Scott van den Berg

VC. Investing in creator + celebrity brands. Bullish on tech founders. Breaking down how they build billion dollar brands, so you can model them & do the same🚀

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Posting this because I'm planning to take X more serious in 2026.

I'm Scott.

• Investor in 15+ celebrity & creator-founded brands (incl. Selena Gomez, Jake Paul, Katy Perry & more)

• Built the #1 media platform about celebrity & creator-founded brands (40K readers, 30M+ views)

• Built the largest database of 1,000+ celebrity & creator-founded brands

Plus, I recently launched HotStart VC, a fund that invests exclusively in brands founded by celebrities and creators. Biggest move of my career so far.

For years, I've witnessed exactly how billion dollar brands get built by creators and celebrities.

And I'm going to share everything I've learned with you.

What I'll be posting about here:

- The data behind which brands win and which die

- Why distribution is the new moat and how creators are replacing traditional brands

- The equity frameworks I use to structure deals between startups and celebrities

- The mistakes that kill 90% of creator-founded brands before they ever get traction

If you ask me, so many people get brand building wrong, especially with celebrities.

Let's fix that.

Follow me @scottvdberg to not miss any future posts.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

People assume my job as a VC is finding winners.

I say no to about 98% of what I see, so most of the work is in fact in deciding what to walk away from.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Every business I failed at was tuition for the one that worked.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

My parents are in their sixties and have no social media.

Explaining that I invest in people who are famous on apps they've never opened goes about how you'd expect.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Being too early kills you the same way being too late does.

I built a "media for equity company" back when creators had zero interest in equity at all.

Three years later almost all of them want it.

Same idea, wrong year.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

You can be too early or too late.

Both kill you just the same.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

The best advice I ever got came from a friend who kept answering my "what if it doesn't work out" with "but what if it does."

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Launch numbers that impress people:

- Sold out in minutes
- $1M in the first hour
- Servers crashed

Launch number that predicts anything:

- Repeat purchase rate

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Most people think a celebrity brand wins only on follower count.

As a VC, I've turned down 225 pitches in one quarter and almost all of them led with their reach. The two I funded didn't mention followers until slide 12.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

@drewfallon12 Same here. Even people I used to respect a lot

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Just finished our celebrity- and creator-founded brand report for July + Aug:

✅ 11 new launches
✅ 8 new equity deals
✅ 10 milestones, exits & revenue jumps
✅ 6 funding rounds, who raised + amounts
✅ 8 other notable moves: shutdowns + pivots + category shifts

Want the full report?

Comment "SEND" below, and I'll send it to you right now.

(make sure you follow me so I can DM you)

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Fastest yes I've ever given as a VC came about three minutes in.

She'd researched me properly, spent hours on my content and knew every part of her own business.

That preparation for one investor call told me everything.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Smash Kitchen did 100 million in 12 months and I hate to admit that my framework would score the celebrity fit low.

But great operators can truly carry a brand a long way without the perfect founder story.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Creators who started a decade ago did it because they loved it, and their first YouTube check came four years in at around a hundred dollars.

Creators who started last year made a business decision.

You can tell which is which in one meeting.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

I don't feel we talk enough about this.

A few years ago, this Chinese live streamer made $18.7M over 7 days, by promoting products for 3 seconds only.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Distribution is the new moat.

Product used to be the hard part and now the hard part is getting anyone to care at all.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

My mum still asks how I'm going to pay the investors back.

I keep explaining that's not how equity works. She keeps asking.

I've made peace with it.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

A manager once asked me for 10% equity plus a 3 million dollar check upfront for their client.

I'm not paying someone to be an entrepreneur.

Put the cash into the company so it can actually grow.

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

Celebrity product market fit is the thing I'm actually underwriting.

Does this person have a real reason to sell this specific product to these specific people?

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

I spent 150k on legal to structure my business in the Netherlands and then the Dutch government told me the model wouldn't work.

I was left with a very expensive folder (and no business).

[Scott van den Berg @Scottvdberg]

I'm a VC.

Best investment I've made so far is three years of daily posting.

It taught me how the founders I back actually think, which no amount of diligence gets you.