S4 Ep30: Is Impact Investing a Win-Win? Positive for Your Portfolio and Society, too? with Michael Pierce
“As a venture capitalist, you can’t just keep paying lip service to these problems, you have to actively do something.” — Michael Pierce
Post-seed investment is the most underrated stage of investing. Post-seed investment is a venture capital investment that comes after a startup's initial "seed" round. New startups often raise a seed round after launching their product to gather the funding they need to grow their operations and help their companies grow fast enough to make them valuable. The seed funding stage that preceded it was good at getting companies started but not very good at helping them thereafter, which explains why most startups never get past the early stage. They’re at a point where they need a large amount of money to get past key milestones necessary to attract later-stage growth capital or a buyer. Wherever possible, growth needs to be funded with equity rather than debt. This way companies can benefit not just from the money, but from a new way of life.
In this week’s episode, Digi Ventures founder, Michael Pierce, answers how investors decide which companies to invest in. Michael started Digi Ventures to provide assistance to companies that are focused on developing solutions and products that are meaningful, sustainable, and create repeatable revenue.
Listen as Justine, Bridget, and Michael explain the world of impact investing to a broader audience and explain why impact investing should be so enticing for venture capitalists and angel investors looking to affect change. The trio also talks about why the organic food space is a good choice to invest in, things to look for in a company before you invest, the challenges that come with this opportunity, and how this can mean so much more in terms of solving the food security crisis. Tune in to realize the potential that impacts investing has to transform our food system.
Connect with Michael:
Michael is a well-respected investor in Los Angeles. As an entrepreneur he co-founded Pierce Williams Entertainment and Zero Gravity Management, which produced and financed 10 feature films with combined revenues over $200m, including the Oscar-nominated film The Cooler.
His investment interests have evolved over the last 15 years. His roots lie in his Canadian business of oil/gas and real estate, but his keen eye for returns moved his focus to public market equities in the late 2000s. His returns on technology-related stocks surpassed his other investments and he shifted his attention to this area as an investor.
In 2011, Michael was a founding partner of venture capital firm, WPSChallenger. Most recently, Michael has gotten closer to the source of innovation by backing technology founders directly as an Angel Investor in LA. His diverse and entrepreneurial background gives him a distinct perspective on new businesses and a unique ability to identify and support talented exceptional founders. Recently, he made a return to the content space as the CEO of the new OTT platform, Raw Milk.
Michael has a BA from The University of Western Ontario and an LLB from University College London. Michael currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two young kids.
Connect with Bridget (Dine & Design Co-Host):
A native from NZ, Bridget Cooper moved to NY when she was 18 to pursue a career in Interior Design. This journey started a life of the International jet set for Cooper, as travel became the source of inspiration and resource for herself and so many of her clients.
Her innate ability to seek out the extraordinary is the foundation for curating layered interiors and unforgettable experiences. This has built her a reputation in the design world as the “one in the know” and “to know”.
Bridget’s interior work ranges from chic high-rise apartments in Chicago and NY to modern farmhouses in Northern California. In recent years, Bridget Cooper has expanded her creative talents working on many commercial projects and events creating unforgettable experiences on both big and small scales. Bridget delights in over-thinking every detail and loves pushing the boundaries to keep things fresh and unexpected.
Currently, Bridget and her husband Rob have moved from SF to Ojai, Ca (a small town north of Los Angeles) where they are building Iverson house.
