Media Capital - Where Consumer Investing Meets Media Innovation | Consumer Brands | Fundraising

Media Capital - Where Consumer Investing Meets Media Innovation | Consumer Brands | Fundraising

Curious about the latest consumer trends and the venture models supporting consumer brands? Do you own a consumer business and want to learn more about fundraising and brand advertising? This podcast is for you! Media Capital™ is where Consumer Investing meets Media Innovation. I’m Diana, the host, and in every episode, I interview the people behind ambitious consumer brands, uncovering what it takes to grow a business, raise capital, and scale through brand advertising! You’ll also hear from media capital investors and VCs as they share how media, funding, and brand-building come together.

Episodes

October 30, 2025 44 mins
Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Denielle Finkelstein and Thyme Sullivan, Co-CEOs and Co-Founders of UNICORN in EVERY stall, the company redefining bathroom equity.Cousins and co-CEOs Danielle and Thyme left decades in fashion and consumer goods to create UNICORN. Their sleek dispensers put organic tampons and pads in every stall, just like toilet paper, at companies like JPMorgan Chase, American Express, PepsiCo, and Toyota....
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Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Elle Lanning, President of Investments at Camino Partners.
At Camino, Elle leads investment strategy and execution across asset classes, with a focus on the firm’s direct investment platform. A former KIND executive who helped scale the brand from $20 million to over $1 billion in sales, Elle brings an operator’s lens to investing. Under her leadership, Camino has partnered with...
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Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Keith Teare and Rob Hodgkinson. Keith is CEO of SignalRank and publisher of That Was The Week on Substack. Previously he was the Co-Founder of TechCrunch and a founder of European ISP EasyNet. Rob is the Co-founder and Head of Investing at SignalRank, previously an investor at Beringea.In this episode, we talk about what signals really matter in the early-stage venture market, how their approa...
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    Today are happy to welcome Singari Seshadri. Singari is an investor, operator and entrepreneur with deep experience launching and scaling consumer businesses. She incubated Cumulus Media, now the second largest radio operator in the US. Led innovation at Nike, taught entrepreneurship at Stanford and invested across media, health and wellness.She's now focused on women's sports where she brings a unique lens shaped by years in VC, s...
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    Today, we’re thrilled to welcome James Cummings, Vice President, Business Development at London & Partners.The organisation has a mission to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable, and inclusive, and to tell London's story brilliantly to an international audience in partnership with organisations and people who have a stake in London's promotion. James is based in Los Angeles and works with US companie...
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    Today’s guest is Cathy White, the founder and CEO of CEW Communications—a leading European PR agency. Since launching in 2016, Cathy and her team have helped early-stage and growth-stage startups, as well as venture capital firms tell their stories and gain media attention across Europe.Some of their past clients include: Mondu, Sleepwave as well as funds such as Aldea Ventures and Unlock VC.Before founding CEW, Cathy l...
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    Today, we’re joined by Simone Kendle, CEO of Wove, the custom jewelry brand that’s redefining what luxury means. Wove blends deep personalization, craftsmanship, and trust in a way the traditional jewelry industry has never done. Under Simone’s leadership, Wove is quickly becoming a cultural force — most recently capturing headlines when Taylor Swift was seen wearing their bracelets.On this episode, we&rsquo...
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    Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Evan Shapiro, Emmy-winning producer, professor, media strategist, and founder of ESHAP.ESHAP is a “change agency” known for making sense of chaos in media. If you’ve ever seen the famous Media Universe Map, you’ve seen Evan’s work—he’s the self-proclaimed Media Cartographer, charting how platforms, creators, and culture collide.With a media career span...
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    We’re thrilled to welcome Amit Khosla, Executive Director at AYA Capital Inc. – 3rd generation alternative investment vehicle of one of the founding families of Grupo Modelo, Latin Americas largest vertically integrated brewing businesses.The Private Office, while keeping a low public profile, is known in the right circles for its Blockchain, E-Gaming, B2B SaaS and Direct Consumer investments. They take a global approac...
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    Today, we’re thrilled to welcome Pedro Schmidt, CEO and Founder of KA-EX, the world’s first fast-acting cortisol stress reducer.KA-EX is built on a science-backed foundation, with three clinical trials and thousands of professional athletes across Europe using it daily - from top European football clubs, such as Paris-Saint Germain and the Swiss National Football Team, to TUDOR Pro Cycling, and numerous Olympic gold med...
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    Today, we are excited to welcome Eline van der Velden—Founder and CEO of Particle6, an award-winning AI production company known for creating viral, social and AI content.Eline's background in physics drives Particle6’s unique methodology, which combines scientific creativity with advanced technology and AI, making content that resonates and reduces production costs by 60%.With a decade of experience across platforms li...
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    Reed Dickens, founder of LA Golf and former Marucci Sports CEO, shares how he built two challenger brands, lessons from the White House, and why message discipline, athlete investors, and premium innovation are his unfair advantages in disrupting legacy industries.
    • 00:00:00 -Welcome
    • 00:00:52 - Intro
    • 00:05:19 - Deep Dive
    • 00:19:37 - Shout Out
    • 00:24:59 - Lightning Round


