#214 - Founders & Funders: The Early Stage Investor Event of the Year

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Daniel Scharff is joined by Startup CPG Operations and Finance Correspondent Hannah Dittman, and Simon Solis-Cohen, Founder of Huxley,to discuss Founders & Funders — Startup CPG’s largest event to date. They explore how the event was created to connect the most active early-stage investors with top emerging brands through curated one-on-one meetings, insightful panels, and exceptional networking opportunities.

Hannah draws on her venture capital experience to share what investors prioritize in early-stage consumer brands and how founders can prepare to stand out. Simon brings the founder’s perspective, emphasizing the value of building authentic investor relationships early and sharing lessons from launching Huxley, a better-for-you energy drink brand.

Tune in now and learn how to position your brand for fundraising success!

For more information or to apply, please visit fandf.startupcpg.com

Listen in as they share about:

• What is Founders & Funders
• Attendee Lineup
• Investor Lineup & Highlights
• Key Panel Discussions
• Event Design & Matchmaking
• Fundraising Insights & Challenges
• Founder’s Perspective (Simon Solis-Cohen, Huxley)
• Advice for Brands Applying to Founders & Funders
  
  

Episode Links:
Website:https://drinkhuxley.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-solis-cohen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-dittman-011b844b/ 

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:

• Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (20K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Daniel's Linkedin 
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [e-mail]
• Episode music by Super Fantastics
  
  

Creators and Guests

Host

Daniel Scharff

Founder/CEO, 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.

Simon Solis-Cohen
You know, this sort of a good old saying out there is that the first time you reach out to somebody, don't ask for money. And so it's really important that you start building these relationships now because, you know, I've heard on just the podcast you've had with so many of these people already that they get really annoyed if the first time you reach out, it's just like, hi, look at me, give me all your money. Right? You have to build relationships. And I hear so many times, right, people say, right, you bet, you know, on the jockey, not on the horse. And so they want to get to know you, the founder. And I think that's so important. And so there's people like that. You know, you interviewed Daniel with Habitat, who's amazing. He's really good about getting back to.

00:45
Simon Solis-Cohen
So it's really about building trust with the founders.

00:50
Daniel Scharff
Welcome everybody. On today's episode, you're going to hear about the event of the year. We have launched the biggest event in our history. It's called Founders and Funders. We designed this because it's so hard for early stage brands to not just raise money, but even know who are the actual active early stage VCs currently writing checks. So that's what this event is all about. We are gathering the top brands and investors of the year all in one room. I'm so excited for you to hear all about it today from our fundraising and finance lead, Hannah Dittman, as well as one of the brands who was already selected to attend, it's Simon from Huxley. I want to give a big thank you to our title sponsor, dos for making this whole thing possible.

01:29
Daniel Scharff
They're so supportive and of the big bets that we are taking to support the OPS and finance people and founders all over the country. Really thank you so much to them. They're an adaptive erp. Check them out. I also want to thank some of our amazing partners who have jumped in as co sponsors. We've got ro, our business banking partner, Gianuzi Lewinden. They are a super top tier CPG law firm and Carrie, you know them as a high caliber flavor house and ingredients company. Really thank you so much to all of these guys. We could not do this without you. So here we go. Get ready to hear all about how we've designed this incredible event. The absolute stellar VCs who are coming and you'll hear what brands are going to get out of it. All the good stuff.

02:09
Daniel Scharff
All right, hold on to your seats. Here we go. And if you want to apply Visit f&f.startupcpg.com that link is in the show notes. Good luck, everybody. All right, welcome everyone to the Startup CPG podcast. Today is a special episode because what we wanted to do was really just talk about an incredible event that is coming up and as we talk more about it, you're going to understand why I think it is so special. The event founders and funders. So this is the first time we're launching this event, but it definitely will not be the last. So December 11th in New York City, we are bringing together pretty much every relevant early stage investor and the top early brands of the year for a jubilee, an all day networking and matchmaking event.

03:01
Daniel Scharff
Where the goal here is we're really hoping that a lot of deals come out of this. Anyone who is in our Slack channel who follows us on Eventbrite has been to our events, understands the impact that we're making with our Grocery Run event series. This is where we do events in the market with their most relevant retailers and so many brands are getting distribution deals done because of it. We looked at the investor scene and it's just so hard for early brands to even know who the investors are, especially the ones that really write checks for early stage brands, you know, pre Seed, maybe even up to Series A. And so we know who they are because we've done that research and it turns out that they're all pretty happy to get into a room and discover the most amazing emerging brands.

03:44
Daniel Scharff
So this is what's going on this December in New York City. Unfortunately, we cannot have absolutely every brand there that we would like. So it is going to be a competitive process, honestly, to get into this event. But for the brands that are ready for this kind of an opportunity that get to be there, we anticipate it being one of the most impactful events that's ever happened, honestly, in this industry, the emerging brand ecosystem. So I'm really excited about it. There are a lot of people who have helped us make it happen. You know, I definitely, Daniel at Habitat Partners was really instrumental in just helping us understand the landscape and design for how to make this a truly productive event.

