My apartment is basically my portfolio and yes I am obnoxious about it. Brightla
By Kelley Arena · October 9, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
My apartment is basically my portfolio and yes I am obnoxious about it.
Brightland is on my kitchen counter, Sleep or Die™ and Alice Mushrooms in my bedroom (the red one, iykyk), Hanni in my shower, Vyrao on the dresser. Hearth on my wall. Realm nontoxic aircare near my kids shoes. Graymatter on my desk (not an investor but dying to be) and Sweet Chemistry on my vanity and in my bag (ditto).
I started investing the way a lot of people do: I was already the customer. I told five friends about a brand, then ten, and then wondered why I didn't own a piece of it.
Consumer gets a bad rap in venture. Too capital intensive, margins too thin, no 100x outcomes. Meanwhile, the big strategics keep writing checks.
PepsiCo bought Poppi for $1.95 billion. Unilever paid $1.5 billion for Dr. Squatch. e.l.f. bought Rhode for up to $1 billion, about three years after Hailey Bieber launched it. Danone picked up Huel this year for roughly €1 billion. The big guys struggle to buy a cult favorite brand in house, so they buy one.
The multiples look different from software. Consumer brands tend to sell for a few times revenue while tech deals can go for 10x revenue or way way more.
Most brands sell for far less than a billion. A $100 million exit rarely trends on LinkedIn but let's run that math anyway. Back a brand at a $5 million preseed valuation, and a $100 million exit is a 20x (before dilution ofc). You don't need a unicorn, but a brand you love and an entry price that makes sense ? I like this as a part of my holistic portfolio.
The real reason I love investing in consumer brands? IT IS FUN. It is the opposite of AI. And I just want to build cool stuff with my friends.
Come look in my handbag or on my counter and let me show you my portfolio.
(or come build cool stuff with my friends at ANGELFEST NYC- October 14th, the Bowery Hotel angelfest.nyc)
Photo of brands I could reach from my working space on my kitchen counter 👇