Jennifer Richard

The recent announcement by Carepool is another strong validation of the Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) model and its growing role in startup funding. Congratulations to Josh Massey and his team at Carepool on their most recent raise. Their story is a testament to how founders today can take advantage of multiple forms of capital to fuel growth, without always resorting to traditional venture funding or excessive equity dilution. I have watched Josh and Carepool’s progress over the last five years, and it’s inspiring to see their deliberate approach to capital strategy. They are among a new generation of founders who recognize that success isn’t just about chasing the biggest headline valuation—it’s about building sustainable, resilient companies while maintaining control over their own journey. At the Founders Community Fund, we’re seeing this RBF trend everywhere. More and more founders are exploring alternatives to relying solely on VC funding, and RBF even benefits companies that aren’t a fit for VC. RBF offers a flexible, non-dilutive funding option that’s repaid as a modest share of future revenue, rather than through stock or asset relinquishment. For founders, that means having the latitude to pursue customer-centric growth, keep more upside, and maintain leadership continuity, all while accessing the funds necessary to scale rapidly. This trend isn’t happening in a vacuum. As Emergence Capital points out in their recent newsletter, the rise of AI and next-generation customer development tools is letting founders reach meaningful revenue milestones faster than ever before, giving them leverage and real optionality when it comes to funding choices. “They’re building in efficiency as a core product and operating philosophy, designing leaner teams, clearer customer journeys, and more thoughtful growth models.” Founders are now in a position to weigh VC, RBF, non-dilutive grants, and more, and pick the mix that matches their strategic ambitions. Check us out at the Founders Community Fund (https://lnkd.in/g8ig2VY4)

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An interesting interview with Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures, who backed some of the most iconic consumer brands of the last two decades, from Warby Parker to Chime to Dollar Shave Club. My key takeaways: - For founders: solve a real human problem first, then layer in AI smartly. - For investors: look for domain-specific AI that learns and improves over time. - For everyone: think beyond novelty, aim for meaningful interaction. Worth a listen 👇 (link in the first comment) #AI, #VentureCapital, #ProductThinking, #ConsumerTech

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Proud to share a big milestone for SuperCircle - congrats to the team on their $24M Series A led by Foundry ventures! Retail’s waste problem has become unavoidable. Returns, excess inventory, and unsellables now cost U.S. retailers $50B+ annually, and regulation is forcing brands to finally account for what happens after products fall out of the supply chain. Their full-stack, AI-powered platform sits inside the mess — factories, warehouses, stores, returns — turning waste from a cost center into a value generator. Today they work with 75+ brands and have already diverted 6M+ textiles from landfill. Congrats to Founders Chloe Marie Songer, Stuart Ahlum and Phong Nguyen and the entire SuperCircle team!!

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Two great brands, two different ways to build their customers. In this clip from our fireside chat, Ju Rhyu (Founder of Hero Cosmetics) shares how she sold out her first 10K units without a DTC site—by focusing entirely on Amazon and building a tight marketing flywheel. Michelle Miller (VEGAMOUR, formerly K18 Hair) breaks down how she prioritized social, community, and pro-evangelists to launch a biotech-backed brand—not by outspending, but by out-educating. The tactics are different—but the lesson is the same: pick a lane, do it exceptionally well, and let it compound. ▶️ Full conversation on how top operators scale smartly—team, marketing, and everything in between—now live on Substack. More to come! #DTC #ConsumerBrands #Founders #MarketingStrategy #BrandBuilding

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Not every growth moment looks the same, and your capital shouldn’t either. Some moves require bold, upfront certainty, like launching a new product line, securing inventory for the holiday rush, or investing in a major marketing push. Others demand continuous access to liquidity as momentum builds, giving you the ability to restock, reinvest, and keep campaigns running without constantly reapplying for more funding. In Clearco’s latest guide, product leader Daniel Srouji explains how and when founders use Fixed Funding, Rolling Funding, or a mix of both to match capital to their stage of growth. 📘 Read the full guide: https://lnkd.in/gyx8HT6X

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A venture studio doesn’t scale through control. It scales through systems. When you run multiple studios, the risk is fragmentation. We manage that by staying deeply involved in what happens behind the scenes. Weekly calls. Shared visibility. Common infrastructure across finance and sales. We’re plugged into the data. We see what’s moving. We see what’s stalling. That allows us to add value where it matters. Helping find the right people. Bringing frameworks that have already been tested. Providing operational leverage without slowing teams down. Studios aren’t forced into a rigid template. They’re allowed to take what we’ve built and tailor it to their industry and thesis. But the backbone stays consistent. That consistency is what makes signal visible. You know when something is working. You know when it isn’t. You know when to double down or pull back. Control doesn’t create speed. Systems do. And these systems allow us to continue to launch and acquire new companies each and every year.