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    Today, we are thrilled to welcome Federico Cucchi, VP of Commercial Strategy and Analytics for EMEA at Monster Energy.Federico has spent years navigating the intersection of brand strategy, media, and corporate strategy for some of the largest consumer brands, including L’Oréal and Pentland Brands. Beyond the corporate world, he’s also a founder, having launched three startups, and an investor, advising venture cap...
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    Today we're thrilled to welcome Tim Fung, founder of and CEO of Airtasker, a marketplace for local services that connects people who need work done with trusted and skilled locals who want to work and earn extra cash. In this episode we'll talk about Airtasker's journey from launching in Australia in 2012 to expanding into the UK in 2018, and most recently the US. Some of the learnings from building a marketplace and scaling intern...
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    The media and advertising landscape is changing at an unprecedented pace. As traditional revenue streams decline and consumer brands face tougher fundraising conditions, media capital is emerging as a powerful tool for both media owners and high-growth startups.The MFG 2025 Report presents the most comprehensive analysis of media capital to date. Drawing on insights from the first-ever Media Capital Fund Manager survey, the report ...
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    In this episode, we sit down with Samantha Skey, CEO of SheMedia, to explore the evolving landscape of media and the lessons she’s learned from a career spent at the intersection of content, community, and commerce. Samantha shares how she’s navigated the shifting tides of digital publishing, the importance of resilience in leadership, and why embracing failure as a learning tool is critical for long-term success. She r...
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    In this episode, we sit down with Erez Bousso, founder of HolidayHeroes, to explore the challenges of building trust in the travel industry. Erez shares how he turned his passion for France into a thriving business, the importance of focus in brand positioning, and why traditional performance marketing isn’t enough to scale a consumer travel brand. He explains how television became a game-changer for HolidayHeroes, elevating ...
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    In this episode, Jenny shares how her adventures—including a 700-mile solo expedition to the South Pole—shaped her resilience. She reflects on how motherhood changed her perspective and why she founded Ovum to bring a more compassionate, empowering approach to fertility care.We discuss the parallels between extreme expeditions and the emotional endurance needed for reproductive challenges, the gaps in the current system...
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    Consumer investing is evolving, and brand advertising is back at the heart of growth. In this new season, we dive deeper into the intersection of media, funding, and consumer brands, bringing you insider stories from founders, media leaders, and venture investors shaping the landscape. 🎙 Hosted by Diana Florescu, each episode uncovers the strategies behind scaling consumer businesses, raising capital, and leveraging media to accel...
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    There’s a reason strongly-spirited frozen cocktails didn’t exist. Xīn and Voltaire was born to challenge the capabilities of alcohol and ice and push the boundaries of how cocktails can be savoured. We spoke to Grace, CEO & Founder about the story behind the brand and how they worked to allow the icy cold temperatures of sorbet to be maintained when adding the heat of an alcoholic cocktail mix. We had the pleas...
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