craft CAPABILITIES

Our investment support capability includes top-tier industry networking and founder mentoring, but we can assist you way beyond that in the pursuit of accelerated growth and increasing impact. Our Craft Skills, available to all brands within our portfolio, encompass: Access to state-of-the-art data tools and ai expertise, strategic business planning, product innovation, insight and brand development, marketing science, omnichannel retail optimization, business scale-up, and direction on further developing your purpose or cause.

 

Strategy

Introduction
Strategy sets out where the business aims to be and how it will get there.

 

Capability overview

We use a pragmatic approach to strategy. Starting with a solid understanding of the situation (the facts about size and growth of the market and business), the complication (the problem the business is going to solve) and the resolution (specifically what the business will do to solve the problem). This culminates in the unique angle, the distinctive feature which will enable the business to succeed now, and over time. Throughout we advocate fact based analysis - especially consumer insight.

Capability Leader

Jonathan Miller

Jonathan has held strategy and transformation roles both in consulting and industry, including working as an employee of leading retail businesses.

For more take a look at Our Team Page

 

Product Innovation

Introduction
Continuous innovation is the lifeblood of culture.  This capability is about building the insight, the culture and process to develop and deliver great products again and again and again.

 

Capability overview

This capability covers innovation culture, insight and process.  Successful innovation starts and ends with culture; a team with values that simultaneously drive highly exploratory discovery as well highly targeted delivery.   Wherever the seed of an idea may come from, innovation should either be validated or driven by insight into the problems that consumers have in their real daily lives.  With target consumer problems properly defined, continuous innovation then relies on the development and then embedding of ideation, solution, and delivery processes optimized for the company’s mission and category.

Capability Leader

Simon David Miller

Simon has worked in innovation, technology and finance roles for 30 years in both startups and multinationals.  Often working on the bridge that links art and science, Simon specializes in bringing diverse teams together to make extraordinary things. 

For more take a look at Our Team Page

 

Brand, creative and storytelling

Introduction
At the Craftory we value brand power. This capability is about correctly configuring your brand, how to grow brand power, and how to parlay that power into meaningful growth.

 

Capability overview

This capability covers brand development, the creative arts and branded storytelling: 
Brand Development begins with understanding your category, who’s shopping it, and why, and moves on to brand positioning, architecture, codes and omni-channel identity. Creative arts covers leadership, team building, creative networking, processes and tools. Storytelling includes how to develop an overarching brand narrative, defining and developing your superstar products/services, and developing killer claims with supporting reasons to buy.

Capability Leader

JP Thurlow

JP has worked in Advertising, Design and Publishing since the late 90s. His career spans the Americas, Europe and the UK, and his creative work has been awarded at the highest level internationally.

For more take a look at Our Team Page

 

Marketing

Introduction
Effective marketing creates awareness, builds relationships, and ultimately drives sales, while adapting to changing market trends and consumer behaviors.

 

Capability overview

This capability covers team building, product-market fit, acquisition, conversion, retention and growth strategy: If achieving and sustaining product-market fit is the essential foundation for growth, then investing in consumer acquisition is the accelerant. Rapidly growing brands have rapidly growing consumer bases and that means mastering awareness, consideration, conversion and retention. Even with your growth engine revving you will need an ongoing growth strategy to provide clarity and keep your brand flying.

Capability Leader

Jamie Swango

From launching new brands/services to scaling unicorn ($1b+) brands Jamie  uses data and consumer insights to solve problems and think holistically across functions to deliver results. Jamie has worked across multiple geographies with significant experience in the US, Europe, and APAC.

For more take a look at Our Team Page

 

GO TO MARKET

Introduction
Many consumer brands will develop from a single market online beginning to a broader, often Global, retail footprint. Knowing and planning for this outcome from an early stage is an essential element of the value creation model.

At the Craftory, we understand the impact that a clear Go To Market strategy can have on the long term success of the brand. From defining specific roles for must win channels, to specific pack and price strategies for global customer rollouts, to ensuring capability across all frontline elements of the organisation are all pivotal to success.

The addressable market is increasingly complex, with seemingly independent channels interacting more than ever before. As such, we place a high value on utilising our extensive insights to define a clear strategy that can be delivered by fit for purpose capabilities.

Our extensive and hands-on experience of multiple geographies, platforms and customers can also help brands consider the right geographical expansion strategy.

 

Capability overview

This capability covers Go To Market (GTM) strategy. Brand evolution will often lead to a need for a broader footprint than online alone. Many brands will struggle to drive awareness and scale without a physical retail presence with most online only strategies only accessing around 25% of their ultimate potential. Clarity and thought on the key elements of success and a very clear GTM roadmap is key to driving the ultimate valuation of a brand.

Capability Leader

Anthony Jenkinson (AJ)

AJ has extensive experience across multiple markets including Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. His career spans more than 30 years in senior and executive level commercial roles in leading CPG companies.

For more take a look at Our Team Page

 

Scale-up

Introduction
Scale-up ensures the business can keep up with growth, and do so as efficiently as possible.

 

Capability overview

Scale-up follows the supply chain from sourcing, through production, distribution and on to customer service. We also cover forecasting and ordering. Topics such as keeping up with demand, driving scale efficiencies, make vs. buy decisions (e.g. in-house production vs. contract manufacturing) and team capability building are covered.

Capability Leader

Jonathan Miller

Jonathan has held strategy and transformation roles both in consulting and industry, including working as an employee of leading retail businesses.

For more take a look at Our Team Page

Related Capabilities

Strategy
 

Finance

Introduction
At the Craftory, we believe that finance, and all that it encompasses, is of critical strategic importance to any business, regardless of their stage or size.

 

Capability overview

Finance covers everything from accounting, working capital management, deal structuring and planning for exit. We spend a great deal of time working with our portfolio companies and their finance teams to make sure they are optimizing their financial situation to make sure they are able to grow in the most efficient way.

Capability Leader

Thiago Rodrigues

Thiago has over 25 years of experience in venture capital and private equity, deploying $billions of capital in deals across all corners of the globe.

For more take a look at Our Team Page

Related Capabilities

Strategy
 

Purpose

Introduction
Why does your company exist? That’s your purpose. Now, how do you make sure you’re fulfilling your purpose across your business for all your stakeholders? That’s what this capability is about.

 

Capability overview

This capability covers best practices for Purpose Achievement, to be Good for Consumers, to be Good for the Planet, to make workers Happy, and to achieve Good Governance. These areas are through the lens of your own company’s values and righteous cause, which is our number one investment criteria. Through this cause, Purpose Achievement is about defining a mission to deliver your righteous cause and a plan to deliver it. Your purpose will then drive how you will improve your consumers’ lives. Your purpose may lead you to take meaningful action on your environmental impact to be Good for the Planet. All these initiatives couldn’t be achieved without your team. This is when you may want to think about your strategy to attract and retain the best talents. At the end of the day, Good Governance is key to make sure your company stays on the right track to fulfill your purpose and deliver value to your stakeholders.

Capability Leader

Laura Tran

Laura has been working to help organizations fulfill their Purpose for over a decade. It has spanned between organizing, strategising and executing missions for various companies and institutions to the benefit of immigrants, the homeless, underprivileged students as well as co-founding a community for mothers in the Venture Capital industry. She joined the Craftory in 2019 in the investment team. What was initially an off-the-clock passion became her actual job and in 2022, she became Partner, leading Purpose and Sustainability.

For more take a look at Our Team Page