Mike Gelb

Follow for insights on venture capital, consumer startups and tips on how to build your network // Looking To Learn? Head to 👉 theconsumervc.com

I didn’t grow up in venture.

My background was in the music industry - producing, promoting, and trying to make sense of creativity and business.

But something kept pulling me toward the world of startups. I was fascinated by how brands get built, funded, and scaled.

I didn’t know anyone in VC.

I just started asking questions.

The first few podcast episodes? Awkward.

I overdubbed my voice. 

I stuttered. 

But I kept showing up.

300+ episodes later, Consumer VC has become one of the most trusted platforms in the space - a home for real conversations between founders, investors, and operators who are shaping what we buy and why we buy it.

- 7.5K+ newsletter subscribers
- Listeners in 100+ countries
- Events in LA, NYC & Austin

I focus on what actually drives scale - from pre-seed to $500M+ in revenue and how people navigate the messy middle of brand-building.

If you’re building or backing something in CPG, wellness, retail, marketplaces, social or consumer tech - I’d love for you to be part of it.

Subscribe to the newsletter in the Featured section below. 👇

Venture Scout

A podcast serving founders and investors that want to learn how some of the top venture capitalists that invest in B2C businesses make investing decisions.

Past guests include:
Mark Gainey, Founder of Strava
Andy Dunn, Founder of Bonobos
Ariel Kaye, Founder of Parachute
Denise Woodard, Founder of Partake Foods
Nagraj Kashyap, Managing Partner at Softbank Investment Advisors' Vision Fund
Wayne Wu, General Partner at VMG
Mike Duda, Managing Partner at Bullish
Brendan Rogers, Co-founder of Wag! and 2am
Madeline Haydon, Founder of nut pods
Matteo Franceschetti, Founder of Eight Sleep
Bret Thomas, Founder of CAVU Venture Partners
Carter Reum, Founder of M13
Soraya Darabi, Founder of TMV
Elizabeth Yin, Founder of Hustle Fund
Ariana Thacker, Founding Partner of Conscience VC
Henri Pierre-Jacques, Founder of Harlem Capital
Greg Bettinelli, Partner at Upfront Ventures
Daniel Gluck, General Partner at Powerplant Ventures
Kiva Dickinson, Founder of Selva Ventures
Adelle Archer, Founder of Eterneva
Kanyi Maqubela, Founder of Kindred Ventures
Steve Hughes, Founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners
Seth Goldman, Founder of Honest Tea, Eat the Change and PLNT Burger
Spike Mendelsohn, Celebrity Chef & Founder of Eat the Change, PLNT Burger
Jesse Draper, Founder of Halogen Ventures
Nick Saltarelli, Founder of Mid-Day Squares
Charles Hudson, Founder of Precursor Ventures
Rick Desai, General Partner at Listen Ventures
Michele Romanow, Founder of Clearco
Mac the VC, Founder of Rarebreed
Michael Ronen, Founder of Branded
Jason Karp, Founder of Humanco, Hu Kitchen and Hu Chocolate
Jackie Fast, Founder of Sandbox Studios
Joe Kudla, Founder of Vouri
John Foraker, Founder of Once Upon a Farm
Kate Beardsley, Founder of Hannah Grey
Mike Ghaffary, General Partner at Canvas
Nisha Dua, Founder of BBG Ventures
Ben Sun, Founder of Primary Ventures
+ more

Ranked by Listen Notes as one of the top 1% most popular shows globally.

To learn more, head over to www.theconsumervc.com

New Consumer VC with Craig Dubitsky.

Craig's built brands in cleaning, oral care, lip balm, and now coffee.

Categories most people avoid because they're too boring or too competitive.

But with Hello, he asked: Why is every toothpaste box covered in extracted teeth and fear-based messaging?

Instead of "kills" and "eliminates," he chose one word. Hello.

And flipped the entire tone of the category.

Now he's doing it again with Happy Coffee, co-founded with Robert Downey Jr.

Not positioning coffee as fuel or ritual. As a delivery system for happiness.

And the mission goes deeper than marketing:
• Happy gave NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) equity
• Mental health resources on every package
• Direct partnership with the org, not just a donation

We also talk about how Craig met Downey, why he's a true co-founder (not a spokesperson), and how they built blends together across time zones while Downey was filming overseas.

This might be the longest interview I've ever done and grateful for Craig being so generous with his time.

BIG thanks to David Simnick on introducing me to Craig.

And thank you to our good friend at The Hidden Gems for sponsoring this episode!

The Hidden Gems connects founders with highly vetted, brand-beloved boutique agencies across media, creative, dev/design, events, social, and more — at preferred rates. They’ve supported brands like Dr. Squatch, Monster Energy, Gorilla Mind, FIGS, and Saatva.

Contact David Drexler to get started



Link in comments to the full interview 👇
Link in comments to the full interview 👇
Link in comments to the full interview 👇

#CPG #Consumer #Investing #venturecapital #coffee

Founder and Host of Consumer VC | 300+ Unfiltered Conversations with Top VCs & Founders | Building the #1 Community for Consumer Investors and Founders

I had a conversation yesterday that stuck with me.

