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Riffs and Thoughtful Thoughts to End 2024
Some riffing, thoughtful thoughts, and highlights of the October box brands
FirstLook
January 05, 2025
Welcome to our 39 new subscribers since our last newsletter. I'll keep this fun, light, and informative. Did a friend forward you this? Subscribe here.
Pika-pika! (“Hi” in Pikachu’s language)
Welcome back. Let’s jump into this fun edition to end 2024 and start 2025.
Funding Announcement 🤑
Congrats to Zesty Z on nabbing a $20,000 check from a FirstLook investor! Alexander Harik, founder of Zesty Z, is the exact type of person you want to bet on. Smart, practical, and brings a relentless work ethic each day. I’m excited to watch this brand grow.
The Rest of the Newsletter
Let’s tie up some loose ends and then get into some rants, hot takes, and thoughtful thoughts. First things first, the FirstLook Master CPG Calendar has been updated with all the 2025 dates that have been locked in by event organizers. Come join the 1500+ folks in our space already using it, including those from these lovely orgs:
Speaking of useful, be sure to subscribe to my bff Nate Rosen’s newsletter, Express Checkout, covering the CPG space at large.
Nate, our friend Austin, and I run FirstLook Ventures. We had a slow 2024, but will be looking to ramp things up in 2025 with some strong investments in great brands and the tech that enables them. Come join our community.
2024 ‘Wrapped' will be in the next newsletter. We had a good year, but we can do better. Nonetheless, our investor community grew and for that I’m grateful. We have some big changes coming down the pike for 2025 as well. I’m excited for this year.
Now that you’re signed up, let’s get into the fun part of this newsletter.
Rants, Hot Takes, and Thoughtful Thots Thoughts
After 8 collective years in VC, I have some thoughts. The last 5 years building FirstLook has also blessed me with a full time seat at the middle of the founder x investor table. You may not agree with me on everything, and I welcome any and all clapbacks. Otherwise, hopefully I’m not alone in my observations.
Investors Should Put More Weight on Recommendations
I may the biggest loudmouth arguing investors need to meet (aka talk to) more founders. I mentioned it in this and this recent newsletter. Unless you’re new to VC, "Team” is always the #1 thing investors care about when investing.
The problem, however, is the information gap between what investors see in a deck’s team slide, and who that founder really is. Your personality, your candor, your EQ, your energy, your everything…. it can’t properly be captured on a single slide. It’s insulting we ask founders to "sum themselves up” like that.
Maybe we should leverage the greatest tool ever created for assessing humans… OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. Our brains collect billions of data points within seconds of meeting someone. Give it 30 minutes and you’re pretty dialed in on a proper feel for who a person really is.
All this is to say, if an investor says “You should meet this founder.” Take the meeting. Ulterior motives aside, if another investor you trust recommends a founder…. 6 million years of human evolution says it’s probably wise to at least jump on a call with that founder.
Stay Humble
Everyone likes to dunk on sh!t investors, but what about the successful founders turned pricks? You raised millions, cool! Damn, you even had an exit? Sooo cool! That doesn’t mean you can now treat others like peasants. We’ve ALL run into these founders.
If you win at the game of capitalism, please stay kind and humble. People won’t remember you for how much you raised or how big an exit you had. They’ll instead remember you for how you treated them, and made them feel. Shoutout to all the successful founders and investors who didn’t let success go to their heads!
“Yuck, hardware is so tough. I’ll pass!”
IMO, I like the moat hardware provides. As a quick primer, a ‘moat’ is hopefully a long lasting and sustainable advantage a startup has over competitors. In the old days, VC’s funded things that were expensive to launch. Ideas traditional capital/debt wouldn’t touch. This in turn created high barriers to entry, a moat.
The past decade SaaS has been the cats meow because of lower capital requirements, higher margins, and rapid growth potential. But SaaS is now tanking because it’s easy to replicate thanks to AI. The moat is largely gone. Likewise, in CPG it’s easier than ever to start a brand which means moats are more important than ever.
I think investors would be wise to lean into hardware more going forward. For CPG, seek brands with a moat whether it be IP, owned manufacturing, or anything that would make it difficult for competitors to creep in. Risk may go up in some cases, but otherwise if the only card a brand can play is ‘brand building’, that’s a tough basket to put all your eggs in.
CPG Feels…Clique-y at Times
Is it just me or does the consumer goods VC sandbox feel clique-y at times? I’m an introvert, and also a relatively private guy, so constantly chumming it up with everyone and building in public feels tough/weird/not fun at times. It also doesn’t help I’m not in a major city (but instead the best city…Cleveland!).
For anyone else who is an introvert and this resonates, keep going. Building in public and striving to be in the 'in crowd’ isn’t the only formula for success. It may feel harder at times, but stay true to yourself. You’ll sleep better at night knowing you’re not pretending to be someone you’re not. Find your tribe.
Synthesizing What Matters
I’m in an investor group on Whatsapp and there was a hot debate on information rights. This convo leds to one investor who is also a founder saying, “Literally the only thing that matters is getting to PMF and scaling PMF. Anything else is a distraction.”
