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Whitney Williams shared thisExcited to see Coterie and CURE participating in Third Person summit in Nashville this week - applications are open for the March 2027 retreat and comped for qualifying e-comm brands so get those applications in! Apply here: https://lnkd.in/drWb-A2rWhitney Williams shared this🚨 🤠 📦 In about 10 hours, 45 founders and executives will meet at Soho House & Co Nashville. The next two days are going to change how they do business. Our Fall 2026 Retreat kicks off tonight. No pitching. No booths. No trudging through a Vegas casino. Only intentional conversations that, if the first two cohorts are any indication, turn into partnerships, referrals, and friendships that outlast the week. So here's your fair warning: over the next few days you will be seeing pics and moments from this cohort. And if you feel a little pang of "I wish I was there", applications for our Spring 2027 Retreat (Nashville, March 15–17) are open right now. It takes two minutes to apply, and it's comped ($4,950 value) for e-commerce brands, eligible 3PL Premier Plan members, and eligible Industry Partner Founding Members. Don't watch the next one from your feed. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day 2027 with 45 new friends 🍀 (link in comments 👇)
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Whitney Williams shared thisLast week we hosted 100 of our investors, founders, and closest friends at our Beliade Consumer Partners annual meeting in Nashville. So much planning, coordination and panel preparation goes into producing these events and I think our team nailed it. We had many first time Nashville visitors and the southern hospitality ensured many of those visitors will be back! A big thanks to our incredible sponsors and founders who shared their unique perspective on the day - excited for the next - hopefully back in Nashville! 📸 : Jordan Powell 🎁 bags: Cotopaxi, Rhone, Poncho, CURE, Recess, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Co-⭐: Bill Schultz & Martin Dolfi 🏛️ : Soho House & Co Nashville
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Whitney Williams reposted thisWhitney Williams reposted thisHonored to have joined my good friend & Rhone CEO Nate Checketts to keynote this year's Beliade Consumer Partners Annual General Meeting in #Nashville for a fireside chat with Beliade Managing Partner Martin Dolfi to discuss wellness, longevity, performance and the #12Pursuits. Embark is a proud partner of Beliade and we're grateful for the opportunity to support their incredibly impressive portfolio companies. Utterly inspired after hearing briefings from Malbon Golf CEO Aaron Heiser, Stone & Skillet CEO Cam Meekins, Recess Co-CEO Benjamin Witte, and Farm To People CEO Michael Robinov. So great having Embark Founder & Chairman Paul Allen, CRO Laura Reale Neal, Head of PE BD Marc Glennon and our own CPG & Retail expert & Managing Director David Bushby, CPA, CA join us for the first of many! Congrats to Martin, Whitney Williams, and Bill Schultz and the entire Beliade team and family of LPs and PortCos on all your continued success! Here's to great things to come!
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Whitney Williams reposted thisWhitney Williams reposted thisAfter 13+ years of bootstrapping, I'm excited to announce Farm To People's first outside investment, $5 million led by Elly Truesdell and Hallie Bonnar of New Fare Partners alongside a list of founders and operators I've admired for a long time, listed below. Read more in yesterday's The New York Times, linked in the comments. Farm to People was never meant to be a different grocery delivery company. It's infrastructure for a food system where a small farm can actually make a living. The Times put it as our ambition, and they're right: a new economy for small farms to succeed. That's what happens when the quality of the farmers market meets the ease of modern e-commerce. From my parents' studio apartment on the Upper West Side to a new 40,000 square foot warehouse coming soon in The Bronx, it's been a helluva ride. Thank you David Robinov for being a pioneer in the natural foods movement since before I was born and for making this all possible. And Anina von Haeften for your partnership and vision every day! To every customer, farmer, maker, driver, packer, buyer, and team member who got us here: thank you. And we're just getting started. If you want to build this with us, we're hiring. It's hard work. If you're ready to make an impact, reach out. Here's the incredible list of investors who share our vision of the future and inspire us: Gary Hirshberg (and Ethan, Alex, Danielle) founder of Stonyfield; Walter Robb former co-CEO of Whole Foods; David Barber of Blue Hill At Stone Barns; Fred Wilson (and Joanne & Josh) founder of Union Square Ventures; Martin Dolfi, Bill Schultz and Whitney Williams from Beliade Consumer Partners; Jean-Francois Jeff Déchant (and Felix Dechant, our COO, who makes FtP run every day); Jeff Sterrett & Jamie Sterrett; Stephen Williamson, John Charles Hanley & Daisy Bowes Williamson; Todd Lachman; Tom Gellert & Andrew Gellert; Sam Slover; Jeff Samberg; Gabi Lewis; and more. Thank you Jacqueline S. for sharing our story with the world.