04:23
Daniel Scharff
And I would also like to introduce everybody, Hannah from my team, who has really been responsible for a lot of the actual design. Yes, Hannah, do you want to just maybe start off with an intro? Probably a lot of people know you from our podcasts already, but please.

04:37
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. It's so weird being on this side of the table, but yes. Hello, I'm Hannah. I do finance and operations content with startup CP excited to be part of the ecosystem and part of this event. We're all really passionate about it on our side and know how crazy impactful will be for not just brands, but for investors as well. It's unlike any other event that's out there, unlike any other conference or trade show or anything else that's going on. So I think it's going to be a super exciting day and I'm really excited to see what brands end up making the cut.

05:09
Daniel Scharff
Hannah, can you tell everyone a little about your VC background because you know more about this world than most people on our team.

05:16
Hannah Dittman
You always give me so much credit. You're so kind. Yeah, I spent a lot of my earlier career in the growth equity space in consumer specifically both on the management consulting due diligence side as well as on the investing side. So I've been across pretty much every sector in cpg. I love cpg, done a lot of different diligence processes, spent a lot of time in the beauty personal care space as well prior to hopping over the operations side. So I think there's a lot that brands will learn on the panels, a lot that investors will learn from the brands coming as well. And I think, you know, in terms of fundraising, what a better way to cut down the legwork time and the hustle and bustle for founders that have got a million other things going on than to do something like this.

05:58
Daniel Scharff
I love it. Hannah, we are so lucky to have you on our team because we don't know about this world and you do. You worked as an investor for a long time and I can't even tell everybody how helpful Hannah has been, especially because we take the content really seriously. We want it to be an amazing event for the brands, for the VCs. We want them all to come back next year. If we could have the same lineup next year, it's going to be amazing. And so, you know, it's really important for us just to have an incredible, thoughtful day. Next. I'm really excited to introduce everybody to Simon Solis Cohen. One of our favorite founders and products in the community has just absolutely blasted off over the last years. Simon, do you mind just quickly introducing yourself and your product?

06:41
Simon Solis-Cohen
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me back, Daniel. Yeah. I'm Simon Solis Cohen. I'm the founder of Huxley. We are a better for you energy drink. And our idea is really to reimagine what an energy drink can be. We feel that it can be delicious and it can be made with real ingredients that consumers recognize and that they can trust. And so it makes it really different is a few things. We use all natural, real ingredients. We boost the caffeine with electrolytes, so there's a hydration component to it. And it's made with real fruit juice, so it has that delicious taste. Everything we do is all about flavor.

07:13
Daniel Scharff
And everybody can check out more info on Huxley with the episode that we did with Simon a while back. And one of the things I'll never forget from it is just learning about Simon's background, really as a wine guy. And when you learn about that and his palate and ability to taste things and really develop it, you'll understand why the product tastes so good right out of the gate. It's a very hard thing to get something that good that early on, especially for somebody who hasn't, who isn't like a repeat CPG founder working with a big flavor house, that kind of stuff. So congrats to Simon on that. So just getting into a little bit more about this event and I'll come back to you, Simon, in a bit because we're so excited that you'll be one of the brands joining us for it.

07:50
Daniel Scharff
So, Hannah, you've worked in this space a lot. I'd love to talk to you a little bit more about how we've designed this event because I'm really proud of it. So first of all, could you give everyone a little bit of an overview of who are these VCs that are coming? What have we gone for here? What are the kind of VCs that are actually going to show up in New York on December 11th?

08:09
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, I think we've got kind of the best in the room. There's going to be around 50 plus investors, which is just a huge ratio of investor to brand founder. First of all, you know, if you go to a conference, I'm sure there's a handful of investors at every trade show and conference, but with a thousand brands or whatever there, you may never get the chance to interact. So I think just the ratio in itself is very impressive. The, the group that the team and Daniel have assembled is awesome. It's number one people actively writing IT checks and actively investing. I mean, I'm sure everyone in the founder seat has had the experience where you're networking, you're spending a bunch of time with people and then find out their fund isn't even closed, they're not writing checks, whatever may be happening.

08:49
Hannah Dittman
So that's definitely not the case here. These are really active consumer focused investors. Again, not someone you'll get into a conversation with. And then they'll be like, oh, by consumer we mean consumer tech or consumer AI. These are products focused investors and consumer business focused investors across different stages. Some touching pre revenue that early, all the way up to like Daniel said earlier around Series A plus. So a huge breadth of great investor horsepower at this event focused across the different sectors in consumer as well. So we've got food and Bev investors, personal care pet. The portfolios of these investors are really impressive. You know, a lot of really standout logos on their portfolio sheets. So I think it is definitely kind of like Cinderella's ball.

09:37
Hannah Dittman
It's, it's the opportunity to find the perfect match and to really get in the room with all the right people without having to question if you're even talking to the right person. You know, I know better than anyone, investors love to schmooze and market themselves. So it's great to have that vetted a little bit so that brands can really feel confident that it's going to be a productive day for them.

