Investor Spotlight: Rogers Healy, Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Rogers Healy, Founder and CEO of Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners—a consumer-focused venture firm backing some of the most iconic CPG brands of this generation. Rogers is a serial entrepreneur with over two decades of experience building and scaling businesses, including one of Texas's largest independently owned real estate firms. After years of investing on the side while running his real estate companies, Rogers made the leap to venture capital full time, founding Morrison Seger—named after his two favorite musicians, Van Morrison and Bob Seger—with a mandate rooted in personal conviction, family values, and gut instinct.

Morrison Seger operates through SPVs, writing checks from $500K to $10 million across all stages, with a particular love for beverage. Rogers brings a deeply personal lens to every deal—if he isn't a consumer of the product, his family is. His portfolio includes Waterloo Sparkling Water and Sanzo, among others, and he actively backs brands he believes can earn a place in people's everyday lives.

Hannah and Rogers dig into what it really takes to build a brand investors get excited about, how to navigate the founder-investor relationship, and what separates the deals Rogers jumps into from the ones he passes on. He also shares hard-won lessons from a long career in entrepreneurship—on communication, patience, staying true to your why, and betting on yourself even when the odds feel stacked against you.

Listen in as they cover: 

• Rogers's path from real estate grinder to full-time venture capitalist—and why it took him until 41 to make the leap 
• How Morrison Seger was founded, what the name really means, and the SPV model that powers it Investment criteria: personal consumption, family values, check size, and what gets Rogers excited 
• Why branding has to pop immediately—and the difference between a brand with real pull and one that's trying too hard 
• The stacking-by-stage strategy Rogers uses across verticals like sparkling water and pistachios 
• What Rogers looks for in founders: communication, details, presence, and the ability to not act like they're doing you a favor 
• Why the founder-investor relationship is like a marriage—and how to do your diligence before you're in too deep 
• The questions founders should be asking investors before they sign 
• What kills a deal during diligence—and why getting someone's name wrong is a red flag 
• Lessons learned: trust your gut, burn the ships, and always ask how you can help

Episode Links:

• Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners: https://www.morrisonseger.com 
• Rogers Healy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogershealy/ 
• Rogers Healy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogershealy/ 
• Morrison Seger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/morrison-seger/ 
• Morrison Seger on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morrisonseger/ 
• Rogers Healy Bio: https://www.morrisonseger.com/rogershealy 
• Morrison Seger Portfolio: https://www.morrisonseger.com/portfolio

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.

Show Links:

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• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [e-mail]
• Episode music by Super Fantastics
  
  

Creators and Guests

Host

Hannah Dittman

Operations and Finance Correspondent at Startup CPG

What is The Startup CPG Podcast?

The top CPG podcast in the world, highlighting stories from founders, buyer spotlights, highly practical industry insights - all to give you a better chance at success.

Rogers Healy
Make sure that your why as to what made you start it remains your why. The world is full of awesome people, but the world also has some people that are not so awesome. And once you start experiencing success and you get access, sometimes those people just come out of the woodwork and you can't let them get to you, right? And I'm such a hypocrite in telling you this because it is hard not to think about the people that want to just see you fail. But you're entering a competitive space and just because X percentage of businesses fail within the certain X amount of time, screw that. Bet on yourself, burn the ships.

00:44
Rogers Healy
And no matter your background, no matter your qualifications or lack of qualifications, if you have the internal conviction to go and do something, and if you believe in yourself, then you can do it.

00:56
Hannah Dittman
Hey everyone. I'm Hannah Dittman, operations and finance host of the Startup CPG podcast. And today I'm excited to be joined by Rogers Healy, owner and CEO of Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners. Rogers is a serial entrepreneur, family man and seasoned investor with over two decades of experience building and scaling businesses. He founded one of Texas's largest independently owned real estate firms, built a full portfolio of companies, and has since shifted his focus to venture capital full time. He created Morrison Seger, named after two of his favorite musicians, and has gone on to back some of the most iconic CPG brands of this generation with a strong focus on brands that truly resonate with consumers and earn a place in their everyday lives.

