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Oliver Buchannon
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The Capital Window Is Open, But It’s Ruthless

Feb 16, 2026

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4 min read

The Capital Window Is Open, But It’s Ruthless

Hero, Ollie, Once Upon a Farm, and Freestyle show what actually clears in 2026. For 18 months, the narrative in consumer has been: Strategics only want $1B platforms, The IPO market is dead, DTC multiples are gone. This week’s deals say something different. A “boring” conglomerate quietly compounded a 5.5x revenue acquisition into a category leader. A $600M pet food exit cleared in a compressed DTC market. A refrigerated baby food company popped 17% on IPO. A diaper startup won Walmart not with story, but with performance. Capital is back. But it’s backing something very specific.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
From Digestive Health to Chickens: What Gets Funded Now

Feb 9, 2026

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5 min read

From Digestive Health to Chickens: What Gets Funded Now

Wonderbelly, Ultra, NOBULL, and a chicken company, show the new bar for capital.For the last 18 months, the narrative in consumer has been simple:strategics only care about $1B+ platforms.Sub-$100M brands? Nice businesses. Not needle-movers.This week broke that narrative.A digestive startup exited for nine figures at ~$25M revenue.A supplement brand raised on a format shift, not a new ingredient.A “CrossFit shoe company” re-emerged as a $1B wellness platform.And a chicken feed company is quietly building one of the stickiest pet businesses in America.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
What Actually Gets Funded in Consumer Right Now

Feb 2, 2026

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5 min read

What Actually Gets Funded in Consumer Right Now

Non-alcoholic beer, “clean” water, hormone-aware supplements and the real bar investors are setting.The funding window in consumer isn’t closed, but it’s narrow, opinionated, and unforgiving.Capital is flowing to brands that do one thing exceptionally well, can explain why they exist in one sentence, and show early signs of pricing power, margin literacy, and cultural relevance, not just growth curves.This week’s stories all point to the same reality:Premium non-alcoholic beer raised at a $100M+ valuationA water brand raised on lab reports, not vibesA supplement startup raised by reframing pills as protocolsAnd a fund manager explained why “niche” can now mean $200M+ businessesThis issue is about what actually gets funded in consumer right now, and what doesn’t.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
What Paris Reveals About Durable Consumer Brands

Jan 26, 2026

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5 min read

What Paris Reveals About Durable Consumer Brands

From fragrance to fashion to furniture, Paris reveals how durable consumer brands are actually built.I’m in Paris this week, and it’s impossible not to notice something.The most impressive consumer brands here aren’t chasing growth optics. They’re underwriting durability, margin, pricing power, and global portability, often through moves that look irrational if you only model store-level ROI.A minority stake in a Paris perfume house.A fashion brand handing out tea and cookies instead of discounts.A $100M retail “store” that makes no sense on a spreadsheet.These aren’t indulgences. They’re strategy.This week’s issue is about what Paris reveals about how real consumer brands compound, and why the most durable growth often looks slow, expensive, or inefficient right up until it isn’t.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
When Some $100m Brands Become $1B Platforms, and Others Break

Jan 19, 2026

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4 min read

When Some $100m Brands Become $1B Platforms, and Others Break

From Unilever’s Liquid I.V. bet to Food52’s Chapter 11, this week shows the difference between revenue growth and real durability.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Balance Sheets First, Growth Later

Jan 12, 2026

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5 min read

Balance Sheets First, Growth Later

What Laird + Navitas, ABH’s recap, and a Flux episode reveal about where real value is.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
From Golden Goose to Tariffs: What Actually Compounds

Jan 5, 2026

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5 min read

From Golden Goose to Tariffs: What Actually Compounds

Golden Goose at $2.9B, Vacation’s $80M sprint, Costco’s tariff hedge, and early-stage pattern recognition.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Function is beating lifestyle again

Dec 29, 2025

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4 min read

Function is beating lifestyle again

Fertility roll-ups, protein milk, medical skincare - and why systems win

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Starbucks didn’t fix sales. It fixed behavior.

Dec 22, 2025

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5 min read

Starbucks didn’t fix sales. It fixed behavior.

Scarcity, tariffs, and why K-beauty’s first M&A wave just got repriced.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Celebrity Spirits Surge, Blue Bottle Resets, CPK Gets Reimagined

Dec 14, 2025

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5 min read

Celebrity Spirits Surge, Blue Bottle Resets, CPK Gets Reimagined

Dos Hombres scales with new funding, Nestlé tests the market for Blue Bottle, and CPK becomes a brand-first acquisition, and the playbook behind a high-retention skincare brand.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Under Armour’s Breakup, Stance’s Sale, TRUBAR’s 2.7× Exit, Plus: How Brands Actually Get Financed

Dec 8, 2025

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5 min read

Under Armour’s Breakup, Stance’s Sale, TRUBAR’s 2.7× Exit, Plus: How Brands Actually Get Financed

