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Now FREE for brands!
This was always our destiny, and it's finally here. Let's unpack the psychology behind this move.
FirstLook
February 16, 2025
Welcome to our 44 new subscribers. I'll keep this fun, light, and informative. Did a friend forward you this? Subscribe here.
Bonghjornu! (“Hi” in Corsican)
Welcome back. Let’s jump in as this may be the most important newsletter I’ll ever share. But first…
Another Funding Announcement 🤑
Congrats to Kelly Li and team at Hot Jiang from the November box on raising $15,000 from a FirstLook Angel. Not a big check, but for this Angel it was a great starter to build the relationship. They’re new to CPG, but well connected on Wall Street which will be a strong value-add to Kelly on future rounds.
The Rest of the Newsletter
I am proud to share FirstLook is now FREE for all brands!
Because I’m bootstrapped, I frustratingly had to charge brands a little to jump in to make ends meet. To the 364 FirstLook brands reading this, thank you so much for helping me reach this moment.
Late last year, however, we reached a critical threshold of investors - and therefore revenue - whereas I no longer need to have brands pay to help cover costs. We’re now at 70 investors and growing quickly.
Making FirstLook free changes everything. Let’s unpack this, or as Chamath says, “double click into it”. There is more psychology to venture capital than most realize, but critical to understand when building in this space.
Aligning with Reality
The best founders have all the leverage. Investors need them more than the brands need any one investor. This is a fact of life. That said, in order to consistently attract the top 0.01% of founders, it was inevitable to have FirstLook become free. There simply can’t be any barriers or friction to jumping in.
Furthermore, becoming free creates even more support for founders on tight budgets. Some of the best investments ever were in founders who were broke because constraint forces creativity.
Ultimate Value Prop
Capital + Customer Acquisition + Exposure all for free is a mouthwatering value prop.
FirstLook goes from a resource brands ~could~ use to an opportunity the best will want to exploit. More specifically, the free chance to get product into the hands of some of the wealthiest and most well connected Americans who are notoriously chatty and love to share. I’m obviously bias, but I feel you’d need to essentially be anti-growth to pass here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I will continue showcasing brands via social media and this newsletter (of 3200+ investor and early product adopter subscribers) to further drive capital, talent, and customers their way.
Totally Changed Dynamics
FirstLook is no longer a subscription box company. Instead, we’re simply an Investor Community looking to invest in the best founders. This should further streamline referrals and applications to help our flywheel zip.
Our group knows that the best deals move quick, and thus we are equally prepared to move quickly ourselves so we can join the best deals which generate ROI’s that make VC investing worth it all.
The Bottom Line
I’ve read countless business books over the years, but I always felt they didn’t apply to what I was building. Why? As the VC saying goes…
Only a handful of companies per year actually matter."
I’ve always had to build a business that optimizes for the 0.01%, and so that’s what we’re doing. With brands now free, and the superior direct investment economics our investors enjoy, I think we have the best damn mouse trap in all of consumer VC.
If you’re a strong founder with a great product, or investor serious about investing in the next breakout brand, we’d love to meet you.
The Road Ahead
I’m excited to continue innovating on our model, speeding up our flywheel, and delivering a better experience each day for our community of angels, VCs, and FOs. I hate marketing, and I hate taxes, and so I’ll leave you with one of my all time favorite quotes:
Marketing is the tax you pay for not making your product remarkable”
To officially wrap up, here is Jeff Foxworthy’s favorite VC scoreboard:
Founder Pro Tip of the Month 💡
Build your deck in a way where you want it to get leaked and go viral amongst investors. If every slide showed up on the cover of the New York Times you’d be thrilled. Here’s the thought process:
True, you will not be able to put in as many juicy details because the deck will inevitably end up in enemy hands. As a result, there will be investors who don’t see enough for them to take a intro. But to hell with them.
As a founder you don’t want investors who only look at you as an investment. Instead, you want investors who genuinely believe in you and what you’re building. They see a world where your product needs to exist. Yes they want an ROI, but they also want so much more than that.
Did a friend forward you this and now you want to join? Hop a’board!
December Box Brands 🚀
Cuddle Sleep Health
Founded by Poppy Jamie + Hugh Thomas |📍NYC — Shop / Instagram / Linkedin
How We Met Them: I’ve known Hugh since his Ugly sparkling water days!
