November 27, 2020
Elizabeth Edwards shared her advice on growing your side hustle or small business with CNBC:
Some of today’s most notable companies began as side hustles before they saw success. And at some point, all these founders had to ask themselves the same question: “Will this idea scale?”
I’ve been a venture capitalist for 15 years, investing all over North America in 40 companies, including Peloton and Bill.com, both of which went public, and Freshly, which was acquired by Nestle for $1.5 billion.
In 2017, I founded H Venture Partners to help entrepreneurs launching consumer brands connect with the capital and expertise they need to grow their companies, from help with research and development to introductions to retailers like Target and Walmart. To date, we’ve invested in nine brands led by a diverse group of founders — women, people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community — and we’re proud to be their partners in growth.
In my experience, if you’ve ever dreamed of being an entrepreneur, starting small is a great way to go. When I’m looking to invest in a company, I like to see proof of concept. For a lot of businesses, you can get proof of concept with a side hustle. I just connected with an entrepreneur who realized she was on to something when she kept selling out all of her product at farmers markets. Now she’s selling online and in key retailers, applying to accelerator programs along the way.
So if you’re thinking about turning your side hustle into a full-time career and especially if you’re seeking venture capital to do that, here is my best advice.