In The Money: eCommerce, DTC, and CPG

How do you actually underwrite early-stage consumer when the data is thin, capital is tighter, and durability matters more than hype? Lori Cashman, Founding Partner at Visible Ventures, breaks down how she evaluates founders from Seed to Series A, and why founder-market fit, retention, and demographic tailwinds matter more than vanity metrics. This episode is a masterclass in investor judgment, ca...

How did two non-parents build one of the most design-forward, community-trusted baby brands in America and then blow the doors off retail with a 43-SKU Target launch? Greg Davidson, co-founder & CEO of Lalo , breaks down the entire playbook. This episode goes deep into consumer insight, design taste, category white space, SKU expansion, operational pain, retail rollout strategy, and the fundra...

What actually makes a consumer brand break out and stay durable in a world where attention spans are collapsing and CAC is chaos? Shamin Walsh has spent a decade underwriting early-stage consumer bets at BAM Ventures. She’s backed companies like Honey and Pretty Litter before they became household names and she breaks down exactly what separates the winners from everyone else. This episode goes de...

In this episode of In The Money , we sit down with David Gaylord , Co-Founder & CEO of Bushbalm , one of the fastest-growing skincare brands in North America and a case study in how disciplined, product-led consumer companies scale from zero to tens of millions. David breaks down the real economics behind building a modern beauty brand , from pricing and margins to channel contribution and how...

In this episode of In The Money , we sit down with Andrew Barone at Rosenthal & Rosenthal , one of the leading privately held asset-based lenders. Andrew has financed hundreds of consumer and eCommerce brands through every stage of growth. We dive deep into the real financial mechanics behind consumer brands: inventory cycles, margin truth, receivables risk, retail payment terms, PO financing,...

In this episode, I sit down with Amanda Schutzbank , Co-Founder and General Partner at Willow Growth Partners , one of the most thesis-driven and disciplined early-stage consumer funds in the market. Willow specializes in backing health, wellness, and essential-category brands in the $2m–5m revenue range, often before they’re household names. Their portfolio includes hits like Coterie, Goodles, Bu...

How Wildgrain Built a Profitable, High 8-Figure Food Brand With Just 18 Employees In this episode, I sit down with Ismail Salhi , co-founder & CEO of Wildgrain , one of the most impressive subscription food businesses of the last decade; profitable, high eight figures in revenue, and run by a shockingly lean team. Ismail breaks down how Wildgrain escaped the classic DTC plateaus at $3M, $10M,...

The consumer investing landscape has shifted and few people have a better view of that evolution than Drew Skolnik , Partner at KarpReilly , one of the most respected growth equity investors in consumer, retail, and CPG. In this episode, Drew breaks down how capital discipline, focus, and brand fundamentals have become the new edge in consumer investing. We cover: How investor expectations have ch...

What happens when one of the most iconic brand-building agencies in the world spins out its own venture capital business? In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Faierman , Partner at Habitat Partners , the venture firm incubated out of Red Antler, the brand and creative powerhouse behind breakout names like Allbirds, Hims, and Casper. We talk about how Habitat approaches investing at the intersec...

Kevin Lee, co-founder of Immi , joins In The Money to talk about how he and his co-founder took one of the world’s most iconic comfort foods, instant ramen, and rebuilt it for modern consumers. From tech to CPG , Kevin shares what surprised him about running a food brand, how Immi evolved from “healthy ramen” to a taste-first protein brand , and what he’s learned about navigating product innovatio...

In this episode of In The Money, we sit down with Ben Perkins, Founder of &Collar, the fast-growing direct-to-consumer menswear brand known for reinventing the classic white dress shirt. Ben shares how &Collar went from being overlevered and on the brink, with $10M in revenue and $2M in debt, to becoming a profitable, eight-figure business growing double digits year-over-year. He talks can...

In this episode, I sit down with Alex Yancher, Co-founder and CEO of Passport Global, the logistics platform powering cross-border commerce for some of the world’s fastest-growing brands. Alex breaks down the new rules of international eCommerce as the U.S. ends the de minimis exemption and tariffs rise globally. He explains how brands can turn geopolitical risk into strategic advantage through lo...

In this episode, I sit down with Cam Mehr, Founder of Vital Plus, one of the fastest-scaling wellness hardware brands redefining the cold plunge category. Cam shares how he built an eight-figure eCommerce business with no outside capital and a lean team, proving that focus, efficiency, and operational discipline can beat headcount and hype. We cover:⚙️ How to run an ultra-lean DTC company that pun...

