The HotStart VC Podcast

Matthew Postlethwaite is best known for his role in Peaky Blinders, but these days, he's spending less time on set and more time disrupting the beverage industry with Proda, a protein soda with 10 grams of protein, zero sugar, and the taste of an actual soda. It started with his grandmother. She was losing her hair from protein deficiency, so Matthew sent her protein shakes. She barely touched them. Too thick, too chalky, made for gym bros, not for her. That frustration became the catalyst for Proda. One problem: Matthew had never built a beverage before. So he opened ChatGPT, asked it who the best beverage entrepreneur in America was, picked up the phone, and called him. That call led to a partnership with Jeff Church, the co-founder of Suja Juice, and over 1,000 hours of formulation before a single can hit shelves. Proda launched 19 months ago and is now in 500 Sprouts locations nationwide across seven SKUs, with expansion into the cold section and major endcaps across every store. Matthew breaks down how he balances acting with working 16-hour days on Proda, how he generated 170 million impressions without paying a single influencer, and why he plans to produce one film per year with Proda woven into the storyline as a long-term marketing strategy. He explains: Why protein doesn't have to taste like chalk and how Proda is redefining functional beverages How ChatGPT led him to his co-founder and why that partnership changed everything The 512 iterations on one flavor that still isn't ready for market Why Sprouts jumped at Proda before other retailers How he generated 170 million impressions by sending product to his network without paying anyone His #1 advice for actors and creators launching companies Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Peaky Blinders to Building Broda Protein Soda 00:00:52 The Peaky Blinders Experience: Working with Cillian Murphy 00:07:34 The Founding Story: When Grandma Couldn't Consume Protein 00:09:35 Finding Jeff Church: Using ChatGPT to Find a Co-Founder 00:07:34 What is Broda: The World's First Protein Soda 00:11:32 Product Development: 19 Months and 512 Iterations 00:13:11 Target Customer: From Gym Bros to Cool Grandmas 00:17:05 The Sprouts Launch: 500 Stores and Three Distribution Points 00:19:39 The Celebrity Advantage: 170 Million Impressions Without Paid Influencers 00:23:50 Fundraising as an Actor: Getting the Meeting vs Closing the Deal 00:25:35 The Content Strategy: Producing Films with Broda Front and Center 00:27:52 Advice for Celebrity Founders: Passion, Self-Awareness, and Smart People HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Matthew Postlehwaite Proda: https://drinkproda.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewpostlethwaite/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

Genevieve Gilbreath is a General Partner at Springdale Ventures, an early-stage consumer fund that has backed some of the most successful celebrity and creator-founded brands in the market, including Feastables by MrBeast, Goodles with Gal Gadot, and The Absorption Company with Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder. Her thesis: celebrity and creator founders aren't the business model itself. They're the accelerator. The best investments still require great operators, authentic product-market fit, and a brand that can stand on its own without relying solely on fame. Springdale is not a dedicated celebrity fund. She backs celebrity brands because the fundamentals are there, not because of the fame. She has board-level relationships with brands in her portfolio like Goodles by Gal Gadot, has done diligence on multiple celebrity deals simultaneously, and has passed on plenty along the way. That tension is what makes this conversation different. She breaks down how she performs due diligence on celebrity brands differently than traditional consumer investments, why cap table structure can kill a deal before it starts, and what most investors get completely wrong when evaluating celebrity founders. She explains: Why authentic fit is the first filter and what it actually looks like in practice Why she passes on deals with no strong operating team regardless of follower count How cap table structure can kill a deal before it even starts The most common reasons she says no to celebrity brands What being in the boardroom with celebrity co-founders actually looks like once the cameras are off Her number one advice for investors evaluating a celebrity brand for the first time Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Jennifer Gilbreath and Springdale Ventures 00:03:16 Fund Overview: Investment Thesis and Product-Market Fit Focus 00:04:21 The Celebrity Brand Strategy: Accelerators Not Core Thesis 00:05:56 Due Diligence on Celebrity Brands: What's Different and What's the Same 00:06:41 The Authenticity Question: Passion Over Endorsement Deals 00:07:15 Deal Structure and Cap Table Balance: Finding the Sweet Spot 00:09:33 The Operating Team Requirement: Why Great Operators Are Non-Negotiable 00:10:16 Celebrity Types: Traditional Stars vs Digital Creators 00:15:03 The Bridge Role: Managing Celebrity Founder Relationships 00:16:48 Brand Positioning: When to Put Celebrity Front and Center 00:18:10 Multi-Creator Founding Teams: The Future of Celebrity Brands 00:24:06 Retail Strategy: Why Nationwide Distribution Matters for Food Brands 00:20:23 Valuation and Fundraising: Staying Disciplined in a Hype Market 00:21:35 Financial Modeling: Predicting Success with Limited Data 00:28:38 The White Label Problem: Why Most Celebrity Brands Fail 00:29:49 Focus and Legacy: Advice for Celebrity Brand Investors HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Genevieve Gilbreath Springdale Ventures: https://www.springdaleventures.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/genevieve-g-gilbreath-92995347/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

Jackie Fast is a General Partner at Sandbox Studios, a fund that exclusively invests in celebrity-founded brands, with a portfolio that includes Dr. Bombay by Snoop Dogg and Safely by Kris Jenner. Before launching Sandbox in 2022, she founded Slingshot Sponsorship, helping brands like the Rolling Stones, Prince, and Elton John leverage celebrity influence to reach new audiences. Her thesis: celebrities offer an unfair distribution advantage in a world where consumers are bombarded with messages everywhere. The point isn't to build a brand off the celebrity. The point is to use celebrity to get your first customer to try, because peer-to-peer recommendations still drive purchases but you need that first-time customer to generate them in the first place. Sandbox invests globally across the full cultural distribution stack: the infrastructure powering celebrity brands, the platforms driving the creator economy, and the brands themselves. They've reviewed over 620 celebrity-led deals in the last year alone. This isn't a trend. It's the future of consumer. Jackie breaks down why she believes every brand will have a recognizable face attached to it within five years, how she structures deals to avoid the mistakes most celebrity investors make, and why she would never invest in a celebrity holding company despite what other funds are doing. She explains: Why celebrities are an arbitrage on distribution, not product quality, and how that changes everything How Safely by Kris Jenner generated 1.2 billion views and moved 120,000 units in Target The ideal celebrity deal structure: 10 to 15% equity, no cash, no royalty Why she avoids active sports athletes despite their massive followings Why putting Snoop Dogg on Dr. Bombay packaging was the right move after three years behind the scenes Her unfiltered take on holding company investments and why she'd rather pick winners than bet on averages Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Jackie Fast and Sandbox Studios 00:02:59 The Celebrity Distribution Advantage: Why These Brands Win 00:02:17 What Sandbox Studios Invests In: Fund Thesis and Criteria 00:04:38 The Hidden Superpowers: Beyond Social Media Followers 00:08:29 Due Diligence on Celebrity Brands: What's Different 00:10:43 The Authenticity Question: Can It Be Manufactured? 00:14:20 Deal Structure: Equity Stakes, Cash Components, and Red Flags 00:17:01 Celebrity Types and Time Commitment: Who Makes the Best Founders 00:20:27 Brand Positioning Strategy: When to Put the Celebrity Front and Center 00:23:39 Why Celebrities Launch So Many Brands: The Portfolio Strategy 00:27:47 Celebrity Tech Companies: The Untapped 5% Opportunity 00:30:15 Why Sandbox Doesn't Structure Partnerships: Focus and Strategy 00:32:18 Fundraising Dynamics and Valuation Discipline 00:35:44 What's Next for Sandbox Studios: Fund Two and New Investments HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Jackie Fast Sandbox Studios: https://sandboxstudios.ventures/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiefast/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

