Phoebe Gould

Andrew Huberman recently displayed another case of a non-celebrity founded brand, rolling into a deep partnership with a celebrity/major influencer via co-ownership. We’ve seen the trend of net-new celebrity founded brands begin to plateau, but I think we are just getting started with this one. I think these are going to overwhelming succeed for a key reason: it’s better to start with good business fundamentals then experience added growth, than to experience added growth before good fundamentals. Who’s next? —— Shoutout to Ridge for potentially being a trend setter with this one with MKBHD. https://lnkd.in/gunTTrH6

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Everybody needs a place to put their love. - Karina Dresses tagline, circa 2012 In 2012 I made my first investment in a #femalefounder who also happened to be 50+. At the time I had no idea how unusual these founder traits were. I just knew the founder was passionate, authentic, experienced, perfectly aligned with both the product and the market. Most importantly there was a strong emotional bond between the product and the customers who bought it. 🤷🏾‍♂️- it just seemed like the smart thing to do. Not a lot of my investor buddies agreed at the time- probably not so surprising. Fast forward 10+ years and the value of my investment is ~20x & the amount of free cash flow distributed to equity holders is substantial & still increasing YOY. My takeaways: ✅Invest in authenticity, passion and intimacy (customer)- no matter what the founder profile looks like relative to others. ✅Follow your gut. ✅Not every deal is venture scale worthy. But there’s a potential investor for every deal. ✅Be the best version of you, not a lame version of someone else. Works for both investors & founders. :) Congratulations to Karina and the team at Karina Dresses! Proud as punch to be on this journey with you all🚀

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One day you're a manager at Target. Five years later, you're designing and releasing your own line of fashion apparel with Target. That's the incredible journey of Jenee Naylor, a fashion influencer I've been following for years. In the $250B influencer industry, mere follower count won't cut it anymore. It's about building brands and businesses that resonate deeply. Jenee's partnership with Target isn't just about fashion; it's about harnessing influence to redefine commerce. Today, VCs and corporations are pouring millions into influencer-driven ventures, recognizing the powerhouses they've become. YouTube group, Dude Perfect, for example, received a $100M investment from Highmount Capital to support their ventures. Walmart was a launch partner for Mr. Beast's Feastables line of chocolates, which saw the product on shelves in hundreds of stores. Behind every successful partnership lies strategic alignment: data-driven insights, diverse audience engagement, genuine brand connection, and a solid track record of turning influence into revenue (which, in Jenee's case, is evident from the significant traffic she drives to various stores when she shares links to products she wears on her social pages — I'm one of the many who clicks those links to make purchases based on her recos). The creator economy is soaring, but it's essential that its rise is inclusive. We need more trailblazers like Jenee, breaking barriers and shaping a future where diversity drives a surge in entrepreneurship and business empires led by strategic-minded talent. #CreatorEconomy #InfluencerMarketing #DiversityAndInclusion #FromManagertoMogul

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Towards all effected today for the big news that dropped about Pixar Animation Studios is laying off 14% (or around 175 employees) will be let go, as before hand in terms of the reductions, approximately 1,300 people worked at the animation studio. As Disney CEO, Bob Iger has been banging his drum for quite sometime now emphasizing on “quality vs. quantity” for content that is either of, theatrical & streaming wise from past earnings calls since 2023 and this year. For anyone effected as please do reach out towards anyone you know for warm & cold contacting for any potential opportunities or getting those interviews/paid interns, within your network as this news totally blows hard today: 👎🏻👎🏻🚫🚫 https://lnkd.in/gQ_uHYYK #animationnews #animationindustry #entertainmentnews #entertainmentindustry #joblayoffs #layoffs #disney #pixar #california #jobmarket #jobworld #businessnews #businessindustry

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Nibble on resale is delivering +145% conversion in AB tests with statistical significance – if you're reading this and are involved in resale/pre-owned we need to be talking ⚠️ How much is that second hand pair of sneakers really worth? The way to find out is by having a conversation 1-1 – that is what we are facilitating for our clients and I am thrilled to be seeing such strong data off the back of it 🤩 #resale #preowned #recommerce #thrift #thriftcommerce

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StudioThree Spring Showcase Cohort Reveal! We had five phenomenal founders pitch to lots of early-stage investors at our third StudioThree showcase today. Woody Lello at TRUSS - collecting and sharing information about fashion’s past to enable a better fashion future and providing detailed product information to streamline the fashion resale process. Isabella Sumner at InHaus.ai - a tool to create affordable product videos at high volume and speed in your own studio Joe Darwen at Veo (Veo.world)and CircKit, a unified sustainability platform and AI-powered suite of tools that transforms how products are conceived, empowering brands to reverse engineer circularity into their product design processes from inception. Nick Valenzia at Leafr - connecting businesses with top-tier freelance sustainability specialists Peter Denby at HyperFinity - using decision intelligence to help retailers sell the right products to the right people for the right price. These companies are developing innovations to reduce costs, increase commercial viability, and simplify complexity for fashion companies and others as they roll out their next-stage strategies. Raising now and also ready for partnerships!

