Allowlist

This episode was originally published on May 5, 2022, on Stef’s podcast PM School, but we wanted to bring it back for you. Have you ever wondered if there were clues from childhood pointing you in the direction you’ve always been meant to head? Sara Cullen wrote a letter to herself in third grade saying she wanted to be a baker when she grew up. After spending her early career in Agriculture and S...

Sit down with Julie Kucinski , founder of Wile. Co-conspirator to entrepreneurs, founders, outliers, and changemakers. Julie has focused her work years of work on positioning, innovation, brand story & market opportunity for top CPG brands.  In this episode, we get into:  The need in the market for products and supplements for women over 40 The truth about women's hormones The power of holistic me...

Sit down with Brianda Gonzalez: Founder and CEO of The New Bar – the alcohol-free drink discovery platform you’ve read about in Forbes that features Curated products, tips, and tools to help you drink less and who’s tasting room and retail location you can now visit in Venice, California:    In this episode, we get into:  How The New Bar defines “Post-Alc” and why that’s more flexible than you mig...

Sit down with Janice Tam, Founder and CEO of TrueToForm – an AI startup that helps shoppers find clothes that fit using a personal 3D avatar.     Discover how TrueToForm tackles fashion industry waste uniquely. Explore how AI technology helps TrueToForm address high-volume return problems for brands. Learn how Janice Tam fused her tech knowledge with fashion to create a one-of-a-kind product. Conn...

Sit down with Jana Bobosikova , Co-founder of KiKiWorld. With a background in the beauty industry, Jana has a track record in fast-growing brands in the consumer space. KIKI is backed by leading tech and consumer investors, including A16z Crypto Startup School.  In this episode, we get into:  How KiKiWorld is redefining how beauty products are being created - “with you” not “for you.” Building the...

In this episode, we sit down with Elan Mosbacher, a seasoned entrepreneur who specializes in partnering with visionary individuals to cultivate venture capital-funded startups. Today, Elan is the co-founder of a new venture called Pinch, the new concierge med spa startup that is making med spa services such as Tox and Filler available at home available on demand. Previously, Elan has scaled 4 star...

Sit down with Emma Bates - By trade, Emma is a marketer and community builder. Her entry into marketing was somewhat untraditional—she started out by growing a blog to 100k+ readers at age 19 and then transitioned into marketing roles at some of the fastest-growing consumer brands in NYC and the UK. Today Emma is the founder of Diem,the application that aims to bring the energy of a woman’s bathro...

In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Martin, Forbes 30 under 30 honoree and the Co-Founder of Unspun, an innovative venture-backed robotics and digital apparel company that is not just making jeans but actively transforming the way we think about fashion. Unspun is on a remarkable mission to revolutionize the industry by reducing global human carbon emissions by a staggering 1%. They achieve th...

Sit down with Olivia Sheehan & Rachel Richman, Co-Founders of Sweedies, a nostalgic ode to the snack pack days of our youth, Mood Rings are fruit snacks for adults with a cannabis-infused bonus. Which was started with a simple goal–to create exactly what they saw was missing in the cannabis industry – a cannabis-infused fruit snack–meant to be enjoyed and snacked on. A sweet, weedy treat on par wi...

Sit down with Harry Gestetner from FanFix which he co-founded alongside Simon Pompan, and influencer Cameron Dallas in 2021, and was acquired by SuperOrdinary — a platform that connects brands, creators, and buyers — in 2022 for $65m.  Fanfix is an exclusive content platform empowering creators to do what they love while earning from it. Their goal is to foster a safe and brand-friendly environmen...

Sit down with Ryan Kurt, Co-Founder at The AI Lab - a consulting firm providing exceptional services in generative AI to help business leaders navigate the future with Generative AI which just launched their own podcast by the same name.  Prior to co-founding The AI Lab, Ryan spent more than a decade in generative AI technology, most recently at Narrative Science which was co-founded at Northweste...