Tayla Cannon is a creator entrepreneur and physiotherapist who built a 170,000-follower audience sharing her approach to rehab and training after years of chronic back pain. That platform became the launchpad for Rebuildr, a technology platform transforming how physical therapy is delivered through asynchronous, continuous care. Her thesis: the current model of reactive, once-a-week appointments doesn't work for active people who need frequency and consistency to actually get better. The answer isn't more massage tables and low-load exercises. It's asynchronous continuous care that gives clients access to their clinician every single day. Unlike traditional PT clinics, Rebuildr provides the certification, software, and marketplace infrastructure for practitioners to run entire online rehab businesses. Tayla leveraged her 170,000-follower platform to validate demand by posting two Instagram stories and received over 1,000 emails from clinicians within hours. That signal led to 350 beta testers and a $1.1 million raise from Slow Ventures, proving that building an audience first is one of the most powerful unfair advantages a founder can have. She breaks down why she's tackling B2B and B2C simultaneously, how social media has become the new clinic storefront where clients are already sold before the first call, and why she never planned to raise capital until she met Megan Lightcap at Slow Ventures. She explains: Why the traditional appointment model fails active people and how asynchronous care solves it How two Instagram stories generated 1,000 emails from clinicians when her goal was just 20 beta testers The three-part business model: certification, software platform, and consumer marketplace Why she's building for the hybrid model first rather than forcing practitioners fully online How social media eliminated the need to sell during consultations Her number one advice for creator entrepreneurs launching companies Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Chronic Back Pain to Building Rebuildr 00:03:05 What is Rebuildr: A New Model of Care for Physical Therapy 00:04:08 The Content Journey: From Personal Instagram to 170K Followers 00:08:59 Validating Product-Market Fit: Two Instagram Stories, 1,000 Emails 00:10:10 The Ideal Customer: Practitioners Ready for a New Model 00:11:57 The Creator Advantage: Building Trust Before the First Call 00:13:38 The Three-Pillar Platform: Certification, Software, and Marketplace 00:14:44 Changing Consumer Behavior: The Hybrid Care Strategy 00:15:55 The Three Consumer Avatars: Pain, Performance, and Longevity 00:17:27 Building B2B and B2C: The Matching Algorithm and Phone App 00:20:32 The Fundraising Journey: 1.1 Million from Slow Ventures 00:24:09 Beyond Rebuildr: Building a PT Conference and Holding Company 00:26:44 Wave Two Creators: Solving Real Problems with Offensive Products 00:28:03 Advice for Creator Entrepreneurs: Solve a Real Problem HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Tayla Cannon Rebuildr: https://www.rebuildr.net/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylacannonphysio/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

Megan Lightcap is a partner at Slow Ventures, where she leads a $60 million fund investing directly into creator entrepreneurs. Her thesis: the best creator bets of the next decade won't just be on great content. They'll be on founder-creators who build entire worlds around their audience. Unlike other funds, including HotStart VC, Slow doesn't invest in the individual companies creators launch like Prime or Feastables. Instead, they invest in the creator's holding company, because they want to be aligned with the creator long-term, whatever they build next. Megan breaks down why they invest in the holding companies of creators vs the specific brands, how she evaluates creators the same way she'd evaluate a founder walking into Y Combinator, and why someone with 100,000 followers can be doing bigger revenue numbers than someone with 10 million. She also shares what platforms she's watching, and what 95% of creator pitches get completely wrong. She explains: Why Slow Ventures invests in holding companies, not individual products, and why that changes everything The 4 criteria she uses to evaluate every creator: the person, the community, the category, and the traction How she due diligences creators by calling superfans and non-followers to understand the cult factor Why follower count has lost its signal and what actually predicts revenue conversion How creator investments offer better risk-adjusted returns than traditional venture Her unfiltered take on exits, including what a creator holding company IPO would mean for the entire industry Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Slow Ventures' Journey Into Creator Investing 00:02:38 Megan's Background: From Consumer Investing to Creator Entrepreneurship 00:05:16 The Four Investment Criteria: What Makes a Creator Investable 00:07:51 Investment Structure: 1-3 Million Dollar Checks for 10-15% Stakes 00:08:40 The Portfolio Strategy: Fewer Zeros, Same Upside Potential 00:12:25 Stage and Readiness: When Creators Are Ready for Investment 00:13:38 Platform Strategy: YouTube, Instagram, Substack, and Category Fit 00:17:23 Due Diligence on Creators: Calling Super Fans and Community Members 00:18:54 Exit Strategy: Sub-Company Sales vs Holding Company IPOs 00:23:06 Portfolio Spotlight: Jonathan Katz-Moses, Taylor Cannon, and Steven Bartlett 00:25:58 Distribution Is Not a Business Plan: The Innovation Imperative 00:30:35 The Mindset Shift: Content and Business as One Unified Strategy 00:31:49 Sourcing Strategy: Newsletters, Events, and Network Referrals 00:32:55 What's Next: AI Tools and the Future of Creator Entrepreneurship HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Megan Lightcap Newsletter: https://meganlightcap.com Creator Fund: https://creatorfund.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganlightcap/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mmlightcap HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

Zeke Bronfman co-founded The Absorption Company alongside Twilight and Vampire Diaries actors Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder, and deliberately kept them off the packaging and website. Because this isn't a celebrity brand. The only celebrity here is bioavailability. This is a masterclass in using celebrity founders the right way: as a distribution lever, not a brand identity. After selling their zero-sugar canned cocktail company in 2022, Zeke and co-founder Nate discovered they were peeing out up to 85% of the supplements they'd been spending thousands on every month. The culprit? Traditional supplements absorb at just 10-16%, meaning 84% never reaches your cells. That frustration became The Absorption Company: a science-first supplement brand using pharmaceutical-grade Capsoil technology to deliver nutrients up to 8x more effectively, backed by published clinical studies. Zeke breaks down how the partnership with Ian and Nikki came together (he had no idea who Ian was before their first call), why keeping celebrities off the bottle actually builds more trust with doctors and consumers, and how he strategically deploys their platforms for performance marketing, retail doors, and fundraising without letting the brand become dependent on fame. He explains: Why 77% of Americans take supplements daily yet 90% are still deficient in key nutrients The 3-step absorption failure killing every supplement you've ever bought How Capsoil technology makes their berberine absorb 6x better and CoQ10 10x better Why they're building D2C first, even with major retailers already knocking The one thing every celebrity brand gets wrong (and how to avoid it) Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Building The Absorption Company with Celebrity Co-Founders 00:01:04 Zeke's Background: From Better-For-You Cocktails to Supplements 00:03:37 The Founding Story: Discovering the Supplement Absorption Crisis 00:04:35 What is The Absorption Company: Solving the Bioavailability Problem 00:05:54 The Science Behind Absorption: Three Critical Problems 00:08:08 Building IP and Brand Moat: The Thorne Comparison 00:09:39 The Partnership Origin: How Four Co-Founders Came Together 00:12:00 Celebrity Strategy: Amplifiers Not Figureheads 00:13:43 Leveraging Celebrity Co-Founders: Ads, Podcasts, and Retail Doors 00:17:27 Why Celebrities Launch Supplement Brands 00:20:16 Product Lineup: From Solutions to Foundational Supplements 00:24:27 The D2C-First Strategy: Why They're Not Rushing to Retail 00:26:10 Learning from Celebrity Brands: The IM8 Performance Creative Model 00:27:17 Common Mistakes in Celebrity Brands 00:29:18 Fundraising as a Celebrity Brand: How Investor Sentiment Has Shifted 00:30:39 What's Next: New Product Launches and Category Leadership HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity- and creator-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Zeke Bronfman The Absorption Company: https://www.absorbmore.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezekiel-bronfman-66b613175/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When London Lazar hit 10 million followers across social media by recreating Home Alone frame-by-frame every Christmas, he didn't follow the typical creator playbook of slapping his face on a white-labeled product and calling it a day. Instead, he made a decision that would have terrified most creators: he walked away from daily posting, ditched the audience that took years to build, and went all-in on inventing something the candy industry had never seen before. Now, just three years later, Final Boss Sour has raised over $7 million, launched 48 flavors using a monthly drop strategy borrowed from Crumbl Cookies, generated over 1 billion organic views as a faceless brand, and just completed a six-week test in 2,000 Walmart stores nationwide. But here's what makes London's story different from every other creator launching candy: he didn't start with gummies made from gelatin and artificial flavors like everyone else. He started with dried fruit, reinvented sour candy from scratch, and built a brand that could survive without him because he knew short-form content fizzles and he refused to be another creator who peaked at 10 million followers only to disappear three years later working a second job. In this episode, you'll discover: The 2015 article about Logan Paul making $50,000 from a single post that convinced London to quit his $28,000/year job and bet everything on the creator economy before it was even called that Why he walked away from posting three times a day for two straight years without missing a single day and how that decision to prioritize company over content became Final Boss Sour's greatest advantage How they invented the sour dried fruit category by asking one simple question: what if you could take real fruit, dry it, and make it sour? Then ordering samples, adding citric and malic acid, and perfecting the tumbling process that makes it actually sour The monthly drop strategy that's launched 48 flavors in three years: every last Friday of the month brings a new flavor at a different sour level, acquiring thousands of new customers who didn't want kiwis or mangoes but clicked instantly for watermelon strawberries Why they refused to put London's face on the product and built Final Boss Sour as a faceless brand with 500k followers that became the number one selling candy