01:42
Hannah Dittman
In this episode, we dig into what Rogers looks for when evaluating companies, why brand recognition and excitement are critical to brand longevity and the people element behind both investing and building a business. We also cover investor, founder fit, how to evaluate potential partners, and lessons learned from a long career in entrepreneurship and investing. If you're looking for a boost of motivation, a clearer lens into how investors think during diligence, or guidance on where to focus your North Star. This episode is packed with insights. Enjoy. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG Podcast. This is Hannah and today I'm thrilled to be here with Rogers Healy of Morrison Seger. Rogers, welcome to the show.

02:28
Rogers Healy
Hannah. Thank you for having me. What a great way to start the week and join the most coveted podcast in the world of cpg.

02:36
Hannah Dittman
Well, we're honored to have you here. Thank you so much for the kind words. I'd love to dive straight in with a bit of context on your background, the path that led you through consumer and ultimately to where you are today at Morrison Seger.

02:49
Rogers Healy
Yeah, thank you the short of it, I love to work. I've worked my whole life. I think that in life the fortunate people are able to find out what their God given abilities are. And early on I knew I loved people. I love investing in people. I'll give the short answer. I got into real estate in college. I moved a lot. Growing up and moving a lot just kind of forces you to learn how to be social and how to be a quick adapter and how to notice different trends all across different cities, all across different schools, blah, blah. I got into real estate in college and by mere happenstance, I wouldn't even call it serendipity. I just randomly got into real estate and I wanted to make money.

03:26
Rogers Healy
And so I was able to go and apply my ability to grind with my ability to network and started making money in college, took the money and moved to Los Angeles to become an actor. And you don't know me from movies, which means I didn't succeed, which was kind of theme across almost everything I tried before real estate. But anyway, I got into that. I lived out there, had a good network, learned how to network with a whole different audience, and came back, hit real estate hard. Randomly met some people in Dallas that ended up being pretty influential. They were very encouraging. I started my own real estate company in 2005, grew it to what became the largest independent real estate company in Texas. Which was great for the ego, but we'll get back to that and just meet some really special people.

04:09
Rogers Healy
Which kind of led me here inadvertently. There's a company called Mizzen in Maine. It's a men's clothing company started in Dallas by a gentleman that's one of my best friends now named Kevin Lavelle. Kevin approached me when he was an undergrad about an idea he had to create a dry fit men's dress shirt. This was before Shark Tank. This was before the show that I'm on called Elevator Pitch. And I was one of their first investors. And I just fell in love with it. I fell in love with the idea of helping. I fell in love with the idea of building. I fell in love with the idea that even if I invest and you outgrow me, you can't kick me up because I'm legally a part of your contract versus owning a real estate company.

04:44
Rogers Healy
And so over the course of time just kind of doing my thing, I got access to pretty cool deals, stuff that I still am a huge consumer of. And I wear Miz and Main every day. And I looked up and had pretty active portfolio. And I didn't realize the success rates were not necessarily in the favor of the investor. And for some ungodly reason, my deals were at least still alive. And then I met my wife. I met my wife when I was 39. My wife is a very happy person. I was still running and growing my real estate companies and just never felt like fulfilled. I never felt like that sense of peace and that just like, yeah, this is what I'm going to do today.

05:24
Rogers Healy
It's just that my skill set, I thought at the time was having really thick skin and being able to kind of outwork everybody. But in my heart of hearts, I was like, man, I really like this venture capital stuff. I think that I could really help these brands. But I wasn't qualified to do it because I was the real estate guy. Next thing you know, Covid hits. And I jokingly started the company after two of my favorite musicians, Van Morrison and Bob Seger. And I wanted something that sounded fancy, that I could kind of hide behind because all my success prior in business was with companies named after me because I thought that's what a business owner was supposed to do, name it after themselves. Started Morrison, Seger. I wanted something that sounded like a fancy New York firm, very Manhattan, very formal.

06:06
Rogers Healy
But it's after literally Van Morrison and Bob Seger, who I've yet to meet. If y' all are watching Van and Bob, it's time to get together.

06:13
Hannah Dittman
They owe you that one. They are good to you.

06:15
Rogers Healy
It's going to happen. But anyway, like, I started pitching deals, doing SPVs, and every deal I put my own money in. And I would tell the story behind whatever venture were a part of. And my network was very supportive. And I was like, huh, all right, that's kind of weird. And they were supportive again. I was like, that's kind of weird. And then I was like, man, I think that I want to do this full time. And so went through a very interesting journey, very unique journey, a very stressful journey, a very unhappy journey of removing myself from my real estate companies. Fast forward to the day. Ended up exiting my real estate companies to do this full time. And it's been life changing. It's an inviting environment which everyone that's watching or listening already knows that.

