Belinda Murray: Hello and welcome to the Bee Formless flow driven CEO and VC podcast where we are reshaping life leadership business and investing and I am welcoming to the show. I'm going to say this morning for you, Danny Cohen. Welcome to the show
Danny Cohen: Thank you, so good to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.
Belinda Murray: Thank you, it's 10 10 and so are you feeling 10 out of 10 when it comes to energy levels right now on a Monday morning?
Danny Cohen: apps, yes all of the above and I also brought coffee with me just to make it 11 out of 10 you know so that's okay.
Belinda Murray: love it, I love. I've been watching that coffee and I'm like, that is my favorite coffees in terms of just like, you know, like ⁓ a black coffee like that. It just looks delightful and it just gives you such the hit, right? I love it. It's Monday, it's Monday evening here, 4th of May. Daddy, you are based in Tel Aviv in Israel. You've clearly had this, a lot been happening over on your part of the world. How's everything feeling in Tel Aviv right now?
Danny Cohen: Hahaha Yeah. Right now everything is great. is good. There's ceasefire, which is fantastic. Hopefully that will last forever. ⁓ And energy of innovation and startup and investing is all at time high, so we're good.
Belinda Murray: Yeah. I love it, I love it. And it is such an innovative place. I had no idea until I started talking to so many different people and including yourself from in the last 12 months. And I'm just like, gosh, so exciting. So let's get on into it. You are the co-founder and general partner at Sticker VC. And it was started just on 18 months ago, started for 2025. So post COVID, I call them post COVID babies because I have been speaking to a lot of people who have started. started businesses post COVID and it is a whole new world right when you think about pre pre-COVID, in COVID and then post it's just so much that's evolving and so Sticker VC focuses on early stage companies companies and the often underrepresented B2C landscape within the Israeli ecosystem. You just gave me a stat and I'm gonna set it up right up front. You said you have 130 investors in your fund and of the 130 investors, there's two women. I'm gonna just, we're not gonna go into it right now. I'm gonna keep talking through your amazing bio. Huge stat though, right? Like in terms of the fact 130 investors in your fund and two women. We'll come back to that in a second. Your operator, operator.
Danny Cohen: We will.
Belinda Murray: In a market globally recognized for deep tech and enterprise innovation, Danny's and your team's work centers on a different challenge. And that's backing and building consumer driven businesses where behavior, brand and market awareness play a critical role in success. And I just think this is really important right now because there is so much conversation around the tech revolution deep tech and yet the consumer driven businesses. It's almost like there's this renaissance. so what are we doing with these consumer driven businesses when it comes to brand and market awareness, et cetera. And I'd love your thoughts on that. At Sticker VC, you work closely with founders, not just on capital, also on navigating the realities of category creation, where demand isn't always established and companies must shape both product and market simultaneously. Your perspective highlights a key tension in venture that while some ecosystems are optimized for certain types of innovation, meaningful opportunities often exist in the spaces that are less understood and less crowded. I'm going to hand it over to you to tell us, because tell us a bit before you came into VSC.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, first of all, the way you read it and the way you say it, I want you always near me telling the story. You tell it better than I do. So thank you. Thank you for that. ⁓
Belinda Murray: No, thank you. I'm bit mad at someone's brand, someone's, I think it's really important to share people's story and I don't think we do it enough. hence why I do like to share and it at the very beginning because I think it's important for you to hear it back to yourself as well. I should also say, sorry, you're the father of ⁓ girls, four daughters. I shouldn't say girls, four daughters. So we will have to tell you.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, there are four women at this point in my life. There used to be four girls, now there four women. ⁓ briefly kind of my story. I grew up in Israel. I did spend time in the US when I was young with my parents. I went to a business school at INSEAD in France and then post business school year I joined the venture world. I spent 12 years in... ⁓
Belinda Murray: ⁓ it is, wow.
Danny Cohen: one of the first Israeli VCs called Gemini. Then with them I moved to Silicon Valley for a few years, so I spent time there. And then moved back to Israel and moved to a different fund, the largest VC in Israel called Viola, which is a multi-stage, multi-asset, very large fund. And I was general partner in their early stage fund. And I was there for almost, again, 13, 14 years. I saw this consumer opportunity and I always had the passion and experience in the consumer world and I thought that there was an opportunity to start a consumer fund in Israel. here we are today, know, pushing forward as the number one consumer fund in Israel.
Belinda Murray: It's amazing. Can I ask how did the name sticker come about? Like, yeah.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, so we were, first of all, it was hard because, you know, I had hours with chat GPT to find a name. But, you know, you look for a name that is easy to pronounce, that there's a domain, that's really hard. There's no other VC on that name. And I know how we got the sticker, but I'll say three things about sticker one is stickers make everything personal. So it's a very consumer. product. love stickers. People put stickers on their laptop, on their guitar cases, you know, on their desk. So stickers of ⁓ and I've always been like a huge lover of stickers. we look for ⁓ consumer products or kind of works well with stickiness. And on a serious point, you know, post October 7, which was a big kind of a difficult day here in Israel. Memorial here is done by a lot of stickers people promote kind of the memory of their loved ones with kind of stickers. And we thought that's kind of a little touch of something on the memory of October 7th. So it was a combination of fun, business, and something kind of Israel-related.
Belinda Murray: No! It's purposeful and impactful and yeah, beautiful and you know, everything that we do and especially when it comes to, you know, consumer is all about a story, right? And then you make it personal around October 7 and you know, the stories that people are sharing on such a significant day. I love that. I love the purpose and impact behind it. So there's so much in story. Tell us, so consumer, I was saying to you pre-show, I think we're... We're at a point, well, personally, I feel like we're at a point where we need to get more focused on consumer and more focused on the market, the awareness, the brand, you know, more than ever with all this tech revolution coming through, you know, and I'm not suggesting that you completely go anti-tech at all. It's just that... If we're not careful, we could lose choice of, you know, like lose our own choice of brands and what it means from a consumer brand perspective. What's your, where do you think we're at right now from a, you know, especially given that you're focused on, you know, B to C and for a consumer, with a, like, you know, the consumer lens as such. are you seeing?
Danny Cohen: ⁓ So, two, yeah, so one, the tech revolution, we're not tech, The opposite, I think what's happening is the tech revolution is creating a huge change in humanity. And that change and how we work, how we live, how we ⁓ shop, that's a huge opportunity. Because think, you know, how much time we spend on these, on this AI stuff, which is something that did not exist five years ago. So ⁓ it
Belinda Murray: Yeah. Yeah.
Danny Cohen: You know, the internet was a huge driver into consumer change. And I think AI is a huge driver to consumer change as well. But the other side of it is that we humans, we're not AI. We still are emotional and brand will always exist because at the end of the day, we have emotions towards stuff and feelings and stories and so on. So I think in this crazy world of tech change, it creates a huge opportunity for new brands and new opportunities.
Belinda Murray: What sort of new brands are you seeing, Danny, coming through? mean, you said you've got 130 investors in your fund. What are you seeing? Like, what's exciting? What's coming? Like, what's different? What's changing?
Danny Cohen: Yeah, so first of all, so many things, but I would say there's kind of, put in two or three buckets. One, think fashion is changing dramatically, and I think there's an opportunity for new fashion brands, and people are looking to find, what's that?