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What is game changing about Twig Ventures model? Levi Reed and their team gives *hands on* fractional support for a few months before helping you bring your baby to investors. As a first generation college student, WOC founder, that generous act of service speaks volumes as I've really had to build my network from the ground up and that access to top quality support is PRICELESS! 👉🏽 Investors - fill out their typeform to learn more 👉🏽 Founders - DM their Twig Ventures page on LI directly You rock Levi!

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Excited to share my convo with Nadia Boujarwah, Founder/CEO of Dia & Co (raised $120M+), the leading marketplace for plus-size clothing. Nadia stepped up to corner a multi-billion market that other fashion retailers weren’t considering. It was awesome hosting her, alongside my co-host & brother Alejandro Garcia-Amaya, on our Unicorn Web Series (sponsored by ILUMA: The AI Chief of Staff for CEOs - Bad news delivered directly to you, everyday). There are many strategies on how to make marketplaces grow into billion dollar companies, Nadia’s preferred strategy was growth-through-acquisition. Instead of increasing supply by slowly adding up brands to their catalog one by one, Nadia decided to acquire companies that were already offering a multitude of brands. This made them unique in the space and allowed them to grow faster. Her experience acquiring companies taught her that closing the deal is not the most difficult stage… “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴… 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” Watch the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gV6CUaWJ  or listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/g52_m4uW   #Startups #Leadership #CEO #acquisitions #startupadvice #ILUMA #Founders #CEOInsights

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this is my favorite blog post in describing the process of pattern matching that VCs use to evaluate fund-returning opportunities: in search of narrative violations. a narrative violation is a contrarian take against conventional wisdom. it is an intentional disregard of the wisdom of the crowds in favor of ideas that are just crazy enough that they might work. the best venture deals have been ones where it wasn't an oversubscribed round; it didn't fall into the secular trends of the market cycle; it was an unpopular opinion that inadvertently led to category creation; and contributed a significant portion of DPI to LPs. all of these narrative violations seem to have 3 things in common: outlier founding teams, a positive inflection in market timing, and an ability to anticipate widespread product adoption in the mid-to-long-term time horizons since company inception. pls pls pls have a read - you won't regret it :)

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Two reasons why Issa Rae’s launch of Ensemble, which connects brands with creators of color, and partnering with Snap’s 523 creator accelerator program is really exciting and telling: 1)   It confirms the continued blurring between mainstream media and the creator space. Issa came from YouTube, made a name for herself in prestige film and TV and beyond, and still continues to see the power of creators as the next generation of talent and decision makers in entertainment. She didn’t leave the creator space in the rearview, she sees it as part of the future as well. 2)   She sees big money in empowering underrepresented creators. How can we get to a $500B creator economy industry by 2027 without ensuring we’re optimizing and including the whole talent pool? She's stated that her goal with this is to help close the equity gap for creators of color. There is no shortage of talent, but there is the need to ensure you’re getting the best deals and resources for such talent which ultimately will enable these creators to establish themselves faster, create even better content and creator businesses, and ultimately provide more content, distribution, and revenue streams for all. It’s great that she’s leveraging her access, brand, and resources to lift up others and ensure more inclusion in the creator space for better representation AND better business. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats!

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Fatigue around #celebrity and #creator brands has set in. Well said, Gabriela Barkho. Great piece in Modern Retail on how investors - and consumers! - should be looking at creator or celebrity-led brands … with skepticism. We get pitched a lot of these: to invest and to build (given the track record with Made by Nacho). To make a celebrity brand work is to know that it could work without the celebrity. So rarely is there an uncharted category or new idea in consumer - something you never knew you needed but becomes critical to your every day. It takes real #authority and credentials to build a generational #brand, and if that authority/expert happens to be a public figure - then you’re on to something. Impressed by Once Upon a Farm, The Honest Company, and Made by Nacho as examples of companies to identify categories that needed reshaping. Curious to see where the creator economy goes and evolves from here especially as investors are becoming more timid. New Fare Hallie Bonnar Sriya Koganti Made by Nacho #cpg #cpgbrands #celebritybrands #talent https://lnkd.in/eVXurzfV

