America's New Consumer: CPG, Sports, Four-Wall
$2B+ AUM in 5 Years | Jason Fiedler, Left Lane Capital
Today we have Jason Fiedler, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, a $2B+ New York and London-based global venture capital and growth equity firm investing in hyper-growth Consumer and SMB businesses with enduring customer relationships.
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Known for their heavy sourcing and data-driven strategy spun out of Insight Partners, we discuss Jason’s atypical, yet very lucrative, venture focus on nextgen consumer goods, sports, and a massive opportunity in the retail landscape for “four-wall” businesses in America.
These businesses have high quality revenue and growth metrics that make them irresistible, but also, they’re just really cool. Who wouldn’t want to invest in local coffee shops, pet food businesses, healthier sodas, burger chains, or sports leagues?
“It's been way less crowded on focusing on these massive consumer markets that have billions of dollars of spend, slow incumbents, repeat purchasing.”
We go deep on
“Anti-AI” Investment Strategy (yes, I’m being dramatic.)
Insight’s Metrics-Driven Software Approach Applied to Consumer Investing
Left Lane Capital is known for their speed and thoroughness, emphasizing the significance of a rigorous process for sourcing deals, but Jason surprisingly balances this out by also keeping track of 'crazy ideas’ in a pretty normal way.. his Apple notes. This method has lead him to very large investments like Talkiatry, Olipop, Farmer’s Dog, FIGS, Blank Street, Holy, and more.
“Don’t sleep on DTC”
P.S. did I mention he’s bullish on beverage?
Fun Fact: Coca-Cola owns 21 brands and Pepsi owns 22 brands that each bring in over $1 billion in revenue annually. [Grapefrute]
Left Lane Stats:
80 Portfolio Companies
$5-50M Checks
Targeting Series A Stage
12-14 Board Positions per Partner
37 Team Members
Young Team: <35 Years Old
600-800 Deals Sourced / Month
70% of Deals Sourced From Junior Team
Jason’s Personal Investments:
Data from Pitchbook
Farmer’s Dog, DTC Fresh Pet Food
$150M in Total Funding on a ~$2.5B Valuation
Investors: Insight Partners, Forerunner Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Collaborative Fund, SV Angel
FIGS, DTC Scrubs
$4.4B at IPO (now at ~$1.1B)
Left Lane Investments:
Data from Pitchbook
Talkiatry, Telehealth Psychiatry
$188M+ in Total Funding
Jackpocket, #1 Lottery App
Sold to DraftKings for $750M
Blank Street, Coffee Shops
$105M+ in Total Funding
Blank Street reports ‘pivotal growth’ in the UK as outlet expansion outpaces US [World Coffee Portal]
Holy, Powdered-Based Drinks
$11M+ Total Funding
Nearing $100M run-rate
Olipop, New Kind of Soda, High Fiber. Less Sugar. Delicious Flavors
$1B Valuation
King’s League, Soccer League
$64M+ Total Funding
Gerard Piqué's Kings League secures €60M for next-generation football competition [Tech EU]
League One Volleyball, Volleyball League
$51M+ Total Funding
Timestamps
(00:00) Anti-AI Strategy
(01:50) Inspiration from Starbucks and Investment Strategy
(04:07) Subcategories of Interest
(05:14) Applying Frameworks from Software to Consumer
(06:56) LTV to CAC and LTV to CapEx
(08:43) The Sims City Vision
(10:35) NPS Delta
(11:51) Growth and Current Stats
(15:33) Number of Investments and Board Seats
(16:15) Sourcing Deals and Thematic Approach
(19:18) Identifying Breakout Companies
(20:41) The App Store Influence
(21:29) Risks of Rapid Growth
(23:08) Olipop Investment
(25:24) The Holy Investment and Powder-Based Beverages
(33:39) Staying Balanced with a Hybrid Team
(29:25) Conviction on Sports Investments
(31:51) Crazy Ideas and Future Investment Areas
(34:10) The Next Big Trends
An earlier version of this post / email stated Left Lane's AUM was $2.6B, the updated and correct AUM is $2B+ AUM
:)