Venture Stories

Erik is joined on this episode by Ryan Caldbeck (@ryan_caldbeck), co-founder and CEO of CircleUp.Ryan starts out by explaining how he got started in CPG and the mission of CircleUp. He talks about why some VCs don't realize that the market is worth paying attention to and some of their biases when evaluating CPG opportunities.He explains the data-driven approach that CircleUp uses to predict which companies will be most valuable and explains why a fund needs to have CPG as its only focus to succeed.Ryan also opens up about his personal experience as a founder dealing with mental health challenges and talks about why it’s so difficult for founders, employees and investors in the startup ecosystem to be vulnerable about what they're facing. He discusses what he thinks needs to happen for mental health to be addressed properly by the Valley.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on T