3 Things: Chief of Staff Recruiting Firm, Booze-Free Mixology, ClassPass Grooming
Happy Sunday and a very warm welcome to all the new subscribers! I’m thrilled and honored to have you as readers and truly appreciate your thoughts and feedback 🙏. Each edition of 3 Things will contain a dive into 3 rabbit holes I’ve found myself going down recently. Subscribe to get each week’s edition straight to your inbox and if you enjoy it, please share (I suck at self-promotions so can use your help)! This past week I’ve been thinking a lot about:
Chief of Staff Recruiting Firm
Booze-Free Mixology
ClassPass for Grooming
1. Chief of Staff Recruiting Firm
Up until recently, when I heard the term “Chief of Staff” I mostly thought of the White House Chief of Staff and what I learned watching The West Wing. Over the last few years, the title “Chief of Staff has pervaded Silicon Valley startups and what was originally seen as potentially a glorified admin is now a somewhat coveted and highly valued role within startups. The Chief of Staff is the right-hand person to (usually) the CEO and has a hand in both strategy and execution while filling a variety of gaps in the company. They often have a major impact on company systems and processes and tend to catalyze and spearhead special projects across a variety of business units. The Chief of Staff will have a solid 10,000 ft view of the company which enables them to identify areas that need attention or to be upleveled. This also provides these individuals with exposure to many different disciplines and the executives who run those functions. Additionally, the cross-functional and exec-facing nature of the role helps these people build extremely strong networks that will help propel them for the rest of their careers.
The challenge with hiring for this role is that these people are extremely hard to find and often not looking for this type of position. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken with someone who is actively job hunting that says they’re looking for Chief of Staff role. I’ve anecdotally spoken with over half a dozen CEOs who have hired Chiefs of Staff and 100% of them found someone through their network who wasn’t looking for this role or title but was able to be convinced to give it a try and work in lock-step with the CEO. Not a highly scalable or repeatable model. I see an opportunity for a boutique recruiting firm to focus on this persona and generate/maintain a large network of recent MBA grads looking to get into startups, skilled but potentially younger ops folks, and smart generalists who may one day want to start their own company. These personas tend to translate well into Chiefs of Staff and part of the recruiting firms role will be to educate them on what the role entails, how it can act as a springboard for their career, and then match-make to the right CEOs and companies. Given the fact that many of these people will likely go on to start their own thing at some point, they have the opportunity to work with them in the inverse capacity of helping them find a Chief of Staff, without having to do the traditional work of getting a new client. Plus, since this is often seen as a transitory role that someone might do for a few years, there are repeat business opportunities finding the replacement when the original candidate moves on. Given the specialized nature and lack of competition, a firm can easily become the go-to for recruiting Chiefs of Staff and work with prominent VCs to funnel portfolio companies their way when new investments have this need.
2. Booze-Free Mixology
The trend towards or away from alcohol consumption comes in waves. There is a reason that the most popular TV sitcom of the 1980s was set in a bar (Cheers) and the 1990s was set in a coffee shop (Friends). Alcohol consumption in the US rose consistently beginning around 1960 and peaked in the early/mid 80s. Consumption fell in the 90s and slowly began inching its way back up through the 2000s and 2010s. Then the pandemic hit, and the amount we drank as a nation reached a 30 year high with many groups of people turning to alcohol to cope with fear, uncertainty, unemployment, boredom, and the desire to numb. On top of that, most states relaxed their alcohol laws enabling people to drink outside, get booze delivered, and widen overall access in an attempt to bolster the local restaurant and food/beverage economies. While it may feel like everyone is drinking a bottle of wine or 6-pack of beer each evening, there is a growing movement, primarily among Millennials and GenZ, around sober-curious or going booze-free. The trend started getting mainstream attention in 2019 and we saw new low-alcohol or alcohol-free brands pop up and get a ton of hype (and even VC investment!) like Haus and Seedlip.
While 2020 and 2021 might have put a brief pause on the sober-curious movement, I anticipate it picking back up, full-steam ahead given the emphasis more young people are placing on health and wellness. In particular, new concern over sleep hygiene is driving a lot of the interest given how disruptive alcohol consumption is to sleep quality. In January 2020, Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas, the duo behind the world famous Alinea restaurant published a gorgeous, alcohol-free cocktail book called Zero which they created, photographed, and published all inside the Alinea Group. I seen an opportunity for a brand to own the alcohol-free mixology space. They could create content across all the major social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Tiktok, around booze-free mixology, publish recipe books, offer virtual and in-person classes, and spin up bars in major cities. They could partner with the major non-alcoholic spirits manufacturers or even create their own brands. There is also an opportunity to find micro-influencers who already are gaining popularity on social platform and add them to their network to help with content creation, audience growth, and monetization opportunities. As the movement grows, the company can ride the wave and become the go-to for everything alcohol-free cocktails.
3. ClassPass for Grooming
For many women, it’s a regular thing to go get your nails done, eyebrows waxed or threaded, hair colored, and skin tanned. Some like regular massages, facials, body scrubs, or fake eyelashes. On top of that, most women’s bathroom cabinets are filled with creams, serums, oils, lotions, and much more when it comes to grooming and beauty products. Men are catching onto the trend with male grooming growing at a fast clip. The men’s grooming market is expected to be at $81B by 2024 and we have seen an explosion in male targeted brands from the originals like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s to newer players like Manscaped, Lumin, and Geologie. More men are now getting manicures/pedicures, waxing, and frequenting other grooming service providers than ever before. For people who use these treatments, it’s regular part of their lives yet most service providers don’t offer any kind of subscription, nor are they good at following up when it’s time to book your next appointment. Many of these brick and mortar institutions also offer products for sale but don’t have a scalable way to let you order online (and in a repeatable fashion) through them.
Given the highly fragmented and mom & pop nature of most beauty and wellness providers, a company can take the Classpass model and create a subscription marketplace for both in-person appointments as well as grooming/beauty/wellness consumables from multiple vendors. Just how ClassPass ended up with a points/credits-based system, subscribers would pay monthly for different tiers which allot a certain number of credits that can be redeemed for services or products across local merchants. Each service provider can set the number of credits for their treatments and products and consumers can purchase more credits as needed if they go beyond their monthly number. Consumers are incentivized to try new services and providers and discover the products they recommend or sell through an easy, centralized app. They’re also encouraged to regularly use services as their credits renew each month, creating a sense of urgency and skin in the game. Today, the experience of trying to book an appointment through an independent merchant website is absolutely atrocious for 90% of them, so this also provides a much more modern interface for discovery, booking, communication, and payments… not to mention the untapped opportunity to sell e-commerce products!
That’s all for today! If you have thoughts, comments, or want to get in touch, reply to this email or find me on Twitter at @ezelby and if you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share with a friend or two!
~ Elaine