Amongst EIS funds and VCTs, consumer companies is less popular than B2B investments but still have their attractions. VGC Partners is one of the few managers that focus on this area and we get Investment Director, Phoebe Scriven to discuss it.

In a fascinating discussion we cover many topics:

• why consumer is still attractive despite the economy
• how the dynamics of returns in consumer venture capital investments is different from B2B
• how to understand the consumer when its not something that you would buy yourself
• getting conviction when data is limited
• developing investment theses
• finding quality within a group of companies within the same space
• how creative companies can find a formula for repeat success

Phoebe brings lots of real life examples and really brings out her thought processes and approach to making investments.

01:00 how Phoebe became involved in venture capital

02:40 what VGC does

04:45 why is consumer attractive now

07:00 consumer brands don't scale as quickly - don't need unicorns to get good returns

13:00 B2C vs B2B investing -

14:00 understanding the consumer if you aren't the consumer

19:00 how to get insights into consumers - qualitative insights

23:15 quantitative insights

26:45 thinness of data and using opinions: testing beliefs and getting conviction

32:45 looking for differentiation when you see a lot of similar companies

36:45 example of circular economy companies

41:30 other areas of current interest - VR gaming,

46:45 creating formulas for repeated creative success

49:50 favourite questions

Links

VGC website - https://vgc.partners/

Phoebe's email - phobe@vgc.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebescriven/

Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

Suggested books

Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull

Culture Code by Daniel Coyle

Bio

Phoebe Scriven

Investment Director, VGC Partners

Phoebe leads early-stage EIS investing at VGC Partners.

After reading English at Oxford, Phoebe began her career in product innovation and strategy, working with major FMCG companies and travelling across the globe to better understand different consumers. From there, she moved into consulting and development finance, while (outside of her day job) getting increasingly involved with the London start-up ecosystem via DevelopHer, a non-profit organsiation. In 2019, Phoebe made the move into venture capital, joining Supernode Global, where she made her first investments and exit. Phoebe joined VGC Partners at the beginning of 2023.