Podcasts about xrc labs

Lay of The Land's conversation today is with Brian Folmer.Born and raised in Cleveland, Brian has boomeranged back to Cleveland after 6 years in NYC and starting his own company.Brian is the founder of FirstLook.vc and Distrobox.co; he's a mentor at Techstars and a16z, Managing Partner of the FirstLook Syndicate, and a proud Ohio State Alum. He previously led BD & Strategic Partnerships at XRC Labs, International Operations at Victoria's Secret, and took his first startup through a technology startup accelerator in his hometown Cleveland, OH.Through his work at FirstLook, he's come to believe founders are the dreamers in action who drive innovation, push the world forward, and create the bedrock of our economy — and in practice, he's focused on helping those founders build exciting brands and realize their visions. FirstLook is dedicated to cutting the friction and red tape between founders and investors by sending innovative products from emerging, high-growth consumer brands directly to early-stage investors via their subscription box.In our conversation today, we explore how by connecting these two groups in a new, efficient, and practical way, Brian can uncover far more promising brands than before and begin to rewrite the script on consumer investing. Please enjoy my conversation with Brian Folmer--Connect with Brian Folmer on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfolmer/Follow Brian Folmer on Twitter @homerfolmer — https://twitter.com/homerfolmerLearn more about FirstLook VC — https://firstlook.vc/Follow FirstLook VC on Twitter @firstlookvc — https://twitter.com/firstlookvcConnect with FirstLook VC on Linkedin — https://www.linkedin.com/company/firstlook-venture-co/--Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

XRC Labs is looking for the next consumer brand winner. The organization is both a venture capital fund and accelerator that has been around since 2015. Its portfolio companies include Outlines, Caraa and Billie. Partner Diana Melencio is constantly trying to figure out what's next -- and what market is under-tapped. On the Modern Retail Podcast this week, Melencio spoke about her investing process and the areas she's most excited about for the year to come. For example, she sees men's skincare having a moment soon. She also sees older generations as a demographic that remains overlooked by many startups. "Women over 40, women over 50," Melencio said. "They're a demographic that has some of the highest purchasing power in the world in the country. They're at a stage in their career where they have a lot of disposable income, and there are very few brands that try to directly speak with them." One of XRC's main theses is that digital is the way of the future for consumer-facing brands. And even though foot traffic is coming back to some stores, there is still too much under-utilized retail space. If you go to a mall in suburban New Jersey or Connecticut on a weekday, she said, "there are not a lot of people shopping there." As such, she's looking for ways that companies can rethink the spaces they once relied on. But perhaps most top of mind for her -- and most entrepreneurs -- is how to stay afloat given the current economic uncertainty. It's true that it's tough to raise money as a startup right now, said Melencio. But now is when brands can prove they have longstanding business models that can outlast downturn. "The first thing is that you should be profitable on your first sale," said Melencio.

With the penultimate episode of Season 5 we pause briefly to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone, before taking an insider's view of the dynamic world of retail tech and consumer investing with Al Sambar, a deeply experienced industry executive who now serves as a General Partner at XRC Labs.We get a fast-paced primer on how venture capital works and XRC's particular focus on early stage investing. Al helps us understand the process for discovering and sorting through those start-ups with the greatest disruptive potential before getting a behind the scenes view of how XRC's investment thesis has evolved over the years. We then take a look ahead at what trends will shape retail innovation in the future, with key take-aways for retail executives, budding entrepreneurs, and venture capital investments.But first we dip into the week in retail news, including how the holiday season seems to be unfolding, perhaps to a game of what Michael calls "discount chicken." We make a return trip to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner and news of some serious stumbling as well as promising signs from the likes of Stitch Fix, Rent the Runway, Chewy, Blue Apron, and Getir. We close highlighting the remarkable results from Lululemon and the staggeringly high valuation of Fanatics.Catch Steve and Michael at NRF's Big ShowAbout AlAs XRC Labs's General Partner, Al Sambar leads business strategy and development for the NYC tech accelerator. A leader in innovation, Al previously held the role of Managing Director at Kurt Salmon's North American Retail and Consumer Group. For more than 20 years, Al has been providing retailers and consumer companies with strategic planning, organizational design, consumer insights and operating performance improvement services, with deep specialization in omni-channel retailing and global brand management. About UsSteve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his       website.    The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book  Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a      Forbes senior contributor and on       Twitter and       LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel      here.Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada's top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus  Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  ,      The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext!  You can learn more about Michael   here  or on     LinkedIn. Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue,  his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!

