#261 - What Makes Brands Investable at Founders & Funders? with Hannah Dittman

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff turns the mic around on one of his own co-hosts. Hannah Dittman, former investor and host of Startup CPG's Saturday investing episodes, spends a huge amount of her time talking with founders and VCs and reviewing applications for Startup CPG's Founders and Funders events. Daniel puts her on the other side of the interview to answer one of the most common questions the community asks: what actually makes a brand investable?

Hannah walks through her path from Benefit Cosmetics to private equity consulting at Parthenon Group, investing at Main Post Partners, and global brand management at Morphe before landing at Startup CPG. Daniel and Hannah then dig into what Founders and Funders and Roadshow events actually are, what goes into the application and one-pager investors receive, and the specific mistakes that keep brands from getting meetings even after they're accepted.

Listen in as they discuss:

• Hannah's path from Cal and Benefit Cosmetics through private equity, VC investing, and brand management before Startup CPG
• What Founders and Funders and Roadshow are, and how the two event formats differ
• Why treating fundraising like a partnership evaluation, not a job interview, changes the entire dynamic
• What "investable" actually means to a VC: category, TAM, exit potential, and traction
• Whether pre-revenue brands should even bother applying to investor events
• What the Founders and Funders application actually asks for, and why the one-minute pitch video matters
• Why skipping the pitch video is one of the fastest ways to get rejected
• What makes an application stand out, and why "differentiated" means more than just the product
• How investors read a brand's fundraising history, for better or worse
• Inside the one-pager: the traction data point that matters most, and the formatting mistakes that bury it
• Why competitive benchmarking and retailer quotes carry more weight than raw numbers alone
• How the investing landscape has shifted over the last decade, from pure growth to profitability and omnichannel success
• Why "challenger brands in overlooked categories" are gaining more investor interest than ever
• Hannah's closing wish for founders: fundraising is relationship building, and investors are lucky to be part of your business too

Episode Links:

• Hannah Dittman - Operations & Finance Host, Startup CPG LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-dittman-011b844b/
• Startup CPG Investor Database: https://startupcpg.com/top-investor-database

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.

Show Links:

• Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to "Transcript" at the top)
• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Daniel's LinkedIn
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email podcast@startupcpg.com
• Episode music by Super Fantastics