at Cosmic Coffee & Beer Garden in Austin, TX during SXSW. To everyone who came out and was there in the flesh, thank you thank you thank you and a special thanks to Marc Nathan for organizing the event as it was a ton of fun. I chatted with Jason Karp, Founder of Hu Kitchen, Hu Chocolate and CEO of HumanCo. HumanCo is a holding company that’s invested in healthy living. We’re going to learn more about their brands Snow Days, Against the g...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min
Our guest today is Jackie Fast, Managing Partner at Sandbox Studios VC. Sandbox Studios is a 'next-generation' venture capital firm which addresses the challenge of funding and collaboration expertise for celebrity-owned products. She’s also well known for founding the agency Slingshot Sponsorship which she started from her bedroom with 2k pounds and a laptop to a multi-million-dollar global powerhouse. On this episode we discuss when it makes sense for a company / founder to partner with a cele...
Mar 08, 2022•42 min
Our guests today are Greer Terrler and Cara Kaufman, founders of Simple Food Ventures. Simple Food Ventures is an early stage venture firm that invests in the future of healthy foods and products. We discuss how they both began investing in better for you products, do they only invest in better for the planet or better for you, and what makes a product work on shelf. Here are some of the questions I ask them: What was your attraction to the food and beverage industry? Why did you and how did you...
Mar 01, 2022•36 min
Our guest is Ksenia Yudina, the Founder and CEO of UNest, the first mobile app that makes it easier than ever for parents to open a simple and affordable tax-advantaged investment account for their kids. We talk about how she immegrated to the U.S., transitioning careers from real estate to finance and where she realized alot of new parents are very motivated to invest in their parents, but don’t kow where to go. Without further ado, here she is. What was it like moving to the United States at 1...
Feb 17, 2022•31 min
Our guest today is Eric Kinariwala, founder and CEO of Capsule. Capsule is the pharmacy that delivers your prescriptions, the same day, for free. We discuss the pharmacy visit that led to his aha moment of founding Capsule, his approach to integrating technology with picking up your prescriptions, and how he approached expansion and scale. Here are some of the questions I ask Eric: You started your career as an investor. Was your goal always to become an entrepreneur. Why did you decide to start...
Feb 15, 2022•28 min
My guest today is Mike Smerklo, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Next Coast Ventures and author of Mr. Monkey and Me. Next Coast is investing in a new generation of entrepreneurs building disruptive companies in big markets. We discuss why Mike invests in consumer when his operational experience is in enterprise as well consumer trends he’s passionate about, How he organized a search fund and purchased a company and ran it, and his SHAPE formula and how entrepreneurs could think about mental ...
Feb 10, 2022•35 min
Thank you Mike Ghaffary for the introduction to our guest today, Walker Drewett, CEO and founder of Nu Brakes. We want to make the brake repair process simple and frustration-free. We discussed why Walker always had his heart being an entrepreneur, the inspiration behind helping people with their cars even though he didn’t come from an automotive background, approach to scale and hiring being a first time CEO. What was your attraction to entrepreneurship? How did you become interested in cars? H...
Feb 08, 2022•31 min
Thank you Nagraj Kashyap for the introduction to our guest today Joe Kudla , founder and CEO of Vuori . Vuori is Performance Apparel Is Built To Move & Sweat In, Yet Styled For Everyday Life. We discuss why Joe wanted to start an athleisure wear brand, what his inspiration was, his approach to targeting specific customer personas and how he thinks about differentiation and scaling. I loved this conversation and learned alot from Joe. Without further ado, here he is. And there you have it. It...
Feb 03, 2022•46 min
Our guest today is John Foraker , co-founder and CEO of Once Upon a Farm . Fresh snacks with immune-boosting probiotics to keep your little one's wellness top of mind. For chilly season or any reason! Before John was the CEO of Annie’s Inc. We discuss his learnings running Annie’s for over a decade, how he became the CEO of Once Upon a Farm, what led Jennifer Garner to become a co-founder, what it’s like developing a new category, why they chose to expand to retail really fast. Without further a...
Feb 01, 2022•37 min
Our guest is Brandon Yahn , co-founder and partner of Convivialité Ventures . Convivialite is Pernod Ricard’s venture arm, the second largest wine & spirits company in the world. Their focus is to invest in technology companies that are changing the way people socialize, entertain, and share experiences together. We discuss his approach to thematic investing, how he thinks about strategic and non-strategic investments, particular areas within consumer technology he’s fascinated by. Here’s so...