on TikTok Shop without relying on one person's audience His unfiltered take on why every creator is launching candy: young audiences, nostalgic product, and factories that will work with you just because you have followers, but most are doomed because people only buy it once for the creator, not the product How they raised $7 million and closed their last $4 million round in two weeks because investors loved that they had a creator attached but weren't solely dependent on him, plus they'd already proven success across ads, affiliates, TikTok Shop, and retail His number one advice for creator entrepreneurs: invent something and make it mega demonstrable so your fans can explain it instantly on an Instagram story, because if you can't show a sour face in five seconds, nobody's going to talk about it Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From 10 Million Followers to Final Boss Sour 00:02:20 The Creator Journey: From Tesla Stunts to Home Alone Recreations 00:04:30 The Pivot: Choosing Company Over Content Creation 00:07:51 What is Final Boss Sour: Reinventing Sour Candy with Dried Fruit 00:11:45 48 Flavors in 3 Years: The Monthly Drop Strategy 00:19:21 Building a Faceless Brand: Why London Didn't Put His Face on the Product 00:17:07 The Walmart Launch: Testing in 2,000 Stores Nationwide 00:22:25 Why Every Creator is Launching Candy: The Creator Economy Gold Rush 00:28:58 Fundraising as a Creator Founder: Raising 7 Million Dollars 00:32:14 Advice for Creator Entrepreneurs: Invent Something and Make it Demonstrable HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc London Lazar Final Boss Sour: https://finalbosssour.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/londonlaz/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@londonlaz HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Hannah Williams discovered she was being underpaid by $25,000 as a senior data analyst in 2021, she didn't just negotiate a raise or quietly move on. Instead, she picked up a camera, started asking strangers on the street how much they make, and accidentally built one of the fastest-growing media platforms in the creator economy. Within three weeks of posting her first video, Hannah had quit her full-time job, convinced her husband to follow, and was fielding calls from major brands like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor who recognized what she'd tapped into: a cultural movement around pay transparency that was about to explode. Now, after four years of building Salary Transparent Street to over 3 million followers, generating $1.6 million in annual revenue, and helping workers collectively earn millions more in their careers, Hannah just sold the company in a seven-figure acquisition to NowThis. But here's what makes her story different from every other creator exit: she didn't sell because she was burned out or chasing a payday. She sold because she recognized her strengths as a creator and her weaknesses as an operator, and she found a partner who could take the mission further than she could alone while keeping her in the driver's seat as supervising producer. In this episode, you'll discover: The exact moment Hannah's first video went viral with over 1 million views and how she went from zero followers to 400k in just two weeks by being the first to create a dedicated street interview channel around salary transparency Why she quit her government contracting job three weeks after posting her first video when brands like Indeed and LinkedIn started reaching out with serious partnership offers How she and her husband burned through their entire six-month emergency fund before landing their first brand deal at the exact moment the money ran out The business model breakdown: 96-97% of revenue comes from long-term brand partnerships with companies like Capital One Cafe and Glassdoor, with the remaining 3% from ad revenue across platforms Why she spent $300,000 building a salary database from scratch without charging users a single dollar and how that decision created a second acquirable asset she still owns post-acquisition How her community survey revealed they'd collectively made over $1 million more in their careers after watching her content, and that was just from 50-100 respondents out of a million followers The legislative impact: testifying in support of three pay transparency bills in Washington D.C., Virginia, and Maryland that all passed, proving creators can influence policy, not just culture Why VCs weren't offering enough money when she explored raising capital and how that pushed her toward acquisition conversations instead The multi-month negotiation process with Now This and why the first deal they discussed wasn't the deal they signed because she advocated for her worth the same way she teaches her followers to do Her number one advice for creators: don't be afraid to recreate something that already exists, but focus on what hasn't been done yet and what gap you can fill that will impact people a week from now Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Hannah Williams and Salary Transparency Street 00:01:35 The Origin Story: Discovering She Was Underpaid by $25,000 00:02:28 The First Viral Video: From Zero to 50K Followers Overnight 00:04:30 Why Street Interviews: Choosing the Format That Changed Everything 00:11:08 The Three-Week Decision: Quitting Her Job to Go Full-Time Creator 00:14:00 Breaking Down the Business Model: 96% Brand Partnerships 00:16:41 Building Beyond Content: The Salary Database and Acquirable Assets 00:26:19 Working with Your Spouse: The Partnership That Made It Work 00:28:05 Real Impact: Millions of Dollars in Salary Increases 00:20:31 The Acquisition Journey: Finding the Right Partner in Now This 00:34:16 Balancing Creator and Entrepreneur: Lessons on Burnout and Hiring 00:37:21 Final Advice: Don't Be Afraid to Recreate the Wheel HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ Hannah Williams Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatmoneystreetgirl/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hannahwill3ams Salary Transparent Street: All social channels HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Ben Guez sold his previous tech company, he didn't follow the typical founder playbook of taking time off or jumping straight into another startup. Instead, he picked up his phone during COVID lockdown, started creating content on TikTok (because he was too embarrassed to post on Instagram where his family could see), and accidentally discovered something that would become his next venture. Now, with over 800k followers across social media and a rapidly growing language-learning app called Canary, Ben represents a new breed of entrepreneur: one who builds distribution first, validates product-market fit through content engagement, and leverages audience insights to create tech products that solve real problems. But here's what makes Ben's story different from every other creator launching a company: he posted a single video of himself singing in French with English subtitles, noticed an unprecedented follower-to-view conversion ratio (3x better than his normal content), and turned that signal into a mobile app that's already generating $4k ARR with zero paid marketing—proving that the best tech founders of the next decade won't just build products, they'll build audiences around problems they're uniquely positioned to solve. In this episode, you'll discover: Why Ben started creating content on TikTok instead of Instagram during COVID—and the exact moment he realized his "French guy in America" content was resonating beyond just entertainment The viral singing video that changed everything: how one post with French lyrics and English translations generated 3x better follower conversion than his typical content—and why that metric mattered more than total views How he validated Canary before writing a single line of code: creating a dedicated page that grew to 100k followers in five months, proving people wanted language learning through music How he reached 6k users and $4k ARR in just three months with zero paid ads—relying entirely on organic content from his personal page and Canary's dedicated account Why creators launch CPG brands instead of tech companies—and how AI tools like Loveable are about to democratize tech entrepreneurship the same way white-label manufacturers democratized CPG Why having 800k followers opens doors with investors but isn't enough to close deals without a tech background, strong team, and clear data Why he's building the "social layer" into Canary: enabling users to practice with native speakers, collaborate on duets across languages, and turning language learning into a community experience instead of a solo grind The creator monetization model he's testing: allowing musicians and language teachers to upload covers, earn rev-share, and get paid when users message them Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Entrepreneur to Content Creator 00:01:39 The COVID Content Experiment: From TikTok to Instagram 00:03:08 The Viral Moment: Discovering Language Learning Through Music 00:04:15 What is Canary: Revolutionizing Language Learning with Music 00:05:59 How Canary Works: Features and User Experience 00:07:47 Building the Creator Economy into Language Learning 00:09:18 Cross-Language Creator Collaborations: A New Opportunity 00:10:13 Building in Public: Current Traction and Metrics 00:12:23 Why Creators Choose CPG Over Tech Companies 00:13:29 The AI Revolution: Making Tech Accessible to Creators 00:15:27 Angel Investing and Strategic Partnerships 00:16:41 Product Roadmap: AI-Powered Learning and Social Features 00:17:47 Go-to-Market Strategy: From Organic to Paid Acquisition 00:19:50 The Artist Opportunity: Shakira and Strategic Partnerships 00:20:37 Fundraising as a Creator Founder: Distribution Meets Execution 00:21:52 Breaking Misconceptions: Why Audience Size Doesn't Equal Revenue 00:23:16 Advice for Entrepreneurs Becoming Creators HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ Ben Guez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bengue.z/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-guez-%F0%9F%8E%97%EF%B8%8F-a433a51a/ Canary: