Consumer VC

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Jiake.Outer is an extraordinary company that is reengineering outdoor furniture. Business Insider named them the #1 fastest growing DTC brands.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with him.

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Jessica & Rod.Jessica Rolph and Rod Morris, the co-founders of Lovevery, staged-based play essentials designed by experts, built for babies and toddlers up to age 3.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with Jessica & Rod

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Michael Barlow, CEO of Fernish.Thank you Anna Barber for the intro to today's guest, Michael Barlow, founder and CEO of Fernish. Fernish offers premium furniture rentals that feel like home, delivered and assembled in a week.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with XXX

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Betsy Fore & Sofia Laurell, Co-CEOs and Founders of Tiny Organics.Tiny Organics delivers organic, fresh, nutrient-rich baby and toddler meals created by their Infant Nutritionist. Their goal is to help every parent feed their baby and toddler the healthiest food.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with Betsy and Sofia.

This episode are highlights from my conversation with George Milton.George Milton is the co-founder and CEO of Yellowbird Sauce, Spicy condiments crafted to take you on a fiery–fresh food adventure.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with George

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Coulter Lewis.Coulter Lewis is the founder and CEO of Sunday. Sunday provides nutrient and soil health plans for garden and lawn care. Previously, Coulter founded Quinn Snacks, the successful farm to bag snack company.If you enjoy this episode, click here to listen to my full conversation with Coulter

This episode are highlights from my episode with Adelle Archer.Adelle Archer is the founder of Eterneva, which celebrates remarkable lives by making diamonds from Ashes. Eterneva was featured on Shark Tank, in which Mark Cuban joined other incredible angels and VCs as an investor. This episode focuses in the end of life space.If you enjoy this, click here to listen to Adelle's full episode.Click here on your phone to join The Consumer VC Community

Kate Boyle is the founder and CEO of Banjo Robinson. Banjo Robinson is a magical cat that writes personalized letters that turn reading, writing and learning about the world into a magical game for 5-8 year olds. Banjo Robinson graduated London Techstars Accelerator fall 2019 and recently raised a pre-seed round led by Collaborative Fund and Sesame Ventures. Previously, Kate worked at William Morris and in screenwriting and script development.If you enjoyed this, here is a link to check out Kate's full episode.

Hey Everyone!For this holiday period, I'll be releasing an episode every morning of Hanukkah (starting tomorrow) that will be some of the best moments from my conversations with founders over this past year.I'll also be releasing an episode everyday during the twelve days of Christmas that will be some great moments with investors on this show during 2020.Click this link on your mobile to join my Upstream CommunitySign up here to receive updates about the summit.hoJsKsOKdYfTDO7r1PY4

My guest today is Matthias Metternich, one of the co-founders and CEO of Art of Sport. Art of Sport is a complete line of daily essential body and skin care products made for athletes. Some of the things we spoke about were his approach to building a world class skincare business, how he partners with Athletes, and his thoughts around fundraising and investing in CPG businesses.A couple books that inspired Matthias - Arrow In The Blue by Arthur Koestler and American Colossus by W.H. Brands.You can follow Matthias on Twitter Here. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.Here are some questions I ask Matthias -What was the insight that led you to found Art of Sport?How did you approach building a superior product from day 1?There's a ton of DNVB brands in the market since it's become very affordable to start a brand. How did you think about brand differentiation and building something that was compelling in the early days?Building off this, what was your approach to online growth?How did you seek partnerships with athletes?How do you think about brand authenticity?How were you able to build a story and construct a brand that retailers wanted and what was your approach to retail / omnichannel strategy?How were you able to get into Target nationally? Since you entered retail right before COVID, has COVID been a huge headwind for you this year?When it comes to building DNVBs, you no longer have those growth arbitrage opportunities like you did in the late 00s/early 10s, so your customer acquisition costs are much higher. How do you think about capital efficiency?What was your fundraising strategy?This is now your fifth company you've started and all your companies seem to be in different verticals - enterprise SaaS, consulting - what were some of your takeaways from those experiences that impacted how you are building Art of Sport?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you personally?