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FUNDING MOMENTUM + AUTHORITY 🎯 Goal: Show how launch PR strengthens future fundraising 💰 Your Launch PR Impacts Your Next Funding Round Most founders separate launch and fundraising. Smart founders connect them. When investors evaluate your startup later, they look back at: 👉 How your launch was positioned 👉 Whether media covered it 👉 If your startup showed early momentum 👉 Whether your brand looked credible from Day 1 📢 Startup Launch PR builds: ✔ Early investor familiarity ✔ Media references VCs can track ✔ Google-visible credibility ✔ Momentum signals before fundraising begins ✔ A stronger founder narrative 💡 Investors don’t just invest in traction. They invest in perception of momentum. A well-positioned launch makes your future pitch feel safer. 📩 Planning to raise in the next 6–12 months? DM “FUNDRAISE READY” and let’s structure your launch for investor leverage. Hashtags: #StartupLaunchPR #StartupFunding #InvestorTrust #StartupPR #FounderCredibility #LaunchStrategy

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We asked Jakob Diepenbrock (Founder & GP, Discipulus Ventures) about their El Segundo accelerator: “Fund 1 ended up being right around the $9M mark... doing five cohorts. Each cohort has 10-12 founders, with a $100k check per company.” “We have all the big name people, everybody knows we can give you access to them just like that. We think that's very valuable early on to become a consensus bet.” And on the environment: “We have a house, it’s very fun. We have a chef, we have a gym. Everything you need to build.” Full conversation with Jakob is linked in the comments. Technology’s daily show. Follow TBPN on LinkedIn for more.

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Thank you to the Startup CPG team for having me on the podcast! 🎙️ Getting to nerd out about early-stage investing with Hannah Dittman was a blast. We went deep on what we look for at Springdale Ventures, how we think about category potential, and why the founder-investor relationship matters as much as the metrics. One thing I really believe: the best founders are asking us hard questions too. The diligence goes both ways. If you're a CPG founder navigating your first or second raise, I hope this is useful. Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/eS-jyDZv #StartupCPG #CPGPodcast #SpringdaleVentures #CPGFounders #Fundraising

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Excellent guide for founders on how to think about resourcing from Amanda Schwartz Ramirez and First Round Capital. 👍 #startups #techstartups #ai

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Paul Bros Consulting's GrowUp Venture Fund to Invest in Women-led Early Stage Startups Paul Bros Consulting LLP reported the first close of its angel fund GrowUp Venture Fund, a Category-I Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). With a target corpus size of Rs 25 crore, the fund will invest in women-led, early-stage, and high-potential startups. Read More: https://lnkd.in/gpPxt7GB #WomenledEarlyStageStartups #AlternativeInvestmentFund #highpotentialstartups #GrowUpVentureFund #financestomarketing

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💧 Heard some amazing drops of knowledge today from McKenzie Bauer, Mark Brown and Josh Mendenhall as they talked about building moats around brand & product at Silicon Slopes. 💡 Here were some of my biggest take-aways: 🌟 McKenzie, who co-founded Thread®, talked about how they have been successful by finding a great idea and figuring out how to make it their own, make it unique, and make it better than what’s out there - and then protect yourself through patents, and let that be your moat. 💬 Mark, who co-founded &Collar, talked about the importance of truly knowing your customer, what they want, and what they need, so that you can speak their language and they see you as one of them - rather than the other way around, and letting that be their moat. 🚛 Josh, who co-founded Spylt, who combined 2 well known items into an original idea - caffeinated chocolate milk. They focused on building a moat around the best way to get the product in front of their customers in the most convenient way. They learned that channels like Amazon works best for testing new product ideas, but that true sales for proven products are getting it in a prime space in a retail outlet - meet your customers where they already are.