Belinda Murray: You need a home. said we need them. was only having this conversation on Friday around need some new fashion brands. What happened? I mean, this dress is from like seven, eight years ago, but it's crazy. It's got all these different, I'm looking for, you know, authentic, eclectic stuff and I'm just not seeing it at the moment. It's become quite beige. Sorry, sorry. I get excited about this because.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, no, so think, you know, we just saw, we just looked at a potential, you know, children's kind of fashion brand that we thought was very exciting. And, and of course, and we are investors in a, in a great brand called Archie and Dennis, which is a men's fashion. And, and so there's great things around that, around that area. I think the other is, is wellness, right? And ⁓ there's, I mean, look at the, the Grunz, the Grunz, exit at a billion dollars, right? Everything around supplements and functional drinks and all that area, I think there's so much to do there and there's so much need. By the way, we're seeing a big push into specific related stuff, talk about ⁓ and so on. So I think that there's a lot of opportunity around women's health, women's wellness everything in those categories.
Belinda Murray: Mm.
Danny Cohen: And then the other side is look, AI is a big driver for a new type of services and applications that will disrupt the existing markets. And those are pretty interesting also.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's very exciting. Tell us a bit about the two, the two, only two women in your fund and ⁓ what's your view on, you know, father of four women daughters ⁓ ⁓ I don't like, it still baffles me because you, you don't talk about. ⁓
Danny Cohen: Be beef. You know, the I'll start from a different direction. You know, there's four, there four of us in our team. It's me and my, my, my co-founder and we have an analyst and a head of operations and, we also have a venture partner in New York. So five of us, but two, two women and they're just spending time. The two of them, the two women on in a course of investing for women, which is, I think, is a big category. And I think there's more and more women going into investing overall. But I think historically, in a lot of homes, right, the money or the money management or who runs the money, was a lot of times, you know, the responsibility was the man side, right? And ⁓ I think that needs to change. And the change needs to happen where, you know, where the family decides to invest in a venture fund. that decision will be driven from the woman, ⁓ not the man side of it. And I think that's not happening enough. ⁓ I hope that we'll have many more women investors. Again, these are all private investors. By the way, on the LP side, there's a lot of women that are general kind of GPs on of fund of funds. And so there you meet a lot of women. There's a lot of people that do that.
Belinda Murray: Mmm. Nice. Yeah, yeah. It's not again, it's not us versus them at all. Like I'm not suggesting it's male versus female in any way, shape or form. It's just fascinating coming into this space and then reviewing the stats and seeing the stats. And you just kind of go, how do we break this down? How do we make it more... How do we bring more women into it? You know, what do we what do we need to do? And as as women as well, like what is stopping us like, you know, we're sometimes our own worst critiques, you just called out, you know, we've allowed, you know, the husband to make the decisions or the partner or whatever. And yet, as women, we need to be more confident, we need to, to come in and go, No, I want to know more. And I want to understand this more, be more proactive in that space. Do know what I mean? And especially when it comes to investing.
Danny Cohen: Yeah. I would say another thing though. Let's talk about women entrepreneurs. You we invested in 12 companies. We have 12 companies in our portfolio. We have two female CEOs. Now we're going to make our third. So that's 25%. That's not bad at all. That is above But the reality that there is not enough.
Belinda Murray: Mm.
Danny Cohen: And I think that's something that we need to push as well. And we need to have more women taking leadership roles in companies, starting companies. And the you see the difference. You see the difference when a woman entrepreneur does a pitch and when ⁓ a man, you know, when a guy does a pitch, it's different. And people need to understand that a little bit and ⁓ be conscious of it.
Belinda Murray: I couldn't agree with you. I was just saying to you that I was just reviewing I'm doing a pitch tomorrow and it's with three guys and myself it's that male female energy piece right and it's just like we ⁓ we re-see things differently to what see things, right? And so there's just this kind of different observation, there's this different lens across things. And I think ⁓ two can work really nicely together. I think when you've just got one of ⁓ male energy or one of all just female energy, you miss a beat. And I think that when you can interconnect the two together. I think you can be a real dynamic force because I think it does you just bring this different lens across things. Do you agree or like what's your on that?
Danny Cohen: I agree. I agree 100%. You know, we brought an analyst to our team. And as I said, a head of operations and the fact that they're both in it's a small team. But, you know, there four of us in the Tel Aviv office and the fact that we're 50 50 and we sit there together, I think it changes the dynamic so much, you know, and our analyst like joke, she's, she's the same age as my my oldest daughter. And I joke that, you know, when I'm at home, my daughters make fun of me. Now in the office, she makes fun of me. So I'm covered all 24 sevens. So that's good.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, totally, totally. And tell us a little bit about early stage companies and the focus on early stage companies. What are you looking for at that, such an early stage of a company building? And I know, and just also from, you know, I guess your culture is to fail fast, keep going, keep going, keep going. Like I've spoken to a lot of people, like I said, out of Israel, and you've got this amazing resilience and this amazing strength. Yeah.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, mean, first of all, the good thing in Israel is that we joke everybody here wants, everybody here is either before a startup, in a startup or after a startup, right? It's like so innovative and it's a good thing because Israel itself was a startup, right? It was a dream of Jewish people a hundred something years ago and the dream come true of a Jewish state here in Israel. So I think that part is really deep, deep, deep in the culture. Look, we, you know, I joke, the world of VC is simple, right? We're looking for two things and two things only. We look for great entrepreneurs and these are people that are, you know, success driven, that are willing to, you know, give it all that they have a purpose in life, not just to make money. And we're, you know, willing to work at it 24 sevens. That's one. And two, we're going after markets where we think there's a disruption and opportunity. As long as we focus on those two things, good teams and big markets will make money.
Belinda Murray: It's interesting you called out the 24-7. It's from someone who experienced severe burnout when scaling the company, the previous company. I was in over an 11-year period and some weeks it was 80 to 100 hours a week. Some days I'd go three days in a row of just no sleep. You'd be like, well, you'd go home, you'd have a shower and you'd be back again and you'd be presenting, pitching, all of that sort of stuff. I don't know how I did it now because sleep is so important, right? I was pretty good at averaging, you know, three hours a week. It's interesting as a founder now myself and having that experience of burning out, being super successful you know, this continued conversation around ⁓ have to work hard and I get it. It's just a challenge I have and I'd be interested again to see if you have this with any of the founders you're working with. I can't work 24-7 like I used to because I get a handbrake that comes on and it stops me and says no.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, I mean, to be fair, I think we have entrepreneurs, founders that are experienced, that are doing their third or fourth company, they're maybe toward the age of 45 or 50, and they don't work 24 seven, but I think they are, you know, they have a more mature view on what needs to happen. But then we have, we back entrepreneurs that are 20 something, and I'm telling you, I think I expect them is to, the fact that they're not experienced is I want them to,
Belinda Murray: Yeah.
Danny Cohen: When you're 20 something, you can sleep two hours a night or not sleep at all. And the time where ⁓ give it ⁓ you've got. And I think that if people are like that, think the chances of success goes higher.
Belinda Murray: Yeah. It's a good call out actually, know, because all my lived experience, you know, I would probably things a little bit differently. did have, I had all this energy. I still have all this energy. It's just a different kind of energy and I'm wiser, you know, and I know when to push myself if you like and when not to. And it's the ability to be more strategic, less reactive.