It’s fun to be a thought leader on Linkedin, be an influencer founder on X, and go to dinner events 8 days a week. They certainly can yield positive results. However, everything a founder does should revert back to finding PMF. Everything else is a distraction. Stay focused. Building a winner shouldn’t be fun or glamorous.
We’re Still in for Some Pain
A lot of brands (quietly) closed up shop the second half of 2024. Furthermore, we haven’t had much liquidity either. Almost all angels, FO’s, and even VCs are feeling that pain right now. Expect 2025 to likely start slow even if the market is up, and very slow if that market dips (or crashes because the Everything Bubble is real).
There will still be buzzy brands whose raises catch headlines and make us think “to the moon!”. For every one of those, there will be a 1000 founders who fail to raise, or even quietly shut down. We’re still in the hurt locker in 2025.
Finding Happiness Together
“A wise teacher once brought balloons to school, told her students to blow them up and write their name on one. After the children tossed their balloons into the hall, the teacher moved through the hall mixing them all up. The kids were given five minutes to find the balloon with their name on it, but though they searched frantically, no one found their own balloon.
Then the teacher told them to take the balloon closest to them and give it to the person whose name was on it. In less than two minutes, everyone was holding their own balloon.
The teacher said to the children, “These balloons are like happiness. We won’t find it when we’re only searching for our own. But if we care about someone else’s happiness ... it will ultimately help us find our own.”
I came across that recently and really liked it so thought I’d share.
Product Card Carrying Member of the Dad Club
Not a rant or hot take, but just wanted to share that I officially became a dad in 2024! Please meet Little Brian, FirstLook’s newest employee. Shoutout to all the founders with kids out there. It’s already hard enough building a company, let alone doing it while raising a little warrior.
To officially wrap up, here is Troy Carter’s favorite VC scoreboard:
Founder Pro Tip of the Month 💡
I feel like the excuses for showing up and not being prepared to pitch are waning. There is so much content and free resources online nowadays that every founder should have a strong deck and story that addresses what investors want to know.
I guess this isn’t so much a tip, but more so a kick in the a$$ to do your homework before going out to raise capital. VC is becoming cutthroat. It’s easier than ever to start a company, which means the bar for raising is also higher.
Read everything you can about how investors think (they love putting out content) before pitching. It will take time, but you’ll be better off for it.
Did a friend forward you this and now you want to join? Hop a’board!
October Box Brands 🚀
Core Nectar
Founded by Ashwin Menon + Maddy Henshaw + Gabriel Claycamp + Dimitri Voron | 📍Seattle - Shop / Linkedin
One Liner ✍️ — The world's first De-Sugared fruit juice
What made them stand out: Core Nectar is launching the world's first fruit products that are 100% sugar free by removing all of the natural sugar from fruit juice while maintaining the nutritional value. This innovation has earned Core Nectar the ability to sell real fruit de-sugared. They're also validated by the American Diabetes Association giving their products immediate credibility with a health-conscious audience, particularly 122 million diabetic or pre-diabetic Americans.
I think it’s an interesting play in consumer. There is the anti-sugar tailwinds coupled with a movement to avoid processed/artificial/what-am-i-actually-consuming type products.
Request An Intro (Investors only)
Just Enough
Founded by Jessica Hershfield + Kaitlyn Lo | 📍San Diego - Shop / Instagram / TikTok / Linkedin
How We Met Them: Via their signup on the FirstLook.vc
One Liner ✍️ — Just Enough Wines is the leading female owned premium canned wine company featuring vintage and appellation specific, award-winning, and sustainable wines; ensuring each can provides a pleasure-forward, perfectly portioned wine experience.
Discount Code: use “Firstlook15” for 15% off sitewide
What made them stand out: Just Enough is strong across the board with healthy and consistent YoY growth. They are the #1 Selling Premium canned wine in CA, with the highest growth rate, and the highest velocity rate of any other canned wine brand. They have also become #2 in the Total US (Nielsen IQ last 52wks ending 5/4/24) and growing at +288%. They’re also the wine partner of United Airlines, and are sold in Target, Total Wine, Albertsons / Vons / Pavilions, HEB, and Raleys.
I think Jessica and team are strong operators, their product is proving to be loved by consumers, and the canned wine category is growing. I’m excited to watch them double again in 2025.
Request An Intro (Investors only)
Medalist
Founded by Ann Ragan Kearns | 📍NYC — Shop / Instagram / TikTok / Linkedin / Founder Video
How We Met Them: Via their signup on the FirstLook.vc
One Liner ✍️ — Clean performance beauty for next-gen female athletes and active women developed, tested and approved by Olympians 🥇
Discount Code: Use “ILoveFirstLook” for 20% off sitewide
What made them stand out: Medalist is a skincare brand specifically targeted for female athletes. They aren’t the first brand to create such products, but are the first to 100% devote themselves to them. This creates a more intense sense of tribe and mission to rally around.
