Consumer VC

Our guest today is Wyatt Taubman, Founder of Vive Organic. Vive Organic is fresh pressed wellness shots from organic superfoods. Some of the questions I ask Wyatt: What led to the founding of Vive Organic? How did you approach your supply chain? How did you envision the brand? How did you think about distribution channels? How did you think about product expansion How did you approach fundraising?...

Thank you CJ Fowler for the introduction to our guest today, Yanni Hufnagel, Founder & CEO of Lemon Perfect. Lemon Perfect is a super-refreshing, full-flavored, hydrating lemon water with no sugar, artificial flavors, or sweeteners . Some of the questions I ask Yanni: Why did you become a coach? Why did you leave college basketball to found Lemon Perfect? What was the insight that led you? How...

Our guest today is Elly Truesdell, Founder & Managing Partner at New Fare Ventures. a venture capital fund centered on the modern eater and evolving American palate. Some of the investments include Made By Nacho , Mid-Day Squares , Foxtrot and Tacombi . We discuss her time at Whole Foods, how she ended up meeting Bobby Flay and founding Made by Nacho, why she wanted to start a fund and how she...

Our guest today is Annie Kadavy, Managing Director at RedPoint Ventures. Redpoint partners with exceptional entrepreneurs starting at the earliest stages of the climb some of her investments include Tend, Shash, and SIlk & Sonder. We discuss her introduction to entrepreneurship building in her garage, tiptoeing the line throughout her career between operator and investor, the business models s...

Our guest today is Chris Ashenden, Founder & CEO of Athletic Greens and AG1. AG1 is the world’s most comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition product in green powder form.  We discuss: Why he founded Athletic Greens Approach to formulation How he met Tim Ferriss How he built relationships with customers Scaling online Creating a subscription business and new consumer habit Why he bootstrap...

Thank you Luke Vernon for the intro to our guest today Davis Smith , Founder & CEO of Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi builds gear that fuels both outdoor experiences and global change. We discuss: Why he founded digitally native businesses Founding businesses with his cousin The mission behind Cotopaxi How he was able to raise capital Early approach to promotion for Cotopaxi The differences between Cotopax...

Today’s guest is Matt Higgins, Founder and CEO of RSE Ventures. RSE is a private investment firm that focuses on sports and entertainment, media and marketing, food and lifestyle, and technology. Most recently he wrote the book “ Burn The Boats ”, which is a counterintuitive formula for a life of perpetual growth can find a link in the shownotes to get your copy. Some of their investments include...

Our guest today is Josh Cliffords, Founder & CEO of FreeWater. FreeWater is exactly what you think it is. FreeWater. Where they give away water and make money on selling ads on the bottle. We discuss the origin story of FreeWater, the economics of an ad-based physical product business, how he approached his distribution and finding sponsors, reactions to him building FreeWater, other products...

Our guest today is Sean Riley, co-founder and CEO of DUDE Wipes. DUDE Wipes makes flushable wipes—billions of 'em—assembled right here in the USA. DUDE is bootrapped, only taking outside investment of $300k from Marc Cuban on SharkTank and are set to do $90 million this year in sales. We discuss his entire journey from the aha moment up until scaling the brand. ***Sponsor***  Introducing aVent...

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 thin...

This is a recap episode of my conversation with 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.

This was our first LIVE episode, which we recorded at Cosmic Coffee & Beer Garden in Austin, TX during SXSW. 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 grain and Cosmic Bliss. We discuss the rebrand of Coconut Bliss to Cosmi...

Today’s highlight episode features Nagraj Kashyap , Managing Partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund one of the world's largest venture capital firms, 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...

Thank you Anna Whiteman for the introduction to our guest today,  Sarah Foley , Partner at  SWAT Equity Partners . SWAT Equity Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in emerging consumer brands across various product, service, and commerce sectors. Some of the investments include  Supergoop! ,  Banza , and  Mad Rabbit . We discuss: Why invest in consumer right now Dif...

Our guest today is  Brigette Wolf , VP and Global Head of  SnackFutures  at  Mondelēz International . Mondelez International is an American multinational confectionery, food, and beverage holding company. Some of their brands include  Oreo ,  Cadbury ,  Chips Ahoy ,  Ritz , and  Tate’s Bake Shop . SnackFutures is Mondelez’s innovation and venture hub. We discuss: When to partner with a corporate v...

Our guest today on the podcast is  Ashley Hartman , Managing Partner at  Bluestein Ventures . Bluestein Ventures is one of the premier family-backed venture capital fund in the food industry whose mission is to transform the food system into a better, more nutritious, and sustainable world. They invest at the Seed to Series A rounds and some of their investments include  Factor ,  Meati , and  Fox...

Our guest today is  Vijen Patel , who is the co-founder of Pressbox (now Tide Cleaners) and  The 81 Collection . Pressbox was a 24/7 dry cleaning and laundry service that Vijen bootstrapped to a very successful exit to P&G. The 81 Collection is a VC fund that focuses on the hard industries. We discuss: Why he had no choice but to bootstrap his dry cleaning tech business His approach to scale a...

This is a recording of a live interview I did with  Ty Haney  last month in Austin, TX. Ty is most famous for founding  Outdoor Voices , the technical apparel brand whose on a mission to get the world moving. My apologies in advance, we had a lot of technical issues on the day and the quality of the recording is not great. I really appreciate Ty for being incredibly open about her journey.  We di...

Our guest today on The Consumer VC podcast is  Jesse Pujji , Founder of  Gateway X  and  Ampush . Gateway X is a venture studio and holding company founded by Jesse Pujji. Ampush is a growth marketing partner that crafts holistic strategies and executes throughout the funnel.  We discuss: Why he left Goldman Sachs to start a performance marketing company Why he was bullish on Facebook ads early o...

Our guest today is  Marcos Gonzalez , Founder & Managing Partner of  VamosVentures . VamosVentures is committed to creating a pipeline of diverse VC investors. Their investments include  Stix ,  DRNXSMYTH , and  Suma .  We also discuss: How he invests in both software and consumer businesses Approach to portfolio construction How to increase the number of diverse founders who are venture-back...