Mike Gelb

Consumer VC

Business EN ↓ 411 episodes

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 co...

Author

Mike Gelb

Episodes

Jessica Karr (Coyote Ventures) - How She Went From Scientist to Investor, The Opportunity in Women’s Health, and Why She Doesn’t Invest in Beauty & Personal Care 27.04.2023 38:17

Our guest today is Jessica Karr, General Partner at Coyote Ventures, which is a VC fund that’s investing in women's health and wellness. Some of the portfolio companies include Maude, The Flex Company, and Wile. We discuss how she transitioned from scientist to investor, particular categories she’s currently investing in and has stayed away from and how she thinks about risk. ****Sponsor**** T...

Mike Ghaffary (Canvas Ventures) - Could AI Be The Next Consumer Platform After The iPhone? 25.04.2023 44:59

Our guest today is Mike Ghaffary, General Partner at Canvas Ventures. Mike is the first third time guest of the show. The last time I had Mike on we spoke about what’s the next consumer platform after the iPhone? Funnily enough, we didn’t mention AI. We thought we needed to revisit this question and discuss the opportunity in AI from a consumer technology lens. ****Sponsor**** This issue is brough...

When You Start, Scale, Sell and Then Buy Back Your Business From Hershey And Coca Cola with Jon Sebastiani (Krave Jerky) and Mark Rampolla (Zico) 18.04.2023 1:03:14

Our guests today are Jon Sebastiani and Mark Rampolla. Jon founded Krave Jerky, one of the first premium jerky brands, and Mark founded Zico, one of the first coconut water brands in the U.S. It’s very rare for an entrepreneur to sell their business, get a good outcome, and then be able to buy back the business from the acquirer. This episode is about how both Jon and Mark founded, scaled, sold, a...

Elle Lanning (Camino Partners) - What KIND Snacks Got Right, What Differentiation is in CPG, and How to Back The Right Founders 13.04.2023 55:51

Our guest today is Elle Lanning, Managing Partner at Managing Director at Camino Partners. Camino Partners is a $350m business-building and investment platform helping entrepreneurs create enduring value with values as their compass that was founded by Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND Snacks. Some of Camino Partners’ portfolio includes Somos, CAVA and Belgium Boys. We discuss Elle’s time at KI...

Bruce Smith (Hydrow) - Why He Believes Rowers Could Overtake Bikes, The State of Connected Fitness, and How Kevin Hart Became Their Creative Director 11.04.2023 58:02

Our guest today is Bruce Smith , CEO and Founder of Hydrow . Hydrow is a connected home rowing machine that offers live and pre-recorded fitness content on demand, where the instructors are outside rowing on the water. We discuss: The origin story of founding a rowing-connected fitness company Prototyping & finding the right manufacturer Why it was important to have the instructors on the wate...

Ken Sadowsky (Verlinvest) - What He Saw In VIta Coco and Vitamin Water Early, Beverage Trends He's Bearish On and How to Evaluate Entrepreneurs 06.04.2023 43:31

Thank you Clement for the introduction to our guest today, Ken Sadowsky, or, as Forbes dubbed him “The Beverage Whisperer”. Ken grew up in the beverage business. His grandfather started the beverage distributor Atlas Distributing and he was the first to distribute Vita Coco and also was the Director of Energy Brands Inc., makers of Vitamin Water, Smart Water and Fruit Water, which they eventually...

Deepak Shahdadpuri (DSG Consumer Partners) - Why India is Ripe for Premium Consumer Brands, How to Localize Brands, and Trends In India and South East Asia 04.04.2023 1:07:10

Our guest today is Deepak Shahdadpuri, Founder and Managing Director of DSG Consumer Partners. DSG Consumer Partners is India & Southeast Asia's leading consumer-only venture capital fund. Some of their investments are Veeba, Piccolo Organic, and The Golden Duck. We focus this conversation on what makes India an exciting and different consumer market than the U.S., why Indian premium brand...