As a partner at XRC Labs, a New York-based venture fund and startup accelerator, Diana Melencio is actively working to help underrepresented founders get the funding they need to run successful companies. The fund primarily focuses on retail technology and consumer goods. To date, the company has invested in some of the buzziest names in these industries, including The Lobby, Billie, Caraa and Wear.   "It's a business imperative to invest in underrepresented founders only because ... so much of the untapped opportunity isin those areas," Melencio said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. "It's not a marketing ploy or something that we're actively trying to skew our demographics for, but rather one that is grounded in the fact that there is a huge opportunity in investing in these types of founders." Melencio has only been with XRC Labs for one year, but her past experience on Wall Street prepared her for this role, she said. For 10 years, Melencio focused on investing in consumer retail and healthcare. She then founded two companies, one of which received an XRC Labs investment. Right before joining XRC Labs, Melencio ran WISE Ventures, an investment fund.   With over a decade's worth of experience in funding and retail technology, Melencio is excited about the future of retail and the new brands and founders that will arise as a result. "Consumers [want to] purchase a product anywhere and everywhere," Melencio said. "To me, the future store [is] everywhere, like a truly omnichannel experience."

In this episode, we talk to Rima about her journey from being a "stock picker" in equity research at GS to business development at Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren and eventually venture capital, first with XRC labs, and now Commerce Ventures. Rima also touches on her experience working for StartU, "a Techcrunch for student startups" as she calls it, while doing her MBA. She emphasizes the importance of mentorship and community in solving gender disparity in VC and encourages aspiring female investors to tap into their strengths and form meaningful relationships to break in. 

Brands need funding. And capital investors need brands with good ideas. On this week's episode of The Irresistible Factor, Kristi Bridges speaks with Christopher Jane, CEO and co-founder of Proper Good, and Al Sambar, General Partner at XRC Labs, a venture capital firm and accelerator that invested in Proper Good. You'll hear what investors like Al look for in a startup, and the importance of quality founders. And Chris talks about the need he identified that inspired him to start this brand, along with the challenges and benefits of launching it at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And you'll learn how Proper Good mitigates risk while developing new products.

What are VCs looking for when investing in CPG Brands? I talk with Diana Melencio, partner at XRC Labs on how brands can stand out to VCs, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how to show your brand can reach $200 million. We also discuss the XRC accelerator program which invests $135k in brands and provides in-kind services.You can learn more and apply to Cohort 13 here, the deadline is December 12th, 2021. Want to meet the XRC Labs team? You can sign up for office hours here. Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

XRC Labs is an innovation accelerator for the next generation of disruptors in the retail technology and consumer goods sectors. Serial entrepreneur and investment partner Diana Melencio joins Justin to discuss industry trends, how to successfully launch and grow a consumer brand, and the venture capital approach at XRC Labs.

In this episode, Hall welcomes Pano Anthos, Founder and Managing Director of XRC Labs.XRC Labs is a startup accelerator and venture fund dedicated to fostering the next generation of disruptors in the retail technology and consumer goods sectors.  The NYC-based company launched in 2015 with its founding sponsor, the Parsons School of Design at The New School. Having invested in nearly 100 startups, XRC Labs has built a world-class ecosystem with corporate sponsors including Mastercard, The Estée Lauder Companies, CVS Health, and more than 330 business mentors. As the former leader of the digital practice at Eaglepoint Advisors, Pano enjoyed the challenge of understanding how far retail was from digital excellence and served in a number of interim roles from CEO, to Chief Product Officer and Chief Digital Officer for media companies, retail, consumer durable goods, and industrial companies. Under Guided Launch, he advised or co-founded 4 digital media and software companies. including Gather Education, an ed-tech company building virtual reality classrooms that serve the 3G market. Prior to co-founding Gather Edjucation, Pano co-founded Hangout Industries, which was the first to bring video game technology and name brands to Facebook in 2007 and grew the Hangout Facebook apps to millions of users, leveraging: media brands (e.g. NBA, Conde Nast); fashion brands (Steve Madden, Abigail Lorick, Rich and Skinny Jeans), and lifestyle brands (Red Bull and Skull Candy). They were a Techcrunch 50 finalis,t and MITX Digital Media winner for "Best Use of Technology" in 2008. Previously, he co-founded two enterprise software companies, Pantero, which sold to Progress Software at 13x trailing revenues & Syntra/Clearcross, bootstrapped to over 1000 customers in 30 countries with one of the first commercially available web services (1999) that was licensed into Oracle ERP and embedded in their ERP suite. Pano discusses his investment thesis, advises startups and investors, and shares what he thinks are good opportunities for investors to pursue. You can visit XRC Labs at , via LinkedIn at , and via Twitter at .   Pano can be contacted via email at , via LinkedIn at , and via Twitter at .   Music courtesy of . 

