#324: Brenton Howland of Forum Brands, on Innovating through Acquisition to Turn Consumer Brands into Household Names

Mar 21, 2022

Brenton Howland is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Forum Brands, a platform of category-leading e-commerce brands built for the everyday consumer. They provide exit options to entrepreneurs, use technology to help scale small businesses, and build brands into household names that consumers know and love. Forum partners with owners of the best everyday products selling through Amazon FBA and other 3rd party marketplaces. As long-time investors, operators, and industry experts, Forum’s team represents the most trusted buyers in e-commerce.

Topics Covered by Brenton Howland in this Episode

• How Forum Brands is innovating through acquisition in the consumer space
• How Brenton and his co-founders met and started Forum Brands
• The unique value proposition of Forum Brands and its founding team
• How they’re leveraging data to indicate the potential for long term success of businesses
• Their top-down hiring strategy
• How they approach portfolio composition
• Forum Brands’ early acquisitions, gaining momentum, and learning from mistakes
• The platform side of the acquisition process
• Their creative cap structure raising both VC and debt
• Finding investors who aligned with their unique model
• The benefit of investing time and energy into partnerships and people
• How Brenton’s experience in consulting and private equity has influenced how he’s running Forum Brands today

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