Will Nitze (IQ Bar) - How He Leveraged Harvard and Growth Hacked Indie Gogo, Why He Entered Conventional Grocery Over the Natural Channel, and Brain Food Explained 30.03.2023 54:36

Thank you Caroline McMorrow for the intro to our guest today Will Nitze, Founder & CEO of IQ Bar. IQ Bar is a plant-based protein bar company for your brain and body! We discuss how Will got turned on to brain food and the origin story of IQ Bar, how he growth hacked his Indie Gogo campaign which I had never heard of anything like he did before, getting into retail, why they went conventional...

Mark Samuel (IWON Organics) - Why His Entrepreneurial Journey Led Him to CPG, What’s Difficult About Scaling a Health Brand, Approach To New Sales Channels and Media 24.03.2023 45:36

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. This was a treat for me as I’ve been following Mark on LinkedIn for a long time and it was great to finally connect with him. We discussed his health journey and entrepreneur journey, why his road eventu...

Dario Wolos (Tacombi & Vista Hermosa) - Why he Started Selling Tacos Out of a VW bus in Mexico, How He Expanded to a Chain of Taquerias in New York, and Why His Mission Is To Bring Authentic Mexican Food to the World 22.03.2023 46:49

Our guest today is Dario, Founder and CEO of Tacombi and Vista Hermosa. Tacombi is a tacqueria chain that is one of the fastest growing restaurants in the U.S. and is bringing 100% authentic Mexican food and flavors to the U.S. Vista Hermosa is their CPG brand, that produces tortilla chips and tortillas. We discuss why Dario got a VW Kombi van in the first place, why he thought New York City was t...

Live from Austin: Allison and Stephen Ellsworth (Poppi) - How They Became The #1 Soda Brand on Amazon, Pivot During COVID and How They Approach Brand 17.03.2023 24:57

This was recorded live in Austin, during SXSW. Allison and Stephen Ellsworth are the founders of Poppi, the fun(ctional) prebiotic soda for all. We discuss: – Their introduction to prebiotics – How they went on SharkTank – Rebranding from Mother to Poppi – Launching during COVID – Expanding to new markets – Their approach to content & more ***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capita...

David Friedberg (The Production Board) - What The Next Generation of Brands Look Like, How to Analyze Entrepreneurs, and What He’d Change About The All-In Podcast 15.03.2023 51:24

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 S...

Mike Fata (Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods) - How He Founded a 9-figure Hemp Brand 09.03.2023 45:18

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 y...

Carle Stenmark (VMG) - Why a consumer PE firm also has a $400m technology fund, the evolution of his thesis, and why VMG rebranded 07.03.2023 47:23

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 VMG’s technology practice and recently the firm went through a bit of a rebrand, which we will discuss. This conversation is around...

Kyle Cooke (Loverboy) - How he started a $38m alcohol brand while on a Reality TV, His journey as an entrepreneur and why Loverboy worked vs. his other ideas 02.03.2023 57:32

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 is one of the stars on the reality show “Summerhouse”, which I must admit is how I found out about the brand and now they’ve sold over $38 million worth of product. We discus...

Marc Washington (Supergut) - Why better health starts with the gut, What is the gut microbiome and His innovation within CPG 28.02.2023 53:56

Our guest today 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, wellbeing, sleep, weight management and other categories of overall health. I’ve personally been very impressed with their products. We discuss Marc’s gut health journey...

Steve Berg (Stride Consumer Partners) - How to invest in consumer companies at the growth stage, what types of brands work in both natural and conventional, and how to analyze retail outlets 23.02.2023 49:18

Our guest today is Steve Berg, one of the founders and Partners at Stride Consumer Partners. Stride Consumer 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. Some of their investments include Chomps, Jeni’s Ice Cream, DryBar and TRX. We discuss how Stride Consumer P...