09:56
Daniel Scharff
I really like that perspective. And yes, I. First of all, we are avoiding any quote unquote investors even. They're like, sometimes you meet these people at trade shows and they're like, yeah, I'm an investor and they got a badge that. But it really seems like more of a social thing for them and they aren't really writing checks now, but, you know, or even a lot of people I've met who sort of are running around under the guise of having a fund, but they don't really, and they're actually trying to sell you some service. It's crazy. And then on the other side, you know, you have those VCs out there that are very active, but they are only writing checks for 20 million revenue, kind of brands even bigger. And we all know who they are. That is not what this is.

10:37
Daniel Scharff
I am so proud. We have gotten pretty much every single early stage active institutional VC fund committed to coming to this event because you also have started doing really cool podcast interviews with some of these funders because we want everyone to know who they are and also know a little bit about them so that when you come to pitch them, you come correct, you know what they're doing, you know their outlook, the kind of stuff that they think about, their investment hypotheses or whatever those VC terms are. Can you just talk about maybe even a couple of the VCs that you're especially excited about specifically who are going to be there.

11:14
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, yeah. I think we're trying to hustle and get as many podcast episodes with all these VCs out this year as possible so that there's a ton of content out there for you guys to learn from ahead of this event or if you're not going to this event to still learn from. But yeah, I'm really excited about a number of them. I think a few that we featured on the podcast recently, Collaborative Fund will be there. They were investors in Daily Harvest, Blue Bottle, Magic Spoon, Olipop. They've got tons of powerhouse logos on their portfolio list. They really are thoughtful investors with big operating backgrounds and did a great job outlining their investment process on our recent podcast episode with them. Simple Food Ventures is another one. They were investors in Bellywell Orobora Botrans.

11:52
Hannah Dittman
They have a really big grocery retail distribution focus and kind of actively participate in door rollouts, post investment and have a really unique lens going for them.

12:01
Daniel Scharff
That's a pretty interesting one, right, because they also they have, they talk about their relationship with Safeway Albertsons and how they'll even show buyers there the deal before they decide to do it because they want to know if it's going to get in.

12:15
Hannah Dittman
I mean looping in retailers as part of your diligence process is definitely I think a big bonus to do and who knows it better than a retail buyer whether you're going to get into retail. So yes, if that's your.

12:27
Daniel Scharff
Journey, it's not for everybody to get safe Albertsons. But if it is, that's a good place to test it.

12:31
Hannah Dittman
Yeah. And then kind of we've got some kind of newer funds coming as well. Super Angel Fund founded by Ben Zesis. We have an upcoming podcast episode with him. I'm really excited to chat with him. But they were investors in Brightland, Caraway, most recently Man Serial. You know, that's a really interesting fund that's kind of been built up brick by brick originally through smaller angel investing and now running a larger investment vehicle. So a big hustle on the investor side and a little bit more of a founder esque journey for him. So I think that's really cool. And he has a track record of also backing founders first check in. So I think understands the plight or the journey of the founder as well. A little bit more.

13:10
Hannah Dittman
But yeah, there's, I could list off so many midnight venture partners via Partners Coefficient Capital First Look Ventures. I mean if you just look at our logo sheet of who's coming, you'll probably see at least five plus that have been on your radar, your to do list to try to get in touch with. So I think founders are in for a really special treat with the attendee list here.

13:29
Daniel Scharff
Simon, how do you look at it? Because you are interested in fundraising, you obviously have a lot of experience in this already, and, you know, you're thinking about it. How do you look at this kind of a lineup of VCs? What does it mean to you?

13:41
Simon Solis-Cohen
Yeah, it's pretty insane. And I just want to start by saying thank you because, like, this is literally unreal what is about to happen. And to your point, like, you all do so much amazing programming around, like, the grocery runs and getting in front of the retailers, but we all know none of this works unless we have money to pay for all of our crazy ideas. So being able to put this together and this lineup is insane. You know, for us, we're, you know, not at a point where we've taken any, you know, institutional money. It's not something even today we want to do. It's something that we want to do in the future. Probably, you know, maybe next year we'll start looking at that as necessary.

14:16
Simon Solis-Cohen
And, you know, this sort of a good old saying out there is that the first time you reach out to somebody, don't ask for money. And so it's really important that you start building these relationships now, because, you know, I've heard on just the podcast you've had with so many of these people already that they get really annoyed if the first time you reach out, it's just like, hi, look at me. Give me all your money. Right? You have to build relationships. And I hear so many times, right, people say, right, you bet, you know, on the jockey, not on the horse. And so they want to get to know you, the founder. And I think that's so important. And a cold email can only go so far, let's be really honest, you know, and there's some who are fantastic.

14:52
Simon Solis-Cohen
I'll give a shout out to Molly at Springdale Ventures, because she actually does respond to pretty much every single cold email, even if it's a fit or not. And so there's people like that, you know, you interviewed Daniel with Habitat, who's amazing. He's really good about getting back to. But just to be able to get that FaceTime, I think is so crucial to building that relationship with these people. Because at an early stage, like, let's all be honest, none of us have, you know, $10 million in revenue. If we did, we'd be at a different stage. So it's really about building trust with the founders.