07:00
Rogers Healy
But as someone that had a first career in a different industry, I will tell you how blessed everyone is to be in this industry because it is inviting, it is kind, it is collaborative, it is creative, and it is accepting of the weirdos like me, which was not real estate. So Entrepreneur, grinder, consumer fan. But now I am a venture capitalist in the world of consumer.

07:25
Hannah Dittman
Such a vulnerable and honest reflection of your career thus far and what led you to all the happiness that you found today. And yes, the culture of CPG is a unique one and so special. And it's no surprise that everyone loves people because that's who we're serving at the end of the day with our products and our brands and everything we're offering to the world. At least hopefully it's to make people's life just a little bit better. I'm so glad that you're founding passion here. I'd love to dive a little bit more into your firm. We've definitely got some interesting color on the name, but I'd love to know a little bit more about criteria, stage focus, check size, your mandate, differentiation, and what you're really lasered in on within the consumer ecosystem.

08:10
Rogers Healy
So I put my Morrison Seger hat on.

08:12
Hannah Dittman
Switch it up. Yeah, rep it. This is the entrepreneurial, you always gotta be reppin'.

08:17
Rogers Healy
I went to SMU in Dallas. I'm really proud of my degree. I studied advertising and psychology. I didn't study business, I didn't study finance. I don't have a master's degree. But I think I've got a good gut instinct and I am pretty confident that is what investing starts with. No matter what anyone says, right? You take a sip of guava berry water, you're like, I like the taste of that. No sugar, huh? That's cool. No calories, no sodium. Tell me more. Really cool label. I don't care what anyone says. That is how it starts, right? And it's just a matter of who gets it in your hand and how you taste the liquid or how you chew the gum or how you taste the chips. That's it. And so that's how it starts with us. Almost every single deal we're in.

08:54
Rogers Healy
I'm a consumer or I'm a backer of or my family is a consumer. My family is a backer off. And I think that's part of the obstacle and also part of the benefit of SPVs is that it's all one off pitches. So that's the bare minimum. The second thing is nothing controversial, nothing that my family would be ashamed of me participating in, whether it's something that has some kind of drug connotation or something that could be considered classless. Life is too short. And my children and my wife are my entire world. And I want them to always be proud, even if the numbers are Insanely incredible. For something that doesn't fit our family ethos, then that's okay. And then lastly, something that has a path to actually make us some money. Right? It's gotta be something that I love.

09:37
Rogers Healy
Beverage, which is probably the hardest space. It's probably the most crowded, but I love beverage and I drink a lot of liquid every single day. And I think it's good to have at least two or three in each vertical that you're rooting on. Where Waterloo is our later stage sparkling water. Sanzo is our mid stage sparkling water. And I've got a few that are going to probably be our newer sparkling water. And so I think just being able to spin those plates kind of like a maniac is crucial. But obviously it's still got to pass diligence with legal. It's still got to pass diligence with accounting. We have pretty great systems internally. But at the end of the day, it starts with, frankly, what I would get excited about. And I've got to be able to pitch these deals day in, day out.

10:19
Rogers Healy
And I've got to know almost as much as the founders or the leaders, which makes me an extension of their team, where my windfall comes after our investors get paid back in full first.

10:28
Hannah Dittman
I love the way that you're kind of thinking about stacking sectors by stage. I think that's really interesting and any unique approach. I also love Sanzo. I drink the Calamansi one like almost every day. Huge fan. And yeah, food and Bev, We've got a lot of founders listening that I'm sure are eager to hear your opinions today. That is their sweet spot. And so as far as check size and when you're leaning in and getting involved, what stage of focus are you really aiming for? Or are you pretty agnostic? And it's more about what you find interesting and compelling.

10:59
Rogers Healy
All stages check sizes, half a million to $10 million. I still actively write checks. I'll write. I would write what many would consider to be very small checks just to get in and to learn. Like, last year was the year of pistachios and I did three pistachio deals, all small checks. I think they're about to have a moment just simply because my gut's telling me so. And so the founders and the dealers were nice enough to let me in for small checks so I can learn. So yeah, it just depends, right? But with that said, if you're raising money for the later stage deals, you kind of have to raise a lot of money to make it make sense for the economics on the back end.