Episode Highlights:
00:35 The Interest in the Organic Food Space
06:10 Where Investment is Most Needed
13:01 Things to Look for When Investing
18:03 The Challenges
22:17 Equal Access to Good Food
27:19 What Is Truly Lacking
29:25 Believe in the Process
Inspirational Quotes:
05:54 “As an early stage investor, it's all about the people. I believe people make the difference.” -Michael Pierce
09:29 “We need to modify all of our investment strategies as a venture capitalist… As an investor, you have to start backing companies that are … going to be very good for society as a whole where people are healthier than everyone's going to benefit.” -Michael Pierce
12:23 “The takeaway from COVID, is that people are trying to be healthier and more mindful of their health.” -Michael Pierce
17:56 “That's a challenge, too, that if we want one extreme, we then have challenges on the other.” -Justine Reichman
20:31 “Business model, just from a pure capitalist point of view, is so difficult to revive. It's become so efficient and that's hard to change.” -Michael Pierce
21:36 “I don't think we were quite as aware as we are today. Kids today are much more aware and astute of what's going on in the world. We just did things without implication.” -Justine Reichman
24:41 “People as a whole would eat better if they could, but people in lower income areas have no access to good food.” -Michael Pierce
27:19 “I find there's not a shortage of money for this space, it's actually just finding people that are willing to spend the time to try to innovate, because it's not easy.” -Michael Pierce
28:31 “As a venture capitalist, you can't just keep paying lip service to these problems, you have to actively do something.” -Michael Pierce
29:25 “Believe in the process that you can make a difference... You can change things, but it has to start from the grassroots.” -Michael Pierce
29:55 “Never say ‘no’ to an opportunity even if it's something that you're not interested in at the time because you never know what you’ll get from that experience.” -Bridget Cooper
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman: So welcome to Dine & Design. I'm Justine Reichman. And today, I have my co-host, Bridget Cooper, and we're excited to welcome our guest, Michael Pierce, social entrepreneur.
Welcome, Michael.
Michael Pierce: Thank you for having me.
Justine Reichman: We're so excited to have and hear from you what you're working on today. And just hear why and how you became a social entrepreneur.
Michael Pierce: Well, it kind of started eight years ago, formally with an investment in a very tiny company called Thrive Market. Which at that point was three guys in a basement of a church in Venice with two fold out tables and three fold out chairs with an idea to change the distribution model of organic and paleo and gluten free food in America, which was a tall task, and most ideas that early in that space never succeed. So from an investment point of view, everyone in my fund consistently told me that this is an idea that 99 out of 100 times will fail, no one's ever been able to do it. And I said: "No, I have a feeling that this is not going to happen. This is the time we're coming to an inflection point where Whole Foods has had kind of a monopoly on organic food distribution for many years, 15 years, just because they had an exclusive deal with UNFI, which is the largest organic food distributor in America." They had these bricks and mortar stores everywhere, but only in San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles, New York, maybe Boston, one or two other cities, but the whole rest of the country has no access to the food. What about all the other states, what about the Midwest, and the South, and the northwest, and the Northeast, all of these people can't find a Whole Foods. And even if they did find a Whole Foods, the prices are consistently 20 to 30%, or 40% higher than all the other food that you find in normal conventional supermarkets.
So the idea was to start a Costco model and put everything online. Have no bricks and mortar at all, just have a fulfillment center. And then do your own deal with UNFI and charge a subscription. $60 a year, and we'll discount all of our food by 30 to 40%. So similar to what Costco did, but for gluten free, paleo and organic food. So it started after a month sales, were just astronomical, and it went up exponentially every month. We realized that we're really onto something now. I didn't formally join the company, I've just been an advisor and a large shareholder. I was the very first fund to invest. My fund consists mostly of my family, it's just me, my wife and my kids. So it's kind of a family office. It then occurred to us that there are a lot of other people that share our view on food, and so we set up an influencer campaign, which I used years of being a film producer, a lot of human capital that I've accumulated. People that are celebrities that you know but didn't really realize they were really interested in the organic food space. And we brought them on to the platform as brand spokesman, and they drove a lot of traffic to the website.
And after another four to six months of this process, it became a real movement. And what we found out from our data was that our number one subscriber in United States were single mothers. I think, obviously, from a statistical point of view, true, but it was more than that. More people want to feed their children healthy food, but don't have the option or can't afford to go to Whole Foods. And there was no Whole Foods near where they were. So in the Midwest, they partnered with influencers like Wellness Mama, and this woman drove millions and millions of people to Thrive Market just because she was such a respected influencer in the space. And she's a mother, single mother with four children somewhere in the Midwest. I don't know her personally, but it was incredible what she did.
Justine Reichman: Did you have any data on how much greater access you provided by now having Thrive?
Michael Pierce: Tons of data, because Thrive also had a very philanthropic model where they gave away and they still do a free membership for every paid one to a member of the United States military, or public school teachers, or families that live below the national poverty line, and they've given away to date. I don't know the number, was well over a million and a half free memberships. So that's making a difference.
Justine Reichman: Really would want healthier food.
