Raising outside capital can feel like guesswork for entrepreneurs. Especially when a great product isn’t enough on its own. Founders who don’t understand what investors are actually evaluating often walk away from pitch meetings confused about what went wrong.
On the latest episode of Business Trends Today, Genevieve Gilbreath, Co-Founder and General Partner at Springdale Ventures, joins us to discuss what her firm looks for before writing a check, and the specific business fundamentals that separate the founders who get funded from the ones who don’t.
What Springdale Ventures looks for
Springdale Ventures invests in consumer brands across food, beverage, health, wellness, beauty and pet categories, typically companies generating $1 million to $10 million in revenue.
Gilbreath described her firm’s evaluation process as a combination lock with several numbers that need to line up at once. Founder quality comes first, including grit and the ability to communicate and follow through. From there, Springdale looks at whether the product has been validated, whether the market is large enough to generate venture-scale returns, and whether a future buyer, either a strategic acquirer or a private equity firm, exists for the business.
The firm has invested in more than 50 companies to date, including Feastables, the chocolate brand founded by YouTube creator MrBeast. Gilbreath pointed to that investment as an example of a product that appeals to a broad audience while still meeting Springdale’s standard for clean ingredients.
The mistake many founders make
Founders routinely spend pitch meetings talking about their product instead of their business, Gilbreath said. A 30-minute introductory call will often run 25 minutes on the product story alone, leaving little room to discuss the numbers that actually determine whether a company is investable.
Mission and vision matter to Springdale, but they aren’t a substitute for knowing the business cold. Gilbreath said she wants founders who understand their margins, their customer acquisition costs and their retention rates just as well as they understand their product.
Founders who lack strong business instincts aren’t automatically disqualified, Gilbreath said, as long as they’ve brought in someone who can fill that gap or show a willingness to do so.
Signs a business is ready for outside investment
Landing a purchase order from a major retailer can feel like a milestone, but it often exposes founders to a cash crunch they didn’t anticipate. Retailers may not pay for months after the product ships, leaving founders fronting inventory costs without a clear strategy for the unit economics involved.
Springdale has helped launch numerous brands into retailers such as Target and Walmart. The firm understands what it takes to get a product on shelf, Gilbreath said, and more importantly, it knows how to keep that product selling once it’s there.
"You're giving up some of your equity, but you're going to go further, faster, and more efficiently if you have the right partners on board."
Founders often resist giving up equity because they view outside investment purely as a loss of ownership. Gilbreath argued that framing misses the value an experienced partner brings beyond capital, including retail relationships, trade program guidance and influencer strategy that can move faster with support than alone.
Today’s funding environment
Capital is available for consumer brands right now, but the underwriting standards have tightened considerably since the last decade, Gilbreath said. Investors are no longer funding companies without understanding contribution margin, a discipline she said was largely absent during the 2018 and 2019 funding boom.
Springdale typically expects a five- to seven-year window before an exit, though faster retail placement and social platforms such as TikTok have accelerated timelines for some brands. Early-stage founders without a full million dollars in revenue shouldn’t assume they’re too small to reach out. Gilbreath said her firm regularly talks with founders earlier in their growth, sometimes pointing them toward angel investors while building a relationship that may lead to funding later.
Rejection is part of the process for every founder, Gilbreath said, including her own experience raising capital for Springdale.
How AI is changing the investment landscape
Artificial intelligence has changed how quickly Springdale can evaluate deals, according to Gilbreath. The firm uses AI tools to parse data and analyze potential investments faster than before, and looks closely at how the founders in its portfolio companies are using AI to create efficiencies in their own businesses.
At the same time, Gilbreath said the products Springdale backs are fundamentally about human experience, and that value only grows as AI becomes more embedded in daily life. She said Springdale continues to prioritize products that build genuine connection with consumers rather than simply automating a category.
Economic uncertainty shouldn’t discourage entrepreneurs from starting a business, according to Gilbreath. She pointed to the consumer sector’s track record of posting positive returns even during past recessions, arguing that some of the strongest companies in history were founded during difficult economic periods.
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