11:34
Rogers Healy
So we did a few secondary deals in Waterloo, and I had to raise a few million dollars to make it make sense. But I think it's a safe deal. Right. So there's different audiences for different deals, and that's the benefit of having a pretty diverse network. And just like you, that's what I'm spending every day doing. It's just adding people to my personal database and finding ways to stay top of mind.

11:56
Hannah Dittman
I love the strategic focus and lens that you're approaching things with. I think that's interesting and unique. And also I think a cool part about being a nimble institutional investor where you're kind of able to run it a little bit more as you see fit, versus some big, archaic firm where you have, like, a very rigid mandate and you can't be as opportunistic or strategic in your approach and how things change and. Yeah. Pistachio wave. I agree. I mean, I think also there's always these kind of weird little things that come up in consumer, like the Dubai chocolate kind of ancillary little waves. Yeah. That draw some attention to some other tangential categories sometimes, and things end up sticking and clicking.

12:39
Rogers Healy
So.

12:40
Hannah Dittman
Interesting. I'd love to dive into your thoughts a little bit more on diligence process and what gets you excited about brands and build conviction in a company. You're obviously talking a lot about consumer psychology, something I call the consumer double take, which is you kind of glance at everything quickly on the shelf. But what's the thing that makes you look again or turn that package over to read a little bit more? What else are you really looking for? Like, what are the pillars, Brand performance or analysis that you're focused on that really makes you feel like a deal is a winner and you want to be involved.

13:13
Rogers Healy
Sure. I do think that the branding has to pop from the start. Like, again. I'll never forget where I was. It was 2018 or 17 and this guy, Paul Levatino, walked into my conference room with my real estate company drinking a Waterloo. I was like, what's that? That looks really cool. Is Waterloo. Why is it called Waterloo? And I just. It's like I'm a fan immediately. And almost at that point, even if it tasted like whatever mud, I would still like it because in my head, I'd already fall in love with it. And I think that is kind of part of it with some of these brands. But, yeah, it's got to be simple. I don't like brands that go and, like, change the spelling A lot remove vowels. And they're trying too hard to be a nightclub. That's just not for me.

13:51
Rogers Healy
And I don't think that could appeal to everybody. Not that the brands are for everybody, but yeah, it's gotta be simple and it's gotta be something that's already, for the most part, established vertical. It's just how can you go and stand out? Right? And at this point, there's nothing new that can be created, right? Like powders and gummies of powders. It's like that's always been around. It's just a matter of how you're taking one from this and putting it to that one. But yeah, I like stories. I like stuff that is simple and stuff that you would want on a T shirt or a hat. And as crazy as it sounds like all of these brands have very loyal fan bases. And it shouldn't be extreme to have somebody that wants to wear a Sanzo logo on a hoodie.

14:36
Rogers Healy
And I think that's just how you got to kind of look at it. And if someone has to zoom in and be like, what's that? It's like you've lost them. And I think we live in such a instant gratification community and also like a short attention span community that if you don't get them immediately, then you've lost them. And then sell someone a Sanzo, you got to make sure they come back and buy another Sanzo, which means you got to have community engagement from Michael. It's a combination of stuff. But the short answer is it's got a pop, but they can't be trying too hard. There's a lot of brands that have pitched us that I'm just like, really? It's like you're trying so hard.

15:07
Rogers Healy
And I think that's going to cost them too much money versus just trying to brand to their audience better than anyone else can brand. And that's real estate, right? I own a real estate company with a lot of people that work there at the time. 80,000 Realtors in Dallas. How do you stand out? Right? It's like you gotta find your people, you gotta keep them engaged and you gotta keep them excited. And that's consumer branding.

15:28
Hannah Dittman
It's such a succinct and great way to sum up such a core pillar of importance in consumer. There's like the marketing piece, branding, all of that stuff in that bucket, and then there's the product piece. And it's like, what's outside the bottle? What's inside the bottle? Like both of those things are almost equally important in the consumer experience. And one of them is a lot easier to wrap your head around because it's science based. And one of them is really hard to wrap your head around because it is so nebulous and ambiguous sometimes. And it is expensive. Yep. And like you're saying the harder you have to try.