Danny Cohen: agree, ⁓ know, I'll tell you that's true. But there are things that you can be strategic ⁓ smart and experienced, but sometimes you just give it out. You just give it, you gotta give it hours. ⁓ can't, you won't be able to start a great business and work on it ⁓ hours a day. It won't work, you know.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, he did. No, I agree. And then also, Danny, in terms of like early stage companies, at what point do you go it's time to call it in terms of this is not going to succeed, right? You know, there's kind of lots of different philosophies on, you know, it take two years, can take three years, it can take 10 years. Do you have a point of view on that? Yeah.
Danny Cohen: It's not, I don't think it's a question, for me it's not a question of time, it's always a question of money, right? I mean, why do companies end, right? They end for one reason and one reason only, when they're out of cash. But as long as you have more cash to run, you run. And I think when companies run out of cash and they need to fundraise again, that's the moment where...
Belinda Murray: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Danny Cohen: You gotta put your house in order and you gotta see is did I build something of value or not? And look, I think one of the challenges for investors, especially in Israel, which is a small market where you know everyone, is when you have a company, they're running out of money, you're the investor, they come to you and they say, I want, give me a little bit more money because there's something here I can't reach from anybody else, but please give me money.
Belinda Murray: Yes.
Danny Cohen: And you say, no, if you can't raise from anybody else, you're not gonna take my money either. And then those are hard conversations. But I think expectation is that when you need to fundraise, ⁓ have enough people ⁓ will back you, that's a good sign that you have something of value.
Belinda Murray: It's also backing you and it's also like managing your cash flow, Like don't you think there's an element of that as well? know, able to, it's not your money. So also like the ability to.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, know that, that's true, but I think what founders need to understand also is that they're putting in their number one, the most sacred resource for them, which is their life. And what happens sometimes for entrepreneurs is that they manage cash well, they're breakeven, so now they can go forever. And they go for a long, long, long time, and they don't realize that they have just wasted the best years of their life on something that will never work. And that's another conversation to have is to come to an entrepreneur and say, look, I understand you're break even. I understand you don't need money. Are you sure you want to continue going this because you're, before you know it, you're 55 and then what?
Belinda Murray: running like that. Yeah, it's a good call actually. It is a really, and I guess that's why, and I completely agree on the money aspect. And I think that's why I was calling out time as well, because it's time and money. It's invest like in terms of personal investment. I think you have to call it time at some point you're not growing. Like I see some businesses where I advise and I'm like, ⁓ been running this at the same. ⁓
Danny Cohen: You're right.
Belinda Murray: year on year for like 10 years, what's going on? And it's like, this is, you know, and they're still saying they're a startup and I'm like, you're not a startup. This is, this is a 10 year old business. not, you know, like ⁓ just not. So what's actually happening underneath this? Danny, want to come right back to you. No, no, keep going. What were you going to say?
Danny Cohen: Yes. and I'm You know, ⁓ yeah, sorry. I just want to say that a lot of times I tell remember that you and your company are not the same. Meaning ⁓ you live beyond, you have life after your company and that's also something to remember and understand.
Belinda Murray: Do you think that they do you think entrepreneurs understand that do you think that they do when you explain that to them?
Danny Cohen: Sometimes they do sometimes they don't look you know now I started sticker and It was funny. I was thinking do I want to put a sticker tattoo on? Right here because I'm thinking of getting a new tattoo, and I was like ⁓ my god. No, I like What's that?
Belinda Murray: I love it. I'm thinking the same, same. I call it body art. I mean like seeing all these beautiful and I'm like hmm my dad doesn't even know I've got any and like if I got one where you can see it he'd be like what anyway.
Danny Cohen: Oh, God. I remember the first time I went, my mom, passed away, but my first tattoo, she said, what's on your leg? What is that? What's on your leg? Sorry, sorry, that's a different discussion. No, but I was just, because I now think that sticker is me and I'm sticker. But again, remember, sticker will have a life, hopefully, beyond me, and I will have a life beyond sticker.
Belinda Murray: I know I love that, it's my dream. Mm, mm.
Danny Cohen: Try to think about that as well.
Belinda Murray: Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur as well? Danny, in terms of with sticker, like, yeah, do you see yourself as that also?
Danny Cohen: No, absolutely, absolutely. This is so different than being, and I was a senior partner in two funds. It's not the same at all. This is totally, it was like first few months when we started, it like, don't know, will this work? Will this be able to raise money? And then, can I pay salary? And still our fund is small. I don't get paid at this point, maybe in the future, but it's a... Absolutely, this is an entrepreneurial story and you know, I had to recruit my entire family to stand behind me and understand that we're going through, know, interesting times, hopefully good ones, but you know.
Belinda Murray: Well, it's, yeah, it's a sacrifice. It's just when you go from, and it's something we don't talk about enough, I don't think. And, you know, I haven't had this conversation with anyone, even from a venture capital perspective, when you become an entrepreneur and, know, in terms of sticker VSC ⁓ you go from this. ⁓ big salary, know, like it's just kind of a check that comes through regularly and then you invest in your own business and you're pouring your own personal funds into it to build it. And like you say, you know, you've got to pay salaries, you've got this to do and then you're not paying yourself. can mess with your head, ⁓ know, every now and again. And especially if you've got a family, I mean, I don't have any children, I have my dog. ⁓ a psychological game though, right? Because... you've got to make sacrifices and your ego is saying, what's going on here? Like you're all this work and ego is saying one thing to you when you're battling your ego. And I was having this conversation with someone earlier today, actually, I've got this new routine on a Monday to smash myself through to start for the week, just to go no to any bad vibes. And I'll go and do like a hot strength cardio class resting on a Monday morning. Just to not let any little things start to kind of, because as an entrepreneur it happens, don't you think?
Danny Cohen: Very I agree 100%, but I wanna say the joy, you know, there was my previous fund Viola, and they were fantastic, they were great fun, they were big fun. They just moved to a new office, and their new office is beautiful. And I went to see their new office, and it was really just this fantastic. And then in the afternoon, I went to our office, which we were sitting at some shitty WeWork, sorry, right? And I was going in, it was like our first day at this shitty WeWork, and I went into the WeWork, which is ugly, ugly. And I just came back from this fancy office and I was like, ⁓ my God, our my we work, it's so beautiful. It's amazing because it was mine, you know? So ⁓ it was a big, big, big, big emotional moment.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's very different. Yeah, I like that. Kudos to you. I think it's good. I think it's great that you, and I actually think it, what do they say? Entrepreneurship is a superpower. And I don't think it's for everybody. And it is because, you know, it's all the fields, all waves, all the rides. At the end of the day though, like you say, when yours, ⁓ and you have to separate it from, you know, personal life at times. ⁓ When yours though, it's yours. you get to, I guess, make this as amazing and as possible as it possibly can be that even makes sense. It's really up to you. And that's where, you know, the grit, the resilience kicks in and the ability to get up each day, even on the shitty days when you're just like, you know what I mean? Like, and guess that's probably now that you've got the entrepreneur in you, you probably, are you connecting? But do you think you connect better with the founders? in your, like do you connect together?
Danny Cohen: It's a good question. Yes. Although, at some point, I don't think they care. I tell them, oh, I'm a startup too. It's like, whatever, they don't care. I do think that one thing, and this is a little bit direction, but I think we connect to them a lot because of the B2C consumer story. That's what happens. I think the fact that we are consumer focused, I think for them is like, oh, you understand me or you're like, or I'm not.
