You are the Deuxmoi of CPG! Your examples are good ones on how bad people get into every industry and cause scandal. VC didn’t make them do it, it was just the vehicle. I agree w @sumeet on diligence. There’s not enough of it.
I think it's less about how VC corrupted CPG. It's more about how flawed and hole-filles the diligence on these founders has been (and, well, who is doing this diligence). Yeesh.
Mmmm I don’t think we can say that without saying it’s also on VCs (re due diligence) better brand is an insane example of how they were able to manipulate VCs and narratives, cpg wasn’t hot before venture got into it, and so now it’s warped expectations all around, it’s just how it has become.
Oh I agree, hence the people doing the diligence. That would also include the early angels. And yes, they and consumer VC firms (like the first one I was part of, BFV) helped bring in the consumer boom in the early 2010s but that was with operationally foundational brands and investment theses. The industry lost the plot 5 years later when non consumer VCs came in, threw money into the sector, and forced marketing down the sector’s (and our) throats.
Now that the tourists for the most part are gone, I am quite optimistic about CPG and consumer as a whole. You're definitely seeing it with multiple exits and growth investments.
Mmmmmmmmmmm the people that invested in these companies were not newbies and continue to fuel money towards it. I’m not anti VC have some that I love and think they are super smart and are not fooled or newbies, but when we have cereal companies raising like tech cos at $85M a round, “it’s not just a few bad apples”
Though on the topic of Better Bagel, I'm trying to pull at the thread of VERSO Capital (the lead investor in the Series A) and...apparently they did food tech deals and scrubbed it and its main partner off the site??
You are the Deuxmoi of CPG! Your examples are good ones on how bad people get into every industry and cause scandal. VC didn’t make them do it, it was just the vehicle. I agree w @sumeet on diligence. There’s not enough of it.
I think it's less about how VC corrupted CPG. It's more about how flawed and hole-filles the diligence on these founders has been (and, well, who is doing this diligence). Yeesh.
Mmmm I don’t think we can say that without saying it’s also on VCs (re due diligence) better brand is an insane example of how they were able to manipulate VCs and narratives, cpg wasn’t hot before venture got into it, and so now it’s warped expectations all around, it’s just how it has become.
Oh I agree, hence the people doing the diligence. That would also include the early angels. And yes, they and consumer VC firms (like the first one I was part of, BFV) helped bring in the consumer boom in the early 2010s but that was with operationally foundational brands and investment theses. The industry lost the plot 5 years later when non consumer VCs came in, threw money into the sector, and forced marketing down the sector’s (and our) throats.
Now that the tourists for the most part are gone, I am quite optimistic about CPG and consumer as a whole. You're definitely seeing it with multiple exits and growth investments.
Mmmmmmmmmmm the people that invested in these companies were not newbies and continue to fuel money towards it. I’m not anti VC have some that I love and think they are super smart and are not fooled or newbies, but when we have cereal companies raising like tech cos at $85M a round, “it’s not just a few bad apples”
Most of those deals are growth equity / early PE rounds now though!
The people who invested in Better Bagel in a $10M at a $100M valuation weren’t PE…
As I said, "most." Always exceptions to the rule.
Though on the topic of Better Bagel, I'm trying to pull at the thread of VERSO Capital (the lead investor in the Series A) and...apparently they did food tech deals and scrubbed it and its main partner off the site??
https://www.forbes.com/sites/douglasyu/2021/09/20/verso-capital-the-investor-behind-worlds-trendiest-food-tech-companies-aims-to-remove-animals-from-food-systems/