16:01
Hannah Dittman
The way I'm translating that in my mind is that means you're spending a lot of money to get the top of funnel going and getting through that conversion experience, which is not typically what investors want to see because that means their dollars aren't being used productively and the growth that they're looking for isn't going to come as easily as it could with another brand, maybe where they could put their money elsewhere. I think a lot of times people are so myopically focused on their own brand, they forget to go into the point of view or the perspective of an investor. Investors have like almost unlimited options, the way you would have if you were going to invest your money in the stock market.

16:39
Hannah Dittman
And so you have to like, really think, not just like why your company's so great and what's working for it, but why is it the most productive use of dollars for that investor?

16:49
Rogers Healy
Yeah. And it also, there's a lot of very intelligent people in this industry, but nobody has the perfect playbook. Nobody, Nobody. A lot of people, myself included, have gotten very lucky. But some people get lucky multiple times. You want to follow that kind of person, but you still have to go and find a way to create your own vertical for success. Because at the end of the day, a lot of us, myself included, are kind of building the plane mid flight. So find a pilot or a leader that you love and that you trust and help them. Right. And the ones that are closed off with it are full of shit, excuse my language. Like, because they don't know everything. Nobody knows everything.

17:26
Rogers Healy
And to the point that you were making about the other thing, the only thing that's harder than creating an established brand is maintaining it. And that's also expensive. Right. And every day, whether it's in real estate or beverage or zippers or rubber bands, every day someone is literally building their company with the sole purpose of taking your company down. Right. So how do you stay tunnel vision? How do you stay psychotic enough, but also how do you be able to breathe and appreciate the people that have danced with you? Because I think that's a really hard thing for a lot of business owners, myself to do is appreciate the climb and Appreciate the ones that really have shown loyalty versus worry about who you're going to lose or worry about who you're not going to get. And I think that's human nature as well.

18:09
Rogers Healy
And I've experienced this to scale, which makes it sometimes really difficult to enjoy the successes.

18:15
Hannah Dittman
Great points. And you're such a straight shooter. And I like what you said about every investor is different. Everyone has kind of a different sticking point, outlook, strategy, things that they are going off of. It's a human business. They have their own experiences, wins and losses that they're kind of anchoring on in their own mind patterns that they're noticing that they're leaning into. It's definitely a lot of art in addition to science. It can seem a lot of science because there's so much numbers and data that is also going into it. But there is a big art component to investing as well. When you're meeting with a founder, what is the vibe you're looking for? What are the characteristics you're looking for? What really makes a pitch stand out or works well with you as an investor? From a founder Persona perspective, the stuff.

19:00
Rogers Healy
That can be taught, like, be on time, say somebody's name, be respectful, be present, learn how to follow up. If you have a consumer product and someone asks you where to get it, don't let them buy it. Just simple little stuff, right? That's just part of the cost of being a business owner. But not everybody meshes with me and I don't mesh with everyone. And that took me a long time to be comfortable saying that because it's like human nature is you want everyone to like you and to love you, right? There wouldn't be songs if there wasn't love and there wasn't heartbreak. But I love Bob Seger and Van Morrison. You might love Jimi Hendrix and Taylor Swift, and that's okay.

19:36
Rogers Healy
Which means you're probably going to have more comfortable conversation with Jimi Hendrix and Taylor Swift fans, just like I would with Van Morrison and Bob Seger. So volume helps. The more meetings you take, the more people you're going to meet. But again, it's got to feel good. And I don't do well with like cocky people that pretend like they don't need you. It's like, no, you. Everyone needs each other. Like, you need me, not you, literally. But I'm saying like a founder might need me.

20:01
Hannah Dittman
I need you.

20:02
Rogers Healy
You're here, you're helping me share my story and it's therapy to talk about it. But people that act like they're Doing you a favor, especially on the founder side. That's just sour taste. And surprisingly, happens a lot. And I'm like, wait a second, what? Like, no, no, no. Like, it's gotta be a team. And people that don't know how to communicate, that's the biggest red flag, period. Respond to emails, respond to messages. Like, if you have life that came up, I totally understand. Just explain it and apologize and let's move on. But it sets a precedent, right? And when I met my wife, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is gonna be my wife. Right?

20:38
Rogers Healy
And I knew that because I was single for a long time prior, and I had dated women that didn't give me the same assurance or that same feeling, but that took me some time.

