The consumer is the boss. If you start there, you'll end up somewhere interesting.

investingTechCrunch interview, 2018

Brand is not a soft concept. It's a financial asset that shows up in your acquisition costs and your margins if you build it right.

brand-buildingForerunner Ventures panel discussion, 2019

We were investing in consumer at a time when a lot of people thought consumer was a bad word in venture. That was fine with us.

contrarian-investingForbes interview, 2017

The best founders I back have a personal connection to the problem they're solving. They built the thing because they wanted it and couldn't find it anywhere.

foundersStanford GSB talk, 2020

Direct-to-consumer isn't a channel strategy. It's a relationship strategy. The channel is just where the relationship starts.

dtcRecode Decode podcast, 2018

The window of opportunity in consumer investing is usually when the category looks broken to everyone else. That's when the new model can get traction.

market-timingForerunner Ventures blog, 2021