Athlete deals end, DTC brands transition, and a micro-cap delivers a strategic win.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Perelel’s Big Raise, Topgolf’s Reset, and What Investors Really Want

Dec 1, 2025

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5 min read

Perelel’s Big Raise, Topgolf’s Reset, and What Investors Really Want

Perelel’s growth, Function’s rocketship membership model, Topgolf’s reset, and what Willow Growth says founders still get wrong.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Billion-Dollar Milk, $5B SKIMS & YETI’s Wild Multiple

Nov 24, 2025

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4 min read

Billion-Dollar Milk, $5B SKIMS & YETI’s Wild Multiple

Fairlife’s rise, SKIMS’ next chapter, and why Wildgrain cracked the subscription code.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
From Longevity to Labubu: How Culture Is Rewiring Consumer Brands

Nov 17, 2025

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4 min read

From Longevity to Labubu: How Culture Is Rewiring Consumer Brands

Longevity meets creator capital, toys go fashion, and Courteney Cox redefines home care, plus KarpReilly’s Drew Skolnik on what “good” looks like in 2025.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Billion-Dollar Berries, Founder Buybacks & Djokovic’s Snack Bet

Nov 10, 2025

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4 min read

Billion-Dollar Berries, Founder Buybacks & Djokovic’s Snack Bet

Premium produce gets private equity, Justin’s regains its founder DNA, and Red Antler launches a brand-first venture fund.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
From Yogurt to Ramen: Founders Reinventing the Everyday

Nov 3, 2025

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4 min read

From Yogurt to Ramen: Founders Reinventing the Everyday

Chobani’s $20B valuation, LVMH’s Kendo playbook, and KilgourMD’s $5m raise, plus Immi Co-Founder Kevin Lee on building a better bowl.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
From A2 Ice Cream to $10M Skiwear: Founders Who Scale Smart

Oct 28, 2025

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4 min read

From A2 Ice Cream to $10M Skiwear: Founders Who Scale Smart

Alec’s Ice Cream’s $11M raise, Halfdays’ push into technical apparel, Kylie Jenner’s Sprinter RTD, and how &Collar’s Founder rebuilt a $10M DTC brand from scratch.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
From Pet Treats to Sleep Tech: The New Consumer Platforms

Oct 20, 2025

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4 min read

From Pet Treats to Sleep Tech: The New Consumer Platforms

Treat Planet’s latest acquisition, Blackstone’s K-Beauty move, Dreem Health’s sleep-tech expansion + Passport CEO Alex Yancher on the new global commerce landscape.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Billion-Dollar Pouches, K-Beauty Moves & Gas Station M&A

Oct 14, 2025

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4 min read

Billion-Dollar Pouches, K-Beauty Moves & Gas Station M&A

Nicotine 2.0, K-Beauty packaging M&A, convenience meets QSR, plus a cold-plunge founder’s blueprint for cash-efficient growth.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Billion-Dollar Beverages, Family Holding Chess & Appliance Disruption

Oct 6, 2025

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4 min read

Billion-Dollar Beverages, Family Holding Chess & Appliance Disruption

Challenger CPGs hit scale, JAB plays long game in coffee, Copper reframes appliances as energy devices, and Mack Weldon’s founder talks brand durability in 2025.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Pets, Fashion AI, and Activist Pressure

Sep 30, 2025

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4 min read

Pets, Fashion AI, and Activist Pressure

The vet sector heats up, Phoebe Gates launches Phia, Carter’s fends off an activist hedge fund, and Jay Wright shares hard truths on growth plateaus.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Licensing Plays, Strategic Capital, and Protein’s Rise

Sep 24, 2025

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3 min read

Licensing Plays, Strategic Capital, and Protein’s Rise

This week we’re tracking moves across apparel, wellness, and protein that highlight how consumer brands scale, restructure, and attract capital. Plus, we break down what makes beauty & wellness fundable with True Beauty Ventures.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Premium Diapers, Sovereign Luxury, and Capital Discipline

Sep 16, 2025

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3 min read

Premium Diapers, Sovereign Luxury, and Capital Discipline

This week, we’re looking at how premium positioning, sovereign wealth, and capital-light discipline are shaping consumer brands.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Sydney Sweeney moves markets, Garage Beer’s $200M leap, and Lululemon’s big bet

Sep 9, 2025

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3 min read

Sydney Sweeney moves markets, Garage Beer’s $200M leap, and Lululemon’s big bet

From viral jeans ads to NFL-backed beer brands, consumer markets are moving fast. Plus, what happens when DTC doesn’t go to plan, Andrew Kitirattragarn shares his lessons.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
Billion-dollar sleep, bankrupt teens, and a $500M kombucha deal

Sep 4, 2025

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3 min read

Billion-dollar sleep, bankrupt teens, and a $500M kombucha deal

Eight Sleep joins the $1B club, Claire’s struggles under debt again, Butterfly builds a fresh-beverage empire, plus Springdale Ventures on what gets funded.

Fan Bi
Fan Bi
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In The Money: eCommerce, DTC and CPG

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