20:47
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. I feel like investor portfolio company relationships are so often compared to marriages. And a lot of what you're describing, kind of just feeling it, the dating experience almost. It's really a strong metaphor. Would you have any advice for founders as they kind of think through what investment partner would make most sense for them? I'm sure a lot of the evaluation criteria might be similar to what you just shared about making sure it's a good mutual relationship fit. But anything else that you think or specific questions that they should be asking to investment partners that might be helpful.

21:20
Rogers Healy
To answer your first question, trust your gut and don't think too much. Right? Like, what got you to that meeting is probably what made you successful, and that's okay to embrace that. And it took me a while to understand that. And as far as questions like you've experienced with the last 45 minutes of us spending time together, I'm a very respectfully direct person. And that took me a while to get there because I just assumed people thought like I thought, because I like to think I'm a very logical thinker. But you have to, I think, ask these questions in diligence. Hannah, what is your process for updating investors? Hannah, what do If I need to get some free products sent to an influential friend of mine? Hannah. Who is the best point of contact in case you're out of town?

21:58
Rogers Healy
Just these things that you just assume, as a relatively experienced person that they've got all their bases covered. And not everybody does. Right. So it's better to find this stuff out. Like dating, right? Like diligence. You're dating, right? A term sheet. Maybe you're engaged, maybe that's your boyfriend or your girlfriend. But if you're an investor, you're married, and you don't Have a prenup. You don't have a way out. You're married. And so if you're going to get married to a brand, make sure you know everything about them. And I proposed to my wife after one month because I knew, right? And we got married after three months. But it took me having proper diligence, right, with some historically terrible decisions that I made, but it led me to my bride. And so I think that just don't think too much, right?

22:42
Rogers Healy
And find ways to parallel this stuff to stuff that you understand. I love music. I love it. And there's ways for me to go. And if I'm tapping my feet to something and I'm doing this in a medium, like, I like this, right? But if I'm like, oh, God, I don't like the way that sounds, I gotta run, right? Which makes it hard in this industry because everyone wants to have their next great deal. But it's got to come to you, right? And it's got to be something that. Enough of these meetings I have with you and with Josh and with everyone else, like, you're going to know that I like X, Y, Z kind of deal. Which means this afternoon you're in San Francisco getting coffee with someone that says, I got to start up sparkling water. Rogers is my guy, right?

23:18
Rogers Healy
And that just takes a lot of repetition, which some people would lose their mind doing it, but I'm one of the craziest. It actually loves it, and it makes you appreciate it. When you do find that one deal that you jump in, you're like, okay, I'm all in on this.

23:30
Hannah Dittman
Rogers, on a personal note, I love how often you bring up your wife and how much respect you have for her and how family oriented you are. I think to add to what you said, my own unvetted advice, unsolicited advice for founders, too, would be, think about that. It's not just an investment firm you're getting in bed with. It's a person. And what the values of that person are probably as equally as important as their business performance and their business values at the end of the day, more important, at the end of the day, tough things are going to happen. And you want to know that when you're making hard decisions like, hey, we need to recall this product. What's going to be in the best interest of our consumers?

24:09
Hannah Dittman
You want someone aligned with you that they're going to treat your consumers and make decisions that you would want to make for your consumers the same way that you would want to make it for them and how you value them. So I think that's really important too.

24:21
Rogers Healy
Yeah, I have integrity. Okay. And again, it's always the right time to do the right thing. It's hard. Like, sometimes communicating, like, unfortunate news sucks, but, like, the only thing that sucks more is holding it in and not communicating it. And I think that's any healthy relationship, everyone's going to tell you the same thing. It's all centered around healthy communication. And surprisingly, you communicate something that's not great news. Maybe one of your investors wants to help fix it. And that has been a very pleasant surprise. Initially, when I started telling people like, hey, this deal took a turn and here's what we need help doing, and people have stepped up. This shouldn't be that rare.

24:58
Hannah Dittman
I love that highlighting that. And I think it's definitely differentiating as an investor, you know, everyone is different. Everyone has different values, everyone has different reason for being and way they approach things. And I think it really stands out that you have, yes, a lot of honesty, integrity. You're very direct and you're clear. And I think that's a all great aspects to have and healthy in a relationship like this, where it can be contentious sometimes and hard things happen.

25:23
Rogers Healy
I also have three young kids, so, like, I have to be efficient because I obviously don't sleep and I look like a zombie. But yeah, it's just I don't do fluff well. And I had someone a time ago. Do you want to know how to build the clock or do you want to know what time it is? I'm like, always tell me the time. Don't give me the long story. Just tell me. Here's where we're at.

