Amanda Schutzbank on the Pros and Cons of Subscription-Based Consumer Brands

Minnie Ingersoll
Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at TenOneTen and host of the LA Venture podcast. Prior to TenOneTen, Minnie was the COO and co-founder of $100M+ Shift.com, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google. Minnie studied Computer Science at Stanford and has an MBA from HBS. She recently moved back to L.A. after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. In her space time, Minnie surfs baby waves and raises baby people.
Amanda Schutzbank on the Pros and Cons of Subscription-Based Consumer Brands
Amanda Schutzbank

On this episode of LA Venture, Willow Growth Partners co-founder Amanda Schutzbank discusses how her venture capital firm takes a unique approach to consumer investing.

From the work that Schutzbank does at Willow Growth, she’d say about 90% of the firm’s focus is on consumer brands, with focus areas that include beauty, personal care, health and wellness. The other 10% revolves around what Schutzbank calls commerce enablement tech.



“Something we continue to talk about is margin profile; I'd say that that is our kind of North Star,” she said. “To build a profitable, long-standing consumer business—which is, at the end of the day, not like the tech world where you can be wildly unprofitable for pretty much ever—you need to build something sustainable and profitable.”

With businesses increasingly moving toward subscription-based models, Schutzbank noted that some companies that have tried out such a model have not seen success, with consumers realizing that not everything needs a subscription.

One brand that has seen success, though, is one of her own investments, Coterie Diapers. As a startup that delivers baby wipes and diapers, Coterie’s products were tailor-made for a subscription service. “When it works, it works,” she said.

Shutzbank recalls how she and her partner Deb Benton had just sent subscription docs for Willow Growth's Fund I one week before the pandemic took hold in March 2020. Even in normal times, first-time fund formation is not for the faint of heart and the two worried they might be in over their heads.

“But we decided to power through,” she added, with the belief that Willow Growth was filling an important gap for brands between traditional venture capital and private equity. “We were like, ‘No, we're doing this—this needs to exist.’ We had so much conviction around that. And we ended up setting a [fund] target for $25 million, and we raised $25 million plus more and were oversubscribed.”

While she’s had success, Schutzbank tries to take it day-by-day, as there are no magical answers in the venture capital world. What she knows has worked, however, is pushing brands to make emotional connections with their consumers, and acknowledging that not everything can succeed 100%.

“I try to say, ‘Okay, today I did okay—give myself a B-plus today and that's okay,’” she said. “It has to be enough.”

dot.LA Engagement Fellow Joshua Letona contributed to this post.

Hear the full episode by clicking on the playhead above, and listen to LA Venture on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

How Women’s Purchasing Power Is Creating a New Wave of Economic Opportunities In Sports

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

How Women’s Purchasing Power Is Creating a New Wave of Economic Opportunities In Sports
Samson Amore

According to a Forbes report last April, both the viewership and dollars behind women’s sports at a collegiate and professional level are growing.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
LA Tech Week Day 5: Social Highlights
Evan Xie

L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.

Here's what people are saying about the fifth day of L.A. Tech Week on social:

Read moreShow less

LA Tech Week: Six LA-Based Greentech Startups to Know

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

LA Tech Week: Six LA-Based Greentech Startups to Know
Samson Amore

At Lowercarbon Capital’s LA Tech Week event Thursday, the synergy between the region’s aerospace industry and greentech startups was clear.

The event sponsored by Lowercarbon, Climate Draft (and the defunct Silicon Valley Bank’s Climate Technology & Sustainability team) brought together a handful of local startups in Hawthorne not far from LAX, and many of the companies shared DNA with arguably the region’s most famous tech resident: SpaceX.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
Trending