For the 172nd episode of The VentureFizz Podcast, I interviewed Aubrie Pagano, General Partner at Alpaca VC (formerly Corigin Ventures, which was their brand when this episode was recorded).
It was obvious that entrepreneurship was in the future for Aubrie being that she started her first venture as a child with a neighborhood door to door art gallery. After graduating from Harvard and spending time in the finance industry, she knew that she always wanted to start a company.
She had noticed a growing trend towards mass customization across different sectors and decided to start a platform for custom fashion called Bow & Drape with her co-founder Shelly Madick.
Like with so many startups, you have to find the right product-market fit for your audience and it took lots of experiments, determination, and good old fashioned hard work before they landed on a hit - that being personalized casualwear that was fun and all about expression. Not only did it appeal to a mass audience but soon celebrities and influencers became customers. The company was acquired last year by Win Brand Group.
For Aubrie’s next chapter, she has joined Alpaca VC as a Partner. She is looking to leverage her combination of experience as an operator and investor to work with entrepreneurs who are reshaping the real world and layering technology over daily life experiences.
In this episode of our podcast, we cover:
- A deep dive into Bow & Drape and the stories behind the company.
- Why entrepreneurs might want to consider debt financing more often.
- How Aubrie landed in the VC industry and discovered a passion for working with other entrepreneurs through XFactor Ventures.
- All the details on Alpaca VC, a seed-stage investment firm.
- Advice for female & minority founders when raising capital.
- And so much more.
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