Belinda Murray: Yeah.
Danny Cohen: Like they're not the side dish of the fund, they're like the main dish of the fund. I think that that's what really makes a big connection.
Belinda Murray: Let's talk about that, Dani, because I was going to come into that and I knew you'd bring it up. The B2C to consumer, for me, story is so critical and quite often you'll see when it comes to brand, when it comes to a product or a business, and especially in early stage, how important is story? Because I quite often see... you know, different businesses and they're at their early stage and I'm like, what does it mean for the consumer? Like there's no connection to the consumer, right? And here you are focused, your fund is focused on the consumer. mean, these people are in that space. Do you see any, like, is there any disconnects that you notice ⁓ you think we need that needs to be more... you've done like what's the
Danny Cohen: Yeah, I I would say three things on what you said. One, first of all, for us, I think it's so clear when we have the strategy, we have our consumer strategy and story is very clear, it's everything comes together, which is just fantastic, right? Because when we about our new office, it feels consumerish, right? And our brand. And so once you have a good story, I think everything falls into a good place. And for our companies, I would say one, There are some people that are really good storytelling. They're just good at it, right? So they just have it, they're natural. And some people are naturally not good at it and you see the difference. I think people need to be, sorry, ⁓ of that and get help or advice when they can get to improve their storytelling. But the third thing I would say is that the one thing and talk about tech versus consumer, the big difference is that we want our companies to be very distribution oriented.
Belinda Murray: That's okay.
Danny Cohen: We want them to think about good at market and story is part of it, but how, what's your edge? How are you going to get customers in a cheap way? What's your edge on that? That is kind of the wider spectrum of what we're looking for because that's really what makes kind of the best companies out there.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, I agree. Do you think we're gonna see more and more of that, Danny? Like, do you think that you're, like, this is just the beginning of, like, what you've created with Sticker VC? Do you think we're gonna see more and more of these type of funds and what you're investing in come into play as we go forward?
Danny Cohen: Yeah, look, mean, startup, yeah, because I think we look at venture capital the way it was when I started. very small industry and VCs were just in whatever is out there on innovation. And I think now there's so many entrepreneurs ⁓ and with AI, we're going to see 10 times more entrepreneurs. And entrepreneurs need more money and innovation economy is global and growing very, very fast. and there are going to be more funds going after innovation economy. And for us, we need to differentiate by offering something very specific. And for the entrepreneurs, they want people to understand what they're doing.
Belinda Murray: it's really interesting. Are any of your daughters, like are they moving into the same sort of space as what you're in? any of them following you? ⁓
Danny Cohen: Only one, only one. At this point, that's what I think, but we'll see. My oldest is a social worker. She's doing unbelievable work, really unbelievable, God her. ⁓ She's with ⁓ the life of humanity, the difficult parts of humanity. My second daughter is university. I think she has a passion for things that I do. Then the two younger ones, we'll see.
Belinda Murray: What as the biggest opportunities the total, ⁓ from all the years and all your experience, what do you think is the biggest opportunities ⁓ the VC? Let's talk, let's say the collective ecosystem. ⁓ are you seeing as the biggest opportunities right now for, I guess, ⁓ we're in such a revolution, what you think still needs to be done? ⁓
Danny Cohen: Yes, sir. Yeah, so again, I kind of mentioned that I would say there are the big ⁓ things that are happening is AI is changing how ⁓ shop and how we work. ⁓ think how we work is something that has not made an impact yet. And that is going to make a huge impact on humanity. And that's going to create a whole type of new jobs and new type of companies. that's kind of that's for me is the most fascinating.
Belinda Murray: Yeah.
Danny Cohen: And it's scary also, but I think that I really think humanity will prevail and find new things to do. we'll see. So yeah, we'll see a lot more creativity. And then on the flip side, completely, unfortunately, I think we live in a world that is a lot more chaotic and, you know, and there's a lot of opportunity in what's called defense, which I personally have no passion for. But, you know, governments are spending more money on, you know. on military stuff, which is sad in my mind, but that's another opportunity out there. Not for me though.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's interesting because it's defence and then you talk about humanity and it's kind of like the two don't really go, you know, hand in hand.
Danny Cohen: I look, I a believer in humanity. I'm a believer in creativity, in art, in music. And that's what makes me happy. That's I want to spend my time with.
Belinda Murray: What's your favorite song? What's your favorite music that you love listening to to get you going?
Danny Cohen: ⁓ my god, yeah. So I'm a huge Pearl Jam fan. yeah, I've been there. I've been to close to 30 concerts for them all over the world. yeah, you know, so I had to pick one song from there is probably, I'll say, you know, alive because I'm alive and I feel that what I'm doing is I'm touching. So there you go.
Belinda Murray: So good.
Danny Cohen: A little bit cheesy there, but you know, kind of connecting all of it.
Belinda Murray: I'm gonna have to have a little bit of a listen to Pearl Jam. I haven't not listened to them for ages. I've never seen them in concert every time.
Danny Cohen: I know, I know. By the they come to Australia a lot. Some of the concerts I saw them were really some of the most ⁓ joyful moments of my life, I gotta tell you.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's a bit like me with you too actually. I'm a big fan of you too. Yeah, yeah, I would just, yeah, I've been to every you two concert here. Oh my gosh. Daddy, we could keep talking. I am gonna let you get back to your day. know, alive is such a great optimistic way to start the week and.
Danny Cohen: ⁓ of course.
Belinda Murray: you know, just a reminder to everyone, you know, is what a time it is to be alive, no matter how much craziness there is in this world. I think when we stay present and we stay focused on ⁓ in front of us, the ability to get up each day ⁓ you know, be doing what fulfills us. And it's absolutely testament to you with Sticker VC and just ⁓ energy that it feels around it. And you have a, you obviously have your... ⁓ you've got this great newsletter that I read last week and I could feel the energy coming through that as well just in terms of from a consumer and you know B2C and everything else and what you're doing with your fund etc. ⁓ do we find out more about Sticker Ventures? How do we find out more about you, Danni?
Danny Cohen: Yeah, so just sticker.vc and you find, look for Daniel Cohen or Danny Cohen sticker on LinkedIn. Danny Cohen alone is not enough because there's too many of us, but Danny Cohen sticker does work. And yeah, ⁓ and anybody out there wants to talk about consumer, I'm open to it and ⁓ would love any conversation around it.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, I could keep asking about consumer. Okay, one last, one final last question. What are we gonna see from a consumer trend? You talked about fashion, femtech, all of that. Is there anything that we're going to see from a macro perspective that we haven't seen yet this year or a micro perspective that's just gonna blow our minds? Is there anything?
Danny Cohen: ⁓ okay. mean, the one thing we do, cause you asked in the beginning, said anti-tech, ⁓ anti AI is a trend, right? And, ⁓ we're going to see a lot of that, right? people are going to ⁓ for, you know, not AI music, not AI art, not AI people. ⁓ you know, ⁓ Mandy's going to fight back a little bit. It's going to happen.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, yeah. Watch out everybody. Go humanity. And for all the listeners out there, know, there's a lot to take away from this conversation. So, Janne, thank you so much. I'm wishing you a wonderful week ahead and look forward to getting you back on the show in, who knows, maybe towards the end of the year, early next year, this podcast is gonna keep going.
Danny Cohen: I would love that beat, that would fantastic. Just say when.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, thank you so much. Have a great day and then a great week ahead. Thank you.
