HSR Insider's ICYMI: Issue 032

Something I Need To Share, VC Secrets, & $250,000 Investments

Maggie Sellers
24 Mar

Hallelujah! It’s Sunday!
Time for my favorite part of the week, ICYMI for HSR Insiders.

ICYMI ₊♡₊˚ 🍒・₊✧ ₊

New York or No Where: By the time you’re reading this, I’ve been in NYC for almost 36 hours and have spent 3 days at home in the last two weeks so my travel essentials have been in seriously high rotation. I’m here for some really exciting meetings and made it to my legendary friend, Serena Kerrigan’s 30th birthday and it was a party I will literally never forget!!
Founder Exposure Therapy - Celebrity Edition: This has been my favorite series recently, HSR Founder Hotline & Exposure Therapy. TBH, a lot of being a VC and investor in the early stages is like being a therapist and I’ve been putting in some serious work 😂. If you want my POV of why I wouldn’t be wasting time sending product to celebs like Alex Cooper and Alix Earle, you need to watch this viral video.
Barbie Dream House: In the few days I’ve been home in the past few weeks, I’ve been getting my house together and it has given me such a huge sense of security and comfort. This Lulu & Georgia dresser has been the most drool worth addition this week but you were OBSESSED with this Studio McGee from Target lamp I added to my bedside table when Katie was here.
VC Secrets: I pulled back the curtain on how to manipulate venture capitalists into giving you money and the unsexy thruths about venture capital this week and I’ve been loving sharing my personal vc and start up stories with you! I submitted by my audition to be a shark on shark tank and have boiling tea to spill.
$250,000 Investment: This week I invested $250,000 into a follow on bridge round for a company I already have a large position in. With Katie and our MBA intern, Jaclyn, this was one of my smoothest investments to date and I’ll be breaking down more about it in the newsletter soon!
End of Q1: It’s crazy that this week is the end of Q1. As the month and quarter are coming to an end, it’s time to reflect with my journal prompts on Pinterest to get set up for success in Q2. If you’re looking to reset and get clear on your goals for Q2, The HSR 50-20-20-10 Method will help you do exactly that!
Something I Need To Share: This week is issue 32 of my newsletter! What started from a glitch in the TikTok algorithm back in August of 2023 has grown into part of the foundation of HSR and I have an update I need to share with you below!

This Week’s Mood Board

Need to Catch Up?

₊♡₊ HSR MERCH ₊✧ ₊
₊♡₊ THE HSR 50-20-20-10 METHOD ₊✧ ₊
₊♡₊ HSR SHOP MY ₊✧ ₊
₊♡₊ HSR PODCAST PLAYLIST ₊✧ ₊
₊♡₊ HSR BOOKSHELF ₊✧ ₊

How To Finance Your Consumer Brand Without Giving Away Equity

Are you a founder/entrepreneur that is looking for ways to finance your consumer brand without giving away equity? It’s no secret that the fundraising landscape for consumer brands is challenging right now and valuations/terms are less than ideal.

I want to stop gatekeeping one of the greatest gate kept secrets in VC and invite you to a virtual ticketed event where you can learn everything you need to know about funding your consumer business without having to give up equity and be diluted. It’s called venture debt.

If you’re interested in hearing from:

a CFO who has raised over $150M in venture debt and equity for a consumer brand that has grown 3,000% in the last 5 years and is doing $300M in revenue
a CEO running a celebrity founded food and beverage company doing over 8 figures in revenue and is using venture debt
a banker who will reveal what exact metrics they look for and how they underwrite venture debt deals

this event is for you! Let me know if you’re coming below!

Are you coming?

A Reader Supported Publication

This week is issue 32 of my newsletter!! Each Sunday I have been writing to you consistently with my updates, consumer trends, and start up insights to pull back the curtain and democratize the start up ecosystem. It is truly one of my favorite parts of my week and a space I truly want to keep as authentic as possible. In order to go deeper and keep doing that, ICYMI is becoming a reader supported publication!

The weekly newsletter will always include my weekly ICYMI updates and my mood board (which according to my Instagram poll last week, is your favorite part), and the weekly giveaway for all subscribers.

Paying subscribers will get to go behind the scenes into weekly consumer news, deep-dives, founder profiles, case studies, and strategy tips that have been build around mine and Katie’s collective 25+ year career in the consumer brand space. Annual subscribers will also be invited to attend the soon to launch intimate HSR chat circles to connect with me and the HSR community.

I am so thankful for all of your support and I can’t wait for what’s to come! I hope you’ll join me! I want to note that this newsletter is an educational resource and can likely be expensed through your company or a tax write off if you’re an entrepreneur generating business income. I have a template for you to use when asking! If you are going to expense this through your company or write it off, please consider paying annually.

This week I’m sharing:

my top takeaways from the Forerunner Ventures and Coefficient Capital consumer reports
the major trends I saw at Expo West and Shop Talk
how a founder bootstrapped a beverage brand to $17M in revenue
and two jobs in consumer VC that I would be applying for to supercharge your career!

TYSM, I♡U!!!!

In case you're new here, I do secret giveaways for the people who are supporting me on this journey of becoming an accidental creator and media entrepreneur while I continue to do what I love most, which is invest in companies and work with founders.

This weekend I was at the legendary Serena Kerrigan’s birthday party in NYC! In order to celebrate, we’re giving away a set of her cards from Let’s Fucking Date, Play, or F****! SO to enter this week's giveaway, comment on this video with a 🍒 emoji and your current relationship status (ex. single, it’s complicated..)!! Unlimited entries count.

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HSR Insider's ICYMI: Issue 032

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