Michael Nogen (Overton VC) - Founding Theality Maternity Wear, Learnings Working at Gap and How He Thinks about Innovation

Thank you Joe Tonnos for the introduction to today's guest, Michael Nogen, one of the founding partners of Overton VC. Overton Venture Capital invests in early stage companies (Pre Series A) who demonstrate early success through revenue and market validation. Some of their portfolio includes Perch, Stantt and Joy Lux. Previously, he founded Theality, which became a national maternity apparel manufacturer and distributor carried by over 200 retailers and led global strategy at Gap and headed finance and strategy at 1800Flowers.com.A few books that inspired Michael:Good to Great by Jim CollinsThe Culting of Brands by Douglas AtkinNo Rules Rules by Reid HastingsQuestions I ask Michael:What was your initial attraction to entrepreneurship, and founding Theality?You then went into consulting and then working in senior positions at Gap and 1800 Flowers. What were some of the learnings working at legacy brands?How did Overton come together?During the summit, one of the focuses was why have corporations at times struggle to innovate, which lead to acquiring challenging brands. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this since you worked for established corporate brands, but also was a successful founder.Walk me through your due diligence process -When you evaluate early stage businesses, what are some of the most important elements of either the founder or the business to get you interested?Has it been hard establishing conviction amongst founders since you have to meet with them remotely during COVID?What I find really interesting about your portfolio at Overton is you invest in both software / b2b2c businesses as well as consumer brands. Many software investors have felt consumer brands aren't venture backable. I was curious since you invest in a wide range of businesses and business models, how you think about porfolio construction and the return profile on each business?What are current trends that you are focused on?Has COVID changed your point of view on any specific trends?What's one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital?

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The Consumer VC takes a look into early-stage consumer investing and venture capital. If you are interested in learning about consumer trends, have a b2c business and interested in learning about the fundraising process at the early stage, you have come to the right place. Mike interviews some of the top venture capitalists in the world that focus on B2C and consumer type companies or have a deep track record investing in these categories such as marketplaces, SaaS, social, CPG and non-tech subscription. Mike also interviews founders that are building some of the most disruptive consumer facing companies in the world. The conversation usually includes the insight the founder discovered, fundraising strategy, and the pitch. This podcast also includes bonus episodes. Each bonus episode dives into a particular subject that might not have to due with the fundraise or venture capital, but still would be helpful to founders. For example, a bonus episode on brand strategy or how to construct a board of directors. All bonus episodes will be clearly labeled. For all episodes, please visit www.theconsumervc.com. For updates, you can follow @mikegelb on Twitter.