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Whitney Williams shared thisI have news! I am going to be a be a judge for the 3686 Pitch Competition at Launch Tennessee’s 3686 entrepreneurship conference, returning to Nashville this Sept. 14-16! This year, the conference will move to a larger, multi-venue footprint in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood, extending the week’s schedule and adding a startup & tech job fair, plus expanded networking opportunities. 3686 — named for the geographic coordinates of Nashville — brings together hundreds of startup founders, investors, corporate leaders, and ecosystem partners from across Tennessee, the Southeast, and the nation with over 30 states represented at the 2025 edition. The event also draws industry experts, elected officials, and technology pioneers to take the stage for timely panels exploring hot-button topics facing entrepreneurs, from AI and quantum to life science, climate-tech, nuclear energy, and more. See you in Nashville this September! Get your tickets NOW at attend3686.com! #3686fest
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Whitney Williams reposted thisWhitney Williams reposted thisThe U.S. consumer is holding up – especially in health and wellness. I joined CNBC’s Morning Call this morning to discuss what we are seeing across Beliade’s portfolio and the broader consumer market. We continue to see durable demand for brands tied to health, wellness and longevity. We also discussed the need for a stronger U.S. IPO market for small and mid-cap consumer companies, along with several longer-term themes we are tracking: Made in America, premiumization and the continued growth of markets such as Nashville and Austin. These ideas sit at the center of Beliade’s work backing Modern Brands for Healthier Americans. Thank you to CNBC for the conversation. Morgan Brennan Beliade Consumer Partners #CNBCConsumer investor on why he believes shoppers are holding up, especially in health & wellnessConsumer investor on why he believes shoppers are holding up, especially in health & wellness
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Whitney Williams reposted thisThanks to the Startup CPG crew for having me on their Investor Spotlight podcast. Always a treat to talk shop with people who care this much about the category. Thank you Hannah Dittman for the wonderful conversation. Listen: https://lnkd.in/egMptnRaWhitney Williams reposted thisNew Episode — Investor Spotlight: Bill Schultz, Beliade Consumer Partners Bill spent a decade at Goldman Sachs watching the DTC wave reshape consumer from the outside. Now he's seven years into backing the brands doing the reshaping at Beliade Consumer Partners. Host Hannah Dittman sat down with Bill to get into how early-stage consumer investors actually think — what they underwrite, what they overlook, and what quietly separates the founders who scale from the ones who stall. A few things that stuck: 💡 Know which path you want before you raise. Venture-backed growth and a founder-owned cash business are fundamentally different journeys. 💡 Financial savviness predicts success more than almost anything else. 💡 Contribution margin is the north star. Everything else gets easier when that number is strong. 💡 Build relationships before you have a capital need. The best deals don't start with a pitch deck. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eq4UrR-s #StartupCPG #CPGPodcast #BeliadeConsumerPartners #InvestorSpotlight #VentureCapital #CPGFounders #Fundraising #ConsumerBrands
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Whitney Williams reposted thisWhitney Williams reposted thisNēmah is in Target. 375 stores nationwide, as of today. 🎯 Mary Lawless Lee founded this brand standing in a Target aisle - pregnant with Navy, overwhelmed, and unable to find a single product she trusted & made her proud to purchase. I joined to build the engine that could get it to scale. The irony of where we ended up isn't lost on either of us 6 SKUs. Two products made exclusively for Target. Clean, science-backed care for pregnancy, postpartum, and baby, on the shelf where every mother can find it. The mothers who need this most aren't always the ones deep in a DTC funnel. They're standing in the aisle & they deserve better options there, too. To our broker team at OMG, Inc-Sales and Marketing - Marie O'Reilly, Susan Splett, MBA, Kayla Rambeck - thank you for getting us here. To the Target team who took a bet on us and made this real - we are honored to be your partner. And to the Nemah team - Morgan Buckley, Alison Davis, Katie Keil, Monique M., Matt Costanzo, Lou Sherman - this one's for all of us. Find us at your local Target #Nemah #TargetLaunch #CleanBeauty #MaternalWellness #WomenFounded
