Jennie Baik

This article really resonated with me, especially the section below about founders knowing their numbers. What skill set should a founder starting a brand today have?  Drew F.: "Now, more than ever, you have to know your numbers. You have to be able to describe your unit economics, not only certainly to any prospective investor, but also to yourself because the odds that you’re going to get any capital are near zero. If you don’t know your unit economics and cash flow, you won’t have a business. The founder that knows their numbers and how to scale the business in a healthy and efficient way is the founder that will prevail." Scaling a beauty brand has never been easy, but it has gotten increasingly more difficult over the past few years. Capital efficiency and a focus on margins and profitability have also become more important for investors seeking to deploy in the category. True Beauty Ventures Cristina Nuñez Rachel Brown Beauty Independent #beautyinvesting https://lnkd.in/egBiFhPC

33

6 Comments

Eka Ventures enjoyed co-hosting a roundtable with Erevena on building brands for consumer and B2B companies We where fortunate to hear insights from scale up leaders Roxanne Nejad Iona Carter and Viktoria Tchoudakov. Thank you to Estia Ryan and Flo Bown for organising Key insights included: 1. Trust is the foundation of good brands: Viktoria Tchoudakov mentioned the value of Trustpilot to IWOCA's scale whilst Iona Carter focused on Plum Guide's "Michelin Star" inspired certification for properties 2. Organic is key: “When looking to drive organic growth through content, we focused on three themes: education for the user, demonstrating our values, and humour” – Roxanne 3. Tracking brand awareness is tough and can be expensive - but has a value to investors

50

Anyone that has a Shopify store or works with clients that have one can learn from a financial wizard and should be on this webinar at 11am tomorrow with John Zdanowski

11

❗❗ New investment alert ❗❗Want to learn why we led a $10M Series A into Pear Commerce 🍐 ? Read on! 🎯 - A spot-on product. Everyone who used or was familiar with Pear made it clear that their product solved a need, and did it better than the other options available to them. It is a better approach to a problem they all had. 😤 - A great team. Eric Martell and Alex Wyler are great leaders, repeat founders, and building Pear with real purpose. And they have attracted a great team around them to scale their impact! 📈 - Exciting results. Pear had a great 2023, and 2024 is more of the same. Their growth, and the underlying metrics behind it, speaks for itself! https://lnkd.in/gP_FceJC

56

4 Comments

For your weekend reflection: The generosity of advice deepens relationships. In a fantastic podcast episode, Jennifer Prosek delves into key insights essential for private investors and leaders alike: 1. The necessity of consumer branding for private investors. 2. The significance of crafting a unique narrative. 3. The empowerment that comes from bringing people together. 4. The rising trend of branding within private markets. 5. The democratization of access to alternative investments. 6. How to maximize relationships at conferences. 7. Leadership strategies to inspire and motivate talent. 8. The importance of thought leadership on LinkedIn Narratives are powerful in driving connections, for innovators and investors, everywhere.

9

1 Comment

NY friends! Please come see me at Tech Day on my panel discussing the future of the NY tech ecosystem and what I hope to bring to it!

72

5 Comments

When we asked CPG founders who they wanted at Founderland... Their answer was clear: People who can help them grow their business & achieve their goals. Specifically: - The top retailers - The most founder-friendly investors, and - Other founders they can learn from and share with This conversation that I'm hosting at Founderland is a perfect representation of this group, plus one BIG bonus. We're also including Joel Toledano and ChargeUp.ai which is one of my favorite tech companies that is supporting consumer brands today. They automate the retail deduction and chargeback process for brands, saving them an insane amount of time and money. Such a cool co. Excited to teach, share and connect...and get some deals done, while of course having lots of fun. Joel Toledano Jen Zeszut Kim Coffin Deb Conklin

89

41 Comments

Discussion topics I’m most excited about at the upcoming Dealmakers Summit in NYC on 17-18 June 🛀**Bodycare and men’s grooming** have shown steady growth and are full of innovative entrants that could be poised for the next round of exciting exits…I’ll be on the panel with Rebecca Zhou, CEO at Soft Services, Rom Ginzburg, CEO at Maelys and Ashleigh Barker, Head of Beusty at Lincoln International. ♾️**Longevity brands** - consumer interest and investment activity in wellness and a focus on less superficial benefits has been growing steadily for years. What is a longevity brand and are they they a gold mine of financial potential? 🛍️**The retail landscape** - has transformed the past three years alongside rising DTC costs. What and who is the future looking like? 👧🏼👵🏾**Alpha to boomers** - Gen Alpha may be the buzziest cohort of consumers, but in reality, each generation drives the industry forward in varying ways. A holistic look at what the opportunities are in each generation and the value each of these groups specifically brings to beauty and value creation. Beyond this, it’s the best event to genuinely connect with friends + make new in the beauty space, bc if you know him Nader Naeymi-Rad knows how to throw a party. As such, it always sells out, link to final remaining tickets in comments below 👇 Beauty Independent | Nader Naeymi-Rad | Claire McCormack | Paris Farsad-Roche | Taylor Bryant