25:41
Hannah Dittman
Love that. Also helpful for anyone listening to this. How to approach that pitch deck. Reflecting on your career, your investments, all the things you've been through. Can you tell me some lessons learned or key pieces of advice that you think would be helpful for maybe other founders or operators to learn from?

25:58
Rogers Healy
Trust your gut. Surround yourself with people that you prefer to be around. Make sure that your why as to what made you start, it remains your why. The world is full of awesome people, but the world also has some people that are not so awesome. And once you start experiencing success and you get access, sometimes those people just come out of the woodwork and you can't let them get to you, right? And I'm such a hypocrite in Tanya this because it is hard not to think about the people that want to just see you fail. But you're entering A competitive space. And just because X percentage of businesses fail within a certain X amount of time, screw that. Bet on yourself, burn the ships.

26:37
Rogers Healy
And no matter your background, no matter your qualifications or lack of qualifications, if you have the internal conviction to go and do something and if you believe in yourself, then you can do it. It's just, it's never going to go the way you thought it was going to go. And when it doesn't go the way it's going to go, step up, be an adult and honor the people that believe in you because you owe it to them. And not just because of money, but because they believed in you and they gave you something no one else did. And that's the gift of confidence.

27:04
Hannah Dittman
Very well said. And I feel like I'm like, totally, I'm zoned in on your sermon here. Is there anything that you wish that you knew at the beginning of your investing career? Maybe kind of hard won insights that you have now that you're carrying forward as you're thinking through things on the investing side of the world a little bit more?

27:23
Rogers Healy
Yeah, I'm a Christian and there's a really powerful scripture that says walk by faith and not by sight. Right. You can interpret that. Whoever you worship and whatever you think is to just like keep the main thing and trust the process, trust your gut. And it's okay to go and jump in something because you felt good about it, even if everyone else tells you're crazy and that stuff. I've known that the whole time. And I don't regret waiting until I was 41 to do this full time. But I was kind of talking myself out of it because in my mind I was this person that everyone thought had to do this one thing. And I was like, screw that, I like this. And I got this big enough balls and enough ignorance to really go for it.

28:07
Rogers Healy
And worst case, someone laughs at you or someone says no, but be prepared for someone to say yes. And that is one of the craziest things about success, is that when you're used to failing, you're used to getting turned down. You need to get prepared and get used to the people that actually want to support you. And that's still hard for me. It's still hard for me for people to like be like, I believe in you. I'm like, really? That's awesome. I believe in me too. That makes two of us and my wife, there's three of us. It's like, you gotta condition yourself to expect the wins, right? And that's something that my wife and I were talking earlier today and then I'll be done. I have become a very patient person. That was not something I would have said before COVID right.

28:47
Rogers Healy
Being married, having children, it immediately puts you into the patient portal. But in consumer these things are not quick turns and it's never like this and like this. It's just like this. And you're hanging upside down and you're on fire and they're throwing glass at you and the lights are off and they're playing music you don't like and you. It's like you cry yourself to sleep. But then tomorrow comes. Today's the day, right? So I think just take a day at a time, but find your tribe. And when you do that last thing I'll tell people is that every meeting I have, I do try to do 30 phone calls a day, five Zooms, two coffee meetings and a lunch. And I always ended by saying, how can I help you? What can I do to help? Who can I introduce you to?

29:29
Rogers Healy
And by doing that, it completely changes the direction of the day for both of us. So go out of your way to help and ask for nothing in return and I promise you will be rewarded in ways you never knew existed.

29:42
Hannah Dittman
Great advice. And honestly, I think a lot of sentiments that almost every founder listening to this will resonate with and intimately understands the feeling of having those hard failures and striking that moment where they really believe in something. They took the leap of faith and they started their company. And all the little wins and consumers and other people and business partners and employees and everyone that kind of started leaning in and believing along the way, I'm sure share a lot of resolve in that sentiment with you. Rogers. I would love to pivot to a Slack question. As much as I have a million other questions for you. I will give the floor up to someone else. As you know, startup CPG has the largest Slack community in the industry with now over 35,000 members.

30:25
Hannah Dittman
I'd love to pull a question directly from our channel and have you answer it as a case study for any founder that might have a similar question. Today's question is what are common things that shift a deal or diligence from conviction to ultimately passing on a brand?