Brian Berger, Founder and CEO of Mack Weldon, joins the podcast to share the story of building one of the most recognized DTC menswear brands. In this episode, Brian dives into:- The early days of Mack Weldon and the insight that sparked its launch.- How the brand evolved from basics into a full men’s lifestyle platform.- The shift from DTC performance marketing arbitrage to brand storytelling and...

In this episode, I sit down with Jay Wright, Founder of Ecommerce Equation, to talk about scaling eCommerce brands in today’s environment. Jay shares insights from managing over half a billion dollars in annual ad spend and coaching thousands of brands. We dive into:- Why Meta’s evolving AI-driven ad platform is still the #1 channel for growth.- How creative and avatar diversification have become...

In this episode, I sit down with Caroline Weintraub of True Beauty Ventures, one of the most respected specialist investors in the beauty and wellness space. Caroline breaks down what she and her team look for when evaluating early-stage brands; from their “Five P’s” framework (Positioning, Product, People, Performance, Partnership) to the importance of strong omni-channel distribution and true di...

In this episode, I sit down with Justin Seidenfeld, Co-founder and CEO of Canopy, the beauty-meets-wellness hardware brand redefining humidifiers, shower filters, and home rituals. Justin shares his unique journey from agency operator at Doris Dev, where he worked with breakout brands like Magic Spoon and Pattern, to going all in on Canopy. We cover:- Lessons from his early career at Quirky and Gr...

In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Kitirattragarn, Founder of Dang Foods and now a restructuring expert at Sherwood Partners. Andrew’s story is a rare one: he built a beloved, nationally distributed snack brand that raised over $12M in venture funding, scaled into thousands of retail doors - and ultimately didn’t deliver the big exit he had hoped for. We dive deep into:The rise and fall of Da...

In this episode, I sit down with Mollye Santulli, Investor at Springdale Ventures, an early-stage VC firm focused on backing the next generation of consumer brands. Springdale reviews nearly 1,000 deals a year and invests in just 5–10, making Mollye’s perspective invaluable for founders navigating the fundraising landscape. We cover:- How Springdale filters opportunities, from first pitch deck to...

In this episode, Brad Plock of WRK Marketing shares the frameworks and playbooks he uses to help brands get unstuck and scale sustainably. We talk about: Why a “good” ROAS in 2025 depends on margins, contribution dollars, and payback windowsHow to diagnose a mid-seven-figure brand that’s plateaued, from MER vs. CAC splits to repeat revenue drivers Creative frameworks that actually move the needle...

Allie Egan, founder and CEO of Veracity, is rethinking what the future of consumer health looks like. In this episode, we dive into: Why Veracity pivoted from at-home hormone testing to building its hero product, Metabolism Ignite , and what that shift taught Allie about consumer adoption in health How she sees the “fashionization of supplements” , making wellness products not just about function,...

Josh Williams is the co-founder and CEO of Very Great, the company behind design-led consumer brands like W&P, Wild One, and Courant. In this episode, we dive into how Josh has built and scaled a portfolio of category-defining brands without chasing unsustainable growth. He shares the Very Great playbook for identifying white space, building timeless products, and staying disciplined in an era...

In this episode, I chat with Josh Armstrong, Founder of We The Wild, the plant care brand taking root across Target, independent retail, across both the US and Australia. Josh shares how the company built a product moat around living microbes, why he believes in mental availability over marketing hacks, and what he’s learned scaling from zero to a high-growth, omni-channel brand. We cover:How gett...

What happens when you actually listen to 1,000+ customers before scaling a brand? In this episode, Black Wolf Co-Founder Sam Lewkowict shares how he turned direct customer insight into one of the most operationally disciplined and product-focused men’s grooming brands in the space. We cover:- Why better product, not better marketing, is the CPG moat- The real reason they launched grooming devices...

In this episode, I sit down with Hudson Davis-Ross, co-founder of Plant People, to unpack how the brand went from a COVID-era collapse to one of the fastest-growing wellness companies in the mushroom supplement space. We talk about: How SKU rationalization and focus on one breakout product (WonderDay mushroom gummies) sparked a turnaround Why mushroom-based wellness is set to go mainstream—unlike...