Medalist utilizes dermatologist tested, clean formulations specifically designed for female athletes and active women who often face unique challenges such as hormonal fluctuations, skin sensitivity from intense workouts, and sport-specific stressors. Each product undergoes rigorous testing by Olympians and professional athletes ensuring that the formulations are effective and can keep up through rigorously active lifestyles.
I love this brand because their ‘Why Now’ is compelling. Female athletes are so in right now, and this will likely continue for decades/forever. Medalist is perfectly positioned to capture this movement as female athletes are more likely to invest in products that have been validated by their peers, further enhancing brand credibility, appeal, and community. Additionally, female athletes are increasingly becoming influential figures in both sports and social media as they leverage NIL in their platforms to create authentic connections with audiences.
Medalist is early, but hot damn do I feel they in the right place at the right time.
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Mr Lid
Founded by Pall Musaev |📍Las Vegas — Shop / Instagram / TikTok / Linkedin
How We Met Them: Via an intro from Michelle Flowerman!
One Liner ✍️ — Plastic containers with attached lids.
Discount Code: Use “FirstLookLovesMrLid” for 20% off sitewide
What made them stand out: I liked Mr Lid for two primary reasons. First, great product! They solve an issue in a simple way that *checks notes* everyone deals with. Second, I like Pall’s marketing strategy. The container category is stale and boring. That’s why Pall’s taking a page out of Liquid Death’s playbook and making things fun, spicy, and entertaining.
Furthermore, I think there is an emotional play here as humans have an odd affinity for containers. We all have a container in our life that’s traveled with us from one apartment or house to the next. It’s accumulated stuff, and memories, and now it’s a part of us. If Pall can execute, push the envelope on marketing, and successfully capture the emotional aspect of containers, I think Mr Lid can become a big story. They very could become a “Why didn’t I think of that?” brand.
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NOOISH
Founded by Sarah Nathan | 📍Chicago - Shop / Instagram / Linkedin
How We Met Them: We’ve been friends for a while, can’t remember how we met
One Liner ✍️ — NOOISH is a new-ish take on modern Jewish comfort food for the masses.
What made them stand out: I’m so bullish on NOOISH. Sarah is an strong founder whose been in the CPG space long enough to know where the bodies landmines are.
The product is top notch too. I haven’t had a ton of Matzo Ball soup in my life, but regardless when I tried NOOISH I thought it was pretty damn tasty. Considering this type of soup is traditionally made around the holidays only, and year-round options are limited, I think NOOISH is well positioned. They’re unlocking this dish to be enjoyed daily, on the go, and 100X easier to prepare. As a cherry on top, I think the Jewish community does an incredible job supporting one another, and thus NOOISH already has a built in support system to get hit the ground running.
NOOISH will be a household brand, in 8,000+ stores, within the next 4 years. You heard it here first 👊
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Potluck
Founded by Jen Arsenault | 📍Boston - Shop / Instagram / TikTok / Linkedin / Founder Video
How We Met Them: Via their signup on the FirstLook.vc
One Liner ✍️ — Potluck is an all-natural Korean pantry staples line.
Discount Code: Use “FirstLook” for 20% off sitewide
What made them stand out: Potluck is another brand that also has a strong ‘Why Now’. Korean culture is growing fast in the US, from music to beauty to… food? Oh wait, there isn’t a food brand you can think of. Instead it’s all these random imported brands with foreign packaging (which I will admit adds to the authenticity) and ingredients that aren’t even words. This is the white space Potluck is going after. They are building to be the first all-natural Korean staples line for every pantry in the US with branding that resonates and better for you ingredients sourced from Korea.
Jen, who is half Korean, is an ideal founder to execute on this having worked at places like Glossier, Fishwife, and ILYSM. She understands CPG, is passionate about this space, and I’m excited to watch her grow Potluck.
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Whoa Dough
Founded by Todd Goldstein | 📍Cleveland(!) - Shop / Instagram / Linkedin / Video
How We Met Them: Via swimming around the Cleveland startup scene!
One Liner ✍️ — Whoa Dough is a line of cookie dough snack bars and ready to bake cookie (safe to eat raw) that's gluten free, vegan, non-gmo and kosher.
Discount Code: use “20WHOA20” for 20% off Amazon orders
What made them stand out: Another great ‘Why Now’. If you didn’t lick the cookie dough or brownie batter off the spoon as a kid, you’re missing out on one of life’s greatest moments. For those of us who have, take that memory, then realize you can have it over and over again each time you stop by the grocery store. That’s Whoa Dough. This category is a little busy, but most competition seem to be perishable. Whoa Dough cracked the code and made their cookie dough bars shelf stable all while still tasting great.
Todd is a Clevelander who’s been starting and investing in startup for decades now. He’s seen so many playbooks, and understands what it takes to go from 0 to 1 and beyond. I have all the confidence Whoa Dough will continue to blossom and become a winner.
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That's all she wrote folks. November box is next. Keep on building my friends.