I turned a “hangover kit” into a real business, exited, then failed at raising capital. That failure started my current startup.
Hey IH — I’m Christian 👋
My first real taste of entrepreneurship started in high school sewing and selling bow ties to friends for dances. I had no clue what I was doing, but I loved the process. It ended up getting into stores and featured in the news — and I was hooked.
Fast-forward to college, I co-founded a hangover subscription kit company (yes, seriously). For two years we couldn’t sell anything. Then in year three, we tested an affiliate/consignment model — and everything clicked.
We scaled to 40+ college campuses
Got partnerships with spring break travel companies
Sold in bars and liquor stores nationwide
That startup became my first exit.
But right before we sold, we tried to raise money. And that’s when everything changed for me.
We landed a meeting with a VC through our network — despite not really knowing what we were doing. After 45 minutes of pitching, the investor said:
“I love the traction, the product, and the team… but I only invest in tech.”
That hit me hard.
We were pitching a health & wellness product — and we had no idea that this investor didn’t touch physical goods. We were wasting his time and ours, and we didn’t even know it.
That meeting showed me just how broken the founder/investor experience really is.
Founders with legit traction have no idea how to target the right investors.
Investors are buried in cold pitches that don’t fit their thesis.
And most platforms are either too noisy or too shallow to solve it.
🚀 What we’re building now: InvestLink Social
I co-founded InvestLink Social — a curated networking platform that connects founders and investors in a high-signal, low-noise environment.
✅ Users in 5+ countries
✅ Investors managing $400M+ in assets
✅ YC & Techstars alumni inside
✅ Always-free version (with optional PRO filters)
✅ Launched our MVP in November
✅ Now in growth mode — currently <$200 MRR but focused on community + retention
No pitch spam. No cold DM chaos. Just relevant relationships that actually go somewhere.
If you’ve ever tried to raise and felt totally lost — or if you're an investor tired of the spam — I’d love your thoughts.
AMA below!
