Mollye Santulli talks about...

Every founder hits that moment: do we raise money or keep bootstrapping? Venture capital can accelerate growth, but it also changes the pace, pressure, and expectations overnight.

I’m Mollye Santulli, an investor with Springdale Ventures. I started my career in corporate finance at General Mills and Simple Mills. So from big CPG to small CPG. I’ve always loved the food space. I’m the person who walks every grocery aisle just to see what’s new, so getting to do that for work felt like a dream.

What drew me to Springdale was the team and the mission. Our founders, Genevieve (Gilbreath) and Dan (Graham), are both former operators who started the fund after seeing a gap in the market: amazing brands with real traction that didn’t yet have access to $1–5M rounds.*

Founders should start thinking early about whether venture capital is the right fit, because it changes your entire growth path. VC investors expect you to reach a specific revenue in a pretty short period of time. Do you believe you can get to $150 million in revenue in the next five to ten years? That’s not every business, and that’s okay.

We look for brands with product–market fit and signs of loyalty: repeat customers, strong subscription data, solid velocities in retail. Basically, proof that people aren’t just trying your product once. They’re coming back again and again.

Venture money is also expensive. You’re giving up equity and adding pressure to grow quickly. Some founders would be better off using debt or angel funding to go slower and keep more control. I always tell people: explore everything that’s not equity before taking on investors.

We look at about a thousand deals a year but only do calls with maybe fifty, and end up investing in six to eight. Most of the brands we back are doing between one and five million in revenue — that’s our sweet spot.

We love founders who really know their category. If it’s not CPG, we like to see experience at a high-growth startup. We always ask: why are you uniquely positioned to build in this space? Do you understand your consumer and your data?

We also pay attention to how founders take feedback. Do they get defensive, or do they lean in and think about it? That tells you a lot about how they’ll navigate growth.

I always tell founders: don’t wait to reach out. Even if you’re pre-launch or pre-seed, send us your deck. It’s great to get on our radar early so we can follow your progress.

Valuation. We have to feel confident that our investment can generate the returns we need for our LPs, and that the exit math works. For example, if we invest at a certain valuation, can this realistically 10x from here?

We look at market comps and the likelihood of similar exits in that category. In food and beverage, there’s usually a comparable brand or two to benchmark against. We’re less likely to invest in completely new categories with no track record, because it’s so hard to predict outcomes.

At the end of the day, we need to believe the fundamentals are strong, the business makes sense, and the growth path is there.

Understand your financials and be able to talk through them clearly. You don’t have to be a finance expert, but you should know your margins, how discounting impacts profitability, and how your business performs across channels like DTC, Amazon, and retail.

We spend a lot of time on contribution margin by channel and how that translates into long-term viability. Growth is great, but we want to know if it’s healthy growth. Are you building real loyalty, or are customers just showing up when you’re on sale?

As brands scale, we also pay close attention to contribution margin and EBITDA margin. We want to see that there’s a path to profitability while the business continues to grow.

The easiest way is through our website. We have a page where you can submit your deck, and we really do respond to everyone. It might take a bit, but we read every submission.

Warm intros are great too, whether it’s from another investor, a marketing partner, or someone in the industry. The best intros usually come from founders in our portfolio. If they say, “You should meet this person,” we always take that one seriously.

Usually the first call is with me. I want to hear your story. Why you’re doing this and what drives you? We go through your deck, how things are going, what you’re raising, and what your next two years look like.

If it moves forward, you’ll meet more of the team. We dig deeper into your financials and market to understand the opportunity. We try to make decisions quickly as a small team, getting founders the decision they need to hear so they can move on if it's not a fit.

In general, four to six weeks can be pretty fast for us. If the timeline is a little longer, maybe eight weeks. But if we're moving past the call with me, we're usually somewhat excited about the brand.

We’re pretty hands-on. After investing, we’ll do an onboarding call, talk about goals for the year, and make sure you’re connected to our network. We have a Slack channel for all portfolio founders, so everyone can share resources or ask for intros directly.

We spend the most time helping with retail strategy: how to launch, what terms to ask for, how to negotiate. We also help with hiring and prep for the next round of fundraising.

Ultimately, the relationship is what you make it. We love when founders reach out for advice to make sure we're staying close and helpful where we can.

I wish founders wouldn’t ask for intros to other investors. There are a couple of great public lists, like Startup CPG’s investor database, that can help.

One thing I wish founders would do more is think about who they’re partnering with. Do you want a long-term relationship with these investors? We’ll be in your inbox asking for questions and updates, so if that’s unappealing, you don’t have to be a venture-backed business.

Could you get other forms of financing? Could you grow slower and still build the business you want? Talk to as many investors and founders as possible.

First, start any conversation about cash earlier than you think you need to, because it always takes longer than expected.

Second, surround yourself with people who genuinely believe in you and the brand you’re building. You spend so much time with your team and investors, it should be with people you actually enjoy working with. That’s what makes this job fun, backing founders we really like and believe in.

Mollye Santulli is a Senior Associate at Springdale Ventures, where she invests in the next wave of consumer brands. With a background in finance and a taste for what’s working in CPG, she helps founders build brands that last.