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Whitney Williams shared thisCarta sat down with me to talk career, consumer investing, and why I'm long on the Southeast. 📍 The honest version: I didn't plan this career. I followed good advice, said yes to the right opportunities, and found my way to work I genuinely love - investing in brands people interact with every single day. The bonus is working alongside Bill Schultz and Martin Dolfi. Consumer is 70% of US GDP. From the moment you wake up, you're making decisions about what goes on and in your body. That's the market we're in at Beliade Consumer Partners, and it's one I believe in deeply. And Nashville? Watch this city. The infrastructure, the talent, the capital ecosystem is all converging. I moved back in 2017 and I'd make that call again in a heartbeat. Grateful to Carta for telling this story. Link in comments. #VentureCapital #ConsumerBrands #WomenInFinance #NashvilleTechWhitney Williams shared thisFor Whitney Williams, the jump from Big Four accounting to consumer venture capital wasn't just a career shift—it was a homecoming. Now the CFO at Beliade Consumer Partners, Whitney is leveraging a decade of high-stakes private equity experience to back the brands that shape our daily lives. Based in Nashville, she’s at the forefront of a booming Southeast investment ecosystem that is proving you don’t need a coastal zip code to build a world-class portfolio. From underwriting the next generation of health and wellness brands to navigating the rise of "Music City" as a tech hub, Whitney is proof that a strong financial foundation is the ultimate venture superpower. We sat down with Whitney to talk about: 🔥 Transitioning from "Big Four" tax compliance to early-stage VC 💡 Why Nashville is the new center of gravity for private capital 📈 The qualitative shift in underwriting consumer brands Oh, and did we mention she’s a pro at triaging the chaos of a growing firm? 📂 Full story on the Carta blog! #VentureCapital #ConsumerBrands #NashvilleTech #WomenInFinance
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Whitney Williams reacted on thisWhitney Williams reacted on thisNYC!! 🗽 I dread traveling for work, but I am getting a lot better at it 😅 I had two goals for this trip: 1. Meet other investors who are bullish on SPVs at the Sydecar SPV Summit 2. Hang out in person with VCs who could lead rounds in my companies 😛 If I could, I would probably hide at The Lighthouse with my founders 100% of the time. But I am increasingly realizing that I cannot do that lol. Here’s a crazy stat: Of the $24M+ (soon to cross $35M once a few deals close!!!) that has come through intros I’ve made, there have only been TWO times where I hadn’t met the investor in person 🤯 So… apparently meeting other investors in real life is important… I’ve introduced 3 Lighthouse founders to their lead investor so far this fall, and I’m hoping to do it a few more times before the end of the year. BONUS: I actually got to be a tourist for a minute AND got a workout in with an absolutely insane NYC view thanks to Neal M. and Nichole Wischoff. Maybe work travel isn’t so bad after all! Next up: Atlanta, Austin + SF ✈️
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Whitney Williams reacted on thisWhitney Williams reacted on thisThe energy in the room to kick off the 2026 Heartland Summit was inspiring. I know that over the next two days we will hear inspiring conversations, bold solutions and real actions to accelerate economic growth in the middle of the country. #HeartlandSummit2026 Heartland Forward
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Whitney Williams liked thisEllevated Outcomes has worked with Julia Jaksic and the Roze brands for 4 years. The thing I most appreciate about Julia is the work she invests in her personal life, alongside her professional life. We as people are not separate from our careers. As I once heard Jerry Colonna say: "Your organization can only grow to the limits of your psychology." There's a reason that Roze has grown over the past 4 years - both internally in health - and externally in the new concept of Roza. And that comes back to the deep, hard work of its CEO Julia Jaksic.Whitney Williams liked thisStrategy doesn’t mean knowing exactly what comes next. It means understanding your business well enough to make the next decision with conviction. That’s one of the outcomes of our work that’s harder to quantify, but incredibly important. The numbers matter. The structure matters. And so does a CEO’s ability to make a decision knowing it is grounded in the work we’ve done together. Julia Jaksic, founder of Cafe Roze, described that shift as building a house that can “withstand the storms.” That’s the kind of foundation we’re here to build.