One Liner ✍️ — Science-driven, natural sleep supplements formulated to support deep, restorative sleep.
Discount Code: Use “FIRSTLOOK” for 15% off sitewide
What made them stand out: First, Poppy is a big personality and multi-time UK founder with a big following across social and her podcast. Hugh, the legendary founder behind Ugly sparkling water, brings deep expertise and VC connections. The product itself is SO TASTY too. It’s basically a delicious hot chocolate for a great night’s rest. My wife and I have made this part of our wind down routine, our nightcap, after putting baby Brian to sleep.
There are strong tailwinds here too. 70% of Americans are sleep deprived with a 56% increase in sleep disturbances since the pandemic. Poor sleep is devastating on physical and mental health. I don’t see this problem getting any better, and thus Cuddle is in a great spot to execute. The brand launched September 2024 and is now scaling online in 2025. Over 1000+ orders since launch now shipped!
Request An Intro (Investors only)
Eterneva
Founded by Adelle Archer + Garrett Ozar |📍Austin — Shop / IG / TikTok / Linkedin / Youtube / Founder Video
How We Met Them: Via an intro from our bff and FirstLook Investor Julian Jung
One Liner ✍️ — Eterneva celebrates remarkable people & pets by making real diamonds from carbon in ashes or hair.
Discount Code: Use code “FirstLook25” when purchasing our Welcome Kit for 25% off. Ordering our $50 Welcome Kit is how you start the Eterneva Diamond Journey - it will have everything you need to package up the ashes or hair and select your diamond from a variety of samples.
What made them stand out: I’m obsessed with Eterneva, and if there is interest, I’ll pull together an SPV for this round (email me- [email protected]). Adelle and team are strong leaders, and lab grown diamonds are a big story, as cremation, which is projected to reach 80% by 2040, is the future of the end of life industry. Eterneva has strong YoY growth, and they should double again in 2025 via recent key partnerships with big enterprise funeral home partners including SCI, the largest funeral conglomerate (NASDAQ:SCI). Eterneva is already seeing 1% sell-through in mature markets, and the partnership will be worth $75M+ at scale once fully rolled out.
Lastly, their cap table is loaded. So many top top angels (like Mark Cuban!), Tier 1A VCs, and athletes in the mix. I try to find weak points in companies, but Eterneva is so buttoned up across the board it’s hard to make an argument that they won’t eventually exit.
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Haven Athletic
Founded by Caleb Ullfers |📍LA — Shop / Instagram / Linkedin / Founder Video
How We Met Them: Via their signup on the FirstLook.vc
One Liner ✍️ — Organized bags for high performance and professional athletes.
What made them stand out: I was really impressed with how far Caleb has grown Haven on a shoestring budget. They’ve grown 270% YoY with hundreds of athletes and influencers driving organic growth. They’ve sold out 7x since inception and have a waitlist of consumers wanting their bags. The bags themselves are beautiful, durable, and have a patented organization style for easy see, grab, and go. What may be a surprise to some, gym bags are a big market - $15B. The travel luggage market which is in Haven’s vision is $187B! Sheesh. Caleb is hella talented and I’m excited to see where Haven goes.
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House Party
Founded by Lauren Joyner |📍Napa, CA — Shop / Instagram / Linkedin
How We Met Them: Via an intro from our bff Susie Bittker at Siddhi Capital
One Liner ✍️ — House Party makes cheesy dips from vegetables– with a more nutritious label, allergy-free ingredient list, and smaller environmental footprint in comparison to cheese sauce made from animals.
Discount Code: Use “FirstLook” for 25% off sitewide
What made them stand out: I’ve tried many non-dairy nacho cheeses and thus I can confidently say House Party is easily #1. Whether out of the fridge or a quick sesh in the microwave, it’s great. What I like even more is that Lauren isn’t framing House Party as a “non-dairy cheese dip”. Instead, it’s just good ass cheese dip straight up. “Plant-based” or “non-dairy” isn’t written anywhere on their jars.
It appears I’m not the only one that loves the product. In 2023, after their initial test market in Whole Foods NorCal stores, they were quickly expanded into 4 more regions. Today, House Party is available in over 300 retail doors, and they expect even more growth with launches into Fresh Thyme, World Market, and Thrive Market in Q1 this year.
FUN FACT to end on: The Chase Center in SF for the past two years has had House Party as the first and only non-dairy nacho cheese sauce ever sold in the arena.
