We dive deep into our sectors. Our research drives our insights and thesis-driven approach.

As we highlighted in our Death to DTC? post, the DTC-only strategy is no longer a viable path for the vast majority of brands. In 2016, Andy Dunn, CEO / Founder of Bonobos, coined the now famous term DNVB — digitally native vertical brands. Since then, billions of VC dollars have poured into not only DNVB brands, but also the ecosystem supporting these brands and the broader ecommerce channel — “ecommerce enablement” software and services.

Before generative AI became all the rage, vertical software, and embedded/vertical fintech were all the rage (perhaps it still is for many others as it is for me). At Equal, we love investing in vertical software businesses.

Those who know me best know that I’m a historian of business failure and success (having experienced plenty of failure myself). As a student of success stories, I’ve been fascinated with conglomerates for years. My obsession was initially piqued with my growing love affair with Berkshire Hathaway and further amplified by the works of Greenwald and McTaggart (both of which discuss core benefits of conglomerates and case studies of the model in detail).

It’s no secret that we verticalize our staff at Equal Ventures. Chelsea is focused on the intersection of retail and supply chain, Simran on Climate and Adam on Insurance. While Rich and I are generalists, each of these individuals spends the vast majority of their time focused exclusively on those spaces.

When I was early in my venture career, I was easily impressed by buzz around a deal. If the deal had high quality firms circling it, I felt FOMO. The reality is that I didn’t have confidence in own ability to assess companies independently, so I was easily swayed by others.