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Whitney Williams liked thisWhitney Williams liked thisAlts Day 2026 is in the books! What a day. 150 wealth advisory and investment leaders, five main stage sessions, and five breakout conversations on building world-class private markets programs. And there's no better way to close out a trip to Austin than with Franklin Backyard Barbecue. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and particularly our speakers, for the candor you brought to the room. It's what makes this worth building, year after year. As for what's next: Our attendees got an exciting sneak peak of what's in store for next year. We'll have more to share soon. Samir Kaji Hana Yang Matt Dunn Peter Epstein Austen McGregor Cooper J. Parks Jeremy Diem, MBA Alex Julian Arthur Diochon CFA CAIA Tracy Gallagher Remington DuBois
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Whitney Williams reacted on thisWhitney Williams reacted on thisWe closed out day 2 last night with an incredible dinner at Moto in The Gulch here in Nashville, thanks to Wally Shaw and the Red Stag Fulfillment team. Wally gave a great speech about the importance of connection and collaboration in the logistics space. Invaluable advice and perspective to close out this retreat, which is all about creating lasting relationships in this industry. Thank you so much to Red Stag for being our presenting sponsor of this retreat! #LogisticsandLeadershipRetreat #ThirdPersonRetreat #NashvilleRetreat
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Whitney Williams reacted on thisWhitney Williams reacted on thisCan my son explain what I do for work? No. Does he think I have a cool job? Absolutely. “She sells IT, I think.” 🫠 Close enough, bubs. One of the unexpected perks of my career is that every once in a while, my kids get to come along for the ride. They’ve seen some cool places, met some great people, and gotten a tiny peek into this whole weird world their mom disappears into every day. Does he understand managed services, cloud, cybersecurity, or what I actually sell? Not even a little bit. But he thinks his mom has a cool job. I’ll take it.
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Whitney Williams liked thisWhitney Williams liked thisToday marks an exciting next chapter for Stride Consumer Partners. We are thrilled to announce the final closing of Stride Consumer Fund II with $550MM. The Fund’s investors also include more than two dozen founders and executives with whom we have previously partnered. Steven Berg, Partner at Stride, and Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali, Co-Founders of Chomps, sat down with John Hyatt from Forbes to discuss how we have collaborated together over the last several years. We founded Stride with a simple belief: exceptional consumer brands are built by exceptional people. Our role is to be the kind of partner who can help talented founders and management teams turn that vision into something enduring. Since launching Stride, we have had the privilege of partnering with an incredible group of founders and teams building beloved consumer brands. We are enormously grateful for their trust, and for everything they continue to teach and inspire in us. Fund II gives us the opportunity to keep doing what we love — finding great consumer brands and services with passionate leaders, rolling up our sleeves alongside them, and supporting their vision to build the next chapter of growth. We are deeply grateful to our existing limited partners for their continued confidence in Stride and delighted to welcome a few new partners to the Stride family. We are equally thankful to our entire team, whose hard work, judgment and commitment to our founders and partner brands made this milestone possible. We also wanted to thank Campbell Lutyens and Latham & Watkins for their continued partnership and support to close Fund II. Thanks also to John Hyatt and the team at Forbes for the opportunity to share our story. We have accomplished a lot together — and we feel like we are just getting started. #Consumer #GrowthEquity #PassionBrands https://lnkd.in/dNSZqVbDFrom Covid-Era Van Pitches To $550 Million: Stride Consumer Partners Closes Fund IIFrom Covid-Era Van Pitches To $550 Million: Stride Consumer Partners Closes Fund II
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