Deborah Benton's guest appearances

Deborah Benton

The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing I Brands

Edvolution Podcast

The Hunt for the How

Startup Hacks

Ray Dalio

Jennifer Garner

Ben Horowitz

Rick Heitzmann

Paul Hsiao

Nicole Quinn

Michele Romanow

Andrew Dudum

Austin Belcak

Eamonn Carey

Elizabeth Yin

Mike Ghaffary

Monique Woodard

Alexandra Fine

Martha Stewart

OwlTail

Thank you Sunny Dhillon for the introduction to today's guest, Deborah Benton. Deb is the founder and general partner of Willow Growth Partners. Willow provides early growth capital to entrepreneurs building the next generation of transformative consumer brands and the disruptive technologies that power them. Prior to launching her fund, Deborah held many senior operational positions in companies like Nasty Gal, Shoe Dazzle and eToys. We discuss what investors don't get about investing in consumer brands, lessons learned working for established and aspiring brands and her approach to trends.The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:Summit.theconsumervc.comEnter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% offA couple books that inspired Deborah -Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. FranklThe Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoSome of the questions I ask Deb:I'd love to first start with your career. What was your initial attraction to work in retail and consumer products?You've witnessed companies raise lots of money and have lots of momentum and then not be able to become profitable or reach their goals and end up falling apart. What were some of the learnings from these experiences?What attracted you to the world of investing and how did you make decisions as an angel investor?When it comes to consumer products in 2020 where you no longer can scale efficiently like you could of 10 years ago, what is the key?You're currently closing your first fund, what attracted you to shift to become a VC from being an angel investor?What are current retail trends that you are focused on?We've seen large corporations finally wake up to ecommerce during COVID. Do you think, even though ecommerce penetration has increased substantially this year, it's more competitive than it was pre-COVID?What's one thing that you would change when it comes to venture capital?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?

Thank you <a href="https://www.theconsumervc.com/78-sunny-dhillon-signia-partners-grocery-store-technology-why-beauty-brands-are-great-to-invest-in-and-changes-in-retail/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sunny Dhillon</a> for the introduction to today's guest, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/debenton/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deborah Benton</a>. Deb is the founder and general partner of <a href="https://willowgrowth.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Willow Growth Partners</a>. Willow provides early growth capital to entrepreneurs building the next generation of transformative consumer brands and the disruptive technologies that power them. Prior to launching her fund, Deborah held many senior operational positions in companies like Nasty Gal, Shoe Dazzle and eToys. We discuss what investors don't get about investing in consumer brands, lessons learned working for established and aspiring brands and her approach to trends. The Consumer VC Summit: February 23-25Full Lineup and to purchase tickets:<a href="https://app.redcircle.com/shows/3af1af78-a3bd-428f-a8f8-947073d6388c/ep/0fb856e1-7f1c-4c67-8a98-4c414cd58645/Summit.theconsumervc.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Summit.theconsumervc.com</a>Enter CONSUMERVC at checkout for 20% off A couple books that inspired Deborah -<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807014273/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0807014273&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;linkId=7f58ded1eae0d301d9a818b5d9342ab5&amp;tag=theconsumervc-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Man's Search For Meaning</a> by Viktor E. Frankl<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062315005/ref=as_li_tl?camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0062315005&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;linkId=b4163c2f9d5af5f7baf5f3fab8a57cce&amp;tag=theconsumervc-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Alchemist</a> by Paulo Coelho Some of the questions I ask Deb:<ol><li>I'd love to first start with your career. What was your initial attraction to work in retail and consumer products?</li><li>You've witnessed companies raise lots of money and have lots of momentum and then not be able to become profitable or reach their goals and end up falling apart. What were some of the learnings from these experiences?</li><li>What attracted you to the world of investing and how did you make decisions as an angel investor?</li><li>When it comes to consumer products in 2020 where you no longer can scale efficiently like you could of 10 years ago, what is the key?</li><li>You're currently closing your first fund, what attracted you to shift to become a VC from being an angel investor?</li><li>What are current retail trends that you are focused on?</li><li>We've seen large corporations finally wake up to ecommerce during COVID. Do you think, even though ecommerce penetration has increased substantially this year, it's more competitive than it was pre-COVID?</li><li>What's one thing that you would change when it comes to venture capital?</li><li>What's the best piece of advice that you've received?</li></ol>

Deborah Benton (Willow Growth Partners) - The Need to Focus on Profitability from Day One, Why Raising Lots of Money Doesn't Mean Success, and Her Investment Philosophy at Willow Growth

Deborah Benton: Chasing Stability, Learning to Think, Success in School &amp; WorkIn this episode of the Edvolution Podcast with host, Shireen Jaffer, Deborah shares how success was defined for her during her childhood, and how following the path to “stability” led her to a “prestigious” job that got her physically sick. This wake-up call serves as a catalyst for Deborah to re-define success for herself, build confidence within herself, and overcome the need for validation from others. We also discuss her opinions on our education system as she questions what we were taught in school that limits our ability to think for ourselves.About Deborah Benton:Deborah Benton is the founding Partner of Willow Growth Partners, an early-stage Consumer fund. Prior to investing, Deborah served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Nasty Gal, the preeminent online women’s fashion retailer for the millennial set. In 2012, Nasty Gal was named one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country.  Prior to Nasty Gal, Deborah was the Chief Operating Officer of ShoeDazzle, an innovative online women’s fashion footwear company whose revenue grew from launch to almost $100M in just a few years.

Deborah Benton: Chasing Stability, Learning to Think, Success in School &amp; Work In this episode of the Edvolution Podcast with host, Shireen Jaffer, Deborah shares how success was defined for her during her childhood, and how following the path to “stability” led her to a “prestigious” job that got her physically sick. This wake-up call serves as a catalyst for Deborah to re-define success for herself, build confidence within herself, and overcome the need for validation from others. We also discuss her opinions on our education system as she questions what we were taught in school that limits our ability to think for ourselves. About Deborah Benton: Deborah Benton is the founding Partner of Willow Growth Partners, an early-stage Consumer fund. Prior to investing, Deborah served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Nasty Gal, the preeminent online women’s fashion retailer for the millennial set. In 2012, Nasty Gal was named one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country.  Prior to Nasty Gal, Deborah was the Chief Operating Officer of ShoeDazzle, an innovative online women’s fashion footwear company whose revenue grew from launch to almost $100M in just a few years.

Deborah Benton: Chasing Stability, Learning to Think, Success in School & Work - Edvo