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Today is a great day for the future of digital marketing in the world, as Ibotta, Inc. founded by Bryan Leach raised $577 million in IPO. Every founder has some inspirations. David Vélez had Capital One as one of his inspirations for Nubank. Being a much more mature market for entrepreneurship and innovation, the US has several benchmarks for Brazilian startups. As someone encounters a problem worth solving in our country, it is natural and wise to think someone else might be actively tackling the same problem elsewhere, as the timing of our market is different. Ibotta, Inc.'s IPO represents a bright moment for everyone who believes and foresees that first-party data players are the next generation of digital marketing, consumer insights and loyalty. By the end of 2024, Google is shutting down third-party cookies on Google Chrome to adapt its policies to GDPR. Chrome has 75% of market share and this completely changes the dynamics of the market. Brands have no option: in order to create better audiences for their marketing campaigns, they must partner with players which can access behavioral data in different ways. I have been lucky enough to have had some 1:1 lunches with David Vélez in the early days of Nubank and I never forget some of his words: "when it comes to disruption opportunities, if you ever find a market that could not have access to data at scale because simply there was no technology to make it happen, by the time the technology is ready, you have your window of opportunity". In other words, he was explaining to me the concept of "why now" for a startup thesis. In Brazil, there are QR codes on purchase receipts that made the tech side of our thesis possible, allowing us to extract the data. The cookieless era is the cultural shift in the market we needed in order for brands to push the demand for a product like ours forward. Well done, Ibotta, Inc.! Your resilience and journey inspires us all. Let's get back to work. Link to the news: https://lnkd.in/dnfaMR9b #startups #digitalmarketing #ipo #exits

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Every company with workers in #NYC has a new #AI use case. Starting this week, all NYC employers are required to post the city’s “Worker’s Bill of Rights,” which were announced earlier this year. Because it’s 2024, the normal breakroom poster is a QR code, which links to the Bill of Rights website, which itself goes to a bunch of individual links across multiple agencies. Further, while some rules apply to all employers, others are industry specific, only apply only to employers with 20+ FT employees, and/or have other exceptions. Examples of what’s in the bill of rights include: - “Employers can’t ask about your salary history during the hiring process." - If you work in retail "you must get your weekly work schedule 72 hours before the first shift." - “If you work in fast food, you must get; regular weekly schedules; extra pay for schedule changes; priority to work new shifts; job protection from firing, layoff, or hours reduction." - Employees have the right "to make temporary schedule changes for up to two business days per year for certain personal events." - “Most employers must state the pay range in a job posting” is a good example. And it’s not just NYC. Other states / cities have similar frameworks, although what's covered varies greatly. California is now considering a "right to disconnect right to disconnect from communications from the employer during nonworking hours" So where does the AI come in? Frankly, all over. Here are three: 1. In recruiting, an AI Agent can help create job reqs for NYC that “include salary ranges” (and can read all job reqs before they’re posted to ensure they comply with the required city / state / federal regulations). 2. In Task / Workforce Management - AI-enabled workflows can ensure that schedules are posted in line with advance notice requirements, schedule changes trigger an alert to payroll (for fast food), and PTO requests are accomodated (ideally, automatically trying to re-fill a lost shift) 3. HR Helpdesk. An “Ask HR” chatbot can provide everyone in the company answers on what their specific rights are for their workplace location. (This can also be made accessible to candidates / applicants). And a comprehensive AI platform will stay abreast of the latest changes, making recommended updates as new regulations come online.

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TikTok redistributed power more than anything in history But AI will dismantle it AI will transform the existing power of creators by scaling their stories This is the most underappreciated aspect of the ai revolution tsunami While fashion exec bros keep excluding the consumer by not giving her products &content she wants They have no idea of the impending raw proliferation of power on its way to her AI will become a core capability to all creators AI software, hardware, & services will reach a staggering $900B over the next 3 years per the IDC Let's face it The old way of managing influencers is a mess Trend forecasting is finally being realized as the fraud it is Unsold inventory is killing the planet Today you have to be a domain expert in culture + ai to sell your things through content The new way to sell is thru communities w/shared interests in REAL TIME Hard to do b/c the biz model of mass is the opposite of niche + yr long leadtimes There are no tools that connect real time dots until now :) Let’s look at Lauren w/75M views this month She gained 117K new followers And generated $367K GMV Crazy b/c she started selling on TikTok Shop in April She's never had a brand deal... If I were advising a top 3 retailer or 2 I would want to know this boy mom B/c she sells everything new moms need from shapewear to aesthetic measuring cups She calls the Stanley 1913 tumbler #dupe the summer pool essential It's toddler proof + great for disguising cocktails when you can't deal w/perfectly polished popular moms She's a bad mom #iykyk She’s a natural to sell the bestselling #momcozy nursing bra She refuses to allow #momsoftiktok to settle for unsupportive bras like she did & shares her unfortunate lumpy b4 product She talks about everything from black chin hairs that sprout out of nowhere... So of course she is the #1 seller of the #5 trending product today on tiktok SKNBODY's Hair Identifier Spray & Dermaplaner Set to calling out Tarte Cosmetics execs likely to be fired for giving away so much free stuff in their new #bundle The majority of her buyers (notice i didn't use follower) are 25-34 yr old women The women who make 85% of all purchasing decisions lol The transformation of social media into the #1 form of commerce is underway Users crave recommendations from people just like them Today you must optimize based on relatability, not shame & exclusion You must leverage data, not guesswork B/c moms don’t care about going viral, they just want to get paid for what they do naturally Those who wholeheartedly embrace this tectonic shift – the democratization of power catalyzed by AI – and who lead w/empathy will win @ social commerce An $11.1 TRILLION market by 2030 In related news Ted Baker, Brooks Brothers, & Lucky Brand are closing down in Canada Also I'm blocking people who advertise using my content #thegreatfashionreset #creatoreconomy #communitycommerce #contentistheproduct #tiktokisthestore