“As an early stage investor, it's all about the people. I believe people make the difference.” -Michael Pierce
Bridget Cooper: That's something that you came up with? Was that the people that started it off? Was it always their mission to have that sort of--
Michael Pierce: Yeah, it always was Nick Green and Gunnar Lovelace, the two co founders, extraordinary men, and I can't claim to do what other, anything other than give them some seed capital amongst some other people too. I'm just a tiny little piece of it. Nick is from Harvard and very quantitative and (inaudible), and his mother on that jewelry store. A famous jewelry store, which is still there. And his mother was interested in organic food decades before anyone really even thought about it, and he kind of mixed gunner and his down to earth, and kind of organic in nature with Nick's incredibly sharp quantitative brain and logistical expertise. You had two amazing entrepreneurs, and that's kind of what I invest in. I just invest in people, especially as an early stage investor, it's all about the people. And for me, it's all about the bottom up right now. I believe people make the difference. We're all uniquely the same.
Justine Reichman: So if I can just go back to, I'm curious, you invested in the people, but I know that you said you grew up in Canada, and you grew up on a farm, right?
Michael Pierce: Yeah. On a ranch.
Justine Reichman: Does that play a role in your affinity or interest in investing in food and greater access to healthy food?
Michael Pierce: It's hard for me to really answer that. I haven't given that much thought, because it's all kind of happened recently in my life. But growing up, we didn't have access to wholesome food. We had huge vegetable gardens and all organic beef, we still do have some cattle on our ranch, we sold most of the operation because it was very difficult to make a living at it, sadly. And that's another whole story. Yes, we did have very pure food, and mother was always quite focused on that. And then my father had some health problems, quite serious health problems when I was a teenager. He had a heart attack. And then he had another one. And then he had surgery. And that really left an indelible impression on me. So I've watched him slowly, he died suddenly in my second year of law school. So that's all influenced me for sure. But I didn't really know how to eat that well when I was in my early 20's because no one really talked about it much. That was before Whole Foods.
There was a store called Wild Oats in Santa Monica, there was a chain of them, they got bought by Whole Foods. That was kind of the precursor. I kind of thought that this seems like a great idea, but I didn't really know anything about investing. At that point, I was a film producer. I never really thought I would end up as a venture capitalist. My life pivoted after my film career kind of ended. I got tired of making movies and maybe a little bit disillusioned with Hollywood, quite honestly. I made a lot of movies, 12 movies in seven years. I thought I just want to try something different, and so I actually joined a private equity fund out of London and we invest in all sorts of different things. But nothing to do with organic food, because the other people on the Investment Committee, my partners in the fund, did not share my interest in that space at all. And so when they saw startups in that space, I said: "Well, I think we should make an investment here." Like, that doesn't fit our risk profile, that's not a chance. I felt very alone, so I'm leaving that firm. I took a chance and hired away a lot of the guys from that firm and started my own venture firm.
Bridget Cooper: That's really bold of you.
Michael Pierce: I guess part of it was motivated by this instinct, but I think this space is not only potentially going to be a growth area and good investment, but it's so redemptive societally. I just think we have to start looking at these issues. You can't just be about maximizing revenue. I've always been a huge opponent of factory farming, that's something that I've, even though I didn't know a lot about it, I am still not an expert. But I know enough to where I think it's a real problem in this country.
Bridget Cooper: I didn't realize that when growing up in New Zealand and I came to America, I saw everyone was saying grass fed beef. I was like, well, what else is there? That really was amazing to me that America just wasn't, they didn't have that knowledge that it can be that way, and it's great to see that changing now.
“We need to modify all of our investment strategies as a venture capitalist… As an investor, you have to start backing companies that are … going to be very good for society as a whole where people are healthier than everyone's going to benefit.” -Michael Pierce
Michael Pierce: I'm from Canada most over half my life. So essentially, I consider myself very American, and I'm very proud to be an American citizen. When I got my citizenship is a very proud moment. My wife, my wife's American, my kids are American, my businesses are all American, quite honestly. So like, I don't love America, I do. But I also feel that in order for us to maintain the system and have it work, we need to modify all of our investment strategies as a venture capitalist. (inaudible) for society. But as an investor, you have to start backing companies that are not necessarily, initially going to turn an enormous profit by generating a large margin, but down the road are going to be very good for society as a whole. That's where people are healthier than everyone's going to benefit.
Justine Reichman: When you're looking to invest in these companies and for the future.
