What a Consumer Investor Actually Looks For in Celebrity Brands | Brian Folmer, FirstLook VC

Brian Folmer is the founder of First Look Ventures, a private investor group that has backed celebrity and creator-founded companies including Homecourt by Courtney Cox, MOSH by Patrick Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, The Absorption Company by Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed, and Final Boss Sour by London Lazerson. Brian never intended to become a venture investor. After dropping out of law school to start his first company, which ultimately failed, he spent years working in corporate retail and consumer brand accelerators before landing on an insight that changed everything. Investors were making decisions about consumer brands from pitch decks and data rooms alone, never actually experiencing the product. So he built First Look, a monthly subscription box that sends samples from six curated early stage brands directly to a network of 300 angel investors, VCs, and family offices who try them at home, review the data rooms, and decide who they want to meet. That box became the feeder system for First Look Ventures, his SPV and LP syndicate that writes $400,000 to $600,000 checks into Series A and Series B consumer brands. Brian is sufficiently skeptical of celebrity brands. He breaks down the four-part checklist he uses when a celebrity is involved, why he Googles the crap out of every celebrity to understand where they are in their lifecycle, and why there are so many sharks between celebrities and the people who actually know the consumer brand world, pitching easy money and bad deals. He explains: Why celebrities today are bigger than they were in the 80s because there are so many more touchpoints for consumers to see what they are doing The four-part checklist he uses to diligence celebrity partnerships including who else is investing and whether the brand aligns with what they have been talking about for years Why Kyle Kuzma and Jake Paul investing in deep tech is the right move because they are leaning into sourcing and securing advantages traditional VCs cannot replicate Why raising a huge round right out of the gates sets a very high bar for the next round and why founders better be ready to blow it out of the water Why so many celebrities launch white label tequila and beauty brands because sharks pitch them easy money His number one advice for investors backing celebrity brands: take it slow and be conscious of the math because the risk and ROI might not be as great as you originally thought Chapters: Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction: Brian Fulmer and First Look Ventures 00:01:11 The Venture Origin Story: From Law School to Startup Accelerator 00:02:19 What is First Look: The Box Model and Private Investor Group 00:04:03 The Product Experience First Philosophy: Why Boxes Beat Pitch Decks 00:04:44 Celebrity Brand Investment Thesis: What Makes Them Interesting 00:07:14 Due Diligence on Celebrity Brands: The Checklist Approach 00:09:05 Alignment and Authenticity: When Celebrity Product Market Fit Fails 00:09:41 The Entrepreneurial Celebrity: Beyond Fame to Founder Mindset 00:11:09 The New VC Landscape: Athletes and Creators as Investors 00:13:08 Common Reasons for Passing: When Celebrity Brands Don't Make the Cut 00:14:06 Matchmaking and Connections: Leveraging the First Look Network 00:16:34 The Fundraising Dynamics: Large Rounds and High Valuations 00:18:39 Retail Strategy: When Celebrity Brands Go Nationwide on Day One 00:20:20 The White Label Problem: Why Celebrities Launch in Saturated Categories 00:23:03 The Shark Problem: Bad Actors Between Celebrities and Real Operators 00:25:03 Building vs. Being Famous: The Entrepreneur Skills Gap 00:25:24 What's Next for First Look: Dedicated Fund and Community Growth 00:27:00 Final Advice: Take It Slow and Be Conscious of the Math

HotStart VC Subscribe to The Fame Game newsletter: https://hotstart.beehiiv.com/ Become a HotStart Angel and co-invest with us in celebrity-founded brands starting from $5,000: https://www.hotstart.vc/hotstart-angels/ Check out our fund: https://www.hotstart.vc/ Scott van den Berg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc Brian Fulmer First Look Ventures: https://www.firstlook.vc/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfulmer/ HotStart VC is a fund that exclusively invests in brands founded by celebrities and creators. We're the go-to platform for celebrities and creators launching brands, providing capital, strategic support, and the infrastructure to scale.