Steve 🍵 O'Dell

Have you ever wondered why giants like PepsiCo, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are constantly collaborating with or acquiring startups? As part of my role as GM of PepsiCo Labs,a big part of my job is to identify the needs and challenges in the business that can be solved with emerging tech and take action to address them. It is safe to say that enterprises have a lot of resources. However, they often lack the agility that startups inherently possess. Startups, on the other hand, are innovation powerhouses, unburdened by legacy systems or hierarchical decision-making. They move fast, pivot quickly, and bring disruptive ideas to the table. Enterprises that crack the code on successfully embracing startups infuse this dynamic spirit of innovation throughout their expansive, established business operations, leading to leapfrogging ahead. Startups and enterprises complement one another with their unique strengths while solving each other’s problems. After reviewing thousands of startups and collaborating with hundreds of them successfully, the magic is real. A real-life example of this magic is Bringoz Bringoz is a last-mile orchestration and optimization platform. They bring visibility and effectiveness to our frontline. They have cutting-edge technology, we have the scale. Together, we are improving the daily operations of thousands of associates. #InnovationPartnership #Startups #EnterpriseCollaboration

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When we asked CPG founders who they wanted at Founderland... Their answer was clear: People who can help them grow their business & achieve their goals. Specifically: - The top retailers - The most founder-friendly investors, and - Other founders they can learn from and share with This conversation that I'm hosting at Founderland is a perfect representation of this group, plus one BIG bonus. We're also including Joel Toledano and ChargeUp.ai which is one of my favorite tech companies that is supporting consumer brands today. They automate the retail deduction and chargeback process for brands, saving them an insane amount of time and money. Such a cool co. Excited to teach, share and connect...and get some deals done, while of course having lots of fun. Joel Toledano Jen Zeszut Kim Coffin Deb Conklin

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Amongst the most successful VCs in consumer in the past decade has been Kirsten Green at Forerunner So I asked her all about how startups can navigate the 70% reduction in consumer investing & why now might be the best time for VCs to look harder at the category. I loved this discussion. I always learn something from Kirsten. Click below to watch / listen https://lnkd.in/g3kiMPD5

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Remarkable story of building a billion dollar food brand. Started with just a few gluten-free tacos and Ziploc bags because she had Lupus. Turned out the market was huge. The team (family of 7) eventually took investment from private equity, but only after thorough vetting--the PE folks had to hang out with the family (including grandma) and workout with the team at the gym to ensure culture fit! --- When they walked into their local food cooperative a decade ago with a Ziploc bag of homemade tortillas, Veronica and Miguel Garza had no clue that they would one day have a billion-dollar business. At the time, they didn’t have a business of any kind. Veronica had just started making grain-free tortillas from her Texas kitchen, and her wildest dream was selling them at a farmers market. But after that fateful day, she founded a company with Miguel, her youngest brother. They called it Siete Foods—siete as in the seven members of the Garza family. In only 10 years, their products have gone from a single grocery store to just about every supermarket. These days, Siete’s collection of grain-free snacks includes tortillas, chips, taco shells, cookies, churro strips, beans, queso puffs, salsas and sauces. What started as a side hustle has become one of America’s most successful food startups. And it was just acquired by PepsiCo for $1.2 billion. Source: WSJ, link below.

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Well-written and sourced article describing what's going in seed-stage venture market. At 9point8 Collective we tend to orbit the seed-stage (both ideating and developing companies to reach seed and helping post-seed companies refactor and scale in anticipation of A) and for many companies it's a critical inflection point which determines their long term success or failure. The main takeaways I was able to gather: 1️⃣ Many startups that raised seed rounds in 2021-2022 are struggling to secure Series A funding due to tighter market conditions and increased investor expectations. 2️⃣ Seed investors are becoming more cautious, leading to longer diligence processes and a preference for startups with strong traction or experienced founders. As a result, valuations have stayed relatively high even as deal flow reduces. 3️⃣ Startups are adopting various strategies to navigate this challenging environment, including cutting costs, raising bridge rounds or convertible notes, and M&A/acqui-hires. 4️⃣ Despite the challenges, there are opportunities for both startups and investors in this new landscape, particularly for those who can adapt to the changing market conditions. Investors are accumulating dry powder -- and with rates on the decline -- will be looking to deploy into companies with stronger fundamentals than their 2021-2022 counterparts.