30:39
Rogers Healy
It's got to be communication. It's again, it's the same reason that I was single till I was 40 because I just got sticky vibes from other situations. But yeah, just don't be prideful, be honest and everyone messes up. Everybody messes up when you mess up. Own it. And some people have diligence that's very formal. We have a very formal diligence process. But I have my own diligence process to even get us there. And a lot of it has to do just with the way that people carry themselves and the way that they communicate. And details matter. My name is R O G E R S and oftentimes people might call me Roger. That's a red flag to me. And it's not cause I'm a diva with my name. It's a detail.

31:20
Rogers Healy
And if you're doing a purchase order or if you're doing something with the bank and you do something that's incorrect, that could cost a lot of money to a lot of people. And so yeah, details matter, but be yourself. And I think that the right people will always find you just might take a little longer than you would have hoped for.

31:38
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. And I think something that you're alluding to that people maybe don't always realize is happening in a diligence process is. I think a lot of people think diligence is all about the data room and the numbers and their business and handing over all the request lists that you might have in the financials. But you're being diligenced as how you're operating that experience as well. Like how you're handling it, how you're responding to questions, how responsive you are. It's kind of like you're still being evaluated how you would be to work with in a way the same way that you should be evaluating the investment partner during that time as well. Are their ass realistic? Are they being thoughtful with your information? Are they asking intelligent questions to you like things like that.

32:22
Hannah Dittman
There's a lot of other things going on besides just the numbers during that period.

32:26
Rogers Healy
Yeah. It's okay to also not know the answer. Right. Somebody might ask you something and they might use some fancy terminology. It's okay to be like, I'm sorry, I don't think I understand your. Just be honest. Right. Like a lot of first time founders, it's okay to not know everything. It's all right. It's okay to ask for help. Which shows vulnerability, which shows you having the desire to learn and not teach. And that's very rare.

32:48
Hannah Dittman
Tons of great insights and a lot of just direct and honest information that not everyone divulges to founders. And I think really important for everyone to hear. Well, Rogers, I have thoroughly enjoyed this chat. I think you have so much conviction in your beliefs in the way that you're operating business and a ton of passion for what you're doing and the people that you're finding to work with and what you've got going on with the portfolio companies that you have leaned into already. For anyone that may want to follow up with you or think that they might be a great deal for you or have a great deal for you, what's the best way for founders to reach you? And second part of my question, do you have any advice for those interested in joining Morrison Seger or investing in general?

33:30
Rogers Healy
Yes. Find us our website morrisonseger.com M O R R I S O N S E G E R Van Morrison, Bob Seger and for y' all that are watching this are related to Van Morrison and or Bob Seger. I would love to meet them. I will gladly fly to Detroit or to Dublin for dinner. Not even kidding. And so please know that is a huge motivation for me.

33:53
Hannah Dittman
Let's get this viral. Let's get this out there, people. We've got a man with a dream.

33:58
Rogers Healy
If you don't ask, you don't get. If you want to be a part of what we're doing, awesome accredited investors. You go to our website, fill out one of our investor forms, we'll add you to our distro list, which would be amazing. Founders that are raising money, reach out. I respond to every single pitch, usually within the first few minutes. And yeah, just keep grinding, y', all and keep being just beacons of joy. And know that there's always somebody looking up to you. Even if you feel like you're by yourself on an island, there's always somebody there. And I think that one person is enough to keep going even when it's really hard.

34:28
Hannah Dittman
Well, thank you so much, Ro, for the words of wisdom, all of the inspiration and motivation. I hope everyone's leaving this feeling a little bit more energized, confident and ready to tackle their CPG dreams. Thanks so much again for your time and for chatting with us today.

34:44
Rogers Healy
Thank you.

34:44
Hannah Dittman
Thanks again. Well, friends, we've now arrived together at the end of another episode of the Startup CPG podcast, the top globally ranked podcast in cpg. And if you love this podcast, you'll love our Slack community even more. Here at Startup cpg, we're a community of brands and experts and you should join. Sign up @startupcpg.com you'll then get an invite to our online Slack community of over 35,000 All Star CPG members, hear about amazing events near you and all our special opportunities to get you in front of buyers investors, brands and more. It's a free community. So what are you waiting for? I'll catch you on the next episode and I'll see you on the slack.