This week the PMP talks w/ Brentos Fernandez, Head of Creative for Listen. Listen is a venture capital firm based in Chicago that focuses on investing in early-stage companies that have the potential to put a dent in culture. From the cosmic space jackets of Oros to the Goop of Cannabis, Miss Grass, Brentos and his team invest millions of dollars to help these cool kid brands scale by helping them articulate what makes them matter through the art and science of brand building. Brentos talks about how a design & art kid found his way from advertising to the world of venture capital. We talk about where LISTEN got its name, how it feels to be on the other side of the pitch, and how listening to dozens of innovative business ideas zoom past his ear holes each week inspires and fuels his creative output in the modern marketing world of Pop-Marketing. We also dig into Listen’s insane investment portfolio, highlighting some of my favorites and pick apart the differences involved in building rockstar brands with partners vs clients. Links: Find out more about LISTEN: https://www.listen.co/team/ The Listen Podcast: Overheard https://open.spotify.com/show/3JHa41eIvpxMLLahmmkVHq Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentosfernandez https://www.linkedin.com/company/listenventures/ Follow the "Pop-Marketer" Joe Cox on Social Media Twitter: @joenormal Instagram: @joecox Instagram "The Pop-Marketer": @popmarketer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocox https://www.pop-marketer.com/ Signup to join the Pop-Marketing community: https://mailchi.mp/4275ff333e91/popmarketing