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DFX 2-Day Summit Is Around The Corner: Women in Venture Capital & Startup Leadership Clarity. Capital. Conviction. We’re honored to host a powerhouse panel of women who have built companies, scaled portfolios, advised global brands, and redefined what leadership looks like in venture. From startup exits to equity advocacy, these leaders are reshaping the ecosystem with bold vision and unwavering purpose. Whether you’re preparing to raise, navigating bias, or simply seeking real insight from women who’ve been there, this session delivers. 🎤 Featured Panelists: → Alice Liao – Founder & CEO, AL Advisory | 300+ brands scaled | Author | Global Advisor → Jennifer Jeronimo – CEO, Gaingels Inc. | $900M+ deployed | WAVE Program Founder → Archita Fritz – Growth Strategist, Ready Set Bold | Top LinkedIn Voice | DFX Board Member → Sabrina Runbeck - Venture Partner, PulsePoint Path | TEDx Speaker | Healthcare Founder Advocate 💡 Thematic Arcs We’ll Explore: → Investor Readiness What signals actually matter before traction? How are expectations evolving—and how can founders meet the moment? → Storytelling & Relationship Building Crafting narratives that cut through noise, build trust, and unlock access—especially in the face of bias. → The Founder Journey Resilience, community, and emotional readiness: the human side of scaling. This isn’t just a panel, it’s a candid, practical, and deeply inspiring conversation for anyone navigating the venture world through a gendered lens. Let’s build with purpose. #DFXSummit #WomenInVC #Founders #VentureCapital #StartupLeadership #Storytelling #InvestorReadiness #FounderJourney #WomenWhoLead #DFX

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Rick’s insights from The Lead event resonate with what we're observing at Pipe17. The statistic that approximately 80% of TikTok Shop sales are driven by influencers underscores a significant shift in commerce dynamics. While "influencer-driven commerce" aptly describes this newlandscape, the terminology seems less critical than the underlying transformation it signifies. The real challenge lies in adapting operational infrastructures to this new paradigm. It’s painfully clear that many brands are struggling to align their backend systems with the rapid and unpredictable nature of influencer-driven demand. The problem? Traditional e-commerce setups often lack the agility required to respond to viral trends. The result is missed opportunities and customer dissatisfaction. To thrive in this environment, brands need systems that offer: Real-time Inventory Visibility: Ensuring that stock levels are accurately reflected across all channels to prevent overselling or stockouts.Tg Flexible Order Routing: Automatically directing orders to the most efficient fulfillment centers based on location, inventory, and capacity. Seamless Integration with Social Platforms: Facilitating smooth transactions directly from platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. By focusing on these areas, brands can better position themselves to capitalize on the opportunities presented by influencer-driven commerce. In essence, it's less about renaming the phenomenon and more about reengineering our systems to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving marketplace. Appreciate you sparking this important conversation. Here is rick's post https://lnkd.in/gqVdENie

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One of my agentic commerce predictions for 2026 in this recent Forbes piece: Matt Nichols, General Partner at Commerce Ventures, notes that the mechanics are already in motion. Looking ahead, he predicts that this year, "Agentic commerce transaction volume reaches meaningful levels as consumers advance from research to buying on AI platforms. 2026 will be the year that transactions are completed in these platforms." To this prediction, Nichols adds another: retailers will be forced to build "super-feeds" specifically for AI platforms. “These data feeds may involve monetary transactions that could include payments to AI platforms or payments to the retailer/brand (depending on balance of power).” https://lnkd.in/g65RAerA

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Kargo has raised $42M Series B lead by Avenir, with participation from Linse Capital, Hearst Ventures, Lightbank, Matter Venture Partners, Sozo Ventures and Great Oaks Venture Capital. We’re thrilled to welcome Jared Sleeper to the Kargo board. Building physical infrastructure is hard. Doing it at scale—supporting high-volume, mission-critical supply chains—is even harder. We’re incredibly proud to be trusted by some of the world’s largest operators, including Mercedes-Benz AG, Wayne-Sanderson Farms, and Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. Every day, Kargo tracks more than 20,000 pallets of goods that touch nearly every American—from chicken nuggets to car parts. This new capital accelerates us on our journey to be the data infrastructure for the AI supply chain —scaling our deployments, hiring exceptional talent, and expanding our sensor and AI product suite to unlock faster, more accurate inventory data across the enterprise. More details on the raise in the WSJ article below 👇 https://lnkd.in/ehSSBEsV

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SLS Client Brand Foundry Ventures Joins Climatic’s $10MM Seed Round Silicon Legal’s Brand Foundry Ventures client team includes Coleman Cannon, John Koerper, Jenna Mann (Zendarski), and Steve James.

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