Danny Cohen: but
Danny Cohen: Thank you, so good to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.
Belinda Murray: Thank you, it's 10 10 and so are you feeling 10 out of 10 when it comes to energy levels right now on a Monday morning?
Danny Cohen: apps, yes all of the above and I also brought coffee with me just to make it 11 out of 10 you know so that's okay.
Belinda Murray: love it, I love. I've been watching that coffee and I'm like, that is my favorite coffees in terms of just like, you know, like ⁓ a black coffee like that. It just looks delightful and it just gives you such the hit, right? I love it. It's Monday, it's Monday evening here, 4th of May. Daddy, you are based in Tel Aviv in Israel. You've clearly had this, a lot been happening over on your part of the world. How's everything feeling in Tel Aviv right now?
Danny Cohen: Hahaha Yeah. Right now everything is great. is good. There's ceasefire, which is fantastic. Hopefully that will last forever. ⁓ And energy of innovation and startup and investing is all at time high, so we're good.
Belinda Murray: Yeah. I love it, I love it. And it is such an innovative place. I had no idea until I started talking to so many different people and including yourself from in the last 12 months. And I'm just like, gosh, so exciting. So let's get on into it. You are the co-founder and general partner at Sticker VC. And it was started just on 18 months ago, started for 2025. So post COVID, I call them post COVID babies because I have been speaking to a lot of people who have started. started businesses post COVID and it is a whole new world right when you think about pre pre-COVID, in COVID and then post it's just so much that's evolving and so Sticker VC focuses on early stage companies companies and the often underrepresented B2C landscape within the Israeli ecosystem. You just gave me a stat and I'm gonna set it up right up front. You said you have 130 investors in your fund and of the 130 investors, there's two women. I'm gonna just, we're not gonna go into it right now. I'm gonna keep talking through your amazing bio. Huge stat though, right? Like in terms of the fact 130 investors in your fund and two women. We'll come back to that in a second. Your operator, operator.
Danny Cohen: We will.
Belinda Murray: In a market globally recognized for deep tech and enterprise innovation, Danny's and your team's work centers on a different challenge. And that's backing and building consumer driven businesses where behavior, brand and market awareness play a critical role in success. And I just think this is really important right now because there is so much conversation around the tech revolution deep tech and yet the consumer driven businesses. It's almost like there's this renaissance. so what are we doing with these consumer driven businesses when it comes to brand and market awareness, et cetera. And I'd love your thoughts on that. At Sticker VC, you work closely with founders, not just on capital, also on navigating the realities of category creation, where demand isn't always established and companies must shape both product and market simultaneously. Your perspective highlights a key tension in venture that while some ecosystems are optimized for certain types of innovation, meaningful opportunities often exist in the spaces that are less understood and less crowded. I'm going to hand it over to you to tell us, because tell us a bit before you came into VSC.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, first of all, the way you read it and the way you say it, I want you always near me telling the story. You tell it better than I do. So thank you. Thank you for that. ⁓
Belinda Murray: No, thank you. I'm bit mad at someone's brand, someone's, I think it's really important to share people's story and I don't think we do it enough. hence why I do like to share and it at the very beginning because I think it's important for you to hear it back to yourself as well. I should also say, sorry, you're the father of ⁓ girls, four daughters. I shouldn't say girls, four daughters. So we will have to tell you.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, there are four women at this point in my life. There used to be four girls, now there four women. ⁓ briefly kind of my story. I grew up in Israel. I did spend time in the US when I was young with my parents. I went to a business school at INSEAD in France and then post business school year I joined the venture world. I spent 12 years in... ⁓
Belinda Murray: ⁓ it is, wow.
Danny Cohen: one of the first Israeli VCs called Gemini. Then with them I moved to Silicon Valley for a few years, so I spent time there. And then moved back to Israel and moved to a different fund, the largest VC in Israel called Viola, which is a multi-stage, multi-asset, very large fund. And I was general partner in their early stage fund. And I was there for almost, again, 13, 14 years. I saw this consumer opportunity and I always had the passion and experience in the consumer world and I thought that there was an opportunity to start a consumer fund in Israel. here we are today, know, pushing forward as the number one consumer fund in Israel.
Belinda Murray: It's amazing. Can I ask how did the name sticker come about? Like, yeah.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, so we were, first of all, it was hard because, you know, I had hours with chat GPT to find a name. But, you know, you look for a name that is easy to pronounce, that there's a domain, that's really hard. There's no other VC on that name. And I know how we got the sticker, but I'll say three things about sticker one is stickers make everything personal. So it's a very consumer. product. love stickers. People put stickers on their laptop, on their guitar cases, you know, on their desk. So stickers of ⁓ and I've always been like a huge lover of stickers. we look for ⁓ consumer products or kind of works well with stickiness. And on a serious point, you know, post October 7, which was a big kind of a difficult day here in Israel. Memorial here is done by a lot of stickers people promote kind of the memory of their loved ones with kind of stickers. And we thought that's kind of a little touch of something on the memory of October 7th. So it was a combination of fun, business, and something kind of Israel-related.
Belinda Murray: No! It's purposeful and impactful and yeah, beautiful and you know, everything that we do and especially when it comes to, you know, consumer is all about a story, right? And then you make it personal around October 7 and you know, the stories that people are sharing on such a significant day. I love that. I love the purpose and impact behind it. So there's so much in story. Tell us, so consumer, I was saying to you pre-show, I think we're... We're at a point, well, personally, I feel like we're at a point where we need to get more focused on consumer and more focused on the market, the awareness, the brand, you know, more than ever with all this tech revolution coming through, you know, and I'm not suggesting that you completely go anti-tech at all. It's just that... If we're not careful, we could lose choice of, you know, like lose our own choice of brands and what it means from a consumer brand perspective. What's your, where do you think we're at right now from a, you know, especially given that you're focused on, you know, B to C and for a consumer, with a, like, you know, the consumer lens as such. are you seeing?
Danny Cohen: ⁓ So, two, yeah, so one, the tech revolution, we're not tech, The opposite, I think what's happening is the tech revolution is creating a huge change in humanity. And that change and how we work, how we live, how we ⁓ shop, that's a huge opportunity. Because think, you know, how much time we spend on these, on this AI stuff, which is something that did not exist five years ago. So ⁓ it
Belinda Murray: Yeah. Yeah.
Danny Cohen: You know, the internet was a huge driver into consumer change. And I think AI is a huge driver to consumer change as well. But the other side of it is that we humans, we're not AI. We still are emotional and brand will always exist because at the end of the day, we have emotions towards stuff and feelings and stories and so on. So I think in this crazy world of tech change, it creates a huge opportunity for new brands and new opportunities.
Belinda Murray: What sort of new brands are you seeing, Danny, coming through? mean, you said you've got 130 investors in your fund. What are you seeing? Like, what's exciting? What's coming? Like, what's different? What's changing?
Danny Cohen: Yeah, so first of all, so many things, but I would say there's kind of, put in two or three buckets. One, think fashion is changing dramatically, and I think there's an opportunity for new fashion brands, and people are looking to find, what's that?
