Laurel Mintz is not your typical VC. At just 26, she stepped in to run her father’s Bassett Furniture business — managing 60 employees and learning leadership the hard way. From there, she launched ⁠Elevate My Brand⁠, a marketing powerhouse behind hundreds of consumer brands — many of which went on to raise capital.

Today, she’s rewriting the VC playbook with ⁠Fabric VC⁠, a seed-stage fund turning marketing into a superpower for picking and growing winners. In this episode, Laurel opens up about her first LP check, flipping the script on fundraising, using proprietary diligence tools, and why investing in diverse founders isn’t charity — it’s a smart business model.

If you’re a founder, funder, or future GP — this one’s a masterclass.

TIMESTAMPS / KEY TAKEAWAYS

0:00 - Intro

02:12 - From lawyer to founder: interim CEO for Bassett Furniture; founded Elevate My Brand

05:19 - 16 years of marketing experience; first LP check into Halogen Ventures’ Jesse Draper

09:56 - Why Fabric VC? The data-backed diversity bet

13:00 - AI hype; secondary diligence layer using marketing listening software

17:27 - Sweat equity + marketing as a VC edge

21:32 - Fundraising lessons: the mindset shift and the rolling raise / rolling deploy strategy

23:31 - Empowering new female LPs & destigmatizing money talk

27:58 - Laurel’s exit strategy philosophy & her bets for the future

31:58 - Billion Dollar Questions

ABOUT LAUREL

As founder of Elevate My Brand, Laurel has spent 16 years turning bold ideas into measurable growth for over 400 powerhouse brands like Verizon, Paw Patrol, Zendesk, Geico and Squishmallows. Their marketing strategies don’t just look good—they drive visibility, profitability, and real results.

In parallel, as General Partner at Fabric VC, Laurel invests in the next wave of consumer-tech, health, and fintech founders. With a marketer’s lens and a strategist’s mindset, she helps visionary startups scale smart and stay seen. Across both roles, her mission is simply described as fuel innovation and impact, elevate bold ideas, and build what’s next.

FOLLOW LAUREL:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurel-mintz

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PODCAST INFO:

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