https://www.singwithcanary.com/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Sam Cutler decided to take on the wellness industry, she didn't follow the typical creator playbook of launching another white-labeled supplement or skincare line. Instead, she bootstrapped Mindfull—a nutrition intelligence platform that's replacing calorie counting with real food education—and proved that creators can build tech companies that scale beyond their personal brand. But here's what makes Sam's story different from every other creator-turned-founder: she started by selling a single PDF meal plan for $59, validated demand with 650 sales in one week, then methodically scaled through a janky Squarespace site, a white-labeled app, and finally a custom-built platform—all without raising a single dollar of outside capital until now. This isn't a celebrity licensing deal or a quick cash grab—it's a mission-driven technology business solving real problems for women across 120 countries, built on a foundation of relentless testing, community feedback, and the hard-won lessons from launching her first tech company years earlier. In this episode, you'll discover: Why 98-99% of creators launch CPG brands instead of tech companies—and why Sam believes AI will change that equation in the next few years as coding becomes democratized The viral wedding day "what I eat in a day" video that got Sam "canceled" and nearly ended her creator career—but became the exact moment that sparked Mindfull's origin story How she validated demand by selling 650 PDF meal plans in one week when she expected to sell 20—and why that signal was enough to commit to building a subscription business The scrappy validation playbook: PDF → Squarespace site → white-labeled app → custom platform, investing every dollar of revenue back into the next iteration before raising outside capital Why she tells every aspiring app founder to start with white-label solutions first: "Test at scale—see if anybody wants this before you waste hundreds of thousands of dollars" How Mindfull turns qualitative health metrics (bloating, skin, energy, sleep) into quantitative data that empowers women with nutrition intelligence instead of locking them into calorie counting The "heal in public army" expansion strategy: replicating Sam's content playbook across different creators representing different demographics, geographies, and hormonal life stages How she's spent zero dollars on paid marketing to date, relying entirely on organic content from her page and Mindfull's page—and why that gives her unfair advantages when she finally deploys ad budget The investor stigma around creator-founded companies and why Sam embraces being underestimated: "I'd rather be underestimated than overestimated—show people what you can do" Why every brand deal now goes through two filters: Does Sam personally believe in it? And would she put this product on Mindfull or recommend it to her community? Her number one advice for creator founders: "Fully commit and step into that role—don't dip a toe in. When your viral moment hits, you need enough backstory for people to decide if they trust you" Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: From Creator to Repeat Tech Founder 00:01:04 Why Creators Choose CPG Over Tech Companies 00:05:55 Sam's Creator Journey: From Silver Lining Bias to The Fit Fatale 00:11:33 The Viral Wedding Menu: A Career-Defining Moment 00:13:50 From PDF to Platform: Validating Product-Market Fit 00:22:19 What is Mindful: Nutrition Intelligence Over Calorie Counting 00:25:57 The Content Playbook: Converting Followers to Customers 00:19:21 Bootstrapping to Profitability: Zero Paid Marketing Strategy 00:31:03 Scaling Beyond Sam: The Heal in Public Army 00:34:27 Fundraising as a Creator Founder: Underestimated or Advantaged? 00:38:22 Balancing Creator and Founder: Strategic Brand Partnerships 00:42:29 What's Next: Launching the Custom App and Global Expansion HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Sam Cutler Mindful: https://mindfulll.so Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefitfatale/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefitfatale YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefitfatale Email: [email protected] HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Avni Barman quit her dream product management job in Big Tech with literally no backup plan, she had already spent seven years trying to make her entrepreneurship dreams work—launching five different business ideas, raising funding, hiring a team, and ultimately shutting it all down because none of it felt right. But here's the twist: in that moment of rock-bottom desperation with no money, no company, and no employees, she picked up a camera and started "yapping on the internet" about her career journey as a woman in tech. Within months, brands were reaching out offering serious money when she had just 10,000 followers, and Avni had a lightning-bolt realization: content creation wasn't just a side hustle—it was the exact business model that could fuel her decade-long mission of helping ambitious women reach the top 1% without charging the community she wanted to serve. Now, as founder and CEO of Gen She, she's built a media platform and fund reaching over 1 million ambitious women, proving that the best venture capitalists of the next decade won't just write checks—they'll build audiences around their thesis and use data from their community to make better investment decisions than any traditional fund ever could. In this episode, you'll discover: Why Avni walked away from a corporate product management role after years of trying to force the traditional tech entrepreneur path—and the exact moment she realized content creation was the answer she'd been searching for How Gen She evolved from IRL conferences and 100 global chapters into a million-person media platform—and why the pandemic forced a complete reinvention of the business model How she uses Instagram Story polls to perform due diligence on potential investments in under 24 hours—accessing data and insights that no traditional VC fund could ever replicate Why "capital is not green" anymore—and how the rise of bootstrapping tools means founders will only take your money if you offer asymmetric value beyond the check The evolution from celebrity brands to influencer brands to the next wave: tech companies founded by creators—and why software is becoming a commodity just like CPG, making marketing and attention the ultimate moat Her hot take on why 99% of content creators should NOT launch their own companies—because being a 10x creator and a 10x operator simultaneously is nearly impossible, and the winning model is creator + operator co-founder pairs Why the concept of "celebrity" will cease to exist in the next decade—as social media democratizes fame and devalues the power any single celebrity has to move markets Her number one advice for aspiring content creators: "Detach from the outcome and push a level of quantity and consistency that requires separating yourself from what people think—they'll laugh in the beginning, but you'll be laughing when your content slaps and you have the leverage to build the world you want to see" Chapters: Chapters 00:00:51 Welcome and Avni's Background 00:01:24 From Bay Area Tech to Entrepreneurship 00:02:30 The Failed Startup and Accidental Discovery 00:03:16 The Lightning Moment: Content as Business Model 00:04:54 Content Evolution: From Career Tips to Holistic Success 00:07:29 GenShe´s Origin Story: From College Nonprofit to Media Empire 00:11:19 Building the GenShe Ecosystem: Platform, Job Board, and Fund 00:11:36 The GenShe Fund: Investing in the Next Generation 00:14:43 Distribution Strategy: Instagram and LinkedIn Dominate 00:15:59 Investment Thesis: Tools to Reach the Top 1% 00:17:44 The Creator Advantage in Venture Capital 00:20:14 Content as Full-Time Job: The Reality of Building Audience 00:21:40 Real-Time Due Diligence: Using Instagram Polls to Validate Deals 00:22:46 The Future of Celebrity Brands: Why the Model is Shifting 00:23:41 The Impossible Balance: Content vs Operating a Company 00:27:09 Tech Companies as the New CPG: Why Creators Will Win 00:31:26 What's Next: Scaling GenShe's Global Impact 00:32:58 Advice for Content Creators: Detachment and Authenticity 00:35:08 Closing and Where to Find Afni HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Avni Barman Gen She: https://www.generationshe.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avnibarman_/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avnibarman/ HotStart VC is a fund that invests in brands founded by celebrities & creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Julia Straus partnered with 15-year-old creator Salish Matter and her father Jordan Matter to launch Sincerely Yours, she had no idea their American Dream Mall debut would draw over 80,000 fans and literally shut down the entire shopping center. But here's what makes this story different from every other celebrity skincare launch flooding Sephora: Julia brought decades of consumer brand expertise from scaling Tula and Sweaty Betty, Salish is genuinely solving a problem she experiences daily as a teenager navigating confusing skincare advice, and they built a community of 60,000 teens who helped shape every decision before a single product hit shelves. This isn't a licensing deal or a quick cash grab—it's a mission-driven business solving a real gap in the market, backed by $7 million in funding, and proving that when you combine authentic creator-product-market-fit with world-class operational expertise, you can break through even the most saturated categories. In this episode, you'll discover: Why Julia walked away from running Sweaty Betty in the UK to return to the US and build a startup from scratch—and what she saw in the teen skincare space that convinced her there was a massive white space opportunity How an investor connection led to meeting Jordan and Salish Matter—and the exact moment Julia realized their 35 million YouTube subscribers represented an audience desperately seeking safe, age-appropriate skincare solutions Why Salish and Jordan had never launched their own brand despite being among the world's biggest creators—and