Belinda Murray: You need a home. said we need them. was only having this conversation on Friday around need some new fashion brands. What happened? I mean, this dress is from like seven, eight years ago, but it's crazy. It's got all these different, I'm looking for, you know, authentic, eclectic stuff and I'm just not seeing it at the moment. It's become quite beige. Sorry, sorry. I get excited about this because.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, no, so think, you know, we just saw, we just looked at a potential, you know, children's kind of fashion brand that we thought was very exciting. And, and of course, and we are investors in a, in a great brand called Archie and Dennis, which is a men's fashion. And, and so there's great things around that, around that area. I think the other is, is wellness, right? And ⁓ there's, I mean, look at the, the Grunz, the Grunz, exit at a billion dollars, right? Everything around supplements and functional drinks and all that area, I think there's so much to do there and there's so much need. By the way, we're seeing a big push into specific related stuff, talk about ⁓ and so on. So I think that there's a lot of opportunity around women's health, women's wellness everything in those categories.
Belinda Murray: Mm.
Danny Cohen: And then the other side is look, AI is a big driver for a new type of services and applications that will disrupt the existing markets. And those are pretty interesting also.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's very exciting. Tell us a bit about the two, the two, only two women in your fund and ⁓ what's your view on, you know, father of four women daughters ⁓ ⁓ I don't like, it still baffles me because you, you don't talk about. ⁓
Danny Cohen: Be beef. You know, the I'll start from a different direction. You know, there's four, there four of us in our team. It's me and my, my, my co-founder and we have an analyst and a head of operations and, we also have a venture partner in New York. So five of us, but two, two women and they're just spending time. The two of them, the two women on in a course of investing for women, which is, I think, is a big category. And I think there's more and more women going into investing overall. But I think historically, in a lot of homes, right, the money or the money management or who runs the money, was a lot of times, you know, the responsibility was the man side, right? And ⁓ I think that needs to change. And the change needs to happen where, you know, where the family decides to invest in a venture fund. that decision will be driven from the woman, ⁓ not the man side of it. And I think that's not happening enough. ⁓ I hope that we'll have many more women investors. Again, these are all private investors. By the way, on the LP side, there's a lot of women that are general kind of GPs on of fund of funds. And so there you meet a lot of women. There's a lot of people that do that.
Belinda Murray: Mmm. Nice. Yeah, yeah. It's not again, it's not us versus them at all. Like I'm not suggesting it's male versus female in any way, shape or form. It's just fascinating coming into this space and then reviewing the stats and seeing the stats. And you just kind of go, how do we break this down? How do we make it more... How do we bring more women into it? You know, what do we what do we need to do? And as as women as well, like what is stopping us like, you know, we're sometimes our own worst critiques, you just called out, you know, we've allowed, you know, the husband to make the decisions or the partner or whatever. And yet, as women, we need to be more confident, we need to, to come in and go, No, I want to know more. And I want to understand this more, be more proactive in that space. Do know what I mean? And especially when it comes to investing.
Danny Cohen: Yeah. I would say another thing though. Let's talk about women entrepreneurs. You we invested in 12 companies. We have 12 companies in our portfolio. We have two female CEOs. Now we're going to make our third. So that's 25%. That's not bad at all. That is above But the reality that there is not enough.
Belinda Murray: Mm.
Danny Cohen: And I think that's something that we need to push as well. And we need to have more women taking leadership roles in companies, starting companies. And the you see the difference. You see the difference when a woman entrepreneur does a pitch and when ⁓ a man, you know, when a guy does a pitch, it's different. And people need to understand that a little bit and ⁓ be conscious of it.
Belinda Murray: I couldn't agree with you. I was just saying to you that I was just reviewing I'm doing a pitch tomorrow and it's with three guys and myself it's that male female energy piece right and it's just like we ⁓ we re-see things differently to what see things, right? And so there's just this kind of different observation, there's this different lens across things. And I think ⁓ two can work really nicely together. I think when you've just got one of ⁓ male energy or one of all just female energy, you miss a beat. And I think that when you can interconnect the two together. I think you can be a real dynamic force because I think it does you just bring this different lens across things. Do you agree or like what's your on that?
Danny Cohen: I agree. I agree 100%. You know, we brought an analyst to our team. And as I said, a head of operations and the fact that they're both in it's a small team. But, you know, there four of us in the Tel Aviv office and the fact that we're 50 50 and we sit there together, I think it changes the dynamic so much, you know, and our analyst like joke, she's, she's the same age as my my oldest daughter. And I joke that, you know, when I'm at home, my daughters make fun of me. Now in the office, she makes fun of me. So I'm covered all 24 sevens. So that's good.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, totally, totally. And tell us a little bit about early stage companies and the focus on early stage companies. What are you looking for at that, such an early stage of a company building? And I know, and just also from, you know, I guess your culture is to fail fast, keep going, keep going, keep going. Like I've spoken to a lot of people, like I said, out of Israel, and you've got this amazing resilience and this amazing strength. Yeah.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, mean, first of all, the good thing in Israel is that we joke everybody here wants, everybody here is either before a startup, in a startup or after a startup, right? It's like so innovative and it's a good thing because Israel itself was a startup, right? It was a dream of Jewish people a hundred something years ago and the dream come true of a Jewish state here in Israel. So I think that part is really deep, deep, deep in the culture. Look, we, you know, I joke, the world of VC is simple, right? We're looking for two things and two things only. We look for great entrepreneurs and these are people that are, you know, success driven, that are willing to, you know, give it all that they have a purpose in life, not just to make money. And we're, you know, willing to work at it 24 sevens. That's one. And two, we're going after markets where we think there's a disruption and opportunity. As long as we focus on those two things, good teams and big markets will make money.
Belinda Murray: It's interesting you called out the 24-7. It's from someone who experienced severe burnout when scaling the company, the previous company. I was in over an 11-year period and some weeks it was 80 to 100 hours a week. Some days I'd go three days in a row of just no sleep. You'd be like, well, you'd go home, you'd have a shower and you'd be back again and you'd be presenting, pitching, all of that sort of stuff. I don't know how I did it now because sleep is so important, right? I was pretty good at averaging, you know, three hours a week. It's interesting as a founder now myself and having that experience of burning out, being super successful you know, this continued conversation around ⁓ have to work hard and I get it. It's just a challenge I have and I'd be interested again to see if you have this with any of the founders you're working with. I can't work 24-7 like I used to because I get a handbrake that comes on and it stops me and says no.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, I mean, to be fair, I think we have entrepreneurs, founders that are experienced, that are doing their third or fourth company, they're maybe toward the age of 45 or 50, and they don't work 24 seven, but I think they are, you know, they have a more mature view on what needs to happen. But then we have, we back entrepreneurs that are 20 something, and I'm telling you, I think I expect them is to, the fact that they're not experienced is I want them to,
Belinda Murray: Yeah.
Danny Cohen: When you're 20 something, you can sleep two hours a night or not sleep at all. And the time where ⁓ give it ⁓ you've got. And I think that if people are like that, think the chances of success goes higher.
Belinda Murray: Yeah. It's a good call out actually, know, because all my lived experience, you know, I would probably things a little bit differently. did have, I had all this energy. I still have all this energy. It's just a different kind of energy and I'm wiser, you know, and I know when to push myself if you like and when not to. And it's the ability to be more strategic, less reactive.
