Resources
We share what we learn along the way with those who share the same passion to build and grow through thought pieces, small group chat, and the flagship Consumer Summit.
Conversations & Perspectives
iFly.vc Consumer Summit 2026 | Culture Connects. AI Empowers.
Exploring the intersection of culture and AI through conversations with founders, investors, and operators building the next generation of consumer companies.
iFly.vc Consumer Summit 2025 | The New Consumer Playbook
How AI, Gen Z, wellness, and cross-cultural influence are reshaping consumer brands. Conversations with founders, operators, and investors building for the next generation of consumers.
Innovative investing strategies with iFly.vc's Han Shen
iFly.vc Founding Partner Han Shen shares his approach to uncovering overlooked opportunities, evaluating early-stage startups, and building resilient venture portfolios. A conversation on venture investing, founder potential, market timing, and the art of seeing what others miss.
The Consumer VC with Mike Gelb and Han Shen
Han Shen (iFly.vc) - How He Thinks About Overlooked Opportunities, Focusing on a Sector Rather Than Becoming Opportunistic, and How One of His Portfolio Companies Was Able to Pivot Successfully
Han Shen's Consumer Innovation, Venture Capital & Founder Insights on The Full Ratchet
Han Shen joins The Full Ratchet to discuss how great companies are built, how transformative founders are identified, and where the next generation of consumer opportunities may emerge.
Unsexy Startups, Consumer Trends, and Building a Concentrated Venture Portfolio
iFly.vc Founding Partner Han Shen shares lessons from building a venture firm around high-conviction, non-consensus investing. From backing overlooked opportunities to navigating the challenges of fundraising, this conversation explores what it takes to invest with conviction in a consensus-driven industry.
Articles & Thought Leadership Pieces
Culture Connects. AI Empowers
Missed the 2026 iFly.vc Consumer Summit? Discover the biggest ideas shaping consumer innovation, AI, and venture capital.
My Winding Road to VC in 2009–2010
How do you break into venture capital during a downturn? Han shares the lessons that shaped his journey.
🚀 Join Us: 2026 iFly.vc Consumer Summit in Austin
Get an inside look at the conversations, founders, and ideas shaping the future of consumer innovation at the 2026 iFly.vc Consumer Summit.
5 Patterns That Stall CPG Startups Before Reaching $10M in Revenue
Why do promising CPG brands stall before scaling? Learn the five patterns separating lasting growth from early plateaus.
No LinkedIn, No Green Card: How I Landed My H1B Job in America in 2002
How did an immigrant find his first American job against the odds? Han shares the journey that changed everything.
iFly.vc September 2025 Newsletter
Portfolio wins, founder insights, and ecosystem updates shaping the future of consumer investing, all in one newsletter.
What Makes a Great Conference
iFly.vc announces its 2025 Consumer Summit, emphasizing deep content, quality networking, and insights shaping technology, culture, and U.S. consumer trends.
America's Cleanest Convenience Store Bathroom
A case for service driven, tech enabled brick and mortar retail, where operational excellence creates durable moats and superior returns.
Make American Consumers Happy
Our excitment about the US consumer innovation, driven by resilient demand, demographic shifts, and tech-empowered founders building enduring businesses.
Scaling Weee! and Himself
Weee!’s 10-year journey highlights overcoming misperceptions, tech-enabled operations, and founder evolution required to scale a focused, vertically integrated consumer business.
Do You Know Houses in Texas Are Inferior to Those in California?
A personal move to Austin illustrates non-consensus thinking and how iFly.vc builds conviction through patience, independence, and focused investing.
What I Learned from Being Rejected by Investors 500+ Times
What can 500 investor rejections teach about resilience, conviction, and success? More than you might expect.
The Changing Tides in Beverage Retail
Starbucks’ declining traffic highlights shifting tastes, as bubble tea’s Gen Z–driven cultural rise creates massive opportunity and execution risks for founders and investors.
Why Steve Jobs Despised CES
CES optimism contrasts with Steve Jobs’ philosophy: real innovation demands focus, user-centric design, originality, and execution beyond hype.
2024 in Focus, 2025 in Sight
iFly.vc highlights a VC strategy podcast discussion, announces the 2025 Consumer Summit, and shares holiday greetings.
Why we invested in Ume Tea, a fruit-based bubble tea chain
iFly.vc explains its non-obvious bet on Ume Tea, highlighting scalable, tech-enabled bubble tea as a compelling Gen Z–driven VC opportunity.
Reflection on the Past Eight Years of Growing iFly.vc as a Start-up Founder
iFly.vc’s eight-year reflection highlights focused investing, founder growth beyond grit, sales mastery, health, and disciplined conviction driving top-tier fund performance.
My International Championship Outside the VC World
A cherry-pit-spitting win illustrates a lifelong lesson: success begins with trying, even when outcomes seem unlikely.
Is Your Start-Up Prepared to Combat Fraud?
Fraud is pervasive in startups; real cases show the need for strong controls, investor verification, and trusting intuition to prevent costly losses.
5 Cases of Innovative Marketing for Consumer Start-Ups
Five startup case studies show authentic, creative marketing (not ads) can drive breakout growth and exceptional ROI for consumer brands.
Shared Journey - An iFly.vc Newsletter
Larry Liu, Founder/CEO of Weee! on How I Build This.
Why Kauffman Fellows Program
Joining Kauffman Fellows accelerates VC growth through deep relationships, shared learning, and uncovering blind spots beyond experience alone.
iFly.vc 2023 Year-End Review
Year-end greetings highlight Ume Tea investment, Weee!’s continued growth, portfolio updates, annual meeting insights, team expansion, and reaffirmed values.
BobaGate: Culture Appropriation or Culture Inspiration?
Simu Liu’s Dragons’ Den critique sparks debate on cultural authenticity, inspiring thoughtful investment in culture-inspired consumer brands.
Doing the Right Thing, and Doing it the Right Way
iFly.vc’s seven-year reflection uses Antarctic explorers to stress disciplined strategy, capital efficiency, first-principles thinking, and doing the right things well.
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iFly.vc 2020 Annual Conference: Serving the Underserved in the Post-COVID-19 Era
Featuring a Fireside Chat with Joe Lonsdale.
Congratulations on Weee!’s Series C
What fueled Weee!'s remarkable growth? Explore the lessons behind its Series C milestone and what comes next.
Reflection on the Past Four Years of Running iFly.vc as a Start-up Founder
As iFly passes its fourth anniversary, Han, our founding partner, shares his experiences from the journey so far.
A 30-year Journey Through the Personal Mobility Industry
Explore three decades of personal mobility and the innovations, lessons, and leaders shaping where the industry goes next.
Asian Grocery Shopping Made Easy
How one startup is transforming Asian grocery shopping through convenience, discovery, and a better consumer experience.
Rolling up Our Sleeves at Our Portfolio Company’s Warehouse
What happens when investors step into the warehouse? Discover the lessons only a hands-on partnership can reveal.
Food and Beverage from Around the World
Explore the food and beverage trends shaping global markets and uncover the ideas inspiring tomorrow's consumer brands.
Why We Invested in an E-commerce Startup When the Sector Was Actually Frothy
Why back an e-commerce startup when everyone else walked away? Discover the conviction behind an unconventional investment.
Our Investment Philosophy at iFly.vc
Discover why iFly.vc backs overlooked opportunities instead of trends and how conviction creates lasting venture returns.
You Never Know Until You Try
How a cherry pit spitting experience relates to our VC fund.
Congratulations to BorderX Lab!
BorderX Lab's $20M Series B marks a major milestone. Discover why iFly.vc backed the team from the beginning.
