Bob Schwartz

Love these high-level takeaways from my due diligence discussion with Cherub today! So many actionable insights for both founders and investors.

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A stroll through San Diego led me to Geppetto's, where a life-sized puppet and friendly staff turned me into an unexpected customer. 🌟This IS the magic of independent retail. 🌟 With consumer spending down, small businesses need innovative strategies beyond discounting to thrive without sacrificing profitability. Curious about how #indieretailers are navigating these challenges? Check out my latest article in Total Retail. #Retail #SmallBusiness #CustomerExperience #Innovation #IndependentRetail #SMB #boutiqueowner #retailer #fashion

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When it comes to growing a business, getting past the $10M- $20M mark can feel like a very high hurdle. Even more challenging is doing it alone. At Uprisors, we know what that feels like because we’ve been there…several times. And so have our clients. Let us help you get to $100M minus the mistakes/inefficiencies and plus the expertise, partnership and tangible growth tactics. #businessgrowthstartshere

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Very smart fellows solving a significant issue with an elegant solution.

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Major Stitch announcement!! Stitch Adds Sanja Partalo to our Board! I recall meeting with the High Alpha partners back in 2022. It was one of our early working sessions about Stitch, and the team was already pushing me to think longer-term about making a big swing at landing a killer independent board member. I knew the ideal person: Sanja Partalo. We had recently met up after coffee in NYC, and I had made an early pitch about her helping us at Stitch. But the timing was off. She was building a new organization, and looking back, Stitch wasn’t quite ready either. Fast forward. It’s official. Sanja is now part of the Stitch team, and I couldn’t be happier. I met Sanja in San Francisco in the fall of 2019 during Salesforce’s Dreamforce event. I was introduced to her when she was a strategic leader at marketing giant WPP, leading many of their tech partner relationships (including Salesforce). At the end of our first meeting, I knew I had to find a way to work with Sanja at some point in my career. I became very intentional about keeping in contact with her. Persistence and follow-up pay off. Some of the reasons why I love Sanja: - She’s such an incredible and inspirational human being. - Throughout her career, she has had direct experience in our world, understanding both creative and tech partner services. Meaning she gets exactly what we do. - We have a history and appreciation for each other. She followed the Lev story all through Stitch’s launch to today. - International experience. - Has a vast network of connections in our space - Understands what fantastic services companies look like and can guide how to get there. - Diverse background in MarTech - A remarkable fact: President George W. Bush painted her portrait I could go on. I’ll stop for now. Bottom line - she is a badass. Speaking of being a badass, she’s one of a small group of women running a fund (S4S Ventures). So why was it essential for her to be on our Board? I want to be pushed, to think differently, to be challenged. I couldn’t think of anyone who could do that better than Sanja. Again, this is a big win for us. Welcome, and thank you, Sanja!

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***SCORED CONTRACT WITH WALMART TO SELL PRODUCT IN THEIR RETAIL STORES IN U.S. MARKET: 7/5/2024. Serial entrepreneur, Dr. D. Anthony Miles CEO and founder of Miles Development Industries Corporation ® and CMO/Equity Partner of “Safe Drop®” secured a deal with Walmart. The company just signed a lucrative deal with the global retail giant, Walmart. They will be distributing the company’s product. They just signed a lucrative deal with the global retail giant, Walmart. They will be distributing the Safe Drop® product worldwide. The projected sales for Safe Drop® in 2024 is in the billions. The company’s CEO, founder and inventor, Bob Safstrom, the mastermind behind Safe Drop®. and Dr. Miles have secured a vendor contract with Walmart Inc. Safe Drop® will be sold in Walmart’s retail stores around the country. Also they will be selling “Safe Drop®” on Walmart.com. They are both very exited to have secured the deal with Walmart. This gives them the opportunity partner a global and dominant firm like Walmart.