15:19
Daniel Scharff
I like those points a lot. Yeah. And you're. Yeah. People always say, like, yeah, for the first one, if you want money, reach out for advice. If you want advice, reach out for money. Right. And I mean, we hear that from a lot of investors, too. They're like, yeah. The worst thing is the first time I hear from a founder, they're like, hello, I'm fundraising and I also need a decision by the end of this week. If you want to get in on it, you got to let me know. Right? Like what? Hold on a second. So I love the idea and I mean, that's great.

15:45
Daniel Scharff
I think for you even, you know, thinking about raising in 2026, this should be perfect timing for you just to start building those relationships, establishing trust with the VCs, and, you know, really understanding who could potentially even be a fit. So you're not just out there kind of machine gun blasting your pitch deck all over the place, but really making some very concerted efforts with people who could be a really good fit. You for them and them for you. So, Hannah, I wanted to come back to you and talk a little bit more about what our actual plan for the day is, because we want stuff to happen and we're very thoughtful about it.

16:20
Daniel Scharff
And really, I want everyone out there to know we all come from the brand side and we are thinking about that very heavily when we design any one of our events. And that's why if you ever see me up on a panel, probably I'm going to try to get a bunch of brands to stand up in the audience and start shouting out their pitches because we know what you guys want and need attention and, you know, real opportunities to get one one with people. And so first I'll just start with the event design and then, Hannah, I would love to talk to you a little bit about the specific panels that we're going to do. But so I want everyone to know we've got basically the 50 VCs, we're going to cap it right around there.

16:54
Daniel Scharff
They're all signing up, providing a lot of information about who they are, which is all going to be accessible to all the brands. And then once the brands are all locked in as well, we will have a one pager on every single brand. And this is something we're going to share with all the VCs well in advance of the day. And it's going to have all of that Information that you can imagine on there about you and your brand and early traction evidence that the VCs are going to want to see and what kind of products you have, all that good stuff. They're going to get sent this huge deck with all the different brands and they're going to be able to then go through and say, great. Of these, here are the 10 that I want to actually meet with at the show.

17:30
Daniel Scharff
So we'll be facilitating the one one meetings with the VCs who are most interested in specific brands at the show via, let's say, 10 minute meetings. They're going to be fast and furious, but it's enough to establish that first point of contact with them, have them really understand you and the product, while also leaving plenty of time for them and for you for the general networking and panels that are actually happening at the event. So that's one way that we're really trying to make sure that the right people find each other at the event. You don't have to wonder if it's like a huge trade show, are they even going to see your booth or know who you are? Are you going to see them? Everyone's going to get that opportunity. And the other thing that I'm really excited about are great panels.

18:10
Daniel Scharff
Me in general, honestly, I'm not a huge panel guy. Like, I don't go to a lot of them. I'm gonna go to every single one of these. So, Hannah, you have been absolutely instrumental in putting these panels together. Do you mind just talking a little bit about what are these topics? What are we going to be talking about during the day? What are people going to get out of it?

18:28
Hannah Dittman
Yes, super excited about the panels as well. Content geek over here. So I'm excited about that. We've got, I think around seven total panels. Our first one is going to kick off with top deals of 2025. I think this is a really interesting one because it gives the investors in the room or on the panel a way to kind of highlight a portfolio company and use them as a case study. I think the more tangible examples founders and other people get, the more accessible the learning is. I think, especially as running businesses, I think everyone knows it's storytelling and what happened to other people that you kind of pick up nuggets from and apply to your own journey.

19:05
Hannah Dittman
So I think we'll get a lot of really cool, interesting nuggets from that and also an understanding of, you know, what resonated in that company's pitch. Why did you decide to invest in them. What is the post investment relationship look like? What were the funds used for? What key milestones is the brand now working towards? I think all hyper top of mind information if you're about to embark on a serious fundraising journey, especially if it's your first one. Our second panel is what's in and what's out. It's kind of like a fresh take from investors on trends, fads, category shifts that they are noticing and where they're placing their bets. I think, you know, this will be a really interesting current landscape view of what's going on in consumer across the different sectors and different channels.

19:53
Hannah Dittman
And I think a really interesting way to think about how to position yourself when you're having these conversations or what might be coming down the pipe or what might be an interesting nugget for you to kind of like play into a little bit more as a brand and a great way for other VCs to know how their peers are thinking about things as well. Panel three is a checklist for investment criteria, so evaluation criteria for brands and founders. I think this will be really interesting and tangible. Target metrics, rationale, differences by category, you know, a really good understanding of if there was a perfect straight a report card for a business of the top criteria that someone would be looking at. What are the things that need to get ticked off? And I think that's a really helpful North Star.

20:38
Hannah Dittman
It won't always be applicable for everyone, but I think that's a really helpful North Star to at least kind of know, hey, I'm really far ahead on this one or maybe I need to work a little bit more there or have a narrative for why my metric is that metric.

20:50
Daniel Scharff
I'm excited about that one especially because, you know, like, I think you would just assume like, oh, it's probably the same for all of them. It's really not. They care about really different things and it might be much heavier on the founder or it might be much heavier on the total addressable market. And it's really cool to, especially because these are such hot funds that are coming to understand specifically with each of them, like, oh, that's what's important to you. Okay, I'm not. Maybe I'm not. It's like, I'm not going to change my whole business based off your criteria. But it also helps you understand who you should be talking to that might find your brand the most interesting. Simon, what do you think? That one sounds pretty cool to you?