Danny Cohen: agree, ⁓ know, I'll tell you that's true. But there are things that you can be strategic ⁓ smart and experienced, but sometimes you just give it out. You just give it, you gotta give it hours. ⁓ can't, you won't be able to start a great business and work on it ⁓ hours a day. It won't work, you know.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, he did. No, I agree. And then also, Danny, in terms of like early stage companies, at what point do you go it's time to call it in terms of this is not going to succeed, right? You know, there's kind of lots of different philosophies on, you know, it take two years, can take three years, it can take 10 years. Do you have a point of view on that? Yeah.
Danny Cohen: It's not, I don't think it's a question, for me it's not a question of time, it's always a question of money, right? I mean, why do companies end, right? They end for one reason and one reason only, when they're out of cash. But as long as you have more cash to run, you run. And I think when companies run out of cash and they need to fundraise again, that's the moment where...
Belinda Murray: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Danny Cohen: You gotta put your house in order and you gotta see is did I build something of value or not? And look, I think one of the challenges for investors, especially in Israel, which is a small market where you know everyone, is when you have a company, they're running out of money, you're the investor, they come to you and they say, I want, give me a little bit more money because there's something here I can't reach from anybody else, but please give me money.
Belinda Murray: Yes.
Danny Cohen: And you say, no, if you can't raise from anybody else, you're not gonna take my money either. And then those are hard conversations. But I think expectation is that when you need to fundraise, ⁓ have enough people ⁓ will back you, that's a good sign that you have something of value.
Belinda Murray: It's also backing you and it's also like managing your cash flow, Like don't you think there's an element of that as well? know, able to, it's not your money. So also like the ability to.
Danny Cohen: Yeah, know that, that's true, but I think what founders need to understand also is that they're putting in their number one, the most sacred resource for them, which is their life. And what happens sometimes for entrepreneurs is that they manage cash well, they're breakeven, so now they can go forever. And they go for a long, long, long time, and they don't realize that they have just wasted the best years of their life on something that will never work. And that's another conversation to have is to come to an entrepreneur and say, look, I understand you're break even. I understand you don't need money. Are you sure you want to continue going this because you're, before you know it, you're 55 and then what?
Belinda Murray: running like that. Yeah, it's a good call actually. It is a really, and I guess that's why, and I completely agree on the money aspect. And I think that's why I was calling out time as well, because it's time and money. It's invest like in terms of personal investment. I think you have to call it time at some point you're not growing. Like I see some businesses where I advise and I'm like, ⁓ been running this at the same. ⁓
Danny Cohen: You're right.
Belinda Murray: year on year for like 10 years, what's going on? And it's like, this is, you know, and they're still saying they're a startup and I'm like, you're not a startup. This is, this is a 10 year old business. not, you know, like ⁓ just not. So what's actually happening underneath this? Danny, want to come right back to you. No, no, keep going. What were you going to say?
Danny Cohen: Yes. and I'm You know, ⁓ yeah, sorry. I just want to say that a lot of times I tell remember that you and your company are not the same. Meaning ⁓ you live beyond, you have life after your company and that's also something to remember and understand.
Belinda Murray: Do you think that they do you think entrepreneurs understand that do you think that they do when you explain that to them?
Danny Cohen: Sometimes they do sometimes they don't look you know now I started sticker and It was funny. I was thinking do I want to put a sticker tattoo on? Right here because I'm thinking of getting a new tattoo, and I was like ⁓ my god. No, I like What's that?
Belinda Murray: I love it. I'm thinking the same, same. I call it body art. I mean like seeing all these beautiful and I'm like hmm my dad doesn't even know I've got any and like if I got one where you can see it he'd be like what anyway.
Danny Cohen: Oh, God. I remember the first time I went, my mom, passed away, but my first tattoo, she said, what's on your leg? What is that? What's on your leg? Sorry, sorry, that's a different discussion. No, but I was just, because I now think that sticker is me and I'm sticker. But again, remember, sticker will have a life, hopefully, beyond me, and I will have a life beyond sticker.
Belinda Murray: I know I love that, it's my dream. Mm, mm.
Danny Cohen: Try to think about that as well.
Belinda Murray: Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur as well? Danny, in terms of with sticker, like, yeah, do you see yourself as that also?
Danny Cohen: No, absolutely, absolutely. This is so different than being, and I was a senior partner in two funds. It's not the same at all. This is totally, it was like first few months when we started, it like, don't know, will this work? Will this be able to raise money? And then, can I pay salary? And still our fund is small. I don't get paid at this point, maybe in the future, but it's a... Absolutely, this is an entrepreneurial story and you know, I had to recruit my entire family to stand behind me and understand that we're going through, know, interesting times, hopefully good ones, but you know.
Belinda Murray: Well, it's, yeah, it's a sacrifice. It's just when you go from, and it's something we don't talk about enough, I don't think. And, you know, I haven't had this conversation with anyone, even from a venture capital perspective, when you become an entrepreneur and, know, in terms of sticker VSC ⁓ you go from this. ⁓ big salary, know, like it's just kind of a check that comes through regularly and then you invest in your own business and you're pouring your own personal funds into it to build it. And like you say, you know, you've got to pay salaries, you've got this to do and then you're not paying yourself. can mess with your head, ⁓ know, every now and again. And especially if you've got a family, I mean, I don't have any children, I have my dog. ⁓ a psychological game though, right? Because... you've got to make sacrifices and your ego is saying, what's going on here? Like you're all this work and ego is saying one thing to you when you're battling your ego. And I was having this conversation with someone earlier today, actually, I've got this new routine on a Monday to smash myself through to start for the week, just to go no to any bad vibes. And I'll go and do like a hot strength cardio class resting on a Monday morning. Just to not let any little things start to kind of, because as an entrepreneur it happens, don't you think?
Danny Cohen: Very I agree 100%, but I wanna say the joy, you know, there was my previous fund Viola, and they were fantastic, they were great fun, they were big fun. They just moved to a new office, and their new office is beautiful. And I went to see their new office, and it was really just this fantastic. And then in the afternoon, I went to our office, which we were sitting at some shitty WeWork, sorry, right? And I was going in, it was like our first day at this shitty WeWork, and I went into the WeWork, which is ugly, ugly. And I just came back from this fancy office and I was like, ⁓ my God, our my we work, it's so beautiful. It's amazing because it was mine, you know? So ⁓ it was a big, big, big, big emotional moment.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's very different. Yeah, I like that. Kudos to you. I think it's good. I think it's great that you, and I actually think it, what do they say? Entrepreneurship is a superpower. And I don't think it's for everybody. And it is because, you know, it's all the fields, all waves, all the rides. At the end of the day though, like you say, when yours, ⁓ and you have to separate it from, you know, personal life at times. ⁓ When yours though, it's yours. you get to, I guess, make this as amazing and as possible as it possibly can be that even makes sense. It's really up to you. And that's where, you know, the grit, the resilience kicks in and the ability to get up each day, even on the shitty days when you're just like, you know what I mean? Like, and guess that's probably now that you've got the entrepreneur in you, you probably, are you connecting? But do you think you connect better with the founders? in your, like do you connect together?
Danny Cohen: It's a good question. Yes. Although, at some point, I don't think they care. I tell them, oh, I'm a startup too. It's like, whatever, they don't care. I do think that one thing, and this is a little bit direction, but I think we connect to them a lot because of the B2C consumer story. That's what happens. I think the fact that we are consumer focused, I think for them is like, oh, you understand me or you're like, or I'm not.
Belinda Murray: Yeah.
Danny Cohen: Like they're not the side dish of the fund, they're like the main dish of the fund. I think that that's what really makes a big connection.