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The consumer news, brands, people, places, things that captured my attention last week: 1. Hims & Hers rolls out Ozempic and Wegovy dupes at 85% off — (from Fox Business) https://shorturl.at/TTEoK 2. E.l.f. Beauty surpasses $1 Billion in annual sales — (from BoF) https://shorturl.at/HAJzz 3. The BOF shared Volume 2 of The BoF Brand Magic Index and Dior is still on top — (on the BoF Instagram) https://shorturl.at/sPmJ4 4. Hannah Beals is in, a new SHE-EO alert at OUAI — (from WWD) https://shorturl.at/DD6GN 5. Grace Coddington is Merit’s newest face — why older women are the key to the brand’s success — (from Glossy) https://shorturl.at/Y8IlP 6. Bumble buys community building app Geneva to expand further into friendships — (from Tech Crunch) https://rb.gy/2nvbzj 7. How VCs are using podcasts to lure in founders — (from Vanity Fair) https://rb.gy/srg8el

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🍵 GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS DISCOVER FOOD & BEVERAGE BRANDS DIFFERENTLY: ON TIKTOK AND YOUTUBE 🍵 It's no surprise that Gen Z and Millennials are also discovering new food and beverage brands through TikTok and YouTube. These platforms offer entertaining and engaging ways for brands to connect with younger audiences. Brands such as OLIPOP PBC (low sugar prebiotic soda), poppi (similar to Olipop) RYZE Superfoods (Mushroom Matcha and Coffee), Ancient Crunch Inc. (Natural chips), Rebellesnacks (Sugar free vegan candies) to name a few, have been leveraging creators on these video platforms to grow and market since their creation. Source: The New Consumer #genz #genzmarketing #cpg

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Putting substantial debt on a company distorts the decision framework, increases risk and misaligns stakeholder interests leading to bad outcomes. There is a better way. Besides no debt, Mauloa invests without a time frame and empowers the entrepreneur with keeping control of their company. The Mauloa way.

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‘Sephora Syndrome‘ — California‘s failure to regulate the sale of skincare products to under 13s was a victory for Feral Capital. And the issue here is most certainly not ‘free enterprise‘: it is the ability to use weapons-grade communication methods (data acquisition, micro-targeting, social media, social influence and social proof) to sell expensive and inappropriate cosmetic products to kids who have absolutely no need for them. When ten year olds are demanding Drunk Elephant and BYOMA, marketing is totally out of control. We‘re clearly in the ‘anything for money‘ paradigm of end-stage capitalism now. And this is addressed to the Brand Strategists here: *What the fuck are you thinking of?* Don‘t think you can get around this because you‘ve been teaching Pot Noodle to lecture customers on decolonisation (or any of the other hyper-hypocritical ‘purpose branding‘ shit). You are a major part of the problem here. The actual devil, even.

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The consumer news, brands, people, places, things that captured my attention last week: 1. Kiehl’s starts selling on Amazon — (from WWD) https://lnkd.in/gxA2mDWH 2. Gap raises full year forecast and Zac Posen bets on celebrities to revive the brand — (from WWD & Vogue Business Instagram) https://lnkd.in/gxA2mDWH 3. The flat lay is back — (from Glossy) https://lnkd.in/gxA2mDWH 4. DTC Briefing: Startups are pursuing a mix of credit and equity amid fractures in funding — (from Modern Retail) https://lnkd.in/gxA2mDWH 5. The fight for influencer marketing dollars heats up with a lawsuit — (from BoF) https://lnkd.in/gtWGAb6A 6. 96% of Ulta’s sales run through their loyalty program — BoF Case study on loyalty — (from BoF) https://lnkd.in/ghZ9Gx-u 7. Abercrombie’s stock surges 24% as they capitalized on “wedding weeks” — (from CNBC) https://lnkd.in/guzQKu8U 8. Golden Goose sells $500 dirty sneakers — they’re raising €100M in an IPO — (from WSJ) https://lnkd.in/gi94ff54 9. L Catterton leads $40M Series A investment for Squared Circles — (from PR Newswire) https://lnkd.in/gdJzvTij

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