21:26
Simon Solis-Cohen
Yeah, no, I think so because I, I mean, in the conversations I've you know, had with some of, you know, these folks who are going to be coming and as I said, trying to start relationships early, you know, and nurture those is that you're totally right. Right. So, you know, we're in beverage and let's just say out loud the quiet part. Energy drinks are dang competitive. I can't tell you. There are many funds who have just simply said, you seem cool, your product seems cool, we don't touch energy, we don't care who you are, what it is too competitive. Right. And so to your point, I like what you said earlier, Dana, about matchmaking because I think that's going to be really important here because you have to find people who have the same appetite you do. Right.

22:00
Simon Solis-Cohen
So for some, you know, funds that's fine. It's energy is not going to be a fit. There's others we're talking to where maybe it will be right when we get to the point and we'll find out. And so I see on this list already I know some that are interested in beverages. I've looked them up and seen what they've invested in. So that's really important to understand, like what they value and also what's important. Some people really get to your point, are going to be obsessed with margins. And hey, if you don't have this margin, I won't talk to you no matter who you are. Or maybe it's route to market. So it is really important to understand that about each of these funds.

22:29
Daniel Scharff
So interesting. And yeah, they're really different. I was just talking to a pretty early vc. Probably they're even like a little small to be at this event that we're talking about. But he was telling me like, yeah, I actually I have to have brands with good margins because these are my first couple investments and it just has to look that way. Like I only have these two bets. It just has to be that way. I can't take a flyer on a brand that I love that doesn't have great margins.

22:54
Daniel Scharff
Whereas other VCs may have really different views on that and understand like maybe because they were operators, they know what margins really look like at the early stage and understand how much better they get once you actually get that volume that you're looking for and even potentially get acquired by a big cpg and it comes all the way down. Right. So, yeah, super pumped about that. Okay, Hannah, hit us with some more panels.

23:16
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, sorry, I'm like down into it deep. But yeah, going off of what you guys said as well, you know, There is no investor school that all these investors graduate from. They learn from experience. It's a very apprenticeship model industry. So if you got bit really bad during a time in the market by X, Y and Z, you have a little angina from that and you're kind of like allergic to it for a while or you had a really great experience with X, Y and Z and you felt like you really learned a lot about it and you've kind of honed your expertise there. You feel a lot more willing to lean forward and take bets. So you know, this is a people business investing and you're dealing with people that have their own biases and thoughts and whatever coming into their mindset with.

23:58
Hannah Dittman
So that's, I think so funny that.

24:00
Daniel Scharff
You say it makes me think about dating as well because I feel like a lot of people, they get out of a relationship and they're like, whatever was wrong in that last one, that's what I don't want in this next thing. That's what I'm going to prioritize is not that thing. They can't have that fatal flaw that person had. And I'll compromise on the rest a thousand percent.

24:17
Hannah Dittman
I mean, I think the best learning is when things don't work out. And I think the post mortem understanding what went wrong and applying it is I think a huge portion of investing, especially on the earlier side, you know, on the later stage side, everything needs to be a hit. There can be no mistakes on the earlier side. You know, not everything's going to work out super well. It's a higher volume strategy. So you're learning a lot from both ends of your spectrum constantly and that's part of the name of the game. So I think that's also why this will be a really interesting event for investors as well because to learn from a huge cohort of your current peer set and a dynamic changing market that just came out of COVID and markets were down and are kind of reopening up.

24:57
Hannah Dittman
It's a really interesting time to get some thought partnership on a lot of different things that might change the way you're investing as well. Kind of going off of that panel four will be real talk on margins and we had founders in mind on this one too in the back. You know, kind of what Daniel was saying earlier, you know, VCs have their takes on what margin should be or what they like to see. Some of that might be just intuition, some of that might be driven by what model returns they need to see or whatever it might be. And then I think operators understand that in different stages of your business, different categories, different channels, that might be different as well.

25:33
Hannah Dittman
So we'll be bringing together both the perspectives and digging into margins and expectations and what you need to do to turn profitable, which is something I think everyone has top of mind. And then panel five is kind of flipping the script on things I feel like in these dynamics. I've said it before on the podcast, I feel like the power dynamics can be so skewed in fundraising. It's kind of like everyone trying to date like the really popular person and then it's like tons of options for them or something like that. So I think it's really important to know that the fundraising part is kind of where the dynamics are the most skewed. But then over time, you know, it's the founder's responsibility to be really successful. And so vetting the partner that you're working with is really important.

26:19
Hannah Dittman
So panel five will be how to vet a vc and thinking through the questions that founders should be asking potential investors, what should they be evaluating, where could it go wrong down the road? And what should they kind of be on the lookout for in the diligence process to have their own kind of diligence experience as well? It's like what they always say when you're interviewing for a job. You know, you want to make sure that there's a good culture fit for the firm. And I think that goes for the investing investor relationship as well. And then another really exciting panel that I think will be interesting perspective will bring in some law firm legal expertise. Here too is deal term 101. I think this can be such a black box for so many founders, especially people who haven't fundraised before.