A founder who just signed a term sheet for a line of credit.

After receiving seven term sheets total.

That’s seven different banks and alternative lenders.

All with different terms, covenants, and fine print.

Sounds like a good problem to have, right?

Not quite. Here's what they told me:
• Applying with and managing relationships with 7 different lenders simultaneously was a full-time job. 
• Negotiating back and forth on terms that all looked similar but weren't
• Reading through pages of fine print to spot the differences
• Trying to compare apples to apples when everything was slightly different
• Doing all of this while running the actual business 

The whole process took weeks and was absolutely brutal.

When I mentioned Bridge's platform, which streamlines the entire process, their response was immediate: 

"I wish I had known about this from the beginning." 

Because here's the thing. 

Raising debt isn't just about getting the money. 

It's about managing the process efficiently so you can stay focused on growing the business. 

That's why I'm excited to be part of Bridge. 

We get you competitive offers within 48 hours. 

And you can focus on building your company instead of juggling term sheets. 

Best part? 

The platform is 100% free to use. 

After I explained what Bridge does, this founder said exactly what I was thinking: "Why didn't I use you all in the first place?" 

If you're looking to raise debt, we have 500+ lenders on our platform and would love to help you run a competitive process.

P.S. All the lenders this founder received term sheets from are on our platform 🙂

👀

Excited for tomorrow's Consumer VC episode

Is the VC fund structure broken for early-stage consumer?

Manica Blain thinks it might be.

Manica's one of the OG consumer VCs.

She backed FIGS and Cotopaxi through her fund Campfire Capital, one of the earliest dedicated early-stage consumer funds.

Now she's moved to a completely different model.

On the latest episode, she gets candid about the structural problems she's seen from the inside.

A few things that stuck with me:
• SPVs sound flexible, but they come with real tradeoffs
• Slow brand growth is often a better signal than early viral spikes
• Management fees can quietly shift a fund's focus away from returns
• GP commit size changes how much skin an investor actually has in the game

She also talks about why she now invests through Top Knot using her own capital, works directly with founders as an operator and advisor, and why she thinks that model is a better partnership for consumer companies.

There's also a great bit on why she stopped investing in food and beverage entirely.

If you care about how early-stage consumer investing actually works, this one's worth your time.

The episode is also brought to you by The Hidden Gems!

There's a lot of BS in the Agency landscape. That's why Founders and Executives of brands both big and small trust: The Hidden Gems. 

They provide the most optimal boutique Agencies to conquer any brand goals with top quality and efficiency. Brands get preferred rates. Can't lose. They’re supporting the growth of incredible brands like Dr. Squatch, Monster Energy, Gorilla Mind, Saatva and many more. DM founder David Drexler to get started

Link to listen to the full episode in the comments 👇👇👇

#consumer #venturecapital #podcast #CPG #ConsumerVC

This is awesome. All brand founders should apply

We want to send you to the World Cup!!

Flights, hotel, transportation covered. Oh also - TWO tickets to our all-exclusive Glimpse suite at the game.  ⚽ 🔥🔥 

Here's how to enter to join us on June 18th in LA.
👉 Book a meeting with Glimpse and bring your brand's Founder, C-level, or VP+ Finance/Logistics/Ops leader
👉 If you are a brand's Founder, C-level, or VP+ Finance/Logistics/Ops leader, book a meeting with Glimpse
👉 Post on LinkedIn that you've entered and tag @Glimpse for a bonus entry

Link to enter in the comments. 🚀🚀

Marc Nathan

Connecting Tech & CPG startups with funding and legal support. 'Super Connector'

Marc is an experienced leader in the technology startup community with a talent for connecting entrepreneurial business owners to customers, employees, investors, and partners. https://bit.ly/abjsuperconnector Marc is the Senior Director of Market Development for the law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich, LLP where he helps clients discover appropriate capital sources and business partnerships. Marc founded T-Squared Agency (www.tsquaredagency.com) to support select clients with comprehensive growth strategies and funding resources. Throughout his career, Marc has assisted early-stage companies with business strategy, capital acquisition, digital and mobile marketing, customer development, strategic partnerships, and product development.

Mentor

Techstars is a startup accelerator that provides mentorship-driven seed-stage investment services for technology-oriented companies.

With just 3 short weeks until SXSW kicks off on March 12th, and even less than that for Natural Foods Expo West on March 3rd. Navigating these enormous conferences and trade shows can be daunting, especially for first-timers. Giant conferences attract 'satellite' events (in SXSW terms, 'activations') that are separate from official schedules, but make up an important part of the total experience. 

In order for newcomers and veterans alike to get the most out of 'Expo' and 'South-Bye', I've compiled a list of activities, pop-ups, workshops, dinners, happy hours, plus conference tricks and tips. These Guides are a hand-curated attempt (AI doesn't work - I've tried) to create a 'single pane of glass' to help you discover relevant events, figure out what you should be doing during your limited time of intense and active networking, and find out where to meet the right people to meet your business goals. 