what made skincare the right authentic fit after years of turning down other opportunities The revolutionary community-building approach: assembling a Teen Advisory Board that meets quarterly like a real corporate board, plus a 60,000-person text community for rapid product testing and feedback How they sold out of all inventory at Sephora within one hour of the American Dream Mall launch—and why Julia was more nervous about Teen Board meetings than the public company board meetings she'd run in the past Why organic celebrity support from people like Khloe Kardashian happened without a single paid partnership—and how years of relationship-building created a "celebrity friends with benefits" effect that money can't buy The $7 million fundraising experience and why investors loved the creator co-founder model—even when many had no idea Jordan and Salish had 35 million YouTube subscribers (because they weren't the target demographic) The critical balance between building a brand that can stand on its own versus leveraging Salish's massive platform—and why the brand is called Sincerely Yours, not "Salish Skincare" Jordan's creative philosophy that transformed Julia's approach to brand building: "If it's been done before, why bother? You have to break boundaries and think outside the box—that's what makes content and brands memorable" Her number one advice for founders partnering with creators: "The key word in 'creator co-founder' is CREATOR—respect their creative process, don't hand them a brief, and trust that they know their audience better than any focus group ever could" Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Building a Teen Skincare Brand with Authenticity 00:01:10 Julia's Background: From D2C Pioneer to Beauty Executive 00:03:20 The Founding Story: When Three Visions Aligned 00:08:42 What Makes Sincerely Yours Different 00:10:43 Salish's Day-to-Day Involvement as a Teen Co-Founder 00:22:23 The Teen Advisory Board: 60,000 Voices Shaping the Brand 00:17:20 The American Dream Mall Launch: 80,000 Fans Shut Down the Event 00:20:24 Organic Celebrity Support and the Power of Trust 00:26:55 Fundraising: The Seven Million Dollar Seed Round 00:33:41 Advice for Building with Creator Co-Founders HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Julia Straus Julia Straus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-straus-5a98a211/ Sincerely Yours: https://sincerelyyours.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincerelyyours/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sincerelyyours Salish Matter & Jordan Matter YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JordanMatter HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Joshua Cohen co-founded Tubefilter in 2007, YouTube was just two years old and the term "creator economy" didn't even exist. While mainstream media dismissed online video as "stupid shit kids are putting online," Joshua saw something different: a fundamental shift in who gets to tell stories, build audiences, and create careers outside the traditional Hollywood gatekeepers. Now, nearly two decades later, Tubefilter has become one of the most trusted platforms covering the creator economy, and Joshua's latest venture—Gospel Stats—is pulling back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar YouTube sponsorship ecosystem that almost nobody has visibility into. But here's what makes this conversation especially compelling: Joshua watched creators evolve from making videos for fun to making a living, to launching businesses, to now becoming the dominant force in entertainment, marketing, and even politics. And he's got the receipts to prove it—Gospel's 2025 report reveals a staggering 54% year-over-year increase in sponsored YouTube videos, signaling that brands can no longer ignore what Joshua knew 18 years ago: creators are the future. In this episode, you'll discover: The exact moment Joshua realized online video would disrupt traditional entertainment—watching a garage-filmed video podcast showcased by Steve Jobs at a Mac event in 2006 Why Phil DeFranco almost quit YouTube to focus on school until a $112 check from YouTube's new partner program changed everything and helped birth the creator economy How Tubefilter became the "Variety and Hollywood Reporter" for creators when nobody else was taking the space seriously—and why that positioning still matters today The evolution from wave one creators (doing it for fun) to wave two (doing it for a living) to wave three (building ancillary businesses) to today's wave four (experts using content as distribution for their core business) Why 98% of creators should NOT launch their own companies—and what separates the 2% who actually should Why follower count is a "fantasy metric" and how a creator with 200K highly engaged followers in the right niche beats one with 10 million disengaged followers every time When creators should actually start thinking about raising capital (hint: it's not about hitting a follower threshold—it's about having clear product-market fit and knowing exactly how capital accelerates growth) Why being a creator is more like owning a small retail shop than being a celebrity—instant feedback, customer intimacy, and managing both the "front window" and "back office" simultaneously How Gospel Stats finds virtually every sponsored video on YouTube and reveals unprecedented detail about the sponsorship landscape—becoming the ultimate lead source for managers, agents, and brands The 54% year-over-year increase in sponsored YouTube videos (H1 2025 vs H1 2024) and what it reveals about brands finally waking up to creator power Why YouTube niches that were too small to monetize three years ago are now commanding serious sponsorship dollars—and how this creates opportunities for thousands of "undiscovered" creators His number one advice for creators launching brands: "Get behind a brand you'll still love three to five years from now—look at Emma Chamberlain and coffee, she can wake up every morning proud of that decision regardless of the financials" From launching the Streamy Awards in 2009 (honoring creators the way the Oscars honor traditional celebrities) to being the first to interview Ryan from Ryan's World in 2015, Joshua has had a front-row seat to every major shift in the creator economy. Whether you're a creator thinking about launching a brand, an investor evaluating the space, or a brand trying to navigate YouTube sponsorships, this conversation delivers a masterclass in understanding where this industry has been—and where it's headed next. Chapters: HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Joshua Cohen Tubefilter: https://www.tubefilter.com/ Gospel Stats: https://reports.gospelstats.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuajcohen/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Jerome Aceti started uploading content in 2008 at just 14 years old, he had no idea he was beginning a streak that would last over 13 years—publishing at least one piece of content every single day since 2012. Now, with over 8 million subscribers across platforms and a portfolio that includes co-founding multiple startups, investing in others, and even becoming an LP in several venture capital and private equity funds, Jerome represents a new breed of creator: one who builds infrastructure for the industry rather than just another consumer brand. His latest venture, NextTide, is a patent-pending AI platform that protects ad campaigns in real-time at scale—solving a problem that's plagued the streaming industry for nearly two decades and proving that creators are uniquely positioned to build the tech companies that will power the future of content. In this episode, you'll discover: How Jerome went from filming real-life skits with friends to building a family-friendly gaming empire focused on Minecraft and Roblox—and why he's maintained that same niche for over a decade The exact moment in his first year of college when his channel exploded and he made the decision to drop out and pursue content creation full-time (spoiler: it took five years from his first upload to get there) Why he started looking for alternative revenue streams as early as 2010 Why he believes creators should save and invest as if their entire career is ending in one year What NextTide's patent-pending LiveGuard technology actually does: using AI to monitor tone, context, and chat sentiment in real-time to instantly turn off ads when a stream becomes brand-unsafe—solving the "ad apocalypse" problem that's cost creators billions Why traditional ad spend hasn't increased in the streaming market despite billions of hours watched—and how brand safety fears from past incidents still cause innocent family-friendly creators to lose revenue when one random streamer says something controversial Why he believes the next wave of creator companies will be tech-focused rather than CPG brands—pointing to MrBeast's Viewstats and Steven Bartlett's Flightcast as proof that creators are uniquely positioned to build infrastructure for their own industry Why he'll probably never retire from content creation even if he achieves every financial goal—because his daily mission to "make someone somewhere smile" is so core to his identity that he doesn't know how he'd fill that gap What's next for NextTide: Immersive Frames, a new AI technology that detects what's happening on-screen during gameplay and serves contextual advertising at the perfect moment (like a life insurance ad when someone gets eliminated in Fortnite) From uploading 20,000+ videos over 17 years to co-founding a patent-pending AI company solving a 20-year-old industry problem, Jerome shares the unglamorous reality of building as a creator-turned-founder. Whether you're a creator thinking about launching a company, an investor evaluating the creator economy, or simply curious about the future of streaming and advertising technology, this conversation reveals why the most successful creators of the next decade won't just build brands—they'll build the infrastructure that powers the entire industry. Chapters: Chapters 00:01:08 Jerome's Journey: 17 Years of Daily Content 00:02:41 The Path to Full-Time Creator: A 5-Year Journey 00:04:55 Early Entrepreneurial Spirit: