Harbinger Ventures Megan Bent on their concentrated portfolio approach, specific traits they look for in founding teams, and consumer behavior post-pandemic

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Today, we’re excited to host Megan Bent, founder and managing partner of Harbinger Ventures, a Boulder, CO-based firm that invests in earlier stage CPG companies that feature female or diverse founding teams. Prior to founding Harbinger in 2016, Megan served as Managing Director of Revelry Brands. She began her career in private equity and consumer brands at the Parthenon Group, and she holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.We spoke about CPG investing, consumer behavior post-pandemic, and also we dove into the benefits and challenges they face with having a portfolio size of 5-8 companies per fund. Tune in!A word from our sponsor:Invest in innovation. Allocate is a digital platform than enables investors of all types to invest and manage private alternatives within the technology sector.Despite the enormous growth of the private markets and the rapid increase of retail demand for private alternatives, investing in the highest quality private assets within the innovation sector remains inaccessible and opaque. With Allocate, wealth advisors, banks, family offices, and other qualified investors can have a streamlined way to responsibly invest in the highest quality technology centered private alternatives. Go to allocate.co to find out more and please sign up to the waitlist to learn more and get early access to the platform.In this episode we discuss:00:59 Megan’s journey to becoming a full-time investor02:44 The insights that led her to form Harbinger05:46 Why Megan thinks early stage growth-equity is at the series A and not the series B08:09 How Harbinger thinks about risk and return with their concentrated portfolio construction13:41 Most common traits of successful founders within CPG companies17:17 The process of reaching conviction within the firm and how they manage their decision-making processes 20:52 How they have adjusted to today’s market where speed is paramount for many deals24:15 Deciding on the best number of companies in a portfolio and where they can absorb risk27:55 How has consumer behavior changed permann because of the pandemic and what will happen when things go back to “normal”32:47 How will changes in consumer behavior impact on Harbinger’s investments36:00 Some of the investment aspects Megan considers negotiable38:42 How Megan thinks of ownership and amount money invested41:16 The most counterintuitive lesson she’s learned as an investor42:49 The most challenging aspect of running a firm44:22 The investor that she aspires towardMentioned in this episode:Harbinger VenturesI’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Megan. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com