1/ I believe celebrating innovation leads to more innovation. It leads to more investment in the space, more entrepreneurs, more talent to join those co's, etc.
With that goal, we put out an annual list of the 25 most innovative consumer/retail companies called the CircleUp25.
3/ Ancient Nutrition: @ancientnutr / Jordan Rubin, Josh Axe
Pioneered natural, easy to use bone broth powders. Seeing growth as strong as I've ever seen in the category over the last 20 years.
In an increasingly crowded space, Beyond Meat is looking like a winner. According to Helio: The co has the strongest brand score of co's tracked in the meat alternatives category. Seeing big distribution gains.
5/ Boochcraft: @Boochcraft / Adam Hiner, Andrew Clark, Todd Kent
Boochcraft took inspiration from craft beer industry to make one of first high-alcohol content kombucha. The drink is organic, non-GMO, locally sourced, gluten-free & has all of health benefits regular kombucha.
Brew Dr. Kombucha takes an innovative approach by removing the alcohol without the use of heat, preserving the beverage’s health benefits and live, active cultures.
Distribution is critical in CPG. Helio shows today how in the course of a year, the brand has grown quickly and spread to major distribution areas across the country.
9/ Cece’s Veggie Noodle Co: @cecesveggieco / Mason Arnold
Simple wins. Veggie Noodle is a simple good for you snack. First pre-packaged USDA organic spiralized vegetables available in Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Butternut, and Beet.
The health & beauty industry is dominated by toxic ingredients. Helio highlights the clean label of a sample shampoo found on @Credobeauty – which only stocks clean label products
Daily Harvest is bringing farm-frozen ingredients in pre-portioned, no-cook recipes to your doorstep. Also first time ever a CPG PE firm (VMG) has co-invested with a tech VC firm (Lightspeed). Congrats @ataussig@jeremysliew
Farmhouse Culture is a leader in category for making probiotic-rich foods and beverages. Originally founded as a line of Krauts, the company has since expanded to include fermented vegetables, a probiotic drink line, etc
Medicinal mushrooms have been on several lists as a trend to watch in 2018 and the global mushroom market is expected to hit $50 billion dollars within the next 5 years.
14/ Herbivore Botanicals: @herbivorebeauty / Julia Wills, Alex Kummerow
Since co-founders Julia and Alex started Herbivore Botanicals out of their kitchen, the brand has become a d2c powerhouse that is now widely available at the likes of Sephora and Space.NK in the UK.
The company makes “super snack” Chia Bars—with chia seeds as the #1 ingredient—and Superfood Protein Bars—packed with 10g plant protein from chia, quinoa, oats, and peas.
As the latest d2c darling, hims follows in the footsteps of DTC brands like Casper and Warby Parker that have skyrocketed to success with their quirky and approachable branding.
LOLA is challenging the lack of transparency in feminine hygiene with 100% organic cotton tampons. In a world where many brands start are now starting out as d2c, LOLA is helping to lead the charge in their space.
The wardrobe solution for professional women. MM.LaFleur creates luxury apparel and accessories with the same attention to detail as a high-end fashion house.
19/ Naadam Cashmere: @NaadamCashmere / Matt Scanlan, Diederik Rijsemus, Hadas Saar
For disrupting the cashmere industry. By cutting out the middleman and purchasing directly from herders, Naadam responsibly sources & produces luxury knitwear.
Product uniqueness - in a way that matters to the consumer- is critical. Once Upon a Farm has that- and a great brand, and an amazing team.
21/ Rothys: @rothys / Roth Martin, Stephen Hawthornthwaite
It’s clear that being mission-aligned has propelled this year’s list of consumer brands to success. Rothy's, which are made from recycled water bottles once destined for the landfill, has catapulted into the spotlight.
Urban Remedy is a plant-based organic food brand that embodies the belief that Food is Healing. The co makes ready-to-eat, certified organic salads, bowls, wraps, juices, nut milks, and shakes delivered to your door.
Collagen peptides are here to stay. Sourced from pasture-raised cows in Brazil and New Zealand and wild-caught fish in Hawaii, Vital Proteins is making collagen accessible with their colorful branding and availability.
Vive Organic packs the highest quality ingredients into Wellness Shots to deliver the closest possible match to a living plant. Their shots are cold pressed––not heated––made without artificial colors
27/ Youth to the People: @youthtotheppl /Greg Gonzalez, Joe Cloyes
YTTP was founded on the principle that the products we put on our skin should be as whole, clean and packed with nutrients as the best foods we eat. And they are building products that do exactly that.
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1/ I’ve talked several times before about building a systematic fund in the private markets. Systematic quant vc/pe funds are coming, and they will grow quicker than anyone expects.
2/ To build a successful systematic VC/PE fund, several things are needed.
I’m going to talk about two specifically here:
A. Information advantage (IA)
B. Large # of companies (N)
IA + large N = enormous value.
3/ In almost any domain, if you have a small advantage and enough swings at bat, you will ultimately come out on top. Let’s rattle through some examples:
1/ I am seeing more and more founder secondary in venture rounds (Secondary = founders selling some of their shares before some other shareholders are able). Series B-D. I see both as an investor and through entrepreneur circles.
2/ I like secondary for entrepreneurs. Moderation is key but in a lot of situations I think it helps accelerate the co. Lots of very smart investors disagree. Here are my thoughts.
3/ Magnitude: My basic rule of thumb from what I see is market is 4+ yrs and up to 10% of founder’s equity stake with some $ cap that makes sense given stage etc. (typically <$10m)
1/ Went to @StanfordWSoccer soccer today v. @USC_WSoccer with my family (wife, 18 mo boy and 4 yr daughter). Dog was invited as well and enjoyed the crowd.
2/ First observation – the crowd reignited a belief in me that Bay Area can have a good sports fan base that isn’t just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Game was sold out.
3/ Second- the @USC_WSoccer were a top 2-3 team I’ve seen in the past few years in terms of communication, how they supported each other, and just general teamwork. It was a master class in teamwork to watch.
1/ We will see more and more use of data in private markets. Over next 24 months it will become table stakes in most private markets. wsj.com/articles/priva…
2/ The transition will happen much faster than it did in the public markets because publics have paved way, easier to process massive amounts of data, more of a demand now to differentiate yourself.
3/ In early stage tech investing in Silicon Valley, I’m very skeptical that there is a problem to be solved (too much capital- not much inefficiency) or that data is the solution….at least in the short-term.
1/ @UNFI – a the largest natural foods distributor- reported earnings. Spoiler- they were horrible. zacks.com/stock/news/324…
2/ Let’s be clear. By horrible I mean that GM% was worse than expected as WholeFoods/Amazon (>30% of their business) puts pressure. EPS missed estimates and guidance implied that margin pressure will intensify next yr. Stock hit 5 yr low.
So I guess I call that horrible.
3/ To quote @karenhowland2 : “The company has razor thin margins (2% operating margin) and is buying another low margin, even less differentiated business in @supervalu and saddling the combined company with a lot of debt. Not a good combination.”
2/ I think almost all founders struggle with these emotional issues-but there are so few that talk about it. Why? Fear of being the only one not “crushing it”, fear of what it will mean with potential investors/customers/employees, fear of not living up to expectations.
3/ I deal with these feelings every day. It is a struggle.