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CAVA (~$35M/restaurant) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (~$20M/restaurant) far outperform other industry comps for valuation per location. What's their secret? A recent conversation with investor Andy Giacone from Roark Capital summed it up brilliantly: "I've done due diligence on a LOT of public and private restaurants. One of the assets that consistently leads to the highest valuations is the robustness of a brand's loyalty program. For B2C businesses, a scale and high-performing loyalty program is almost as important as recurring revenue in B2B." Why? Performant loyalty programs offers predictability and therefore downside protection while also making it far easier to achieve robust future growth. McKinsey & Company concurs: "While growth is difficult to sustain, it is generously rewarded. In examining 15 major publicly traded restaurant companies... there was a more than 80 percent correlation between annualized same-store sales growth and annualized total shareholder returns.... Successful loyalty programs translate directly into financial results, often encouraging both larger order sizes and greater order frequency from program members. These programs can funnel customers into brands’ first-party delivery businesses, which offer the brand higher margins than it receives from orders conducted through third-party delivery services."

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A recent chat with a portco founder reminded me that #B2Bsales 101 says you can’t sell your product to anyone - the customer has to buy it. Which means, the product you think you are selling is not necessarily what they are buying. A classic example would be a kitchen knife. Who buys a kitchen knife just to put it in a drawer? No one. People buy a way to chop vegetables. If it’s a knife, a sword or a lightsaber - doesn’t matter. They want their vegetables chopped. What are you really selling? A way to chop vegetables. That means your first task in a B2B sale is to find out: what does the customer think they are buying? What do they actually need? If it’s chopped vegetables, show them how neatly you can cut them; don’t spend time showing how amazingly long the knife is or how well the sun reflects off the blade. Or in the B2B context: hey Mr. Customer, what is the problem you’re trying to solve? Great, let me show you how my product solves it for you. Extra points: give your customer credit that they’ve tried other products. It’s perfectly valid to ask: “what have you tried so far? What is it you did not like about the other solutions? (=this is the unmet need. Focus on that and you increase the changes to close the deal)

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Many seed stage companies funded in 2020/2021 most likely won't make it to Series A these days. Over the last few months I watched two seed stage founders I invested in find buyers for their companies and successfully return cash to investors. In both cases the situations were dire and in both cases their existing lead investors were totally MIA. The reality for most VCs is that their best performing companies typically need their help the *the least* and the struggling ones are where it's essential to step up. For VC's, word travels fast when you aren't there to help. And for founders, working with investors who will be there when the chips are down is more important than ever.

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I think this is a good short one for builders on pricing, sticking to the original principles of what you want to solve for, getting to learn from NOs and more. Then this one - "Building a business is, frankly, an emotional roller coaster. There are moments when you feel super smart, and moments when you feel super dumb." Well said. By the co-founders of Warby Parker, the OG of internet d2c brands. #startups #mission #vision #build

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Fellow CPG founders: Any suggestions on lenders that you have enjoyed working with? Wake Up Water is entirely ecommerce at this time so we don’t have your typical accounts receivable, which makes it more tricky for lenders I’ve spoken to a bunch - there’s all types of models they come up with I’d like to avoid any cash advances where we pay back a percentage of sales (these end up being a crazy high APR) Any suggestions on quality lenders would be greatly appreciated! #funding #lenders #financing