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Great time on the Embracing Erosion podcast w/Devon O'Rourke! We talked about: 🚀 How to scale a company from concept to 9-figure exit 🔄 How to break away from the traditional consulting model and apply product approaches ⏩ Why it’s important to iterate quickly and often with messaging 💸📈What signals are important to pay attention to when investing in startups and much more!

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Who will be the next supply chain consolidator? From 2011 to 2021, XPO scaled up from $70M to $20B, fueled by a combination of organic growth and 18 acquisitions. The model was extremely successful. But the supply chain ecosystem remains extremely fragmented. There is plenty of room for new consolidators to emerge as winners. In the food supply chain software arena, one emerging acquiror is GrubMarket Inc. They have built a network model to help food suppliers automate their relationships with their customers. GrubMarket has acquired over 100 companies to date. They are expecting to exceed $2B in annualized revenue. And they just announced their latest purchase: Butter 🧈, a SaaS platform to automate food distribution. Kudos to Mike Xu, Winston C., and all involved! #logistics #supplychain #consolidation https://lnkd.in/emY4wpsy

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Reflecting on Jay Steinfeld's wisdom, I realized most success stories miss these key points: 👉 Customer Obsession 👉 Authentic Leadership 👉 Perseverance in Adversity In a world of flash-in-the-pan successes, Jay's journey is a testament to building with purpose and passion. #StartupSuccess #LeadershipInsights #BlindsDotCom

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The global athleisure market was valued at $306.62 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 8.9% from 2022 to 2030. With athleisure wear being so versatile - seen at home, at the gym, at work, and on the streets - it’s no surprise there are a growing number of DTC brands in this category. The Charm.io team used the The Charm Growth Score™ to identify the fastest-growing DTC athleisure brands. Get the full list with in-depth insights into the metrics driving their success. Download the free report here: https://lnkd.in/eV9E5QSv The Robin Report #athleisure #ecommerceinsights #dtcbrands #CharmAnalytics

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Your brand is not your logo. 🎨 It's your reputation. 🌟 In today's noisy markets, having a compelling brand narrative is just as critical as having an innovative product. It's what sets you apart, earns trust, and drives growth. Warby Parker built a brand around making high-quality eyewear affordable for everyone. By anchoring their story in this authentic purpose, they've created a mission-driven, customer-centric brand. Craft your brand narrative around: 1️⃣ A clear, authentic purpose 2️⃣ A relatable protagonist (your customer) 3️⃣ A transformative journey 4️⃣ Your unique value prop 5️⃣ An inspiring vision for the future Tell a story that turns customers into fans and advocates. Build an asset that appreciates over time, even as your products change. #branding #startups #marketing

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An interesting article below, that demonstrates out how San Diego is punching above its weight.  And how Connect's strategy and execution over time, contintues to be central to that success. The article describes the current state of the market in Seattle.  (And i love Seattle.) It's a market that we tend to track with relative to venture fundings.  They used to kick our butts, we outraised them each of the last three years.  This despite the fact they have 3x as many funds there, and 9x the amount of resident capital there. (per pitchbook) Some key takeaways:  * They continue to compare themselves to SIlicon Valley. Instead, we leverage our proximity. *They whine there's not enough local investors (see note above - they have more than us). We bring over 200 VCs to SD annually! * They say founders are not connected with one another. We bring CEOs together regularly, in a variety of ways - private dinners and through our Springboard program. * They say they need to elevate their image on a national & international stage. Why we created and continue to build Five.Ten.Thirty (aka Inno Day).  * And the last paragraph - they need to concentrate on making their region a great place to live. Our mantra: "It's about Better, not Bigger." (See XEO, TL Fund). THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. WE ARE ON A MISSION TOGETHER!!!  (Comments, whining, suggestions on SD always welcome.) https://lnkd.in/g6Rq_f2Y

