Natalie Sportelli on investing in customer-centric brands
Plus: gift guide fatigue, AI in marketing, and more 🗞️
Good morning and welcome back to Brandscape!
I’m excited to share my first interview in this letter. Read on for insights from Natalie Sportelli, a discussion about gift guides, and the latest on AI in marketing.
Natalie Sportelli is a Director at Bullish, an early-stage consumer venture capital firm and creative agency. She’s previously worked at Thingtesting, Lerer Hippeau, and Forbes.
Could you provide an overview of what you do at Bullish?
I spend most of my time focused on two core functions: sourcing new investment opportunities and building the Bullish brand. As a member of the investment team, I am taking meetings with founders, hearing about their startups, and evaluating those businesses for potential investment from Bullish's fund. I also help support our existing portfolio companies with different things they may need. On the marketing side, I work on our newsletter, social media, events, articles, and other things that help expand our audience and get Bullish in front of more people. There's a strong correlation between getting your firm's name out there and having people think of you when they are building or know someone building a great consumer startup.
Bullish has invested in everything from August, a menstrual care brand, to Daisy, a smart home technology company. What is it like to invest in a vast array of companies? What commonalities do you see between your portfolio companies?
A lot of the fun of the job is that you are constantly learning and taking in new information. As we look to invest in companies in different categories, we have to study up on them to understand how this one or that one is positioned in the market and if we think they can be a winner. It keeps you on your toes, and over time, you see enough companies in that category that you can ask better and better questions. We have a strong track record in home services, for example, so we can spot a compelling opportunity that is solving a need there. The smarter you get on a category, the better you can evaluate new pitch decks that land in your inbox. One shared trait across our portfolio companies, of course, is that they are all consumer products or services businesses. So above all, these brands understand how to build something people actually want.
How do you identify a brand with strong growth potential?
I like to ask brands what channels will drive the most growth for them in the year ahead. That's partly to understand why that might be working right now and also how they will plan to fuel those channels moving forward. Especially if they are finding organic growth through social media or word of mouth, I want to understand how consumers might be finding the brand and what's resonating with them about it. I think brands with strong growth potential have a good understanding of what about their business clicks with their customers and they can use those insights to reach more of them. From there, they can better ascertain how to spend marketing dollars or where to put their resources to really drive results.
What strategies are the most successful brands using to stay ahead of the competition?
I personally like to see brands spend a lot of their energy focused on the future and the best way to get there is to be in constant dialogue with their customers. The best brands know who they are serving and fixate on how they can best serve their top customers. Brands that lose sight of who they are and what people want from them, I believe, will struggle to grow, because they are missing a North Star that takes them to where they want to go.
“The best brands know who they are serving and fixate on how they can best serve their top customers.”
What are some exciting trends you’re seeing in the consumer goods space for 2025?
There are a lot of smaller trends like protein-enhanced everything to AI-powered digital experiences that are working to break through to a broader consumer audience. I have been spending a lot of time exploring opportunities in health and wellness for people. I'm especially encouraged by companies focused on providing solutions for pain points across the parenthood journey for families. One thing I am following closely is how trends like "clean beauty" and "better-for-you" foods are making the jump from people to pets. Brands that are taking lessons from what humans are gravitating towards and applying that to purchases for their pets make a lot of sense to me because pet parents want the best for their animals, too.
What’s one brand you’re particularly excited about right now? What about it stands out to you?
Our portfolio company Bandit Running is a great example of a new consumer brand that's resonating with customers on a deeper level. The community-driven brand has a tight knit relationship with the running community and that group really feels seen and understood by Bandit. With marathon pop-ups, special member perks, and cool designs, Bandit is something customers feel excited to be a part of and tell their friends about. I always get excited about brands that are focused on and can galvanize a community because they know exactly who they are serving and that will give them an advantage as they continue to grow and reach new people.
Headlines of the week 📰
People are tired of gift guides. This recent NYT article explains how the world of hyperlinks and affiliate marketing gave way to an overload of gift guides, leading to “recommendation fatigue.” It also explores how Substack writers are revamping gift guides through niche recommendations. I still think gift guides are useful, especially those that are highly-differentiated and those that highlight smaller businesses.
Companies continued to experiment with AI in marketing this year—with mixed results. Companies like Coca Cola and Klarna used the power of AI tools to assist in campaign creation. As you can imagine, some campaigns were more well-received than others. Common themes included cost-cutting and increased efficiency. However, this comes at the cost of human creativity, which is central to a great campaign.
Have a good week!
-Henry
Loved this! As someone interested in the brand and VC spaces, this was so cool to see someone working at that intersection.