I am addicted to praise, to validation. But it also means that criticism, no matter how small, bothers me. It took me a long time to realize that if I were to measure my value based on what others thought of me, I would be forever be riding a rollercoaster of emotions. Now I am learning to rely more on my self-evaluation. While I still enjoy a compliment (especially if it is related to the podcast), and a criticism still makes me sad, I try not to spend much time mulling over either.In this episode, Alexandria (Alex) Carroll, shares her story of being told that her experience was not good enough and how she she found the conviction to say “Yes, it is”. Do not miss this great conversation with Alex where she shares her lessons learned on how to filter feedback and not personalize someone’s opinion. Alex is an entrepreneurial strategy and operations leader whose career spans tech, consumer retail, and investment banking. Her startup experience includes founding License to Drift, a leisure travel planning assistant, and executing growth team initiatives at future of work startup Undock. She has also mentored retail tech startups through XRC Labs, VentureOut, and RetailXSeries. Alex honed her business acumen at leading multinational companies such as Global Brands Group/Li & Fung, Perry Ellis International, and Goldman Sachs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Stanford University and an MBA with Honors from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. You can connect with Alex on LinkedIn. On Twitter, she is @xmisscarroll.If you have any comments about the episode or would like to share your own story, you can leave it here.

EPISODE 8, SEASON 1: This week, guest Pano Anthos- long-time investor and Founder of NYC-based consumer and retail accelerator XRC Labs- joined to talk about the 'Future of Startups'. His take? Business' future depends on startups and the speed of innovation, adoption, and change will only continue to accelerate. And as the startup ecosystem grow and expands, what it takes to succeed must evolves too. ABOUT THE SERIES: Future of XYZ is a weekly interview series dedicated to fostering forward-thinking discussions about where we are as a world and where we're going. Hosted by LVG & Co.- an independent strategy consultancy based in New York City. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit future-of.xyz and follow on social media... LinkedIn: @lisagralnek, @lvg-co-strategy | Twitter: @lgralnek | FB: @lgralnek | IG: @lisavgralnek

About Pano AnthosPano leads XRC Labs as its Founder and Managing Director. Having founded 4 startups around key platform shifts, he saw the seismic shift coming to retail and with the right vision and timing recruited Parsons School of Design and Kurt Salmon a part of Accenture Strategy to be founding sponsors. Now with 80 accelerated startups, 10 active world-class retail sponsors, 250+ business mentors, Pano has built a world-class ecosystem for retail and consumer goods innovation at XRC Labs. He speaks regularly at NRF national and regional meetings, Shoptalk, and RILA executive conferences. He leverages a deep startup network in Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston to fuse leading technology, E-commerce and user experience innovations to existing customer-oriented businesses.

Pano Anthos, the Founder and Managing Director of XRC Labs, adds his page to the Marketing Playbook. Hear how to use available tools and resources to your advantage, how to sacrifice short-term profitability for long-term innovation, how to provide the best shopping experience possible, what the future of retail will look like, and Pano's business lessons from the tennis world. Connect with Pano at Pano@XRClabs.com

Sapna Shah C93, W93, is an angel investor, retail expert and three-time entrepreneur. Through Red Giraffe Advisors, Sapna makes angel and early-stage seed investments in retail tech, fashion tech and e-commerce startups. Select investments include: The Wing, Stantt, Findmine, Swoonery, Dough, Modalyst, Monica + Andy and Iterate Studio. Sapna is also the founder of Retail X Series, a retail startup boot camp program for pre-seed stage founders who are revolutionizing the future of retail. Retail X holds monthly events with experts covering topics from customer acquisition, to financial modeling, to seed stage fundraising, targeted specifically to early stage B2B and DTC retail founders. Sapna advises start-ups and judges in the startup competitions at the Wharton School, NYU Stern and Columbia Business School. She has also mentored at a number of New York-based accelerators including Friends of eBay, Grand Central Tech, Monarq, XRC Labs, New York Fashion Tech Lab and Trendseeder. Sapna has also served on the Board of Directors of New York Angels, one of the most active angel groups in the world. Previously, Sapna co-founded and led Retail Eye Partners, a successful independent Wall Street equity research firm. At Retail Eye, Sapna assessed the monthly and quarterly performance of major retailers in the specialty, big box and department store sectors through intensive channel checks and analysis. Sapna also co-founded and launched a menswear e-commerce retailer, Mind the Chap, and led the Marketing and Web Development areas of the company. Prior to Retail Eye Partners, Sapna was Executive Director of Strategy and Customer Insight at Linens & Things, Inc., responsible for customer targeting and segmentation, market and consumer research, corporate strategic planning, new business rollouts and competitive benchmarking. Prior to Linens & Things, Sapna was Director of Strategic Planning &; New Business Development at Ann Taylor, where she worked on launching Ann Taylor’s e-commerce site, developing a color cosmetics line, visioning the store of the future and improving store operations. Sapna also has experience at Gap, Inc. Previous to her career in retail, Sapna worked in investment banking at Punk, Ziegel &; Knoell and at Morgan Stanley as a credit analyst. Sapna received her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School as well as a B.A. in East Asian Studies from the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.  She received her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. She is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York.

