August Box Brands = Absolute 🔥

Geia (γεια)! ("Hello" in Greek)

Thanks baring with me here as I play catch up on our newsletter. This August box may be in our rearview mirror, but nonetheless was an exciting one.

Before we dive in, how wild is this FTX downfall?! If you're trying to grasp what happened, this tweet is a great read. After that, read this tweet next which is a bit more comedic. Twitter has been nuts lately too with Elon taking over. Que 'World Cup insanity' to help us continue the wild streak of entertainment.

In FirstLook news, one of our alumni brands, XED Beverage, was acquired by Next Century Spirits. Congrats to Zeke and Nate, what a big win! I should note, I made a mistake in this Linkedin post last week stating they were the first FirstLook brand to get acquired. That would actually be Ayoba. Whoops!

Thank you to everyone who reached out to learn more about my friend's new company, Official. I'm actually considering signing up myself. Who wants equity in FirstLook?

Speaking of friends launching companies, my bff Graham recently launched Brand Ties. It's a platform that helps brands source creatives, and gives them the tools to manage those relationships. He told me "When brands post an opportunity, they usually get 100 creative applicants within 24 hours." Damn. I asked him if he'd be so kind to create a discount code for the always beautiful FirstLook Community, and he did. Enter FIRSTLOOK when you sign up for a free month! Cha-ching!

Founder Pro Tip of the Month 💡

I see too many brands picking the wrong website URLs and social handles. The key is to have your brand's name come first. Why? Because when people try to recall your site or brand, they almost always type your name first. But if you're site or handle starts with "tryXYZ" for example, you won't show up immediately because sites/names pull up alphabetically.

For example, say you have a drink brand called SuzzieQue, but "suzzieque.com" is taken so you need an alternative. DON'T make it "trysuzzieque.com" or @drinksuzzieque on Instagram. INSTEAD, make it "suzziequedrinks.com" or @suzziequedrinks.

This will ensure your name pops up right away when people search to tag you. If you don't start with your name, everyone will have to sift through allllllll the other brands who start with 'try' or 'drink'. Less friction = more potential for easy exposure.

If you found this helpful, please forward it to a friend!

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August Box Brands 🚀

Investors Shipped to: 35 |‏‏‎‎ Number of Brands: 8‏‏‎ |‏‏‎ Intros Made: 46

Interested in joining? → Brand Signup / Investor Signup

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Core and Rind

Founded by Candi Haas & Rita Childers ‎‏‎|‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ Site + IG |‏‏‎ 📍 St. Louis, MO

What made them stand out: On top of being fierce female founders, their product tastes amazing. I've tried several other plant-based 'nacho' cheeses, but most have something that's off whether it's smell, taste, texture, etc. Not C&R though, their cheese is really good. As graduates of SKU Dallas (run by the great Richard Riccardi), I like their focus on expanding into retail early. They're currently carried in Whole Foods, Sprouts, Thrive Market, and a ton of other great grocers, as well as distributors including UNFI and Kehe. If you're a fan of chips and queso, which I'm a fanatic of, I definitely recommend giving Core and Rind a shot.

Drnxmyth

Founded by Brandon Schwartz & Lawrence Cisneros ‎‏‎|‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ Site + IG |‏‏‎ 📍 Los Angeles, CA

What made them stand out: A lot to love here. First and foremost, Drnxmyth leverages a proprietary, dual-chamber, cold-pressure filled bottle for their cocktails. Still with me? In short, their cool af bottles keeps the mixer part separate from the spirit. When you get it, you twist it which then lets the liquids mix. Yahtzee! This patented bottle has some serious food tech behind it that cleanly preserves the mix too. What's left is a beautiful tasting cocktail that feels like it was just made fresh at a bar. Ya'll wanted a moat. Here's a moat. And for anyone who didn't get that joke, a 'moat' is basically the qualities of a startup that make it defensible and or give them a massive advantage over others. It also makes you mighty attractive for an acquisition!

GoNanas

Founded by‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ Morgan Lerner & Annie Slaotsky |‏‏‎ Site + ‎IG + TikTok | 📍 Chicago, IL

What made them stand out: Annie and Morgan are brilliant founders. What I really like is GoNanas's placement in grocery stores: the bananas section instead of the baking section like their competitors. This provides a big advantage in getting noticed, and catching shoppers at the right moment. This has helped them quickly become the “fastest growing baking brand” with 5X the velocities of their competitors. They're also crushing it with flavor "drops" which has included 29 different flavors over the course of 16 months. This drives big DTC revenue, and engages their community (which includes 2000+ ambassadors). I'm excited to watch the winning streak continue for these to Michigan grads (even though their football team will lose to Ohio State next weekend 🙃)‏‏‎

(I'm an Ohio State grad)

IQBAR

Founded by‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ Will Nitze |‏‏ Site + IG + TikTok |‏‏‎ 📍 Boston, MA

What made them stand out: EFFICIENCY. That's what struck me the most with Will and IQBar. Specifically, their revenue-to-employee ratio is huge. In times like these were profitability and capital efficiency ratios matter, Will is a wizard. For example, IQBar generates $4 in revenue for every $1 in dilutive financing. On top of being a great operator with killer linkedin posts, he's built a great brand with IQBar. I wish I could cite examples of magic that make this company flourish, but in reality they simply have great branding and packaging, a great product, an efficient team, and they work hard to unlock distribution so customers can access them the moment they need them.