From Golf Balls to Revenue Streams 00:06:30 The Creator Career Lifespan: Lessons from Athletes 00:08:53 Finding the Right Partners: Merch For All and Beyond 00:13:42 Introducing Next Tide: AI-Powered Brand Safety for Streaming 00:15:49 Solving the Ad Apocalypse: Why Brands Fear Live Streaming 00:24:21 The Creator Advantage in Tech: Why Software Makes Sense 00:28:07 Consistency is Key: 20,000 Videos and Counting 00:33:15 What's Next: Immersive Frames and Contextual Advertising 00:35:20 Final Advice: Stay Creative and Find the Right Partners HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Jerome Aceti NextTide: https://www.nextide.io/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JeromeASF LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromeaceti/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Katie Hunt received a random LinkedIn message asking if he'd ever thought about starting a celebrity brand, he had no idea he was about to co-found a pet care company with Kaley Cuoco—one of the highest-paid actors in television history who made $150 million from The Big Bang Theory. But here's what makes Oh Norman! different from every other celebrity pet brand flooding the market: Kaley runs a rescue farm with over 200 animals, drafted an unprecedented letter for investors stating she's "never leaving" the company, and is so hands-on that she'll drop into vet team Zoom calls unannounced. This isn't a licensing deal or a paid endorsement—it's a mission-driven business built by someone who would have started a pet company regardless of fame, partnered with an operator who's been the third employee at Warby Parker and Chief Brand Officer at Hinge. In this episode, you'll discover: The shocking reality that most pet products—including what you feed your animal—aren't developed by veterinarians, and why only 86 veterinary nutritionists exist in the entire United States (two of them work on Oh Norman!) How Katie and Kaley built a community of 150,000 followers before launching a single product—then used surveys to reverse-engineer their product roadmap based on what customers actually wanted Why they get 10,000 survey responses in 24 hours when they post questions on Instagram Stories—and how "bad dog breath" became one of their best-selling product lines after the community told them it was their dog's worst trait Why Kaley doesn't require hair, makeup, costume, lighting, or photographers—she just shows up in a top-knot bun holding two dogs and creates content in the middle of the night that would cost other brands hundreds of thousands in production How Amazon offered them a $250,000 Amazon Live asset for free in exchange for a single Kaley post—and why celebrity partnerships create leapfrog advantages in retail that would take non-celebrity brands years to achieve Why they refused to launch on any channel outside direct-to-consumer for one full year—and why every new product stays DTC-only for six months before going to retail or Amazon The "what would happen if the celebrity dies tomorrow?" question that every investor should ask—and why Oh Norman's focus on veterinary science, sustainable packaging, and ethical manufacturing means the brand could survive without Kaley (though it never has to) How they give back to rescue with every purchase, achieved B-Corp certification, and even put a rescue dog named Hogi on payroll as Chief Treat Officer to test all products Why the "overnight success" myth is dead for celebrity brands—and how the real advantage is getting a year ahead of everyone else for less money spent, plus free media placements that would cost competitors millions From bonding over elder Chihuahuas to launching internationally on iHerb, Katie shares the unglamorous reality of building a venture-backed pet care brand alongside one of Hollywood's biggest stars who treats the business like her full-time job. Whether you're evaluating celebrity partnerships, building in the pet space, or curious about mission-driven CPG, this conversation reveals what authentic celebrity-product market fit actually looks like when the founder would do this work regardless of fame. Chapters: Chapters 00:01:05 Kaley's Background: From Warby Parker to Pet Care 00:04:55 What Sets Oh Norman Apart: Vet-Approved Innovation 00:06:38 Mission-Driven Business: Giving Back to Rescue 00:08:32 The Celebrity Advantage: Kaley Cuoco's Authentic Involvement 00:16:19 Building Community Before Product: The 150K Follower Strategy 00:17:30 Community-Led Product Development: From Feedback to Best-Sellers 00:21:27 Raising Capital as a Celebrity Brand 00:25:24 Strategic Growth: Why They Waited a Year Before Expanding 00:29:51 Lessons from Celebrity Brands: The Honest Company Inspiration 00:31:04 What's Next: International Expansion and Future Plans 00:33:10 Final Advice: Choosing the Right Celebrity Partner HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Katie Hunt Oh Norman: https://ohnorman.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-hunt-659ab350/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Ben Acott received a phone call from Reed Duchscher (MrBeast's manager) in late 2020, he had no idea he was about to help engineer one of the most explosive brand launches in CPG history. Within 90 days of joining what would become Feastables, Ben and a scrappy team hand-coded a Shopify store, broke platform records, and pulled three all-nighters to meet an unmovable deadline: MrBeast's main channel video announcing the chocolate brand to 100+ million subscribers. But here's the twist that changed everything—Jimmy barely gave them any attention at first, delivering one brutal message: "Let me know when you hit $100 million in revenue, then I'll give you more time." That constraint forced Ben to build something most celebrity brands never achieve: a framework for extracting the DNA of a creator and embedding it into every aspect of a business, from product formulation to thumbnail-tested marketing. Now, as founder of Magnetic Labs—a venture studio that exclusively builds and invests in creator and celebrity-founded brands—Ben is applying those hard-won lessons across multiple categories, from Willie Nelson's cannabis beverage company to unrevealed billion-dollar opportunities in the pet space. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on what actually works in 2025 versus the outdated playbook from 2020, why 90% of creator brand opportunities deserve a hard "no," and the morbid-but-essential questions every operator should ask before partnering with talent. In this episode, you'll discover: The exact moment MrBeast told Ben he wouldn't get more time until Feastables hit $100M—and how that constraint became the brand's greatest advantage Why Ben walked away from Feastables after two and a half years at the exact moment "boring guys from incumbents" started arriving to scale operations How Jimmy solved a $250,000/week merchandising crisis at Walmart with a single tweet offering $10K—bypassing traditional CPG playbooks entirely Why Magnetic Labs says no to 90% of talent opportunities and the three non-negotiables they look for: passion, creative understanding, and the ability to steal double-digit market share from boring categories The "creator product fit" testing framework: how they create 30 fake brands with landing pages and $1 pre-orders to reverse-engineer the right product before ever involving the celebrity Why the 2020 playbook is dead: first-purchase conversion was easy with one tweet, but retention rates were "incredibly poor" because products were skipped and it was all about the cash grab The new 2025 framework: start with a world-changing product, build a brand that can speak on its own, then layer in the creator for stunts and spectacles they actually look forward to His unfiltered take on equity crowdfunding for celebrity brands: "I cringe every time I see one—it's so public when it goes bad" Why he prefers digitally-native creators over legacy celebrities: "You could hold up a piece of broccoli to iRaq and say let's create 20 bangers to launch this in 72 hours—he's got it down to a fine art" The equity structure philosophy: talent should retain majority ownership, but with clawback provisions and cliff vesting schedules to protect against creator fatigue, mental breakdowns, or career-ending tweets How Willie Nelson's cannabis beverage (Release Remedy) went from phone call to launch in two months—and why his 50+ years of weed evangelism made it the "most perfect talent with the most perfect timing" The billion-dollar bet on pets: why no creator has cracked this category at scale yet, and how Magnetic is testing 30 fictitious brands to build a list of hundreds of thousands of validated customers before launch His number one advice for founders: "Get rid of the management and agents as soon as possible and get to know the talent intimately—bring them into product and formulation early to give them true ownership" Chapters: HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Ben Acott Magnetic Labs: https://magnetic.