Aubrie Pagano's guest appearances

Aubrie Pagano

American Fashion Podcast — exploring innovation and sustainability across the industry

Fashion Is Your Business - a retail technology podcast

The Glossy Podcast

Spirit of 608: Fashion, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability + Tech

Kickstarter Success Stories

The VentureFizz Podcast

The Puck: Venture Capital and Beyond

The Deal

Eric Tarczynski

Tom Ford

Claire Mazur

Jenny Fleiss

Kelly Cook

Jeff Johnson

Emily Weiss

Jennifer Lopez

David Chang

Ralph Lauren

John Burns

Eileen Fisher

Jennifer Smith

Brad Feld

Henry Davis

OwlTail

Aubrie Pagano is a General Partner at Alpaca, a firm built by founders for founders.  Alpaca focuses on commerce enablement, including e-commerce, global logistics and data infrastructure around the global economy of goods.  Learn more about Alpaca at alpaca.vc and follow Aubrie on twitter.To learn more about Antler and how you can start your next company with us please come see us at antler.coSome notable investments in the Alpaca pack:FirstbaseImperfect FoodsCompassThe SandboxLatchSome people Aubrie follows: Rex Woodbury - Investor at Index VenturesNatalie Sportelli - Head of Content and Thing TestingBenedict Evans - WriterMatthew Hertz - COO Second MarathonScott Galloway - the dawgBooks in Aubrie's LibraryGood to Great - Jim CollinsFast and Slow Thinking - Daniel KahnemanSolvable

Aubrie Pagano is a General Partner at Alpaca, a firm built by founders for founders.  Alpaca focuses on commerce enablement, including e-commerce, global logistics and data infrastructure around the global economy of goods.  Learn more about Alpaca at <a href="https://alpaca.vc/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">alpaca.vc</a> and follow <a href="https://twitter.com/aubriepagano" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aubrie on twitter</a>. To learn more about Antler and how you can start your next company with us please come see us at <a href="https://www.antler.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">antler.co</a> Some notable investments in the Alpaca pack:<ul><li>Firstbase</li><li>Imperfect Foods</li><li>Compass</li><li>The Sandbox</li><li>Latch</li></ul>Some people Aubrie follows: <ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/rex_woodbury" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rex Woodbury</a> - Investor at Index Ventures</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/N_Sportelli" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Natalie Sportelli</a> - Head of Content and Thing Testing</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/benedictevans" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Benedict Evans</a> - Writer</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/mattahertz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Matthew Hertz</a> - COO Second Marathon</li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/profgalloway" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scott Galloway </a>- the dawg</li></ul>Books in Aubrie's Library<ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sxts_rp_s_sp_1_0?content-id=amzn1.sym.4cb47115-4900-486d-840c-0289a5ea836f%3Aamzn1.sym.4cb47115-4900-486d-840c-0289a5ea836f&amp;cv_ct_cx=the+good+to+great&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwgO2XBhCaARIsANrW2X0F_gdUTmKPs3p2Fy2YQEf-MvgWIKjhxK41s0i-GHSmUOtqVFQG95YaApvwEALw_wcB&amp;hvadid=232526012330&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=9028276&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=6989007321553644326&amp;hvtargid=kwd-314993302686&amp;hydadcr=24658_9648989&amp;keywords=the+good+to+great&amp;pd_rd_i=0066620996&amp;pd_rd_r=5ad570f8-8ae7-40a1-86f8-df863c96db07&amp;pd_rd_w=n6fAe&amp;pd_rd_wg=xhirw&amp;pf_rd_p=4cb47115-4900-486d-840c-0289a5ea836f&amp;pf_rd_r=H80D6B13ASKW1AVK5END&amp;psc=1&amp;qid=1660662398&amp;sr=1-1-5985efba-8948-4f09-9122-d605505c9d1e" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Good to Great</a> - Jim Collins</li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman-ebook/dp/B00555X8OA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3AWLZNUVM67KV&amp;keywords=fast+and+slow+thinking&amp;qid=1660662466&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=fast+and+slow+thinkin%2Cstripbooks%2C92&amp;sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fast and Slow Thinking</a> - Daniel Kahneman</li><li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/12RtWzIOj9gdr98MUDTaUB?si=f58177dc13d54c8e" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Solvable</a></li></ul>

Aubrie Pagano—Alpaca

As she has experience as a founder -- of fashion brand Bow &amp; Drape, launched in 2012 -- Aubrie Pagano, a general partner at venture capital firm Alpaca VC, is adept at identifying whether or not a founder is worth investing in. “It's understanding what your customer needs from the brand and how you can augment the brand with that founder voice,” said Pagano, on the latest Glossy Podcast.Pagano founded Bow &amp; Drape at a time when customization, whether of a Chipotle bowl or a T-shirt, was growing in popularity. “We were super excited about creating more personal, expressive fashion,” said Pagano. She set out to focus on the millennial demographic at the time. “[We] launched our sweatshirt that became an eponymous product,” she said, referring to Bow &amp; Drape’s best-selling style that reads "Goal Digger" in gold lettering. It was sported by Serena Williams in 2015.Although Pagano sold Bow &amp; Drape in 2019, the seven years she spent growing it allowed her to experience the evolution of brands.When Bow &amp; Brand entered the retail space with companies like Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom in 2015, “It was a symbiotic opportunity at the time,” she said. The brand gained a platform, while the retailers were able to engage customers in a new way.Now, “The future of brands is omnichannel,” said Pagano. “It's going wherever your customers are, whether that's live commerce or retail, or online through a traditional PDP.”As Pagano has shifted from founder to investor with Alpaca VC, she’s also found that tenacity and magnetism are key traits when gauging a founder’s potential.“Alpaca is an early-stage fund focused on the intersection of the digital and physical worlds, where people are using technology to transform daily life,” she said. Pagano was drawn to the firm because of the team’s understanding of “the entrepreneur journey” and its “research-driven approach to how we invest in companies.”One of the areas that Pagano has invested in at Alpaca is the “re-commerce space,” or the reuse of goods. It has to do with the fact that “consumers, especially Gen Z, are saying, ‘There’s too much stuff,'” Pagano said. Live commerce, returns and cross-border commerce are also areas that Pagano deems worthy of investment. “The internet has allowed culture to atomize in such a way that you can speak very specifically to a very vertical audience,” said Pagano. “Speaking to a specific audience and having an affinity and community who you speak to is paramount.”

