Kaden: Investing relying on incumbent acquirers is unpredictable and risky
Rebecca Kaden · 20VC: USV's Rebecca Kaden on Whether Venture Returns Can Be Made At Scale In Consumer Today & How To Navigate Consumer Investing In A World of Amazon · Oct 1, 2018 · at 18:28
Rebecca Kaden, GP at Union Square Ventures, offers guidance on consumer startup exit strategies and corporate acquisitions.
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“I do think there's a continued appetite among the incumbents to buy their way into innovation and the millennial mindset and these new brands, but I think it's very hard to set out as an investor or as an entrepreneur with that intent. I think it's unpredictable. It's shifting. And as you see, those are sometimes bought on the way up and sometimes bought on the way down. And so I think you have to believe it can be a very powerful standalone brand and business and could do it that way or could be acquired, but it's probably not the right way to go into the investment with those incumbents in mind.”
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