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benacott/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Gabriel Jarrosson started publishing one YouTube video per day in French back in 2017, he had no idea he was building the foundation for what would become a $50 million venture capital fund exclusively focused on Y Combinator startups. From French engineer to accidental YouTuber to Silicon Valley investor, Gabriel's journey reveals a counterintuitive truth: in 2025, distribution isn't just a marketing advantage for VCs—it's becoming the primary competitive moat. Now, as founder of Lobster Capital, he's leveraging media to access the top 2% of YC deals that most investors never even hear about, proving that content creation and venture capital are no longer separate games. In this episode, you'll discover: The exact moment Gabriel realized he could build an investment business through YouTube—attending a webinar that promised "2017 is late to start, but publish one video per day for a year and your channel will explode" How he went from writing $5K angel checks that got rejected to mobilizing 900 investors who deployed $35-36 million across 100+ startups—all sourced through a French YouTube channel Why he walked away from 1,100+ videos and 42,000 French subscribers to start completely fresh in English—and the painful realization that Silicon Valley had no idea who he was despite years of content The brutal challenge of running an angel syndicate for hot YC deals: when rounds close in 24 hours but you need 400 people across multiple countries to wire funds and sign documents How he scaled his membership pricing from €500 to €4,000 per year as demand exploded during COVID—and why the membership fees were never the real business model Why 99% of VC podcasts fail: "Most get 20 views per episode because they don't take it seriously—it's just an hour a week recording with no strategy behind it" The unexpected externalities of content creation: "People I haven't seen in 10 years watch my videos and know exactly what I'm doing, but I have no idea what they've been up to" How media became his unfair advantage for accessing YC's top 2%: founders now say "I'm honored to be on the show" and his internal YC investor rating gives him credibility that took years to build Why he believes Donald Trump would never have been president without The Apprentice—and how YouTube democratized that same media power for anyone willing to do the work The strategic pivot from angel syndicate to $12M debut fund (now raising $50M Fund II): "With a fund you have the money ready—you sign, you wire, boom. No more missing deals because one international wire is late" His unfiltered take on monetization timing: "I've seen creators do free content for years, then get backlash when they finally sell something—better to be transparent from day one that this is a business" His number one advice for investors creating content: "Make it a core part of your business and take it way more seriously than you are right now—otherwise just don't do it at all" From experimenting with crypto signals and stock analysis to finding his niche in startup investing, Gabriel shares the unglamorous reality of building media as a solo founder while simultaneously breaking into Silicon Valley's most competitive investment ecosystem. Whether you're an investor exploring content, a founder thinking about building distribution, or simply curious about the intersection of media and venture capital, this conversation reveals why the next generation of successful VCs will look more like media companies than traditional financial firms. Chapters: HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Gabriel Garrison Lobster Capital: https://www.lobstercap.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielgarrison/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LobsterCapital X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabrielgarrison HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Daniel Faierman first connected with Scott 3 years ago, he made one thing clear: he was skeptical about celebrity-founded brands. Fast forward to today, and the Habitat Partners investor has backed Ayo by Molly Baz, Sincerely Yours by Salish Matter, and Elm Biosciences by Martha Stewart. But here's the twist—his skepticism hasn't disappeared. Instead, Daniel has developed a ruthless framework for separating authentic innovation from celebrity hype, and his approach challenges everything most investors think they know about this booming category. In this episode, you'll discover: The morbid but essential question Daniel asks before every celebrity brand investment: "What happens if the celebrity dies tomorrow?" Why he believes access matters more than picking ability for early-stage investors—and how Habitat Partners built a unique vantage point through Red Antler's creative agency ecosystem The "celebrity friends with benefits" phenomenon that 10X's influencer marketing through network effects most founders never consider How Rhode's 9x marketing efficiency ratio (generating $9 for every $1 spent) reveals the hidden economic advantage of celebrity brands—and why it's attracting tech investors to CPG Why Daniel walked away from celebrity brands raising at $50M+ pre-launch valuations and the fundamental problem with paying premium multiples at entry The three critical variables that determine VC success: access, picking, and value-add—and why most funds get the priority order completely wrong How retailers like Target are now taking celebrity brands earlier than traditional startups—creating a distribution advantage that didn't exist five years ago Why high gross margin categories like condiments, sauces, and anti-aging serums are more attractive than low-margin plays—and how celebrity can't solve fundamental unit economics problems What makes a 15-year-old creator like Salish Matter fundamentally different from an 84-year-old icon like Martha Stewart—and how each brings distinct strategic value to their brands The "second wave" of celebrity brands that are product-first, not celebrity-first—and why formulation IP and technology moats are replacing white-label strategies His unfiltered take on due diligence: "Send me the co-manufacturing contracts—I want to back into gross margin before I even think about the celebrity" This information is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Nothing discussed here constitutes investment, legal, or tax advice, and any decisions are your own responsibility. Investing involves risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult with a qualified professional for advice tailored to your individual circumstances.  Chapters: Chapters 00:00:26 Welcome and Introduction to Daniel Fairman 00:01:08 Daniel's Journey: From Big CPG to Venture Capital 00:03:47 The Habitat Partners Origin Story 00:07:47 What It Takes to Win in Early-Stage VC 00:10:17 From Skeptic to Investor: Shifting Perspective on Celebrity Brands 00:14:52 Deep Dive: Ayo by Molly Baz 00:17:33 Deep Dive: Sincerely Yours by Salish Matter 00:20:21 Deep Dive: Elm Biosciences by Martha Stewart 00:23:43 The Unique Advantages of Celebrity Founder Brands 00:27:04 The Risks and Red Flags of Celebrity Brands 00:28:57 Comparing Creator Types: Gen Alpha vs Established Celebrity 00:32:40 Due Diligence Framework for Celebrity Brands 00:34:13 The Valuation Problem: Premium Multiples at Entry vs Exit 00:36:20 Building Brand Through Content: The Term Sheet Pitfalls Newsletter 00:38:00 What's Next for Habitat Partners 00:39:40 Final Advice: The Celebrity Death Test 00:40:49 Closing and Where to Find Daniel HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Daniel Faierman Habitat Partners: https://www.habitatpartners.co/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielfairman/ Term Sheet Pitfalls Newsletter: https://termsheetpitfalls.substack.com/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Katy Perry and master distiller Morgan McLachlan met while both pregnant, they discovered a shared passion for sophisticated non-alcoholic beverages. Now, with Scout Brisson at the helm as CEO, De Soi has become the #1 non-alcoholic cocktail brand at Target and is reshaping how we think about drinking culture. Scout reveals how she went from McKinsey consultant to leading a celebrity-founded beverage empire, why 90% of their customers still drink alcohol, and the surprising ways Katy Perry's involvement goes far beyond just social media posts. In this episode, you'll discover: How De Soi went through 50+ product iterations before launch to nail the perfect liquid - and why most brands fail by rushing to market The real reason Katy Perry is the perfect face for a non-alcoholic brand (hint: it's not about sobriety) Why Scout turned down massive retail opportunities that other brands would kill for The hidden "flywheel effect" of celebrity co-founders that goes way beyond marketing How a single retail call with Katy Perry wearing sunglasses closed a major distribution deal Why traditional influencer marketing is dead and what's replacing it The truth about raising capital for celebrity-founded brands and what investors really want to know How De Soi built a passionate community that gets early access to test new flavors before launch From navigating the challenges of educating retailers about a new category to building authentic celebrity-product market fit, Scout shares the unfiltered reality of scaling a beverage brand in partnership with one of the world's biggest pop stars. Whether you're building in CPG, curious about celebrity partnerships, or interested in the booming non-alcoholic space, this conversation delivers actionable insights on what it really takes to build a category-defining brand. Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Opening: The Celebrity Flywheel Effect 00:01:16 Scout Brisson's Journey to CEO 00:02:40 The Founding Story of De Soi 00:04:44 Why Scout Joined the Mission 00:06:58 What Makes De Soi Different 00:10:38 Building Flavors That Mirror Alcohol 00:13:26 Katy Perry: The Face of Moderation 00:15:41 Leveraging Celebrity for Category Growth 00:17:45 Katy Perry as Visionary Entrepreneur 00:19:21 Evolution of Katy's Role 00:23:51 Common Myths About Celebrity Brands 00:26:46 Breaking Into Retail 00:29:49 The Danger of Going Nationwide Too Fast 00:32:07 Influencer Marketing is Dead 00:34:19 Building Community Beyond Marketing 00:36:05 Fundraising as a Celebrity-Backed Brand 00:37:12 What's Next for De Soi 00:38:10 Advice for Celebrity-Founder Partnerships HotStart VC  Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/  Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/  Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/  Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc  Scout Brisson De Soi: https://drinkdesoi.