Michael Pierce: Well, it's a good question. And it's very difficult to find early stage companies that succeed. I mean, 9 out of 10 fail. That's the statistic I've been extremely lucky with my fund that I have had. I have three unicorns now. And then the social platform called cameo, which I don't know if you've heard of. Cameo is a social media platform where we democratize fame. Anybody can go on the platform and get paid for giving a shout out or a birthday wish if you're a B list celebrity, or a C list celebrity, or if you're just anyone for that matter who's got something that people think's interesting. You go on a platform and you establish a market value for what your shout out costs, and then the platform takes a percentage of it and you keep the rest. It is a huge business now. And then a Cargomatic is a logistic company that developed new software to manage how ports are administered with cargo, and the big containers come off the ship is organized and structured. And all the trucks in our platform never are empty, it makes sure that a truck is full going to and from a destination. It's quite simple.
Bridget Cooper: How has that been through COVID?
Michael Pierce: Funny you should say that. So Cargomatic been challenged because of all of the backup in Long Beach for where it's a Southern California company. They have struggled because no one had ever seen an unprecedented amount of supply chain issues that no one has seen before. For that company is doing very well, but it's certainly been challenging. But the pandemic energize my other two companies, Cameo, because most celebrities weren't working for over a year doing to generate revenue. Especially if you're, not not Brad Pitt, but to someone who's made the movie, you could from your house generate significant revenue by doing shoutouts on your cell phone to all your fans on your fan base. So that grew 100% a month for a year. And then Thrive Market was already trending. Well, the sales were going up with huge growth every month. But then the pandemic is supercharged Thrive. Thrive has (inaudible) company now with I think 1000 employees, and now three huge fulfillment centers, and I think going public this year.
Justine Reichman: Wow. That's great.
Michael Pierce: I'm not super in touch with them on a daily basis. They're quite private about the plans, but it's a big platform.
“The takeaway from COVID, is that people are trying to be healthier and more mindful of their health.” -Michael Pierce
Bridget Cooper: Now this guy, I mean, the one thing the takeaway from COVID that people are trying to be healthier and more mindful of like the house and what they're putting in their mouths, cooking and all that. It's great.
Michael Pierce: That's definitely part of it. And also just the fact that Thrive being deliverables before, we'll still have this kind of this that buried, well, I want to go to the supermarket. But now, no one wanted to go to the supermarket. So if you have organic, or paleo, or gluten free needs, it just there. You go on your smartphone or your tablet, and then Thrive comes right to your door. So that's really helped them.
Justine Reichman: So if we can go back just for a second, just to talk about some of the things that you might look for when you're investing.
Michael Pierce: Yeah. To me, as I said earlier, it's primarily about the people. Okay, so I could get a great idea, and there are a lot of good ideas. And usually, when there's a really good idea, there's three or four people that are laser focused on it. So I'll meet with those four people, and it's my job to find out who I think is actually going to make the ideas succeed because three of them aren't going to be able to do it. How I determine that is just a lot of experience in investing, and analyzing people, and studying the sector, and who I think is armed with the right qualities to build this business in this particular sector. And I'm, by no means, an expert on the food sector. I want to make it clear. I've already made one investment, and that was more or less because of platinum. I invested in a platinum which I saw could disintermediate it. It was so ripe for disruption because it was only one big player that was not a difficult decision. It was finding the right team to do it. It was very fortuitous that we found Nick and Gunner, and then subsequently Sasha. Sasha came on board from the (inaudible) Company, and she's a huge part of the company now. Sasha's sister (inaudible), I probably butchered his name.
Justine Reichman: You may not be an expert on the food company, you do have a passion around it. So does that mean that we can see future investments potentially in the food space?
Michael Pierce: I think so. I mean, something I noticed, I was watching my patient recently that one of the top restaurants in New York is now all plant based. All plant based. It's the same fixed price, and I want to try it. I can't wait to try it. He's talking about a new type of vegetable I've never even heard of, and a lot of it from Japan. And there was something like a new form of cabbage that he referenced that I had never heard of, and I'm dying to try it. I mean, I like meat, but I can only eat it because of dietary constraints. Maybe once a week, and it's only lean organic beef. I'll eat nothing else. Never eat fast food, and I don't eat fried food. I thought that was just really amazing that he had the, whatever word you want to use to actually do it and not risk alienating his clientele.
