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Fan Bi

Buying $5-30M eCom/DTC/CPG brands

Fan Bi is the CEO and co-founder of The Hedgehog Company, an e-commerce holding company that acquires direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands with revenues between $5 million and $15 million.178 The Hedgehog Company focuses on buying smaller brands with brand equity to increase efficiency through a shared services model.3 He has been in the DTC e-commerce space for over 13 years.5

Bi's LinkedIn username is fanbi.9 According to his LinkedIn profile, he is interested in buying and advising $5-50M DTC brands in special situations.4

Additional points about Fan Bi:

  • Entrepreneurial ventures He is the founder and non-executive chairman of Blank Label, a custom menswear brand established in 2009.15
  • Education He studied business administration and management at Babson College in Boston, Massachusetts, after earning a finance degree from the University of New South Wales.5
  • Past roles Prior to his current roles, Bi was the Founder and Executive Director of MOTM (Meeting of the Minds), Chairperson at Blank Label, an Associate at Macquarie Bank, and an Assistant Tax Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.9
  • Recognition He was included in Inc's 30 Under 30 list.9
  • Acquisition focus The Hedgehog Company functions as an "off ramp" for brands, acquiring those too small for strategic acquisitions but not profitable enough for financial sponsors.13 They target brands with revenues typically ranging from $3 million to $15 million.1 Some of the brands that The Hedgehog Company has acquired include Rockets of Awesome, Felix Gray, The Reset, and Baboon to the Moon.1
  • Investment strategy As an angel investor, Fan Bi invests in consumer brands and looks for ways to create revenue streams that are not entirely ad-driven.26

Highlights

Aug 9 · linkedin

At a time when content x commerce seems to be growing with successful case studies like Food52, Meateater, and Epic Gardening, Hodinkee is going to stop selling watches.

The site launched in 2008 and started selling watches in 2016, raising a $40m Series B in 2020. Reading between the lines, sounds like inventory management caused liquidity issues.

Any interesting content x commerce you've seen recently?

Jul 10 · linkedin

Fred Wilson popularized "Rule of 40" for software businesses.

Is it applicable to 2024 eCom, what about a "Rule of 30"?

ie are the following good benchmarks?

  • growing 30% and breakeven
  • growing 15% and EBIT 15%
  • growing flat and EBIT 30%

Hitting a "Rule of 30" probably puts you in the top decile of eCom businesses, "Rule of 10" probably the top quartile.

A controversial take is the median 2024 eCom business probably has a "Rule of Negative" 😬 .

Related Questions

What inspired Fan Bi to start The Hedgehog Company?
How does Fan Bi evaluate potential brands for acquisition?
What are some of the brands Fan Bi has acquired through The Hedgehog Company?
How has Fan Bi's background in finance influenced his approach to entrepreneurship?
What challenges has Fan Bi faced in the DTC industry?
Fan Bi
Fan Bi, photo 1
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Location

Boston, Massachusetts, United States