As she has experience as a founder -- of fashion brand Bow &amp; Drape, launched in 2012 -- Aubrie Pagano, a general partner at venture capital firm Alpaca VC, is adept at identifying whether or not a founder is worth investing in. “It's understanding what your customer needs from the brand and how you can augment the brand with that founder voice,” said Pagano, on the latest Glossy Podcast.Pagano founded Bow &amp; Drape at a time when customization, whether of a Chipotle bowl or a T-shirt, was growing in popularity. “We were super excited about creating more personal, expressive fashion,” said Pagano. She set out to focus on the millennial demographic at the time. “[We] launched our sweatshirt that became an eponymous product,” she said, referring to Bow &amp; Drape’s best-selling style that reads "Goal Digger" in gold lettering. It was sported by Serena Williams in 2015.Although Pagano sold Bow &amp; Drape in 2019, the seven years she spent growing it allowed her to experience the evolution of brands.When Bow &amp; Brand entered the retail space with companies like Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom in 2015, “It was a symbiotic opportunity at the time,” she said. The brand gained a platform, while the retailers were able to engage customers in a new way.Now, “The future of brands is omnichannel,” said Pagano. “It's going wherever your customers are, whether that's live commerce or retail, or online through a traditional PDP.”As Pagano has shifted from founder to investor with Alpaca VC, she’s also found that tenacity and magnetism are key traits when gauging a founder’s potential.“Alpaca is an early-stage fund focused on the intersection of the digital and physical worlds, where people are using technology to transform daily life,” she said. Pagano was drawn to the firm because of the team’s understanding of “the entrepreneur journey” and its “research-driven approach to how we invest in companies.”One of the areas that Pagano has invested in at Alpaca is the “re-commerce space,” or the reuse of goods. It has to do with the fact that “consumers, especially Gen Z, are saying, ‘There’s too much stuff,'” Pagano said. Live commerce, returns and cross-border commerce are also areas that Pagano deems worthy of investment. “The internet has allowed culture to atomize in such a way that you can speak very specifically to a very vertical audience,” said Pagano. “Speaking to a specific audience and having an affinity and community who you speak to is paramount.”

Alpaca VC's Aubrie Pagano: 'The future of brands is omnichannel'

It was obvious that entrepreneurship was in the future for Aubrie being that she started her first venture as a child with a neighborhood door to door art gallery. After graduating from Harvard and spending time in the finance industry, she knew that she always wanted to start a company.She had noticed a growing trend towards mass customization across different sectors and decided to start a platform for custom fashion called Bow &amp; Drape with her co-founder Shelly Madick. Like with so many startups, you have to find the right product-market fit for your audience and it took lots of experiments, determination, and good old fashioned hard work before they landed on a hit - that being personalized casualwear that was fun and all about expression. Not only did it appeal to a mass audience but soon celebrities and influencers became customers. The company was acquired last year by Win Brand Group. For Aubrie’s next chapter, she has joined Alpaca VC as a Partner. She is looking to leverage her combination of experience as an operator and investor to work with entrepreneurs who are reshaping the real world and layering technology over daily life experiences.In this episode of our podcast, we cover:* A deep dive into Bow &amp; Drape and the stories behind the company.* Why entrepreneurs might want to consider debt financing more often.* How Aubrie landed in the VC industry and discovered a passion for working with other entrepreneurs through XFactor Ventures.* All the details on Alpaca VC, a seed-stage investment firm.* Advice for female &amp; minority founders when raising capital.* And so much more.If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

It was obvious that entrepreneurship was in the future for Aubrie being that she started her first venture as a child with a neighborhood door to door art gallery. After graduating from Harvard and spending time in the finance industry, she knew that she always wanted to start a company. She had noticed a growing trend towards mass customization across different sectors and decided to start a platform for custom fashion called Bow &amp; Drape with her co-founder Shelly Madick. Like with so many startups, you have to find the right product-market fit for your audience and it took lots of experiments, determination, and good old fashioned hard work before they landed on a hit - that being personalized casualwear that was fun and all about expression. Not only did it appeal to a mass audience but soon celebrities and influencers became customers. The company was acquired last year by Win Brand Group. For Aubrie’s next chapter, she has joined Alpaca VC as a Partner. She is looking to leverage her combination of experience as an operator and investor to work with entrepreneurs who are reshaping the real world and layering technology over daily life experiences. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A deep dive into Bow &amp; Drape and the stories behind the company. * Why entrepreneurs might want to consider debt financing more often. * How Aubrie landed in the VC industry and discovered a passion for working with other entrepreneurs through XFactor Ventures. * All the details on Alpaca VC, a seed-stage investment firm. * Advice for female &amp; minority founders when raising capital. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Episode 172: Aubrie Pagano - General Partner, Alpaca VC