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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.
Natasha Case is the co-founder and CEO of Coolhaus, a women-founded and led ice cream brand serving premium cookie sandwiches, pints and bars.
After earning her masters in architecture from UCLA and landing her dream job at Walt Disney Imagineering, she left her corporate job and risked everything she had on an idea and an old postal van she purchased on Craigslist.
At the time, her partner and co-founder, Freya, decided to take the barely drivable van to Coachella to see if their passion for making the first architecturally-inspired ice cream sandwiches could be a viable business.
Coachella was a big hit, and since 2008, Coolhaus has become a multimillion dollar business growing 2-3x per year. Natasha has been named on both Forbes and Zagat's 30 under 30 list and has helped expand the business to over 7,500 grocery stores nationwide, from Safeway to Whole Foods.
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