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Hydra
Founded by CC Salzma |📍LA — Shop / Instagram / TikTok / Founder Video
How We Met Them: Via their signup on the FirstLook.vc
One Liner ✍️ — Lifestyle forward healthy hydration: Electrolyte Popsicles.
Discount Code: Use “hydra10” for 10% off sitewide
What made them stand out: Hydra is early, but I like their twist on hydration. I can’t say I’ve seen many brands going after the popsicle space which creates an opportunity. Given how massive hydration has become, it makes sense that consumers will look to keep their hydration levels up during all points of their day. In Hydra’s case, popsicles are normally enjoyed when it’s hot out…which is also when you’re likely sweating, and so there is an interesting case to be made here.
I also liked CC’s background. She previously lead new channel and product development at Kraft-Heinz and nabbed an MBA from HBS. With the right distribution and execution, Hydra could become a big brand before anyone realizes it.
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Rainbo
Founded by Tonya Papanikolov |📍LA — Shop / Instagram / TikTok / Linkedin
How We Met Them: Via an intro from our bff and FirstLook investor John Morgan
One Liner ✍️ — Rainbo is a functional mushroom brand on a mission to expand health by unlocking the transformative power of fungi for mind and body healing.
Discount Code: Use “ILoveFirstLook” for 15% off sitewide
What made them stand out: Rainbo stuck out for two primary reasons. First, mushrooms are big business! Quite a few brands in the space are exceeding $100M in sales already. Not surprising though as I feel mushrooms/fungi are way under appreciated and do provide a ton of benefits to consumers. Let’s be honest, the stoned ape theory is how we got here.
Hot market aside, from day one Tonya spent a precious amount of time building an exceptional mushroom supply chain. Rainbo works with some of the best and most authentic mushroom farmers in North America where quality is the #1 focus. When an industry is booming, there will be founder who cut corners. Not Rainbo though. They’re building for the long haul and so far have a very loyal and engaged consumer base who appreciates their high quality, high potency products. That’s how you play the long game.
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Sun Moon Rising
How We Met Them: Via an intro from our bff and FirstLook investor Justin Silver
One Liner ✍️ — The world’s first astrology-inspired wine collection, featuring 12 premium wines crafted for each zodiac sign.
What made them stand out: I LOVE this brand, and I have a sneaky feeling they will explode. Hear me out. There are a handful of industries where consumers act irrational. They spend money they don’t have. Pets is one, sports teams is another. This is fueled by a deep passion because ‘little Roxy needs that new chew toy’ and ‘when your squad makes it to the championship YOU MUST GO’. Astrology isn’t exactly one of these industries, but it’s close and damn do they spend.
I think Sun Moon Rising is well positioned to capture this passionate consumer base that is way bigger than most realize. Remember the Co-Star app, and for many it seemed…silly? But then they exploded and went on to raise $21M from top VCs like Maveron and Spark Capital. I think SMR will become this for wine. Kate is already seeing crazy traction in NYC where store owners are quickly asking her to stock all 12 of her bottles because consumers KEEP DEMANDING IT. They buy it for themselves, and it makes for an easy gift as it appears thoughtful (“Omg, you got me the bottle that matches my sign! You’re the best.”)
I try to not pick favorites as I like all the brands I work with, but if I had some extra bread to throw around I’d write a check to Kate in a heartbeat.
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Tano Skincare
Founded by Sean Finney |📍Austin —Shop / Instagram / Linkedin / Founder Video
How We Met Them: Via their signup on the FirstLook.vc
One Liner ✍️ — Natural, science-backed skincare powered by banana sap, proven to boost collagen by 325%—four times more effective than retinol.
Discount Code: Use “ILoveFirstLook” for 15% off sitewide
What made them stand out: I’m not a beauty products expert because I don’t use any. All natural, just how the stoned apes were. However, Sean showed some pretty damning evidence that banana sap works really damn well on our skin. Banana sap as an ingredient is new, and so you could say the the jury is still out, but IMO that’s when you want to invest because when the jury gets back, you’re too late and will have sadly missed the next big thing in beauty.
I think Sean is a really strong founder too. He spent 7 years in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, then went on to build Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory. He then earned his MBA from UT Austin and launched Tano which has received a patent for banana sap in cosmetics. Next big hero ingredient + IP + strong founder is a great recipe for success.
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That's all she wrote folks. January box is next. Keep on building my friends.