Sit down with Lisa Hurwitz, President and Co-Founder at Happi, Michigan’s first-to-market cannabis-infused sparkling water and one of the world’s first DTC cannabis beverage brands - available online with shipping to most states. With all-natural ingredients and a range of doses from 2.5-10mg THC, Happi is redefining the functional beverage space showing that there is truly a Happi for any occasio...

Sit down with Dorothy Munholland, Co-Founder of Studio Null, which makes lux, non-alcoholic wines, made in partnership with award-winning makers. In this episode, we talk: How younger generations are buying less wine and ½ of Americans say they are trying to drink less The different schools of thought and approaches to creating non-alc wines How Studio Null’s non-alc wines pay homage to their vari...

Sit down with Evan Quinn and Cygne Cooper 2/3 of the founding team at Hiyo, a long overdue alternative to alcohol that Lauren and Stef are absolutely obsessing over. Hiyo’s promise is a social tonic that provides a stress-relieving, mood-boosting effect without the hangover… It’s a 0% alcohol social tonic packed with delicious, organic, non-gmo, vegan and gluten free ingredients that literally mak...

Charlotte Cruze & Lindsay Goodstein  are the co-founders of Alice Mushrooms, a brand that creates functional mushroom chocolates for energy and rest.  In this episode we get into:  The benefits of functional mushrooms and why they choose chocolate form for their first two products. They believe that functional and psychedelic mushrooms will be a massive consumer trend. Their two products,  for sle...

In this episode, we sit down with Michelle Reeves, co-founder of Mavion NFT, Wagmi NFT, and The Accessory Junkie. We discuss: How Mavion is scaling scarcity in fashion through NFTs Mavion solving problems in a fashion that web2 could not  Digital goods are just as important to younger generations already The future of fashion is digital & solves sustainability issues Web3 is enabling “starving art...

Sit down with Vasa Martinez, Founder & CEO at Perfy, a new Superfood Soda focused on uncompromisingly great taste, superfood ingredients and pushing the boundaries of consumer expectations in the soda category. In this episode we get into:  Vasa’s founder journey and insight that led to bringing Perfy to life How Doodles inspired Dr. Perfy (which competes on every level with Dr Pepper, but is way...

In this episode featuring Sam Falic, the Co-Founder of BlockBar, the largest marketplace for NFTs, for high end spirits and wine, we get into the following:  Why Web3 Builders should always ask themselves first “What problem does using Web3 technology actually solve for consumers or companies?’ How Blockbar solves a big problem for Premium Wine and Spirits Consumers, Collectors and Brands.  The un...

In this episode featuring Steve and Alex Michaelsen, co-founders of Leisure, a new functional hydration beverage and the Web3’s first native beverage brand, we get into:  How young people aspire to different career paths than previous generations. Creating a brand universe that looks as native to digital, as to physical, as to metaverse. Why NFTs align incentives between brands and consumers What...

This episode features Deana Burke and Natasha Hoskins the co-founders of BoysClub. We get into the following:  How no one really knows “how to DAO”  Boysclub’s transformation from a social club to DAO The right way to “onboard” into web3 Why web3 just being a reflection of your personal interests How Boysclub looks at marketing and brand like no other business in web3 How the “Zaddy” & “Main Chara...

In this episode featuring Esha Gupta co-founder of Mysterious and Hooked, we discuss the following: Why Web3 is going to be the new AppStore  How NFTs and your wallet will be the new social media  How Mysterious is blending both digital ownership with in-person experiences  How music NFTs will solve major problems for artists and revolutionize the music industry  How Esha previously built a multim...

In this episode featuring Evin McMullin the co-founder of Disco we get into the following:  The need for humans to own their data & identity  That Americans spend 11.5 billion hours a year filling out forms & how Disco can solve this What verifiable credentials are & how they have the ability to change our lives. Why web2 social media & data ownership is problematic  How Disco is solving for data...

In this episode featuring Ty Haney of TYB, a Blockchain-enabled Customer Loyalty Platform helping consumer brands and fans build and win together, we get into the following:  How Ty became obsessed with this very simple concept that users of a product, should have some sort of  aligned incentive in the success of that product We believe that crypto has the potential to unlock better business model...