Jan 27, 2022•25 min
Our guest today is Avrum Elmakis, founder & CEO of CLMBR. CLMBR is an at-home the first vertical climber with a touch screen and on-demand, instructor-led classes. It’s a full body and one of the most efficient workouts you can do. We discuss how he became an entrepreneur, what led to founding CLMBR, how he was able to get Lebron James, Jay-Z and Novak Djokovic to invest and how he thinks about establishing new fitness habits. Without further ado, here’s Avrum. Here’s what I asked him: How d...
Jan 25, 2022•35 min
My guest today is Abigail Cook Stone, the founder of Otherland. Otherland transforms your home into an immersive world that never stands still with their amazing scented candles. We discuss how her attraction to design led her to candles, what was missing from the market in her mind, and how she approached her supply chain getting off the ground and scale. Here’s some of the questions I ask her: What was your initial attraction to design? When did you start thinking about starting a candle compa...
Jan 21, 2022•34 min
Our guest today is Nagraj Kashyap , Managing Partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund one of the world's largest venture capital fund, with over $100 billion in capital. Nagraj leads their consumer investment practice for north America. It was amazing chatting with him about how Vision Fund 2 is different from fund 1, his thesis around the future of healthcare the ecommerce stack and how he thinks about scale for non-tech consumer businesses. WIthout further ado, here’s Nagraj. What was your initial at...
Jan 19, 2022•48 min
Our guest today is Jessica Peltz-Zatulove , co-founder and General Partner at Hannah Grey . Hannah Grey is a first check venture fund investing in founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life which she co-founded with Kate Beardley, who also came on the show. We ask the question what are community driven brands, identity driven brands and how brands are engaging with Web3 and how to scale brands sustainably. Without further ado, Here’s Jessica. Questions I ask Jessica: What...
Jan 14, 2022•39 min
My guest today is Mike Ghaffary who is a partner at Canvas Ventures, a firm that specializes on leading Series A. Some of their investments include Flyhomes, Nubrakes, and Zola. This is Mike’s second time on Consumer VC and is our first second time guest. His first appearance we went deep on how to evaluate and invest in marketplace businesses. On this episode, we discuss what is the next big thing in consumer after the iPhone? Is it web3, metaverse, remote work applications or something complet...
Jan 11, 2022•42 min
My guest today is Tushar Garg , co-founder and CEO of Flyhomes . Their mission is to build the world’s best home buying experience. We discussed how Tushar got into real estate and why he saw not much innovation on the buy side when you’re thinking about a new home, their approach to growth and raising capital and how they look at new markets to enter. We discuss: Why did you want to become an entrepreneur? Why did you decide to focus on Real Estate? What were the inefficiencies? What's the foun...
Jan 06, 2022•33 min
My guest today is Steve Hughes , founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners . Sunrise Strategic Partners provides growth capital and expertise to emerging brands in the healthy, active and sustainable living space. Some of their investments include Cali’flour foods, Kodiak Cakes, and Maple Hill Creamery. We discuss the current SPAC market, the history of the natural foods movement, and transitioning from a digitally native brand to becoming an omnichannel brand. Here are the questions I ask him: What...
Jan 04, 2022•44 min
Thank you Deb Benton for introducing me to our guest today Nisha Dua , co-founder and General Partner at BBG Ventures . BBG Ventures is an early-stage fund backing big ideas that will reshape the way we live. One of the first episodes of this podcast was with Susan Lyne, who is the other co-founder of BBG and Susan graciously accepted to come on the show without knowing who I was when the podcast hadn't even been released yet so I am VERY grateful to the BBG. Some of their investments include Zo...
Dec 21, 2021•33 min
My guest today is Ben Sun, co-founder and general partner at Primary Venture Partners. Primary focuses on investing in companies at seed that were founded in New York and has the largest seed stage portfolio impact team. Some of his investment include Jet.com , Coupang, K Health and Mirror. Previously he co-founded community connect, which was one of the first social networking companies. We discuss the evolution of social, why he's so bullish of companies coming out of New York, being anti thes...
Dec 16, 2021•41 min
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 14, 2021•49 min
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 13, 2021•28 min
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 10, 2021•35 min
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 09, 2021•32 min
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 08, 2021•23 min
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 03, 2021•36 min
