At Bullish’s 8th annual Consumer/LP Summit, held this May at New York’s City Winery, over 160 limited partners and leaders across the investing, startup and brand worlds came together for a day-long event centered on this year’s theme: “The Consumer Journey.”

The theme was inspired by how 2025 is the mid-way point of an unusual decade. It kicked off with a global shutdown, yet still delivered an unprecedented economic boom before yielding to a series of slowdowns from rising interest rates, tariffs and DPI droughts. The one constant? The American consumer hasn't flinched. Their spending has kept powering 70% of the U.S economy, staving off potential recessionary predictions quarter after quarter. The Summit was incredibly energetic day and a few key sentiments emerged across the various discussions. 

Building Worlds, Not Just Brands

The notion that community isn’t just a marketing tactic, but a foundational piece of the brand itself was a recurring theme throughout the day. Nick West, Co-founder/CEO Bandit Running described how the brand is prioritizing “world-building” over rapid scaling. That means asking big, existential questions: What world are we building? Who gets invited in? How do we serve our fans? 

Bandit’s approach includes unsanctioned races, unexpected drops, and content that’s less about running and more about belonging. “We’re not putting athletes on the brand board just to check boxes,” West said. “We’re creating something they want to be a part of.” As a result, he said, Bandit is able to spend less money on marketing while outpacing growth expectations. 

Former BMW President Trudy Hardy echoed a similar sentiment albeit from the perspective of a larger scale business. Recalling her role in launching the MINI Cooper, she credited its success to not only clever marketing, but also to a brand that felt “fully formed" — from product to positioning — and centered around the customer. Her broader insight: marketing only moves the needle when it’s grounded in product truth and operational clarity.

Bridging Gaps and Building Consumer Relevance

If a brand doesn’t solve a real problem, it won’t last long on the consumer journey. That’s the challenge Daisy Co-Founder and CEO Hagan Kappler has taken on in the fragmented world of home technology. Daisy’s value proposition is built around eliminating friction, offering an integrated experience that requires deep operational investment, specialized staff, and a willingness to simplify the complex. In the hot home services market, Daisy is carving out a new category and we expect me-too private equity plays to soon try to replicate the company’s exploding success.

Fanatics Betting & Gaming CEO Matt King shared a parallel insight from a very different world: sports betting. Fanatics is one of the few companies reshaping the narrative, not around high-stakes risk, but around safe, accessible and legal participation. “Up to 80% of those who gamble had previously bet illegally,” King said. “We saw an opportunity to change not just behavior — but perception.” Fanatics is also leveraging its unique rewards to fuel retention, aiming to build loyalty in a market featuring billions in competitive advertising spend to go beyond the transactional nature of the category.

AI In Action

Few business conversations take place that don’t entail AI (or so it seems) in the year 2025. There were several sessions demonstrating how AI is used in large companies while helping new ones get off the ground. 

Under Armour Global Brand Creative Director Brian Boring showed several examples of how a multi-billion-dollar organization has embraced AI in operationalizing its marketing approach. Brian showed a campaign that was created in 70% less time and without the availability of key athlete availability. He then took the audience through the story of creating a College Football National Championship campaign in mere days to generate a previously unachievable cultural moment centered on one of its sponsored teams. “AI allows us to move from idea to execution faster — without sacrificing quality or intent,” he said.

Infinite Garden, a new Bullish investment, is using AI to do something more radical: pressure test and prototype entirely new vitamin and supplement brands. Co-Founders Akash Shah and Emmett Shine are experimenting with product-market fit at the AI-enabled edge, helping define what the next generation of consumer brands might look like before the journey even begins. The duo talked about how Infinite Garden can go to market in 120 days versus the two-to-three year timetable current category leaders operate within.

A Mixed Macro Environment

Zooming out, macroeconomic forces continue to shape how consumers spend and how brands plan. Two panels at the Summit dug into dealmaking and market sentiment.

In a discussion led by The Wall Street Journal M&A reporter Lauren Thomas, L’Catterton Partner Tehmina Haider and Consensus Advisors CEO Michael O’Hara noted that while 2025 has brought unpredictability, cash-rich public companies are still hunting for growth. Some legacy millennial brands may yet find new homes if buyers take a long-term view. And while the first half of the year had dramatically underperformed expectations, the potential for a powder keg of activity remains inevitable.

Goldman Sachs Head of Consumer and Retail Dylan Hogarty brought a cautiously optimistic view to the macro outlook. IPO sponsor activity has been better than expected so far, he noted, and while year-end performance may be tepid, the resilience of the consumer sector continues to surprise. (Note: Just 40 minutes after the Bullish Summit concluded, it was announced that Dick’s Sporting Goods was buying Foot Locker. The deal was consummated by Dylan and the news story was first reported by Lauren. Our participants are truly driving consumer business!)

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