Bullish

Bullish portfolio brands are going to the Olympics 🏅 Bandit, a running apparel brand, is outfitting Team Saint Vincent & The Grenadines. Two of the country's track and field athletes, Shafiqua Maloney and Handal Roman, are competing in the 800m event. Hair color brand Hally Hair has partnered with Leanne Wong, a member of the Team USA gymnastics team. OMORPHO, the weighted fitness brand, helped prepare Team USA high jumper Vashti Cunningham, who has been training in the G-Vest Sport ahead of the Games. Hafsa Kamara, a member of the Sierra Leone National Track and Field Team, has also been training in a G-Vest. Let us know if you'll be watching.

We're planning Office Hours for the rest of 2024. So far, we've met consumer founders building in Austin, Chicago, Denver, and Syracuse. We're excited to see where the rest of the year takes us. What cities should we host for next? Let us know in the comments. Read more about Bullish Office Hours here: https://lnkd.in/eJC_Muni

Horizon Hobby is the world’s largest manufacturer of hobby-grade remote control planes, cars, helicopters, boats, and more. We were first introduced to the team through a private equity firm in our network who thought we might be able to support with our creative expertise. Horizon Hobby is in the midst of an ambitious transformation. One of the projects we plugged in on was helping them upweight how they market the remarkable innovation built into their products. Our job was to figure out what part of the story should be told around the high-tech SPEKTRUM chip that powers these vehicles. We developed a logo, tagline, website, and digital ads around this advanced technology that helps hobbyists know they're ready. Learn more about Horizon Hobby and the creative work we've done with the company here. https://lnkd.in/diJD_DS2

For our latest Cultural Tension, we studied the Class of 2024. Given their untraditional matriculation, this year’s college graduates serve as a fascinating study into the role of individuals over institutions (one of our Cultural Themes). As this class of young people heads to the office, they’re bringing with them a unique set of experiences, values, and desires that will inform their purchasing behavior and much more. We dug into the headwinds and opportunities available to these young people to learn about how companies can meet their needs as an emerging consumers. Read more here. https://lnkd.in/eSKMFHw8

Brent Vartan and Michael Duda know how to build brands. And they've been doing that consistently at Bullish Inc since 2015, creating impressive results for brands like Warby Parker, Harry's Inc., Casper, Peloton Interactive, Hu, Care/of, Nom Nom, and many more. So how exactly do they do it? That's what Brent and I talk about in this latest episode of Any Insights Yet? https://lnkd.in/gEF4dWqY Some of my favorite aha moments from our conversation include: -Exploring immutable human desires like family, honor, and idealism as key starting points for brand-building -The role of vengeance as a rallying cry for brands and consumers -How chasing after the lowest cost per acquisition is NOT always the best way to grow a brand -The evolution of ecommerce to consultative commerce -Brent’s secrets for getting consumers to let down their guard during research *** On a more personal note, here's a little back story... Back in 2007, Brent was my planning director at BBDO New York. I had just graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and I had ZERO agency experience. There was a lot I needed to learn, but from the very first week, Brent took me under his wing, teaching me how to ask better questions, how to navigate the politics of client-agency relationships, and the importance of proofing every slide. Simply put, Brent taught me how to be a great planner and an even better human. I honestly don't think I would be doing what I'm doing today if it weren't for Brent. Mentorship really does make a difference. *** If you like this episode of Any Insights Yet, go ahead and "tap that" follow/subscribe button for notifications about new episodes. As always, special thanks to producer-extraordinaire Michael Osborne for helping me bring this podcast to life. And if you have time, please let me know...what question do you really want me to ask on a future episode? #insights #strategy #leadership #mentorship

Issue #34 of The Brief includes: - Why we're bullish on Daisy, our latest investment - Challenges and opportunities for the Class of 2024 - News from Bandit, Winx Health - Updates from Bullish HQ Read and subscribe: https://lnkd.in/eBQHPY-w

Please join us in welcoming Anna McClelland to the team!

Issue #34 of The Brief, Bullish's monthly newsletter, is hitting inboxes this week. This issue will go deep on our latest investment, investigate a cultural tension, share consumer insights, highlight portfolio news, and more. Don't miss it. Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/eviHjGgA

As the 2024 Paris Olympics approach, you may notice track and field athletes running their events in logo-free, black gear. It's all part of Bandit Running's "Unsponsored Project," where the brand is supporting 35 athletes in an effort to challenge the standard sponsorship model for professional athletes and boost up-and-coming competitors. Read more about the buzzy initiative in CNBC. https://lnkd.in/eBGCPUnY

On Wednesday, CI conquered New York City for our second annual intern trip, meeting with a few of our portfolio companies and other leading VCs in the area. 🏙️ The day kicked off with a meeting at the Yale Club with Haider Akmal from Vaal Investment Partners, where we learned about his background and experience discovering that the venture capital ecosystem was where he wanted to be. Then, we met with Aaron Marbley at 2045 Studio, a diverse private membership club that strives to combine digital networking with in-person experiences. Next up, the team walked (and biked) over to Bullish to meet with Michael Duda and hear about the impressive startups Bullish works with every day. 💡 At AlleyCorp, we met with Brannon Jones and learned about the company’s focus on progressive technology investments (shoutout for the fun reading material), followed by a meeting at Contour Ventures, where Owen Davis filled us in on how far AI can go, its limitations and its capabilities. 💻 The group made its way even further downtown, meeting with the co-founder of ACME General Corp., David Bonfili. Here, we got the company’s insight on the future of the national security space. Last, but certainly not least, we soaked in the sunset with a rooftop meeting and networking event at Wheelhouse 360, a venture fund in CI’s portfolio. 🌇 Shoutout to Michael Anderson for wrapping the day and telling us the story behind Wheelhouse’s excentric space on Duane Street. Stay tuned for a fun recap reel coming your way… see you next summer, NYC! 👋🏼