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I run a small Slack group for DTC founders, ranging from sub-$1M brands to $100M+ powerhouses. We call it "The Braintrust," and it’s filled with some of what I consider to be the best minds in the industry. This group was entrusted to me a few years back, and I’ve kept it low-key—most people don’t even know I manage it. My goal has always been to maintain a tight-knit, high-value community that doesn’t spiral into chaos like so many other groups. Here are the simple rules we live by: 1. Referral-only: Every member is interviewed by me personally to keep the quality high. 2. Founders-only: Strictly for DTC/Retail founders—no selling allowed. 3. No fees: Members must stay active monthly, maintain confidentiality, and keep things drama-free. I've never done this before, but I am gauging interest to see if around 3–5 others would like to join this group. 👉 If I don’t personally know you, comment “DM me” or tag your friend below for consideration. 👉 If we do personally know each other and you—or someone you know—would be a great fit, please send an intro to my email.

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Recently, I joined Daniel Scharff on the Startup CPG Podcast to break down these core financial pillars to help founders build a resilient and scalable brand. Here’s a quick rundown: 1. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) → Understand the full cost to develop, produce and receive each product (it’s way more than materials.) 2. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) → You need to use your CAC as your constant in the spend equation. 3. Cash Flow → Scaling without a handle on cash flow is a recipe for disaster. Too fast of growth can kill a company as quickly as too slow of growth. 4. Margins → Razor-thin margins (stand alone or via discounting) means playing on hard mode. 5. Retention Rate → Repeat customers are the foundation of long-term success in e-commerce. I break down each one in more detail on the podcast. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/eJzypw6x

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As a VC, there are times when you have to choose between prioritizing returns and supporting the founders you work with. It’s not easy because we have a fiduciary duty to our LPs, which, in our case, are primarily non-profits, to maximize returns. At Eniac, we play the long game: if we do what’s best for our founders, it will ultimately benefit our brand, reputation, and relationships, which will be best for our LPs in the long run.

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Apply now to get a coveted spot for the Venture Lane B2B Pitch Night Event! 🚀 🥇 On November 19th, Venture Lane | Startup Hub is hosting our exclusive Pitch Night 👉 - a rare opportunity for Boston's B2B tech founders to tune their pitch and get in front of awesome mentors, investors, and industry leaders. ⏰ Apply by November 1st to secure your spot! 📲 Find the application link in the comments below. #B2BTech #Startups #Fundraising #BostonStartups #PitchNight #VentureLaneStudio

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I enjoyed going on Nick Telson-Sillett’s podcast, Pitch Deck by Forward Pursuit. Nick is a serial founder and investor (founded and exited DesignMyNight) so knows both sides of the table which always makes for an enriching chat. Some things we discussed: - The perceived power dynamic between VCs and founders can hinder productive conversations. - A compelling product demo can significantly influence investor interest. - Founders must focus on solving real customer problems to succeed. - Hiring standards are crucial for building a successful startup team. - Behavioural roadblocks can prevent the adoption of new solutions. - Validation from potential customers is key for pre-revenue startups. - The early-stage funding landscape has become more efficient and selective. - Pace of execution is a critical factor in attracting investment.

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Go Gaurav Sharma and Capitalize! If you have a 401k from a previously employer, check out Capitalize.

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Did you know that YC founders get a secret weapon… and it’s not what you think. “Bookface” is YC’s internal social network. It was needed because YC had funded larger batches and the hardest part of a community is knowing who is in it and who you can trust and ask for help. On the platform, founders share real methods and advice that would break if it were shared widely It’s secret knowledge shared with a trust-first community - answering 80% of the questions a founder can have about building and selling a product, be it to clients, candidates or investors. Before the platform, if you had a B2B startup, you had to reach out cold to potential customers. Now there are over 1000 YC companies you can sell your service to and all of their contact information is in Bookface. As a result, YC alumni companies are often over 50% of your new sales during YC. It’s superpowers like this that make YC deals so attractive compared to the norm. You are investing in a founder with a 10x network already!

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