DTC WTF Uppercase Brands

In this very special episode of DTC WTF, we get up close and personal with Monica Grohna, founder and CEO of Marea. I started this podcast to shed light on what entrepreneurship is really like. The never ending stress & anxiety, and the feeling like you have the entire world on your shoulders, is prevalent. This is one of my favorite episodes- Monica is extremely vulnerable and I'm so grateful she shared her experience. 

We talk about "good" problems to have, what to do when you're feeling overwhelmed, the importance of being your own customer, and so much more!

Monica is the Founder & CEO of Marea, a menstrual wellness company empowering women to take charge of their menstrual cycles through lifestyles and nutrition. Monica, an eCommerce marketer, experienced severe PMS symptoms around her period. When she discovered the benefits of nutritional supplementation to support her symptoms she knew she needed to share this with others experiencing cyclical symptoms and decided to launch Marea as an education first nutrition brand.

Sarah Moret is the founder and CEO of Curie, a personal care brand that makes clean and effective products for humans in motion. Sarah was primed and ready to launch her company, when at the suggestion of a friend, decided to make sure her company name was not trademarked. To her horror, it had been taken by someone else, and she was forced to pivot last minute! She changed the name to Curie, and the rest is history. 

In this episode we talk about "being ready" to start a startup, where to allocate capital when it's scarce, talking to customers, believing in yourself, and so much more!

Like most good ideas, Curie was born out of a personal need, as Sarah struggled to find natural personal care products that were both non-toxic AND effective. When she realized this was a struggle for others as well, she bootstrapped the brand on $12k savings, and within six months was hitting six-figure revenues with zero marketing budget. The brand has grown from one cult-favorite natural deodorant to four SKUs and is sold in stores nationwide. Prior to founding Curie, Sarah worked in Venture Capital for 5 years investing in seed stage startups in the Bay Area and LA.

Like this episode? Tweet me to @Sue_Cough to let me know! 

Want to hear about how Uppercase can grow your eCommerce business? Email me at Jake@upperacasebrands.com

CONGRATULATIONS CHRIS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT :)

Chris, his brother, and their best friend were home for the summer. Bored and looking for a project to build, they stumbled upon the idea of 4 way volleyball in a brainstorm session. After doing some quick Google research, they were shocked to learn it didn't exist yet! And thus, CROSSNET was born. 

This episode is a classic tale of "I didn't choose this life, it chose me." Chris hasn't let his youth or a lack of formal business training slow him down one iota- in fact, it's emboldened him to take risks that many would not have. The result has been a thriving company that's formed partnerships with Barstool Sports, Walmart, Dicks & even a tournament on ESPN. 

Love this episode? Let me know on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Sue_Cough

After years of bootstrapped efforts to scale his food company, Noshi for Kids, Tomo Delaney had finally begun to see some traction. With deals in place with Walmart, Thrive Market & Fresh Direct, and partnerships with Peppa Pig & Crayola, Tomo's "food paint" company was on the precipice of breaking through. Despite this momentum, life had other plans in store for Tomo. His wife Freya fell ill and Tomo was forced to care for his family in addition to trying to scale his company. 

This is an unbelievable story for anyone who thinks there aren't enough hours in the day to build a company in addition to whatever other responsibilities they have. Tomo shows such resilience and poise that you can't help but be inspired to action. 

Pranav was trying to live a minimalist lifestyle while going to business school in NYC and couldn't get over the number of shoes he and his roommate had by the entrance to their apartment. So he did what any sane individual would do- he set out to create the perfect minimalist shoe, and the only one he'd every need to own again. So began the creation of Glyph- digitally knit shoes that can replace 99% of what you own and allow you to live a more unencumbered life. 

In this episode we talk about the important of community, spending time building your MVP, and always talking to your customers. 

Pranav is the cofounder and the CEO of Glyph, a direct-to-consumer shoe company. Glyphs are designed to be the only pair of shoes anyone needs for their day, trip or adventure. As a lifelong minimalist, I am passionate about advancing society's relationship with material possessions.

Glyph is backed by top growth investors including 500 Startups and Cornell University. Pranav began his career in the investment bank at JP Morgan. He also spent several years in tech strategy consulting where he priced over $300 million in digital advertising spend and consulting on the Facebook ad bidding platform.

CPG Investor and dear friend of the show, Kofi Ampadu, shares some incredible tips on what DTC founders should be focusing on and thinking about as they launch, scale, and raise capital for their companies. Kofi has vetted hundreds of up and coming CPG brands over the past few years and has a keen understanding of what founders should avoid and invest in. We talk about validating your idea, building community, allocating raised capital wisely, what it takes to be a founder, and much much more. 

Kofi Ampadu is the founder and General Partner of SKU’D Ventures and a Venture Advisor with Yale University’s entrepreneurship center. He is an entrepreneur, startup advisor & investor with over 10 years of professional experience. As a two-time founder, he is well-versed in the pitfalls and rewards of starting new ventures which has made him passionate about knowledge-sharing and mentorship within the startup space.

Prior to entrepreneurship, he was a strategy consultant at Accenture and an engineer at Kraft Foods. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.