Justine Reichman: Right. I do think he's been around for a long time. He's got a solid client base, he's got a solid following. I do think as a leader in that industry, people will follow. I mean, that's what I think. I have a question for you. I mean, coming from New Zealand, and you've talked a lot about the First Light meat. But we have all these First Light meats and all these different kinds of meats, and he talks about New Zealand and how they have resources there, they don't like to waste all the valuable produce there. Can you talk a little bit about that, because you're (inaudible), and it took us a little while to get there.
Bridget Cooper: Being in California, it's getting a little closer. But going back to what you said before, I used to live in Chicago. And even though I could go the Whole Foods, the produce was really nothing. You would even get this way. But New Zealand, I feel like we are the leaders in grass fed. And our beef, it's our biggest export next of all. We take it very seriously with all the farmers. We don't like to have any waste. And the way that they repurpose things is really fascinating to me, especially in the wool industry as well that they have, now they're using wool for soundproofing in houses, learned that it can warm the house through insulation. And so they're doing that, and also making beautiful furniture and things like that. So I think that New Zealand is as well a very innovative, and we sort of think we're at the end of the world and we don't have any help so we have to come up with it. But I think it's an exciting space overall in what's happening. And Americans, and again, like added COVID, I think all these new ideas in plant based, I think kids are all obsessed with plant based foods. And that wouldn't have been the case five years ago, and it's exciting just to see that space.
“That's a challenge, too, that if we want one extreme, we then have challenges on the other.” -Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: I think that plant based, we have all these plant based restaurants, plant food or what's plant food in mind, there was another one in New York, and they're very innovative, and they're all very creatively done. So it is taking off. And I do think that there is a new space because as you take away me to take away certain resources too. So there is a whole challenge around that. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that, and how that impacts the environment, but that's a challenge too that people are talking about too. Because the more we want to one extreme, we then have challenges on the other.
Michael Pierce: Yeah. I mean, God, I know where to go with that somewhat controversial too. Yeah, I think it all comes down to climate change again. And that's kind of the common denominator that's led young people to really start thinking about how we're treating the planet. And then with their carbon footprint, and then having so many cattle on the planet, it's not good for the atmosphere. You connect all the dots, and you've had some very vociferous young people making some very good points. I sympathize with them. And it's so hard. I don't know if you've seen the movie recently, it's just come out. The best movie of the year by far. It's clever, because it's about climate change. But the undertone, of course, that's what it is. And I think that he talked to people under 15, my daughter will tell you all about it. She writes poems that have been published about polluting the earth. And it's not for me, I don't preach to her, she's already figured it out just from reading it online, and also in school. The teachers are, I think, really opening everyone's eyes up to what's happening to the planet. And it's kind of an inevitable.
“Business model, just from a pure capitalist point of view, is so difficult to revive. It's become so efficient and that's hard to change.” -Michael Pierce
It's kind of a mathematical equation that children can figure out like, you have all these billions and billions of people that are consuming all these scarce resources that are then putting too much gas into the atmosphere. It's not hard to connect the dots. But yet, people who lead our countries somehow aren't willing to really acknowledge it in a meaningful way. And I think to young people, they don't understand that. I even find it quite difficult to comprehend. But of course, I'm been around long enough to be cynical enough to know really why. First of all, decision makers are usually people in their 60's who aren't going to be around that many more decades. And secondly, they're beholden to special interest groups which got them elected which are inevitably high margin businesses that are traditional businesses. Often in the oil and gas sector, or other sectors like insurance, or even the factory farm fast food world. There's a reason why fast food is successful. Whereas you get a dinner for $1 and it tastes really good. Go have any fast food, tell me it doesn't taste good. Now, what is doing to your body? I mean, the business model, just from a pure capitalist point of view is so difficult to revive. It's like become so efficient, and that's hard to change.
Bridget Cooper: Yeah, absolutely. My kids are always talking to me about it. I wanted to get a new car and they were like, there was only electric. There's no option. And I think it's amazing that, yeah, that generation is, there's just no conversation about it as if that's the way it is.
Justine Reichman: The nice thing about being young.
Michael Pierce: When I was young.
Justine Reichman: It probably was in some ways from our parents' viewpoint.
Michael Pierce: I don't know. I never remember that. Also, my dad was in the oil and gas business. Back then, it was different. It was like no one ever thought about the consequences. No, probably not even that relevant at the time. But so that's probably a piece of irony that I do struggle with a little bit. Although I haven't heard it, it's not like a contradiction to me.