125

14 Comments

We just released June's Workforce Wrap Up! Take a read if you’re interested in learning more about 👇 📉 The latest data on employment and layoffs 💸 Changes in consumer spending and how major retailers and businesses are responding 📊 The CBO’s new economic outlook through 2034 🌍 What the “new normal” for global economies are expected to look like and what we can do to adjust 👷‍♀️ Trends for union certification 👀 And which frontline job saw the slowest wage gains in the last few years?

27

2 Comments

Big announcement below! 👇 Let's talk about the current state of GP-LP affairs: 🤯Emerging VC managers have absolutely exploded over the past 5 years. 📈 At the same time, more and more data has surfaced that shows that emerging VC firms tend to outperform larger, established firms. 🤔 All of this has made it intriguing but tough for LPs to know where to direct their attention. 🛍 GPs frequently meet LPs at conferences who are window shopping but not committed to the asset class or emerging managers. 🧾 And both crews get overwhelmed by transactional convos. So Sydney Paige Thomas and I created Abundance. Abundance is a private, nomination-based retreat for active LPs and top emerging GPs to form new experiences together and build lasting relationships. Why Abundance? Abundance is knowing that there is more than enough for more than one to succeed. And a single win within a community is a win for the community itself. The journey of an emerging VC manager from 1st close to final close or Fund 1 to Fund 2 is (1) communal and (2) requires an abundant mindset. LPs look for structure and confidence to feel comfortable investing in early VC firms. Yet many of the feeds we scroll and conferences we attend reinforce inherent power dynamics and transactional thinking, which allows scarcity mindset to creep in for emerging GPs. Some of the best events I’ve attended have been intentionally non-transactional, e.g. Camp Hustle, Recast Summit, and other GPs’ AGMs. The fundraising success stories we see usually involve a community (usually of other GPs & LPs) coming together to support and open doors for the emerging GP. We designed Abundance to be an immersive gathering that fosters these connections. Starting tonight, ~100 GPs and LPs are descending upon Seattle for the inaugural Abundance retreat. This has been under wraps for months and I can’t wait to see it come to life! Thanks in advance to our awesome sponsors who were the earliest believers in this vision: Sydecar, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Gunderson Dettmer, & Zelda Ventures. And shoutout to my dad Ed Illig for logo design & Halle Kaplan-Allen being the first sponsor to say yes 🤩 Presented by The Council Capital & Symphonic Capital.

131

33 Comments

What's the fast river in alts? Listen to the latest Alt Goes Mainstream podcast with Mercer's Gregg Sommer & CAIS' Neil Blundell to hear how they are helping advisors approach private markets. Gregg, Neil, and I had a fascinating discussion about how the wealth channel can approach alternatives and how they can think about both diligence and customization. We covered: * The case for alternatives. * How advisors currently approach alternatives and how they can think about it differently going forward. * How to think about portfolio construction that includes alternatives. * How alts can help advisors differentiate their practice and attract clients. * Following the fast river in a career and why alternatives are “the fast river.” * The meaning of “structure over strategy.” * The rise in popularity of evergreen funds. Thanks Gregg and Neil for sharing your thoughts and expertise on private markets. Thanks to our sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions, for making this episode possible. https://lnkd.in/eBtyw6Fm

31

2 Comments

Loved this research by Gary Pisano which is so aligned with my 2017 book, Pacing for Growth: Why Intelligent Restraint is Key to Long-Term Success. “Sustaining profitable growth requires a delicate balance between the pursuit of market opportunities (demand) and the creation of the capabilities and capacity needed to exploit those opportunities (supply)”.

