The Culturally-Aligned Consumer Company

Last year, we outlined our Investment Philosophy to define our areas of focus through the lens of economic inclusion. The first is SMB Tech, which we believe has the potential to transform the economic landscape of the United States. Here we’ll review the second area; culturally-aligned consumer companies.

It all begins with an entrepreneur’s authentic desire to enhance the life of a customer who has been historically overlooked and underserved. Our intent at Slauson & Co. is to invest in companies creating products that are providing an experience aligned with the founder’s values and needs. When you create a product that makes people feel acknowledged and understood, they become evangelists to others, like them, with similar unmet needs.

What We Mean by “Culturally Aligned”

As a founder, your lived experience is your competitive advantage. No one will know your customer better than you. By articulating your customers’ values and delivering high-quality experiences, you are positioned to establish an intimate, authentic and tailored connection with your target customer, fostering long-term loyalty.

Today’s underrepresented consumers constitute a growing segment of the population that has historically settled for products that were never quite a perfect fit, yearning for a true connection rather than superficial pandering.

By Us, For All (For Real)

Recent years have demonstrated that customers want to know the humans behind the businesses they support. Transparency has become non-negotiable.

Inclusive, values-aligned products are not just a moral or ethical exercise. They also represent a massive business opportunity. As we continue to witness significant demographic shifts, we’ve noticed the markets that are expanding are multicultural, multi-ethnic and encompass a broader spectrum of sexual orientation and gender. It is essential to offer options that specifically cater to them.

Some examples of real-world and digital products in our current portfolio include:

• El Camino, a women-focused travel company bringing solo women travelers on group trips abroad.
• Pressed Roots, a luxury blow-out bar catering to women with textured hair.
• Lex, a free lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer social network is a place where people meet and find friends, events and dates.

What We Look For

When we assess a potential consumer company investment, several specific factors come into play that we prioritize:

1. Founders who possess a keen understanding of their customer’s problems, share their values and understand the importance of building a strong brand.

2. Catering to expanding customer segments and shifting demographics, while not actively excluding other groups.

3. Offering innovative solutions that bridge the gap between the status quo and satisfy their audiences’ needs, often before they realize them.

4. Models that incorporate recurring revenue or connect customers with providers of scalable goods and services.

5. Active engagement and community which leads to increased customer adoption and long-lasting relationships.

In(con)clusion

By investing in companies that prioritize inclusive and authentic products, we contribute to building a more inclusive world where people feel seen, heard and understood. A byproduct of success is wealth generation within their organizations, families and communities.

We know there are talented entrepreneurs across the country who come from backgrounds that have been historically overlooked by venture capital but have still managed to enrich the lives of customers who are just like them. If this is you, we are eager to hear from you and learn more about your journey.

Hit us up here