Belinda Murray: Let's talk about that, Dani, because I was going to come into that and I knew you'd bring it up. The B2C to consumer, for me, story is so critical and quite often you'll see when it comes to brand, when it comes to a product or a business, and especially in early stage, how important is story? Because I quite often see... you know, different businesses and they're at their early stage and I'm like, what does it mean for the consumer? Like there's no connection to the consumer, right? And here you are focused, your fund is focused on the consumer. mean, these people are in that space. Do you see any, like, is there any disconnects that you notice ⁓ you think we need that needs to be more... you've done like what's the
Danny Cohen: Yeah, I I would say three things on what you said. One, first of all, for us, I think it's so clear when we have the strategy, we have our consumer strategy and story is very clear, it's everything comes together, which is just fantastic, right? Because when we about our new office, it feels consumerish, right? And our brand. And so once you have a good story, I think everything falls into a good place. And for our companies, I would say one, There are some people that are really good storytelling. They're just good at it, right? So they just have it, they're natural. And some people are naturally not good at it and you see the difference. I think people need to be, sorry, ⁓ of that and get help or advice when they can get to improve their storytelling. But the third thing I would say is that the one thing and talk about tech versus consumer, the big difference is that we want our companies to be very distribution oriented.
Belinda Murray: That's okay.
Danny Cohen: We want them to think about good at market and story is part of it, but how, what's your edge? How are you going to get customers in a cheap way? What's your edge on that? That is kind of the wider spectrum of what we're looking for because that's really what makes kind of the best companies out there.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, I agree. Do you think we're gonna see more and more of that, Danny? Like, do you think that you're, like, this is just the beginning of, like, what you've created with Sticker VC? Do you think we're gonna see more and more of these type of funds and what you're investing in come into play as we go forward?
Danny Cohen: Yeah, look, mean, startup, yeah, because I think we look at venture capital the way it was when I started. very small industry and VCs were just in whatever is out there on innovation. And I think now there's so many entrepreneurs ⁓ and with AI, we're going to see 10 times more entrepreneurs. And entrepreneurs need more money and innovation economy is global and growing very, very fast. and there are going to be more funds going after innovation economy. And for us, we need to differentiate by offering something very specific. And for the entrepreneurs, they want people to understand what they're doing.
Belinda Murray: it's really interesting. Are any of your daughters, like are they moving into the same sort of space as what you're in? any of them following you? ⁓
Danny Cohen: Only one, only one. At this point, that's what I think, but we'll see. My oldest is a social worker. She's doing unbelievable work, really unbelievable, God her. ⁓ She's with ⁓ the life of humanity, the difficult parts of humanity. My second daughter is university. I think she has a passion for things that I do. Then the two younger ones, we'll see.
Belinda Murray: What as the biggest opportunities the total, ⁓ from all the years and all your experience, what do you think is the biggest opportunities ⁓ the VC? Let's talk, let's say the collective ecosystem. ⁓ are you seeing as the biggest opportunities right now for, I guess, ⁓ we're in such a revolution, what you think still needs to be done? ⁓
Danny Cohen: Yes, sir. Yeah, so again, I kind of mentioned that I would say there are the big ⁓ things that are happening is AI is changing how ⁓ shop and how we work. ⁓ think how we work is something that has not made an impact yet. And that is going to make a huge impact on humanity. And that's going to create a whole type of new jobs and new type of companies. that's kind of that's for me is the most fascinating.
Belinda Murray: Yeah.
Danny Cohen: And it's scary also, but I think that I really think humanity will prevail and find new things to do. we'll see. So yeah, we'll see a lot more creativity. And then on the flip side, completely, unfortunately, I think we live in a world that is a lot more chaotic and, you know, and there's a lot of opportunity in what's called defense, which I personally have no passion for. But, you know, governments are spending more money on, you know. on military stuff, which is sad in my mind, but that's another opportunity out there. Not for me though.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's interesting because it's defence and then you talk about humanity and it's kind of like the two don't really go, you know, hand in hand.
Danny Cohen: I look, I a believer in humanity. I'm a believer in creativity, in art, in music. And that's what makes me happy. That's I want to spend my time with.
Belinda Murray: What's your favorite song? What's your favorite music that you love listening to to get you going?
Danny Cohen: ⁓ my god, yeah. So I'm a huge Pearl Jam fan. yeah, I've been there. I've been to close to 30 concerts for them all over the world. yeah, you know, so I had to pick one song from there is probably, I'll say, you know, alive because I'm alive and I feel that what I'm doing is I'm touching. So there you go.
Belinda Murray: So good.
Danny Cohen: A little bit cheesy there, but you know, kind of connecting all of it.
Belinda Murray: I'm gonna have to have a little bit of a listen to Pearl Jam. I haven't not listened to them for ages. I've never seen them in concert every time.
Danny Cohen: I know, I know. By the they come to Australia a lot. Some of the concerts I saw them were really some of the most ⁓ joyful moments of my life, I gotta tell you.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, it's a bit like me with you too actually. I'm a big fan of you too. Yeah, yeah, I would just, yeah, I've been to every you two concert here. Oh my gosh. Daddy, we could keep talking. I am gonna let you get back to your day. know, alive is such a great optimistic way to start the week and.
Danny Cohen: ⁓ of course.
Belinda Murray: you know, just a reminder to everyone, you know, is what a time it is to be alive, no matter how much craziness there is in this world. I think when we stay present and we stay focused on ⁓ in front of us, the ability to get up each day ⁓ you know, be doing what fulfills us. And it's absolutely testament to you with Sticker VC and just ⁓ energy that it feels around it. And you have a, you obviously have your... ⁓ you've got this great newsletter that I read last week and I could feel the energy coming through that as well just in terms of from a consumer and you know B2C and everything else and what you're doing with your fund etc. ⁓ do we find out more about Sticker Ventures? How do we find out more about you, Danni?
Danny Cohen: Yeah, so just sticker.vc and you find, look for Daniel Cohen or Danny Cohen sticker on LinkedIn. Danny Cohen alone is not enough because there's too many of us, but Danny Cohen sticker does work. And yeah, ⁓ and anybody out there wants to talk about consumer, I'm open to it and ⁓ would love any conversation around it.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, I could keep asking about consumer. Okay, one last, one final last question. What are we gonna see from a consumer trend? You talked about fashion, femtech, all of that. Is there anything that we're going to see from a macro perspective that we haven't seen yet this year or a micro perspective that's just gonna blow our minds? Is there anything?
Danny Cohen: ⁓ okay. mean, the one thing we do, cause you asked in the beginning, said anti-tech, ⁓ anti AI is a trend, right? And, ⁓ we're going to see a lot of that, right? people are going to ⁓ for, you know, not AI music, not AI art, not AI people. ⁓ you know, ⁓ Mandy's going to fight back a little bit. It's going to happen.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, yeah. Watch out everybody. Go humanity. And for all the listeners out there, know, there's a lot to take away from this conversation. So, Janne, thank you so much. I'm wishing you a wonderful week ahead and look forward to getting you back on the show in, who knows, maybe towards the end of the year, early next year, this podcast is gonna keep going.
Danny Cohen: I would love that beat, that would fantastic. Just say when.
Belinda Murray: Yeah, thank you so much. Have a great day and then a great week ahead. Thank you.
Danny Cohen: but