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drinkdesoi/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scout-brisson-558674121/  HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We’re the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Haley Pavone's foot was impaled by a stiletto heel at a college sorority formal, she didn't just nurse her wound, she invented an entirely new category in women's footwear. Now, as founder and CEO of Pashion, she's built the world's first fully convertible high heel protected by utility patents in 30 countries. But here's the twist: Haley never set out to be a content creator. She accidentally went viral on TikTok while trying to understand influencer marketing, woke up to 250,000 followers overnight, and turned content into Pashion's biggest growth engine, driving 95% organic customer acquisition and recently hitting her first $1 million revenue month. In this episode, you'll discover: The exact moment a stiletto impalement at a sorority formal sparked the idea for a revolutionary footwear category How Haley went from 2,000 to 250,000 TikTok followers in under 24 hours—completely by accident while testing influencer strategies Why she walked away from a deal with Kevin O'Leary on Shark Tank and how the show still catapulted the business 450% in one year The trunk show AB test that revealed a 100% try-on to purchase ratio when Haley personally demonstrated the product, and changed her entire go-to-market strategy How she spends only 2% of revenue on marketing while driving over 10 million free website visitors through organic content Why 97% of her followers are her exact target customer (and how that's different from traditional celebrity-founded brands) The radical transparency strategy that turned her community into an R&D engine—helping design products a year before launch and eliminating inventory risk How one customer spent over $20,000 in nine months and built an entire "Pashion room" dedicated to her heel collection Why she's building the "Build-A-Bear of shoes" and reimagining what physical retail could look like for footwear The Emmy Combs collaboration that landed Pashion its first New York Times billboard—and why partnering with genuine customers beats traditional influencer deals Her unfiltered take on why super HD content fails and authenticity wins: "No one wants to watch an advertisement for five minutes—they want a conversation with their friend" From spending 18 months and 10 prototype rounds to create patented injection-molded heels, to accidentally becoming an influencer with nearly 1 million followers, Haley shares the unglamorous reality of building a venture-backed hardware company in one of the most traditional industries. Whether you're interested in product innovation, community-driven growth, or turning content into your company's superpower, this conversation reveals what it really takes to disrupt an industry that hasn't changed in decades. Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: The Accidental Influencer 00:02:11 The Founding Story: From Sorority Formal to Startup 00:06:59 What is Pashion: Revolutionary Convertible Heel Technology 00:09:32 From Prototype to Product: 18 Months of Development 00:11:01 Shark Tank: The Pandemic Pivot and National TV Exposure 00:13:32 The Shark Tank Effect: 450% Growth Overnight 00:14:59 Discovering the Content-First Strategy 00:18:00 Going Viral: The TikTok Explosion 00:20:03 Building in Public: Radical Transparency as Strategy 00:22:06 The Community as R&D Engine 00:22:58 Why the Content Resonates: Authenticity Over Production 00:31:47 The Million Dollar Month Milestone 00:38:09 The Razor Blade Business Model Revolution 00:40:44 Super Fans and the Secondary Market 00:44:06 The Emmy Combs Collaboration 00:47:30 Dream Collaboration: Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour 00:49:01 The Future: Building the Build-A-Bear of Shoes 00:51:22 Advice for Entrepreneurs: Be Yourself, Not an Ad HotStart VC Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Haley Pavone Pashion Footwear: https://pashionfootwear.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pashionfootwear/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@haley_pavone HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

When Gabriella Murray decided to take on the skincare industry, she didn't just want to slap her name on another white-label product. Instead, the content creator with 12 million followers bootstrapped Natics from scratch, created her own formulations, and became a certified B-Corp - all while reimagining how we think about skincare in real life. From cleansing tablets that work without a sink to moisturizers packaged as facial massage tools, Gabriella is building a brand "engineered for chaos" that meets people where they actually are - whether that's in an airport bathroom, a nightclub, or the back of an Uber. In this episode, you'll discover: Why Gabriella refused to take the easy route of white-labeling and instead spent years developing her own formulations from scratch How she's changing consumer behavior by targeting unconventional retail spaces like airline bathrooms, gyms, and nightclub restrooms The real reason she bootstrapped the company instead of raising capital early (hint: it's about more than just control) Why she brought on fellow creator Alyssa Yago as a co-founder and how having creators with different audiences creates a unique growth advantage The childhood story about softball trophies that explains her entire approach to building businesses How her battle with hormonal acne and Accutane led to a "back to basics" skincare philosophy that defies industry trends Why she believes 12-step skincare routines are unrealistic and how Natics is solving the disconnect between skincare and real life The strategic approach to becoming TSA-friendly and why every product will be under 3.4 ounces What she learned from studying Rare Beauty and Rhode that influenced her brand building strategy Her unfiltered advice for creators thinking about launching brands: "Don't take advice from somebody you wouldn't want to trade places with" From her early days on Funimate and Musical.ly to building a purpose-driven beauty brand, Gabriella shares the unglamorous reality of being a creator-turned-founder who's betting everything on herself. Whether you're interested in the creator economy, sustainable business practices, or disrupting traditional industries, this conversation reveals what it really takes to build a brand that's authentically different in a saturated market. Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:21 The Beginning: From Funimate to Musical.ly 00:02:51 Content Evolution Over 7 Years 00:05:02 Discovering Monetization Through Brand Deals 00:07:08 The Long-Term Vision for Creators 00:09:03 Introducing Natics: Skincare for Real Life 00:11:35 Revolutionary Product Design: Cleansing Tablets 00:14:15 Changing Consumer Behavior & Distribution 00:18:35 The TSA-Friendly Advantage 00:20:29 Owning Your Formulations vs White Labeling 00:21:32 The Trophy Store Mentality 00:24:02 Why Bootstrapping Matters 00:26:44 Celebrity Brand Inspiration: Rare Beauty & Rhode 00:29:45 Building a Creator Collective 00:32:55 The Future of Creator-Led Brands 00:35:08 What's Next for Natics 00:36:14 Final Advice: Just Do It HotStart VC  Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/  Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/  Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/  Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc  Gabriella Murray Natics: https://trynatics.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabbymurrayy/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabby_murrayy  HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We’re the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.

Natalie Barbu's journey with Rella is nothing short of remarkable. After telling investors they'd shut down in January, one viral video changed everything - catapulting them from $3,500 to $21,000 monthly revenue overnight. Now at $2M ARR, Natalie opens up about the brutal reality of pivoting a VC-backed startup, why 98% of creators shouldn't launch companies, and how she transformed from beauty YouTuber to tech founder. In this episode, you'll discover: The exact moment Natalie knew she had to completely scrap her first product after two years of work Why she believes most creator-founded businesses fail (and what makes the successful ones different) How a single TikTok skit saved her company from bankruptcy and sparked hockey-stick growth The uncomfortable truth about taking a step back from content creation to build a tech company Why she pivoted from targeting creators to social media managers - and how it unlocked product-market fit The unique challenges of raising $1M as a creator founder and the questions VCs really ask How she went from filming makeup tutorials on Photo Booth to building a project management platform Natalie shares candid insights about the unglamorous side of being a creator-turned-founder, including dealing with Reddit critics, watching her engagement plummet, and the decision to reinvent her content strategy entirely around business and entrepreneurship. Whether you're a creator considering launching a company or an entrepreneur looking to leverage content for growth, this conversation reveals the blueprint for building a venture-backed tech company with a creator's mindset. Chapters: Chapters 00:00:00 Near-Death Experience and Viral Moment 00:00:31 Meet Natalie Barbu: Creator to Tech Founder 00:01:25 The Beginning: YouTube in 2011 00:03:56 Content Evalution 00:05:28 Corporate Life to Full-Time Creator 00:08:29 Early Entrepreneurial Experiments 00:10:11 Should Every Creator Launch a Company? 00:15:24 The Birth of Rella 00:18:16 The Critical Pivot That Saved Everything 00:22:01 Raising $1M as a Creator-Founder 00:26:02 The Personal Cost of Building a Startup 00:27:09 Reinventing Herself as a Content Creator 00:33:33 The Rella Marketing Strategy 00:35:42 Why Creators Choose CPG Over Tech 00:40:49 What's Next For Rella 00:43:41 Advice for Creator-Founders HotStart VC  Subscribe to the HotStart VC newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/   Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/   Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/   Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc   Natalie Barbu Rella: https://getrella.com/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliebarbu/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nataliebarbu/   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nataliebarbu   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NatalieBarbu   HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We’re the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.