Joey Guerra and Alex Dashefsky (Airsign) - Why the vacuum cleaner needed innovation, brand positioning, and their approach to organic marketing 21.02.2023 44:27

Thank you Yuriy Dovzhansky for the introduction to our guests today Joey Guerra and Alex Dashefsky , founders of Airsign . Airsign makes tools for the modern living, starting with their award winning HEPA vacuum. We discuss innovation within vacuum cleaners, why they were in R&D the whole time and wanted to start their own brand instead of white labeling, how they’ve approached marketing, posi...

Mateo Marietti (CookUnity) - How he’s changing the food delivery experience for daily meals, how he works with the top chefs in the world, and growth during the pandemic 17.02.2023 50:26

Our guest today is Mateo Marietti, founder and CEO of CookUnity. CookUnity is reinventing the food delivery experience and making it easy for busy people to eat well at home by curating a marketplace of great chefs and unique crafters. We discuss how he founded Cooking Unity, how he developed relationships with some of the top chefs in the world, how he addressed the cold start problem, the respon...

Anthony Zhang (Vinovest) - What makes wine a profitable investible asset, How he recovered from a spinal injury that left him paralyzed while guiding his company to a successful exit, and other alternative investment markets 14.02.2023 49:17

Our guest today is Anthony Zhang, founder of Vinovest. Vinovest allows you to invest in Wine Globally Without Leaving Home and Without Storing It Yourself. He also previously founded EnjoyNow and Know your VC. We discuss his introduction to entrepreneurship, what it was like coming back from a spinal injury to guide EnjoyNow to a successful exit, why he started Vinovest, how people were investing...

James Currier (NFX) - How generative A.I. changes the internet, Will startups be able to capture the value, and Will OpenAI succeed 10.02.2023 55:17

Our guest today is James Currier, Founder & General Partner of NFX. VC firm investing in pre-seed and seed stage startups. Some of their investments include DoorDash, Lyft and Outdoorsy. We focus this conversation on maybe the biggest tech trend in 2022 – A.I. How much opportunity is there for startups vs. the Googles and Microsoft’s of the world, which layer of A.I. provides the most value an...

Adam Ross (Heyday) - Why he found a facial retail chain, franchise models vs. corporate stores, and producing products 07.02.2023 42:30

Our guest today is Adam Ross, Founder & CEO of Heyday. Heyday is a skincare establishment that is overhauling the facial experience. We discuss how he got interested in skincare, why he only wanted to focus on facials, how he thought about expanding foot print with a combination of corporate and franchise stores and much much more. ***Sponsor*** Introducing aVenture - venture capital for ev...

Ryan Woodbury (Needed) - How she's building a bundled DTC subscription business with prenatal products, why it took 3 years of R&D research before launching and her fundraising philosophy 03.02.2023 49:05

Our guest today is Ryan Woodbury, co-founder of Needed. Needed is on a mission to empower every woman with the fundamental nutrition information, products, and community they need to be optimally nourished before, during, and after pregnancy. We discuss how she got involved / started in nutrition, why she decided to create a prenatal supplement company, why she took 3 years in R&D, how she thi...

Lydia Jett (SoftBank) - How she invests in eCommerce at a global scale, How to evaluate emerging markets, and Learnings from 2022 01.02.2023 49:48

Our guest today is Lydia Jett, Managing Partner and Head of eCommerce / Consumer Internet at SoftBank Investment Advisors. Some of her investments include Coupang, Fanatics, and Misfits Market. We get into quite a few topics all centered about investing and the future of ecommerce. how she approaches investing at a global scale, particularly in emerging markets, the current outlook for ecommerce,...

Aimy Steadman (BeatBox) - How she created a drink for music festivals, fundraising on SharkTank and how a change in product packaging was an unlock to scale 26.01.2023 40:27

Thank you Taylor Foxman for the introduction to our guest today Aimy Steadman. Aimy is is the COO of BeatBox Beverages. the World's Tastiest Portable Party Punch. Some of the questions I ask Aimy: How did you found Beatbox? What was the reason why you founded it? You were early with the RTD trend? What’s the difference between wine and spirits vs. beer? How did you think about the category you...