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I love this! Thank you to Rachel Brown from Beauty Independent to kick-off this exchange with Andrew Ross' provocative thesis and have us all react to it. I truly enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on the topic of the shortening lifecycle of beauty brands. Here is a snippet of mine: "Because beauty brand lifespans are shortening, it is important that we are able to differentiate brands with staying power from brands that will end up being a flash in the pan. There are much more of the latter than the former in the market right now, and if a brand is not well-positioned, it will be challenging for that brand to survive over the long-term. That’s why we focus on understanding each brand’s differentiators and long-term relevance." See more here: https://lnkd.in/esVbwnu2 and you will discover what Kevin Murphy, Odile Roujol, Rich Gersten, Tina Henry Bou-Saba, Oliver Nordlinger, Claire Chang, Manica Blain, Sonya Brown, George Birman had to say. #beautyindustry #beautyinvesting Stride Consumer Partners

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"I’m a big believer in balance to ensure long-term sustainability. When I created my goals for the year, I made sure to plan within four categories: money (business), fun, personal wellness, and relationships. My high-level goal is to be intentional about each of these categories. This allows me to stay balanced and make sure I’m prioritizing all the critical building blocks of my happiness and health." Read my full interview with Grace N. on the challenges of building a business from scratch, my advice for other women founders, and more! https://lnkd.in/ghmpWMMH

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Do you want to know the story of how Orion3 started? 🤔 This was the first time I publicly talked about the Why and the How of the most important decision of my life. My friend and Orion3 Member, Alex B Sheridan, interviewed me on his awesome podcast "Founder Talk." All of this and all that's happend in the last 3 years was a complete unexpected fortunate accident... Serendipity at it's finest. The universe brought into my life some incredible people who gave me the courage and confidence to take a chance on myself. Although I can list so many, in this episode I specifically talked about the impact that Amanda Lannert, Tony Coglianese, Brad Serot, Chris Jeffrey and the team at Baker Tilly US had on me. Well also talked a lot about emotional health, mental health. A great question he asked was : Whats the difference between being lonely and being alone? I'm not some entrepreneur who had this well thought out plan to build a company that can scale massively and make a ton of money. I'm a guy that accidentally started a business because I focused more time on self awareness than anyone I know, paid attention to the signs the universe gave me and have the courage to follow my heart. I had no idea when all this started the impact it would make on myself and others. There's not a day that goes by that I'm grateful to ALL the people who support me. Link in comments for the full episode. Something fun, real, interesting to listen to this morning 😁 #Orion3 #CreatingConsciousSerendipity #founder

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Profitable first sale. Profit first mentality. Slower growth | methodic scale. https://lnkd.in/eFQbM8NG

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This article really resonated with me, especially the section below about founders knowing their numbers. What skill set should a founder starting a brand today have?  Drew F.: "Now, more than ever, you have to know your numbers. You have to be able to describe your unit economics, not only certainly to any prospective investor, but also to yourself because the odds that you’re going to get any capital are near zero. If you don’t know your unit economics and cash flow, you won’t have a business. The founder that knows their numbers and how to scale the business in a healthy and efficient way is the founder that will prevail." Scaling a beauty brand has never been easy, but it has gotten increasingly more difficult over the past few years. Capital efficiency and a focus on margins and profitability have also become more important for investors seeking to deploy in the category. True Beauty Ventures Cristina Nuñez Rachel Brown Beauty Independent #beautyinvesting https://lnkd.in/egBiFhPC

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I'm excited to reshare this timeless episode of #Supermanagers featuring David O. Sacks, a member of the PayPal Mafia, founder of Yammer, Inc., and General Partner at Craft Ventures. David offers invaluable advice for CEOs, managers, founders, and anyone looking to elevate their organization. In this episode, David dives into:  - Introverted leadership - Managing hyper-growth - Knowing when to throw out processes  - And so much more. Don't miss out on his unique perspective and leadership journey. Tune in to learn from one of the best in the business! 🎧 Link in comments 👇

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