Warren Buffett says in his 1989 annual report that “Having a dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.” Taking Buffett’s words to heart, I wanted to reflect on past experiences and distill ...
Founded by brothers Justin and Tyler Catalana, Fort Point Beer Company is a San Francisco-based craft brewery made up of people who believe the simple things in life can be a whole lot better. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that ...
Why is category classification important? Take a look at the products below and see if you can categorize them into specific sub-industries. This task is relatively simple for a human. Now imagine it is a task you need to perform ...
We are excited to announce the launch of our new Community Job Board. Since 2012, the CircleUp Community has expanded to now include more than 300 innovative consumer and retail brands that are growing quickly as they launch new products ...
By: Michele Simon These days health-conscious consumers are increasingly seeking out food products not only with fewer ingredients and a “clean label”, but also foods produced in a manner that minimizes harm to the environment, among other ethical business practices. And it’s not enough to claim your product is healthy or sustainable with just words; to ...
Consumers are hungry for innovation. Disruptive innovation. That means more than simply labeling an old product “All Natural.” Making a product natural or organic is often a great thing, but not disruptive innovation. Here’s a story. In 2010, passing through the Denver airport, I stopped to eat. Four years later, I’m still telling people about ...
By: Jeremy Smith Each week we share insights from product and retail experts. This guest editorial comes to us from Jeremy Smith, COO and Co-Founder of Level One Marketing, a sales and marketing group focused on club representation and branding. Jeremy has personally helped brands like Chobani Greek Yogurt, EVOL Foods, GoRaw, Bob’s Red Mill and 5-Hour Energy enter Club. On first glance, club retailers ...
What entrepreneur wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to have an investment bank introduce their company to a hundred plus potential investors or acquirers? Me. And here’s why. Last February a consumer company was searching for investors… The company had $15 million in revenue and hired a boutique investment bank that specializes in the consumer and ...
By: Andrew Whitman This editorial comes to us from Andrew Whitman, Managing Partner at 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners. 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners joins with founders and management of emerging consumer products businesses capable of growing exponentially via an infusion of capital and management expertise. Representative investments include Beanitos, MegaFood, Orabrush, Tasty Bite and Wellness. Entrepreneurs often ask why investors, and more ...
By: James Michels Brands are the single most valuable asset many consumer-facing companies own, accounting for nearly 30% of stock market value of companies in the S&P 500 according to market research firm, Millward Brown. So it’s unsurprising that companies maniacally protect their brands with trademarks for words or designs that are unique to their business—including ...
“Why are you focusing only on consumer product and retail companies at CircleUp—won’t your investors miss out on the next Twitter or LinkedIn?” Alas, living in Silicon Valley, I hear this question often. Here, tech investing isn’t a sub-category of early-stage investing—it is early stage investing. The numbers don’t lie: according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ and the ...
At CircleUp we’re fortunate to sit at the intersection of private equity investing and data. This provides us with exceptionally rich insight into what’s happening in the private markets. We capture metrics and indicators from thousands of consumer and retail companies that apply to join the CircleUp platform, as well as activity data from the ...
By: Dan Gross Each week we share insights from experienced operators and investors in consumer and retail. This article comes to us from consumer products investor extraordinaire, Dan Gross. Dan Gross is a VP at Encore Consumer Capital. The snack market is alive and kicking. Last week, General Mills announced it was acquiring Food Should Taste Good, ...
This week I was at the Global Pet Expo in Orlando, FL, the pet industry’s largest trade show each year with seven thousand attendees. The buzz at the show, and the performance of the companies he talked with, continued to reflect the strong growth of the industry. In particular, alternative format dog food companies are seeing incredible ...
