In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Hannah Dittman sits down with Drew Fallon, Co-Founder and CEO of Iris Finance, an AI-powered financial planning and forecasting platform helping emerging consumer brands make smarter financial decisions, improve profitability, and prepare for long-term growth.
Before launching Iris Finance, Drew spent nearly a decade building and scaling consumer brands, including serving as CFO of Mad Rabbit during its rapid growth. Today, through Iris, he works alongside hundreds of CPG founders, giving him a unique perspective on fundraising, acquisitions, financial planning, profitability, and the market forces shaping the next generation of consumer brands.
Hannah and Drew take a step back to examine the broader CPG landscape, discussing the current acquisition environment, why headline acquisitions don't always reflect the overall health of the market, and how founders should think about building businesses that remain valuable regardless of shifting investment cycles. They also explore where strategic buyers are placing bets, how changing consumer behavior is reshaping billion-dollar portfolios, and why the strongest brands continue to focus on financial fundamentals instead of chasing short-term trends.
Listen in as they cover:
- Why today's acquisition headlines don't tell the full story of the CPG market
- The difference between mature categories and emerging white-space opportunities
- Why strategic buyers are restructuring portfolios and actively searching for new growth
- How founders can build companies with real exit potential
- The categories attracting the most acquisition and investment activity
- Why valuation multiples have changed over the past several years
- How profitability and contribution margins have become increasingly important
- Why scaling revenue without healthy fundamentals can actually reduce enterprise value
- How GLP-1 medications and changing consumer behavior are creating entirely new markets
- The biggest similarities among brands that consistently outperform competitors
- Where Drew believes the next wave of acquisitions will come from
- Practical advice for founders thinking about fundraising, growth, and long-term value creation
Whether you're fundraising, building your first consumer brand, preparing for an eventual exit, or simply trying to better understand where the CPG market is headed, this episode offers thoughtful, practical insights into what investors, operators, and strategic acquirers are looking for in today's environment.
Episode Links
Drew Fallon — LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-f-74947b117/
Iris Finance
https://www.irisfinance.co/
Iris Finance — LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/irisfinancial
Show Links
- Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to “Transcript” at the top)
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (35K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Hannah's Linkedin
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