9

1 Comment

At Costanoa Ventures, we pride ourselves on identifying and supporting exceptional founders poised to create impactful, lasting change. Hona is a shining example, driven by a trio of extremely talented founders: Manny Griffiths, Joshua Christensen, and Matt McClellan. They each bring unique, differentiated expertise to the table, and Amy Cheetham and I are extremely excited to partner with them. There are approximately 450,000 law firms in the United States, with half of those firms being B2C - think personal injury, mass tort, or immigration law as opposed to BigLaw. One of the reasons we love how Hona is tackling this market is their focus on B2C law firms and product excellence - B2B firms are historically difficult to sell brand new software products into, but B2C firms are completely different buyers. Oftentimes there's just a handful of lawyers and paralegals in a partnership, and any piece of technology they can use to give them an edge would be valuable. 44% of negative Google reviews on law firms directly reference poor communication as the reason for a negative experience, and the number 1 reason for Attorney Bar complaints in the U.S. is "lack of communication". On the lawyer's side, attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants spend an average of 7.4 hours per week on unnecessary updates, redundant communication, and activities that aren't directly contributing towards getting a client's case solved. Manny and the team at Hona are working to change all of that. Hona delivers a tightly-integrated communications platform to help facilitate better communication between law firms and their clients. During legal proceedings, client communications tend to be a large resource-stressor for law firms. Clients will frequently call firms for case updates, legal explanations, or general administrative questions that tend to eat away at firm resources without providing any additional progress toward case resolution. Hona exists to ease that burden - it’s a platform that allows law firms to efficiently communicate with their clients over text, easily build customizable web pages and embed videos, and share information on case status and basic legal process education. This crucial communication processes allow attorneys to focus on their job – moving cases forward, while keeping their clients informed and educated. If you're a lawyer dealing with these problems - don't hesitate to reach out to us or the Hona team! It's a privilege to work with Hona on this journey. The company has been growing at a rapid pace, and they're delivering meaningful technology to help people get through legal proceedings in a much more fluid, transparent, and easy process. Manny, Joshua, and Matt are exceptional founders whose combined skills and dedication to continuous learning position them perfectly to lead Hona to success. They're just getting started, and we can't wait to see what they'll achieve.

28

Markets talk. We listen. We've from heard from capital allocators (#VC, #PrivateEquity, #FamilyOffices....even #VentureStudios, #Incubators and #Accelerators) that due diligence is a bottleneck to deal flow. It's time-consuming, expensive and often, subjective. We've launched #VentureIQ by the 9point8 Collective to directly address this problem. VentureIQ is an AI-enabled diligence solution that provides rapid scale diligence reports with exceptional fidelity and demonstrable cost efficiency - all within a single business day. We're in our soft launch, now. So, if you want to gain back valuable time and expose the long tail of deal flow diligence, shoot me a DM or visit VentureIQ.ai.

23

1 Comment

First Starbucks, now Nike. Large retailers are struggling as consumer behavior changes. Caught in between different eras, these companies struggle with how to proceed. However, a new wave of companies is coming. These companies are able to master both physical and digital commerce. Like Madison Reed (founded by University of Connecticut Alum Amy Errett - Go Huskies!), partnering with UConn Basketball stars to promote Madison Reed's omnichannel Hair Color product. Like Shopify, which is focusing on the full commerce stack by expanding into wholesale. Like Blue Onion, which helps companies reconcile where the payments in their bank account came from. All of this breakdown, and more, in this week's edition of "Retail Is Not Dead?". What future of commerce companies are you excited about? https://lnkd.in/gE5p4Pku

7

In 2013, Lori Torres felt an undeniable spark when she conceived the idea for Parcel Pending, a smart locker solution designed to tackle the package crisis in apartment buildings. Despite being the primary breadwinner in her family with a thriving real estate career, she took a monumental risk. She left her secure job, sold the family’s cherished home, and even persuaded her mother to risk her property for a loan. Within a year of these sacrifices, Lori had developed her first smart lockers. Her innovation soon caught on, with her lockers becoming a key solution for property management companies and residents. By the end of 2014, Lori’s commitment had not only secured her first major order but also attracted investors, setting the stage for tremendous growth. Within six years, Parcel Pending was sold for $100 million, turning her mother’s loan into a $1 million return and ensuring her family's future. Lori’s story highlights a key lesson for anyone seeking investors: truly committing to your vision can make a world of difference. By investing your own resources and security, you show investors just how dedicated you are to your idea. When you put everything on the line, it not only proves your commitment but also makes a strong case to potential backers. If you’re all in, it’s far easier to convince others to believe in your dream, and it could be the turning point in making it a reality. Are you prepared to go all in on your entrepreneurial dreams? Grab a copy of my book, “Thinking Bigger”, at the link below to read my personal experience chasing my dream and the advice I would share to anyone starting today. https://lnkd.in/dZpQYX6D #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #Startups #Investment #ThinkBigger

19

1 Comment

Kicking off the new year writing for Fast Company Executive Board again. My article—The Growth Equation: Driving sustainably profitable growth for VC and PE-backed companies—was just published today. Happy New Year. Wishing you and your business success in 2025. https://lnkd.in/gd6BV_u2

35

1 Comment

We see this very often in deals, the request of a staple, but I personally think there are ways to navigate this, with everything being above board , both for the selling LP, buyer and the GP. We have had situations where the GP preferred buyer who could also do a staple, actually price the fund better... because they want to strengthen that relationship, and ultimately of course have had situations where the GP preferred buyer is the bad actor in the equation, leveraging their preferred position to down play price for the seller... it's all part of the negotiation process. #secondaries #setterstrong

3