26:58
Hannah Dittman
And you want to always feel like you're in a position of knowledge and strength, especially when you're doing something as serious as giving away or selling a portion of your company. So this is really meant to empower everyone on understanding what typical deal dynamics are. What should they be mentally preparing in their mind to discuss? Valuation ranges, check sizes, scaling expectation, holding periods, terms, you know, all the legalese that is seems overwhelming maybe a little bit, but is so hugely important, especially down the road. When you have your massive, successful exit, you want to make sure that all the dynamics were in place for that to be a fair partnership for you.

27:37
Daniel Scharff
That one I'm super excited about. You could also call it like ways.

27:40
Simon Solis-Cohen
You could get screwed.

27:41
Daniel Scharff
And trust me, though, the people writing the checks know about all of these things and they'll put terms in there and you just don't understand because you haven't been through it before. You don't know all of the things that you should care about now. And so, you know, who does know are the lawyers. They know it pretty well because they're usually the ones writing all this stuff into the contract. But I think everyone's coming together for the spirit of this, which is, yeah, let's just lay it out all on the table. Here are all the things you really should know about and what you should care about.

28:07
Daniel Scharff
And then you know, you're never going to get perfect deal terms, obviously from everybody, but it helps you understand what could really be a priority for you and the watch outs, especially because there's so many people who are raising for the first time doing these deals for the first time. So we want the information balance not to be too lopsided. Right?

28:25
Hannah Dittman
A thousand percent. A mentor of mine once told me, you know, wielding knowledge exclusively as power when the knowledge is inconsistent across parties is such a negative. And I don't think anyone in the room would ever be a malicious investor. Hopefully the vetting process weeded out any of the bad actors. But I do think, you know, people don't know what you don't know. And it's kind of like when you're buying a house for the first time, if you're not prepared to ask the questions that you would need to ask. I don't know if anyone is going to go out of their way to make sure, hey, are you asking every single little question that you want to ask? So it's definitely an empowering panel.

29:01
Daniel Scharff
I hope so as well. But I mean, I also have had conversations with VCs, I would call them more the quote, unquote investors who will brag about some crappy deal term they got across or some valuation that just like really wasn't even fair. They're like bragging about it and it honestly makes me sick. So like, you just, it's your responsibility to know what deal you're signing and what might be important. Because, I mean, I do kind of agree with you though. I think VCs in this space, honestly, if they just were after the craziest returns out there, they probably wouldn't be around early stage CPG investing. And I think most of us who do this for a living also kind of appreciate that, like Simon could be doing a lot of things with his life.

29:45
Daniel Scharff
He's super passionate about doing this and he's doing great at it. Most of us, I think, who are in this early stage CPG game do it because we love it, not because it's absolutely the most amount of money that we could make of all the options that we have out there. Right. And so I have to believe that. Right? Yeah. A lot of the VCs are in the same boat. Some of the loveliest people out there, they're also, they're incredibly smart people. I always forget this. And then we'll do a webinar with VCs or podcasts and it's just so good because they really are, it's very competitive to become a vc. Like in my business school, that was the hardest job to get. There are only X number of VC jobs even nationally each year.

30:24
Daniel Scharff
And so it really is just some of the sharpest people in the world were getting those jobs. So they're smart people and you know, hopefully in general good people, but they also have a responsibility to their investors. And we obviously have all read about so many of these instances of companies getting taken away from the founder when the investors thought it was the right thing to do. So for somebody like me who is just so supportive of founders and founder first, it's really hard to see that stuff. But you just, you need to know what you're signing when you take these deals. Because the day you sign that first deal and give up some of the company, you're now an employee of that company. It's not just your company anymore. You work for people, you know, including yourself, but other people.

31:07
Daniel Scharff
So I really like for everybody to be very open eyed going into all that stuff and you know, great to have that rosy view of everybody and the investors in the world, but also be smart and know what's going on.

31:19
Simon Solis-Cohen
Right, yeah, I'll jump in and say that. No, that's a panel I'm most excited about. I see that. So we actually work already with the law firm that's going to be hosting that Genus Luden and they're the best in the business. So I'm just going to give a quick testimonial to like this is something that, you know, if you're a founder coming, like take this panel seriously, they're not cheap, they're the best in the business. So to be able to get, you know, a lecture where they're going to probably give away tons of invaluable advice that might be the best thing you know, you take away from this actually. So I do want to bring that up because to Daniel's point that once you start Raising money and you start signing these contracts.

31:56
Simon Solis-Cohen
Let's be honest, I don't know many founders who are legal experts. Right. I'm certainly not. And so you have to trust smarter people than yourself to do this. And it's really hard and it's really tricky. And I think, I agree that, like, you know, I don't think that there's necessarily, at least in the group that's coming here, predatory people, but they do exist out there in this. And the last thing you want is to spend your time, your money, your dream, and have it taken away from you because of deal terms that are, you know, not favorable or even when it's not that extreme. I think it's. That it's important you know what you're signing. It's important that you know what you're giving away and that there's certain rights you have and certain rights that the investors have.

