CPGD

About

On today’s episode, I sit down with Zoya Virani, head of growth at CPGD, one of the longest-running consumer brand discovery platforms focused on emerging CPG companies.

We get into what it actually looks like to build a business around curation in consumer, including how CPGD decides which brands make it into the newsletter, what they’ve learned from operating a highly engaged founder and investor audience, and why restraint has become a core part of the company’s strategy.

We also talk through the mechanics behind the business itself: sponsorships, events, investor newsletters, deal flow, and the early infrastructure they’re building around connecting founders with capital. Zoya explains how they think about scaling without diluting trust, what makes a founder or pitch stand out in a crowded market, and why durability matters more than ever in today’s fundraising environment.

There’s also a broader conversation around taste as a business model, the tradeoffs between curation and scale, and how emerging consumer brands are increasingly being built around systems and behaviors rather than single products.

I learned a lot during my conversation with Zoya, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This episode is brought to you in part by Rho, a paid partner of the show. Rho is the modern banking platform built for the AI era. Startups and growth-stage companies can open accounts in minutes, issue cards, manage expenses, pay bills, and close the books, all in one connected platform, backed by real human support that founders love. Right now, qualified Unit Economics listeners can get $100 when they open and fund an account at uepod.com/rho. Terms apply.