Please find and share the links to Expo Exposed and the VIP Insider's Guide to SXSW in comments - no payment, no gateways, no 'drop a word in the comments', no upsells, and no advertising - I do it because I need them for myself, and it's not too difficult to publish once you're used to it. While the aim is to be comprehensive, I'm sure that I'm missing some, so please send me your events that should be included. 

Safe Travels and have a great (and prosperous) show!

#sxsw #expowest #guide #businessdevelopment #tradeshow #conference

Professional 'Super Connector' for Tech & CPG companies

Happy to share that I'll be speaking at HACKING SXSW: The Broke Founders Gameplan on Monday March 9, 10:00am CST. I'm certain that I'll be talking about the VIP Insider's Guide https://bit.ly/sxswvip and I appreciate Saleem Ahmad 🤎 for inviting me again.

Open article: VIP Insider's Event Guide to SXSW by bit.ly

🚨 Upcoming SXSW 2026 events 🚨

OK, since you asked, here are some highlights that I will definitely be attending this week. These are events that we're either hosting or Michael Best is sponsoring. All of these and many more are in the VIP Insider's Guide: https://bit.ly/sxswvip

Ayana Rising: Women of the New Frontier
Wednesday March 11
1:00 PM - 6:00 PM 
https://luma.com/77umpcit

OpenCoffee Club Austin - Special Edition SXSW 2026
Thursday, March 12
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
https://luma.com/aoccsx26

Funded House Investor Lounge
Thursday, March 12
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
https://luma.com/gqhs0akm

BEST.TOUR.EVER
Friday, March 13
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
https://luma.com/kcfurr2m

Dream Boldly Launch
Friday, March 13
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
https://luma.com/31n27b8y

Pitch Roast Live SXSW
Friday, March 13
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
https://lnkd.in/gZ7HpKAd

Superconnector Meet Up
Saturday, March 14
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
JW Marriott - Room 303
https://lnkd.in/gCdjNBUK

Mentor Session: Marc Nathan (Michael Best)
Sunday March 15
11:30 PM – 12:45 PM
Hilton Austin Downtown - Room 400-402

Two of the largest conferences for emerging companies kick off today,  Natural Food Expo West for Consumer Packaged Goods and next week, SXSW for tech innovation. They are such big events that they create unofficial 'satellite' events. It's difficult to keep track of all of these side events, sometimes known as 'activations'. Knowing the right events to attend (and which ones to avoid) is the secret to making a good conference great. Please find the links to the guides in the comments below.

If you're in Houston, you should already be heading to the CPG Happy Hour with Max Kunik, tim deSilva, and Ben Denbigh this evening. If you're in Austin tomorrow morning, please join special guest Mike Gelb at Cosmic Pickle as we prepare for Expo West https://lnkd.in/gxa5qM-M (https://bit.ly/expoexposed)  and celebrate the launch of TexasCPG

Open article: CPG Houston Happy Hour – Feb 25 · Luma by luma.com

CPG Houston Happy Hour – Feb 25 · Luma

CPG X SXSW mashup event for one of my favorite organizations, Midwest House

Amateur Economist // Professional VC // Dyslexic // I believe in the powers of good trouble and badass women.

Calling All Midwestern Food Founders!

Midwest House is proud to announce a new partnership with Here Here Market to host the inaugural Midwest Food Showcase during Midwest House Austin 2026. We are currently seeking innovative food entrepreneurs to represent the region’s culinary excellence on a global stage this March.
This is a premier opportunity to elevate your brand’s visibility and connect with a diverse international audience.
Participant Benefits Include:
* Global Exposure: Feature your brand at one of the most high-traffic activations in Austin.
* Financial Support: Selected participants will receive a travel stipend to assist with logistics.
* Direct Sales: Gain the opportunity to sell your products directly to attendees on March 13th.

We invite you to submit your brand for consideration via the application link on the link below:

https://lnkd.in/gFGYQXZJ

World Business Chicago // Venture 313 // TechTown Detroit // Start Garden // P33 Chicago // Capitalize VC // Relish Works // Meijer // Kalamazoo Forward Ventures // Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants // Farmish // Great Lakes Tinned Fish // Protein Pints // Ted Velie // Corey Hart // Emily Samar // Taylor Eubanks

🚨 Fun Event Alert 🚨 

With so many activities around downtown this week (here's proof https://bit.ly/sxswvip), we're hosting a casual 'walk and talk' meetup to visit some of the Houses and activations. It will give us the perfect chance to meet and connect with local friends and colleagues visiting Austin. If you're looking for your tribe of business professionals who don't mind having interesting conversations, please join us for the walk and a small reception afterward hosted at the Michael Best office. Registration Link in the comments and we are certainly open for more stops on our journey.

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Mike Gelb

Marc Nathan

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The Battle

Mike Gelb

Marc Nathan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Mike Gelb's LinkedIn Performance

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Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMike Gelb's LinkedIn Performance