32:33
Simon Solis-Cohen
And, you know, the best relationships are all about setting expectations and negotiating. Whether it's a contract for, you know, a deal or a contract for, you know, just being in a retailer. Right. The same idea as expectation setting is the number one most important thing, and that's what that document is going to be. So whether you're just doing a safe note or you're doing actual equity, it's important that, you know, well, are they checking my books every quarter? Is that the right I'm giving them? Are they going to have a board seat? Are they going to power to make decisions or to recommend people that we hire or not, or how I run my business?

33:03
Simon Solis-Cohen
And so being able to get that advice and hear how this works, because I think for me, that's the most intimidating part of the process is that, you know, when I'm being presented with something that's, hey, you need to make a decision on this. Legal documents, like, I don't even know what it means. So how do you even make a decision? So that's. I so excited and happy that you're working with them for. For this panel.

33:20
Hannah Dittman
Yeah, I feel like that all such valuable point of view and definitely insight. I feel like setting the relationship up for success is what makes you really excited to close the deal and hustle your little butt off to do everything that you just said you were gonna do. So you wanna feel super motivated once that contract is signed. And I think that's a great way to feel, like, really confident that, you know, you got what was fair and everyone is happy around the table. And that's a great way to start a partnership. The closing panel I think will also be a really interesting testimonial. It's a founder keynote, which I'm sure Daniel can share a little bit more on here, too. But it's the founder of Ourobora who will be kind of speaking about the story of starting, scaling and exiting their brand.

34:05
Hannah Dittman
I think, like I said earlier, tangible case study examples is. Is so great to learn from. And I think someone who's been through the whole journey on the founder side of the experience will be a really interesting learning for founders and investors alike to kind of see intimately inside what that experience was like for someone recently.

34:24
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, and I'm so excited about this one. Paul was really the first person that I went to once we started putting the panels together. Anyone who is a longtime listener of this podcast has heard his episodes. They're some of the best ones we've ever had. Paul has such great perspective, and he is just so relevant. He sold his business at the beginning of this year. He is really open about how he spent 50% of his time, the whole time as a founder fundraising. And so, you know, he just has so many learnings from doing that, the things that went well, the mistakes that he made along the way. And his advice for founders is incredible. So I'm really excited for everybody to get to just come and learn from all the experience that he has. It's just so. It's so relatable.

35:11
Daniel Scharff
This is not like, you know, the founder of Siete who just made a billion dollars. It's also not somebody who hasn't been through it. This is somebody who is like, all of us has gone through this and just like, extracts so many learnings from this. I'm always so impressed at just his vision, like how he sees the whole CPG industry having really gone through all these steps and scaled. So I'm super excited about that and really grateful that Paul is willing to make the trip to come and speak with everybody. So it's going to be so great. And as we kind of wrap up here, I'm just so excited for our future around connecting brands with investors. And, you know, this is not going to be the only thing that we do.

35:56
Daniel Scharff
I think we're really trying to gear up and figure out how do we actually make better connections with brands because we know what a pain point fundraising is, and we want to do this and not just with this one event. We want to do this at events around the country. And so stay tuned for a lot more on that front. Hannah's going to be doing tons of great interviews on the podcast and we have some really cool events in store as well that'll bring people closer to investors, even in their local markets. Simon, I was just curious, like, are there of the VCs that are coming, are there any where you're like, whoa, that's a big get. Like that's a really. Or like that's a really interesting one. I didn't know them super well, but that, like, I'm really curious to meet them.

36:34
Simon Solis-Cohen
Yeah, no, it's, I mean it's nothing but straight bangers. I mean this is just solid lineup. I mean, I think there's some sleepers in there people might not know about. Right? I'll, I'll shout out humble growth. Those guys are amazing. I've gotten to know them a little bit. Nick Gianuzzi, who, you know, started that. I mean, dude's a legend. Help broker, some of, you know, through legal expert, you know, some of the biggest deals in CBG history. And I feel like maybe some people might not know that about them. So that's really exciting. But yeah, I mean, I'm just like looking through this risk like Melitas or Kana Midnight.

37:06
Simon Solis-Cohen
I mean these are all amazing VCs who write real checks to real companies like us, you know, and you look at their portfolios and you see these companies and these big logos like you mentioned Hannah, you know, but you have to remember, like they all started like us, you know, these are all entrepreneur, founder led companies. And I think that perspective is really important. And I know at least like, look, we all want money, we all need money. That's, that's necessary to run our businesses. And let's be honest guys, like, it's a slog. Like it is hard. Like if it was easy, everybody would do it. And so it can certainly be really discouraging being out there sending cold emails, you know, sending cold LinkedIn calling people just trying to get attention.

37:45
Simon Solis-Cohen
So just to have them into the room, it's like, wait, hey, I'm that dude who's been annoying you on email. Like, hi, can we talk? Like there's a lot to be said for that and I think that's what's going to be so powerful about this.