Hello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! My guest this week is Rima Reddy, a Principal at XRC Labs, an early stage accelerator dedicated to investing in the next wave of disruptors in the consumer and retail goods industries. At XRC, Rima leads the startup sourcing and diligence process, and participates on the Selection Committee. Prior to XRC, Rima focused on e-commerce and omni-channel initiatives at Ralph Lauren, and served as an Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs. She was recognized by Business Insider as "22 Female Angel Investors Every Startup Founder Should Know," and speaks extensively on the topics of early-stage investing and women in entrepreneurship. Today on the show, we’ll be talking about the support she provides to female founders, as well as her transition to becoming an investor herself. Since the retail industry can be notoriously slow, XRC’s main goal is to bridge the gap between larger, more traditional brands and promising tech startups in order to drive the entire ecosystem forward. Early stage founders complete a 14-week program where XRC helps with all aspects of the business, from messaging and business development to networking with potential clients and being placed on panels. XRC provides founders with a small amount of capital at the beginning, but also assists with the next round of fundraising at the end of the 14 week program, introducing them to angels and VC’s who can take the business to the next level. When selecting startups for their program, XRC looks for founders who are both extremely confident about their business and its mission, and open to criticism and advice. “It’s really the founder that we’re investing in… We watch them pivot, and see if they can take the feedback to make the right move.” They also seek entrepreneurs who solve the problems that larger brands currently face. As of now 60% of the companies XRC works with have a woman on their founding team, and 45% have a female CEO. The XRC community stays actively involved in founders’ journeys after graduation, providing support and hosting alumni events. Rima also supports early stage investors through her work with 37 Angels, one of the largest investing networks in New York. She was drawn to 37 Angels because of their great sense of community, which is very inclusive and woman focused. This sense of ongoing community has played a critical role in Rima’s own career journey. Considering that both of her large career transitions have been all about networking, she strongly recommends that women have as many conversations with other startups and angel investors as possible. Her other piece of advice: “Read a ton! There are so many great blogs about venture capital and angel investing.” Rima, thank you so much for coming on the show this week and sharing the work you’re doing with both XRC Labs and 37 Angels. Thank you also to all of you out there listening, sharing the show, and reviewing. See you next week! Connect with us Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

This episode highlights what makes a disruptor a disruptor in a sea of new upstart brands from the perspective of Pano Anthos, founder and managing director of XRC Labs, an innovation accelerator for the next generation of disruptors in the retail and consumer goods sectors.

Step by step guide to raising VC money from a VC with Sumeet Shah from Brand Foundry. Sumeet Shah is a principal at Brand Foundry VC. Brand Foundry VC have invested companies such as Warby Parker, Birchbox, Harry’s, Peloton and more. Sumeet graduated from Columbia university in 2008 with a bachelors in biomedical engineering focusing on biomechanics. He has over 6 years of experience across the startup and private equity industries, formerly running new business strategies at Gist Digital and handling business development and project work at Gotham Consulting Partners. He also assisted in the creation of XRC Labs, a consumer and retail accelerator, as the Program Manager for their inaugural class and was Head of Strategic Partnerships for their second class. In this episode Sumeet lays out the blueprint for anyone who wants to raise Venture capital or anyone who is considering a career as a venture capitalist. This was a really informative show so make sure you’ve got your note-tak

When he was very young, he wanted to be the Pope, and that’s not a joke or meant to be a rhyme. Kushal’s one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He earned his bachelor’s degree in India before coming to the U.S. and attending Columbia Business School. He’s made appearances both on the startup scene as one of the co-founders of Layerink, a 3D printing company, and bringing this technical expertise to management consulting where he also assists other founders in New York City through a startup incubator called XRC Labs. His greatest influences were two of his uncles; one who was elected to the Indian parliament, and another who was able to start his own company with only ten dollars to his name. After being the Pope, his next choice was to work on automobiles and become a mechanic. His foundation in mechanical engineering would later provide the foundation for him becoming an influencer in what’s known as the “maker” movement or 3D printing. He and a couple of friends started Layerink as a service business in which the revenues later funded the research and development for his team to start creating products. There’s a lot of technical detail in this episode about recycling plastic for material use in 3D printers as well as NASA wanting to use moon dust to create parts for astronauts in space. If you’re at all intrigued by 3D printing and its future,you’re not going to want to miss this one. You can listen to the full episode here. If you’d like to reach Kushal, you can find him on LinkedIn. Please leave a review on iTunes or on Google Play and tune in again next week. Have a great 4th of July!