An incredible 5 days in California

An incredible 5 days in California last week:

1. I attended Sugar Capital’s Annual General Meeting where I learned from some of the most impressive founders, corporate executives, investors, and LPs in the consumer space. Pay attention to Brian Sugar Lisa Sugar Krista Moatz and Will Hawthorne and their portfolio companies over the next several years — if you have an opportunity to be an LP in their fund, don’t miss out.

2. I met up with my friend Isaac Medeiros. He founded and built Mini Katana LLC into an eCommerce business that became so successful, he actually ran out of market share to dominate! Now, he’s building something new, Kanpai Foods, which he plans to turn into the next GREAT candy company for the TikTok generation.

3. My longtime friend Tal Moore let me crash at his place in Santa Monica. Tal is a truly legendary entrepreneur with one of the most inspiring stories you will ever read. He has started and sold many businesses, invested in dozens more, and is now laser-focused on building Popsmith, which is reinventing the popcorn category from the ground up.

4. About 10 people came to meet me for an impromptu founder lunch in LA. HUGE shout out to Max Curnin, Charlie Fogarty, Kelsey Hunter, Michael Lovascio, Jacob Sussman, and Luke Meyer, MA.

5. I ended my journey in California with a ride to the airport with the ever talented Kara LaForgia, Esq.. We had a great conversation about all the fun, trials, and tribulations that come with investing in early-stage founders, how best to manage our time supporting them, and what the fundraising landscape is like in today’s market for both founders and fellow GPs.

I don’t travel for work very often, but these trips are such an important reminder of the importance of relationships and quality time IRL.