NYA FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT - KEVIN WESCHLER, FUEGO DANCE FOUNDER & CEO
In 2018, Kevin Weschler, Founder and CEO of Fuego, noticed a void in the dance shoe market when he saw a need for a lightweight, fashionable dance shoe that would transition from the dancefloor to streetwear. Prior to Fuego, Kevin founded 2 College Brothers Moving and Storage, which was acquired after two years. As a management consultant at Deloitte, Kevin focused on assisting private equity and Fortune 500 companies in acquiring and merging businesses. His expertise includes various areas such as operations management, risk management, and business process improvement.
Due to his passion for entrepreneurship and the success of his brand, Kevin Weschler has been featured in various media outlets such as Forbes, The Ellen Show, and REDx Magazine. He has also been praised for the revolutionary features of his company's dance shoes, featuring dual pivot points that reduce injury risk while spinning and pivoting.
How did you first meet New York Angels?
I visited www.newyorkangels.com and applied online on the Gust platform. Margot Malin, one of the members of NYA, saw my application and connected with me on LinkedIn. We shared some common ground as Wharton alumni. Margot and I started chatting about my business, and then eventually she introduced me to Bruce Kamenstein, who is now a board director for Fuego. Bruce has extensive experience in the consumer product world and was a very relevant member of NYA to evaluate whether Fuego and New York Angels were a good fit for each other.
What were you looking for in investors when you were fundraising? Why did you choose to work with New York Angels?
I wanted investors who really understood my vision as I was building a company that addressed whitespace in the market. When I began fundraising, I did not have a team, and I did not realize how big of a concern that would be for people. I thought investors would think it was great that I had built the company by myself. It felt obvious to me that I would hire a team once I had the funding because I couldn't keep up with the demand. The question was always: Do I invest in more inventory? Or do I invest in hiring people since I am already selling through all of the inventory? I didn’t have enough inventory, so I thought: why would I hire people to generate more demand when I don't even have enough capital to fulfill current demand?
I didn’t have a team for a long time and that ended up being an obstacle during the fundraising process. At the end of the day, New York Angels took a chance on me because they felt I would be able to manage and hire a team, even though I didn't have a proven track record. It definitely was a blessing to have worked with New York Angels. I really appreciated that they took a chance on me, and that inspired me to work incredibly hard to deliver on the company’s plans that attracted our investors.
What was the process like for you when you were fundraising?
Depending on what type of investors you are targeting, whether it's angel groups, venture capital firms, or family offices, every investor has their own profile, their own way of evaluating opportunities, their own processes and timelines. These will dictate how organized the process will be, or how much time it will require from the founding team or the CEO. In my case, New York Angels has a very streamlined process for evaluating opportunities. I appreciated that NYA members, especially the deal leads, are very mindful of your time. Instead of different people asking the same question over and over again, NYA members would ask one question at a time and the deal leads disseminate the answer to the wider group. Their organized approach helps founders stay focused on the fundraising while also managing the day-to-day business.
What have you enjoyed most about working with New York Angels?
I have truly enjoyed working with all the great people at New York Angels. Everyone has the company's best interest in mind, and we are all working towards the same vision. I feel very supported, and I think that's extremely important as a founder and CEO. Especially as a solo founder, it can be lonely sometimes. I have a team now, and that has made a huge difference. While investors need to make a return on their investment, it does feel like my investors at NYA are an extension of my team. It has already been two years since I've met NYA, and we have all really gotten to know each other. We are a little family.
What advice would you give other founders who are looking to fundraise?
Stay focused. Stay organized. Be patient. The timeline for getting a deal done will vary depending on the investor type. An angel investor or angel investor groups will have their own process and timeline for evaluating a deal. It's critical to understand these nuances, so that you can work them into your plan, especially if your fundraising is time sensitive. If you apply to an angel group, it could be at least 1-2 months, or even 3 months, before you can pitch to the group. If the pitch goes well, there will be subsequent diligence sessions. It is important to clearly understand the timelines based on the type of investor that you are targeting.
What advice would you give other early-stage investors who are looking to invest in companies?
Since I do not have a formal background in investing, please take my advice with a grain of salt. Many investors tend to invest in areas that are trending, or they follow what other people are doing in the market or put companies into certain buckets. That makes a lot of sense in a lot of cases. But I would encourage early-stage investors to really think outside the box. Investors should look at each opportunity and try to visualize what can this become before they start thinking about what bucket the company fits into. I suspect taking the latter approach will lead to missing great opportunities if you are trying to just follow a certain template for investing.
What has driven Fuego's success?
I feel that Fuego success has really been driven by me: my tenacity, my resourcefulness as a founder, and my never give up attitude. I think those things are very important especially as a scrappy entrepreneur without outside funding, which was the case when I started Fuego. I bootstrapped the company while I was pursuing my MBA. I've always been very scrappy. I think that's a really critical attribute for an entrepreneur at any stage of the business because that translates from the early days to the later stages. Those characteristics that enabled you to succeed in the early days are what fuels the success at later stages as well.
The product itself and the quality of our product are critical to our success. When you have a good product that people like and solves a problem, people tell their friends about it. If you have a product that people will tell their friends about that's half the battle in terms of achieving success in a startup.