“I don't think we were quite as aware as we are today. Kids today are much more aware and astute of what's going on in the world. We just did things without implication.” -Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: I don't think we were quite as aware as we are today back then. I don't feel like, I feel like kids today are much more aware and astute of what's going on in the world. I feel like we kind of just did things without implication.
Michael Pierce: Disseminate. Easy dissemination of information either. Smartphones, I mean, the whole world is so it's easy to bring into your device now.
Justine Reichman: So as a social entrepreneur, in the next few years, what are you hoping to do? What's the greatest impact you're hoping to have? Small impact, large impact?
Michael Pierce: That's also a question I've been wrestling with myself, and I'm starting to formulate it now because I never really knew what would happen with my investment with Thrive. When you make an early stage investment is something that is such high beta in our world of being high, high risk. You think is probably just going to go out of business. And it almost didn't go out of business about two years after it was founded. I don't want to focus too much on Thrive, but Thrive has been such a success. It's such a success for me as an investor, that I now have to give some thought on my next move in the space. I haven't got a concise game plan, but I certainly am starting to think quite seriously about anything I do will definitely be from the bottom up. All of my successes and investments have been small and started small, identify a movement, or a theme that I think has a growth not only financially but for redemptive things in society, and then I try to help it grow and I try to empower people. So my whole philosophy is a bottom up empowerment, the classic social entrepreneur to eliminate injustice and empower people.
“People as a whole would eat better if they could, but people in lower income areas have no access to good food.” -Michael Pierce
And if you think about what's happened in the last 200 years, we've had an unprecedented period of growth of the individual starting with the Gutenberg and the printing press in 1440. And then with Galileo, and Newton, and laws of thermodynamics that we can apply to our society empowering people, helping them become more self actualized, it's just a proven fact, they're then going to start to give back to the society that's helped them. But if we have a top down policy where we're restricting and controlling people, it's such an autocratic principle, and we have the word, you see the rise of dictators and autocracies around the world in the last 10 years is very disturbing to me. So my movement from the bottom up, I'm only going back to Thrive just to make the point again, but that is a classic bottom up movement. It still blows my mind, I think, four guys in a basement in Venice, now a multi billion dollar business that's changed the way a lot of Americans are eating, and that's quite profound. So if we can do that with Thrive, then what can we do next with other forms of food that are good for society and really trying to think mostly how to educate young people to eat better. And I think that starts with an economic model. I really do.
I think people on a whole would eat better if they could, as people in lower income areas have no access to good food. And so companies like Thrive are really great, and other companies that have a similar social mission. But America, unlike any other country has an enormous prevalence of cancers, many cancers that are not found in the rest of the world in the same concentration and that comes back to diet again. It's like the factory food, fast food model that just does not work in the long run cost society. So much money and health care costs, and people not able to work and all this cycle. So I don't know if I've answered your question.
Justine Reichman: You did. You answered it, I would say that was pretty good.
Michael Pierce: Try to find another Thrive like movement. I'm not quite sure where that is, but I'm open to meeting with as many innovative, creative and ambitious people as I can. And that helps me to kind of hone my investment thesis.
Justine Reichman: We're investing in precede companies, NextGenChef, and so we're constantly getting some precede small businesses in the food space that are looking for funding. So if I see anything interesting--
Michael Pierce: So important, right? That's how innovation happens.
Justine Reichman: We have a couple of ally that are just finishing around that just sent me a death sentence. There's a couple that are coming our way, we may pass on, we think are interesting, what's right for one person may not be right for another.
Michael Pierce: Your investment vehicle, I don't want to think about it well.
“I find there's not a shortage of money for this space, it's actually just finding people that are willing to spend the time to try to innovate, because it's not easy.” -Michael Pierce
Justine Reichman: But it's new, and it's just being formed. But it's going to be called NextGen Food Fun, and we're looking at precede businesses that are building better for you food businesses. And we will be taking our network mentors, people that come through and offering them opportunities to invest in it. I will invest in NestGenChef invest and our mentors will have an opportunity to invest in beyond act as advisors to them. And that's the opportunity we're giving now. And we're gonna sort of break it down for niches. So I'll be like, ag tech, ag funds, and could be lab grown meats, just different things, so there'll be specific niches because we have so many great resources and mentors that come through that have specific backgrounds, researchers, founders, you name it. But these people have such great backgrounds to be able to offer both, whether it's their backgrounds or money. And so together, it's a really good opportunity.
