How Fashion and Food Got Regeneration.VC's Dan Fishman to Focus on Climate Startups

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.
​Regeneration.VC’s Dan Fishman
Image courtesy Dan Fishman

Regeneration.VC’s Dan Fishman joined LA Venture host Minnie Ingersoll to talk about learning to scale businesses, from fashion and ice cream to climate innovation.

Fishman got his start putting together brand deals for major artists, including musician and “Fast and Furious” star Ludicrous, who he helped partner with General Motors Pontiac.


From there, Fishman developed a reputation sealing brand deals for major celebrities. He’s worked with Shaq, Prince and Nicole Richie and helped launch fashion brand ALC with Andrea Lieberman, eventually getting their products into department stores across the world.

“I guess that's probably what I'm really good at—is just learning, understanding, sponging and just not taking no for an answer,” said Fishman.

His experience scaling young companies eventually brought Fishman into a different kind of industry: ice cream.

Fishman started working with local, artisanal ice cream-maker Coolhaus, which at the time operated mostly out of food trucks. As the brand gained popularity and grocery stores like Whole Foods and Bristol Farms came calling, he and co-founder Natasha Case jumped at the opportunity to expand. But they quickly realized they didn't have the money to go-to market.

“When we made a wrong decision, it was at the right time to make a wrong decision,” said Fishman. “You barely have the money to afford the slotting fees, all the different marketing costs that the stores put on you, you can't afford it.”

Instead, Fishman and his team at Coolhaus pulled back and focused on California.

“It's sometimes the mistakes that you make, really are what turn it around and help you scale in a positive way,” he said. In fact, that process set the stage for a better partnership for Coolhaus and Whole Foods, as the brand contemplated rolling out a vegan line of ice cream. It also set the stage for a personal awakening for Fishman, who delved more deeply into an interest in environmental issues and business concepts.

“I wanted to focus on more of a startup investor pre-seed brands, and founders that had environmental impact and health and wellness, first and foremost on what they’re building”

Both he and Regeneration.VC partner Michael Smith saw there was room for them to do more.

“My partner Michael and I reconnected and really just got to talking and we both saw that the consumer-powered climate innovation space within venture capitalist [space] was completely underfunded. And therefore, we really got to talk about how we could make a difference here,” said Fishman.

One of his projects was helping open a zero-plastic, zero-waste grocery store called Regrowcery. He also funded a clean plant milk company called Good Mylk, a clean cosmetic brand called Saie and a baby formula startup, Nara.

Fishman said his focus on the consumer-side of the environmental crisis is unlike the way many investors think about the issue, where funders look at how new technology can change the game. But, he said, consumer habits are becoming more complex, the segment is underfunded—and that presents new opportunities.

“Consumers are obviously getting a lot smarter… So it's not about how cheap someone can make it anymore. Consumers want producers to be responsible in what they're making,” he said.

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.

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

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What Is ‘Embodied Audio?’ And Can It Help Professional Sports Teams Fill Their Stadiums?

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

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Photo: Edge Sound Research

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samsonamore@dot.la

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Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

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Provided by LAV

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David Shultz

David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.

Mullen Automotive Pays Millions to Settle Lawsuit with Qiantu
Image Courtesy of Mullen Automotive

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