Siblings

Founded by‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ Eva Eckerblad & David Bronkie ‎‏‎|‏‏‎ Site +‎‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎IG‏‏‎ ‎‏‎|‏‏‏‏‎ 📍 San Francisco, CA

What made them stand out: It took me about 3 seconds to fall in love with Siblings. Their candle kits are super creative, easy to use, and promote sustainability. Pop them in the microwave and a few minutes later you're pouring candle wax to make your own fun creations. What I love the most is their efforts around encouraging consumers to reuse/repurpose containers they would have normally discarded or recycled, but we've all seen the documentaries on how inefficient that is. That's why I love what Siblings, and I'm not the only one. They already have key partnerships with brands like Fly By Jing where customers are encouraged to turn their used Chili Crisp jars into candles. Love it!

Smoothsail Sparkling Sake

Founded by‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ Jay Sean & Sandeep Premkumar ‎‏‎|‏‏‎ Site +‎‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‎IG‏‏‎ ‎‏‎|‏‏‏‏‎ 📍 New York, NY

What made them stand out: Ahh yes, the proverbial talent-led brand. They seem to be catching all the attention these days. There's even a Twitter account and newsletter called Celebrity Packaged Goods that covers this part of the market (which is run by my friend Dhruv!). In Smoothsail's case, they are led by world famous singer/writer/producer Jay Sean who brings a hefty 9M followers across social. The story Sandeep and Jay coming together is authentic too which is always a great start. Sandeep is talented in his own right as he brings 15 years of experience to the table via roles at Pepsi Co among other places. Sparkling sake is very new, but tastes amazing. And with a rapidly growing Asian-American population (who also like to throw money around like rappers at the club), Smoothsail should go far.

P.S.- This is by far my favorite Jay Sean song. I remember it fondly because I was studying abroad in Europe when it was hot. The feels go deep for me with this one.

The Plug

Founded by‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ Ray Kim and Justin Kim ‎‏‎|‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Site + ‎IG + TikTok ‎‏‎|‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎📍 Los Angeles, CA

What made them stand out: Sales cures all. And The Plug has A LOT of them. Why? Because their recovery drink actually works. My dad and I routinely get together on weekends for football games where 2 beers turns into 40. Don't judge! Before I go to bed that night, I'll have a Plug and the next morning I'm in wayyy better shape. Not 100% recovered as if I never partied, but I'd honestly say 75-80% of the way there versus starting at 0%. I've tried MANY hangover remedies, and this one has performed the best. Great product aside, The Plug is really well run. They own and manage all their own shipping which helps them move fast, and their cap table is loaded with talent like Jack Harlow, Sandro Roco of Sanzo, and Myles Tuner of the Indiana Pacers to name a few. Until someone invents hangover free booze, The Plug will continue to change lives every morning.

Wave Soda

Founded by‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ Nat Noone ‎‏‎|‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎Site + ‎IG + TikTok ‎‏‎|‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎📍 San Marcos, CA

What made them stand out: FINALLY a relatable and great tasting pop (or soda for all you folks on the coasts and Coke for everyone in the south) that's not full of fake a$$ sugar substitutes but is still low calorie. Wave Soda contains 1/4th of the sugar of traditional soda and only 10g of organic cane sugar, which they claim as "better-for-you soda for the next generation." What I like the most, however, is their very approachable flavors. So many brands keep pushing wild flavors like 'Yuzu Pear Lime' or 'Strawberry Ginger Hibiscus' which unfortunately does not resonate with the majority of Americans AKA everyone in the 'fly-over' states AKA the majority of America where all the money is to be made for a CPG brand. I also really like how they are exporting the SoCal vibes, akin to what Holister did which went on to generate billions for A&F. As icing on this cake, Nat brings decades of distribution experience so if Wave Soda isn't already on shelves near you, it should be soon!

That's a wrap. Hope your fall is off to a great start. September box is next. Have a great Thanksgiving y'all! And if you're traveling, be safe out there 🙏

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Thanks from the FirstLook Team- Brian, James, and Mahdi