“As a venture capitalist, you can't just keep paying lip service to these problems, you have to actively do something.” -Michael Pierce
Michael Pierce: I find there's not a shortage of money for this space, it's actually just finding people that are willing to spend the time to try to innovate, because it's not easy. When you think about how the system works now, especially in America, I go back to this whole factory farm, but then the whole world of pesticides, and regenerative agriculture which is starting, people starting to understand how bad it is to work the soil and poisoned the soil for decade, after decade, after decade. There were some great movies recently about it, Kiss the Earth, which is produced by a good friend of mine, Somerhalder. And as a rancher, amateur farmer, I prohibit any pesticides on my property. But I have to be honest, I also don't really do it to make a living. So to say that the camera is not fair, because that's the first thing people will come and jump on me like, oh, yeah, but you don't make a living at it. We do Sundays, we have to conform to the system, we have to be razor, concerned about our margins. That's my justification for poisoning the planet, especially poisoning our food supply. I mean, yeah, people from Monsanto probably sue me for saying that. I feel that it's really important that, as a venture capitalist, you can't just keep paying lip service to these problems, you have to actively do something.
Justine Reichman: Yes.
Michael Pierce: Probably changed me the most in terms of now starting to realize exactly what I got in the last 10 years before that wasn't as preoccupied with it. And now I'm obsessed with him.
Justine Reichman: So how does that impact maybe what you're doing next?
Michael Pierce: Well, enormously because obviously, anything I think I'm doing next, I view through the viewfinder of my children in the foreground because they're going to hopefully be here a lot longer than I am. And they have to. They're gonna inherit the earth that I've left behind. And you think about that when you have children.
Justine Reichman: Any recommendations for any founders or entrepreneurs that are watching or listening to this podcast or video cast?
“Believe in the process that you can make a difference... You can change things, but it has to start from the grassroots.” -Michael Pierce
Michael Pierce: Just believe in the process that you actually can make a difference. You can start small. I've used bottom up 10 times today because I so believe in that philosophy, you can change things, but it has to start from the grassroots. I believe in the uniqueness of the individual. We're all uniquely the same, I guess, are different.
Justine Reichman: Any recommendations for those entrepreneurs from your perspective?
“Never say ‘no’ to an opportunity even if it's something that you're not interested in at the time because you never know what you’ll get from that experience.” -Bridget Cooper
Bridget Cooper: Well, I think it's always, you never say no to an opportunity because you never know that even if it's something that you're not interested in at the time, you never know what you get from that experience, and we can take you and the people that you meet along the way.
Justine Reichman: I always say, say yes more than you say no.
Michael Pierce: I'm raising that generation. Now though, this is the thing that I find so contradictory like some a lot of parenting experts will say, my wife's a psychologist, FYI. So it's like, we have to see yes a lot more because it can't be (inaudible). We'll try. But when they just like hunters and smashing the dishes, well, that's a no, right? That's a no, but there are a lot of other things where they want to try something new, or create something, maybe create a master. It's not something that I want to spend the time to do, but you have to say yes. And I think that saying yes in general is a really good premise.
Bridget Cooper: I think as well with young kids, one thing, and that was the whole black lives matter that came out. I have a 17 year old and they are so knowledgeable way more than I am about space and everything. And when things were, for writing to the government and everything, my daughter had every single link that you click on, and they were very passionate about it. And I thought it was amazing through social media, how they got stuff done on those platforms, and really got the word out there and made themselves known using social media in a really exciting--
Michael Pierce: And a good way. It's nice to hear that social media is being used in a good way. Always kind of on the tail end of some of the large social media platforms. Useful utility in society is a huge backlash against, obviously Facebook, Instagram, and then TikTok. I mean, it's not really my generation, but I think that experiential learning is so important. And I feel so sad for people that don't have the opportunity to actually go and experience things and they feel they can get that same thrill by being in front of a laptop that's--
Justine Reichman: Not healthy.
Michael Pierce: Breaks my heart. Kids get to be outside doing things or playing with their friends, but it's been so complicated. I'm not pointing the finger at anybody again. But yeah, it's been a tough time. Hopeful that this variant maybe will be the last one or we can get some semblance of normalcy in the spring or summer.
Bridget Cooper: Getting outside.
Justine Reichman: Thank you so much for joining us.