37:55
Hannah Dittman
And I'm so glad we're socializing it early as well because I feel like it really gives brands such strong ground to stand on, to really come their best because they can listen to the podcast in advance. They could research these firms that's on our logo sheet and really have their hit list of who they want to talk to or try to kind of preview it with them in advance or, you know, whatever they need to do. I think founders are such overachievers, such great people, such hustlers, so intelligent. I think sometimes they just need a little bit of directive on the fundraising side to be able to execute at the level that they execute everything else at.

38:31
Hannah Dittman
So I'm really proud that we're such a wingman for these brands and bringing home the hype squad to assist, because I feel like the fundraising arena, it really needs it. There's a reason every single founder will say fundraising is the worst part of my job. It's so much time, it's so much work. So I think it's awesome. We're giving a helping hand.

38:51
Daniel Scharff
I love it. I like. Oh, yeah, I like that phrasing like wingman for all the brands. That really is what we try to do. Damiano from Lupini calls us his co founder without equity. We love that, too. That's what we're all about. We are.

39:04
Simon Solis-Cohen
That's accurate.

39:05
Daniel Scharff
Yeah. And I mean, again, look, we've just spent this whole podcast just hyping up this event and not everybody is going to get to go to it. We are expecting this to be the most competitive application process that we've ever had and just for any brand who is not selected to be at Founders and Funders this year. I really am sorry because we are here to help all of you guys and we have so many opportunities where we can have way more people in our grocery runs. We really try to get as many people in there as possible. We have our Shelfies. It's the biggest free awards program in the industry. And anyone who sends a product in, we're going to try to feature your product at least in a story on our Instagram.

39:41
Daniel Scharff
Like, we really are always thinking about how to help everybody, but we do have limited capacity for these events, so it will be really competitive. And so with the application process, put your best foot forward. I would say the things that are most important are the question in the application form around traction, because that's what the VCs are going to want to see. Also is like, I need proof points. What I don't want is like some farmer's market brand, you know, I don't even know, like, yeah, you think it's really innovative. I'm not saying so sure about that.

40:09
Daniel Scharff
What I do want to see, like, well, a really strong velocity story at your first couple retailers or a lot of growth or some quotes from buyers that Just make me believe this thing is absolutely going to take off, even though it's early stage right now, so you know the kind of stuff and just make sure you put your best foot forward as well. There is a elevator pitch video in there, so just, you know, make sure you do a great job there. That this is what it's going to be like when you're actually pitching to the VCs at the event. And if you don't get in, there's always next year.

40:39
Daniel Scharff
We really see this as the premier early stage investing event and we plan to run it often, at least on annual basis and just do so much more to bring you guys together with these investors. But we will have these other versions also that any brand that would like to can just attend. This just happens to be. It's a limited capacity. It's going to be a really special venue in Union Square in New York. A really gorgeous loft. Great space for the panels, great space for the matchmaking, great space for the happy hour also. And so really excited for everyone to get to come and check it out. They'll get to have some incredible energy as well. From Huxley.

41:19
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, I'm so excited and I just want to say thank you again to Hannah for really leading the charge on what I think is going to be a super beautiful event as well as all of our sponsors who have made this possible. Because as you can imagine, this is actually quite a complex thing to put together and market effectively to everybody and we can't do it without our sponsors. So thank you again to everybody who has come in to support us on this event.

41:47
Hannah Dittman
Daniel, you're such a good founder. You're too humble and you give your team all the credit. This has been an amazing project to be a part of and definitely your brainchild and I think you've really cultivated such an amazing network and I'm so happy that it's being kind of utilized in this way. And I think you've done 90% of the work a year at least. So I, I appreciate all the love, but I think anyone in the industry knows that Daniel's a huge advocate of brands and founders and always is brainstorming new ways to help them. And this was definitely an exciting brainchild of his. So I think we're all super appreciative and glad to be part of the startup CPG family.

42:27
Daniel Scharff
Thank you, Hannah. We really, it's so great to have you on the team. So everybody please get your applications in as soon as possible. If you know a brand that you think could be a really good fit if even if yours you feel like isn't at the right stage, please tell them about it. It's just going to be such a massive opportunity. I'd hate for anyone to miss out. Anybody who's considering raising in 2026. I always have to cover my bases. None of this is, you know, investment advice. We're not advertising any investments here. This is a networking event that we're hoping people apply to, so nobody sue me. And I'm really looking forward to seeing you all at an upcoming event, if not this one specifically and on our slack. So thank you, Hannah.

43:06
Daniel Scharff
Thank you, Simon, and we will see you all soon.

43:09
Hannah Dittman
Thank you.

43:12
Daniel Scharff
All right, everybody, thank you so much for listening to our podcast. If you loved it, I would so appreciate it if you could leave us a review. You could do it right now. If you're an Apple podcast, you can scroll to the bottom of our Startup CPG Podcast page and click on Write a Review. Leave your company name in there. I will try to read it out. If you're in Spotify, you can click on about and then the Star rating icon. If you are a service provider that would like to appear on the Startup CPG Podcast, you can email [e-mail] lastly, if you found yourself grooving along to the music it is my band, you can visit our website and listen to more. It is superfantastics. Com. Thank you everybody. See you next time.