Andy Stenzler of Rumble: Why Smart Investing Starts With People And Markets Before Price

As a part of my series about The 5 Essentials of Smart Investing, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andy Stenzler, M.J. Bas and Wilton Speight.

Lab Capital Advisors is an investment firm uniquely positioned at the intersection of management consulting, private equity, venture capital and incubators. Lab Capital Advisors invests in nascent brands that have an opportunity to become category killers, and some of the brands in their stable include sipMARGS, RTD, low sugar canned margaritas, Skinnydipped chocolate dipped snacks, Olipop, prebiotic soda, and so much more. Previously, the founders have also backed Rumble Boxing, a recently acquired group fitness concept with locations coast to coast, and GLOSSLAB, a membership based nail studio with 20 locations nationwide and their own line of clean beauty products. So who are the brains behind the operation? Insert Co-Founders and Co-Managing Partners Andy Stenzler, M.J. Bas and Wilton Speight.

Andy Stenzler is the Co-Founder of Rumble, a boxing-inspired group fitness concept with locations across the globe, that was recently acquired by Xponential, the largest purveyor of group fitness concepts in the world. Among his many achievements, Andy was named an Ernst & Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in New York City and was twice featured on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine. He was also named ’40 under 40’ by Crain’s New York Business, as well as being listed ’35 Under 35’ by New York Magazine.

M.J. Bas has personally invested in 30 different business ventures and leverages 15 years of entrepreneurial, operational, and investment expertise. His previous investments include Revolut, a global neobank and financial technology company, and Elysium Health, a dietary supplement brand.

Wilton Speight was a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback turned entrepreneur and early-stage investor at The Long Drink, Trucker Tools, Zuum, and more. Wilton also went on to launch a sports agency, Headline Sports Group before joining MJ and Andy in 2021.

Thank you for doing this with us! Our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the finance industry?

LAB Capital Advisors (The Lab) was launched as the brain-child of three life-long entrepreneurs (Andy Stenzler, M.J. Bas and Wilton Speight) who come from long lines of successful enterprises and family businesses.

Andy Stenzler: Wilton, M.J. and I had crossed paths throughout our careers and social circles, and wanted to create a new way to launch and invest in nascent consumer-focused brands that had unlimited potential, but limited resources.

We have viewed The Lab as a unique partnership at the intersection of venture capital, private equity, and business incubators, and have proven the theory through success with previous businesses including Rumble Boxing and GLOSSLAB. Since then, The Lab has continued to shepherd and back a stable of incredible brands such as: Olipop, Bubble, sipMARGS, Rob’s Backstage Popcorn, Immi, Skinny Dipped and others.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

Wilton Speight: Our team recently had dinner with European Wax Center Founder Joshua Coba, who is now partnering with Rachel Glass, the CEO of GLOSSLAB in the expansion of GLOSSLAB across the US and starting in South Florida. This was a funny reminder that sometimes it can take a SEVEN hour dinner to bring perfect partners together.

Joshua and Rachel recently announced that they plan to take the country by storm with a National Franchise Program for the hygiene focused, membership-based, GLOSSLAB.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

M.J. Bas: The Lab has been very active in 2023, working with a number of successful entrepreneurs to launch and grow their brands. We recently invested in Skinny-Dipped, a premium snack brand renowned for its delicious and health-conscious nut offerings. The company just announced its latest oversubscribed $12MM fundraise led by hospitality entrepreneur, Dave Grutman.

We also have been active in growing the sipMARGS brand, a ready-to-drink sparkling margarita, that has now launched in 8 states. We think it’s an exciting time for consumer entrepreneurs and are looking forward to continuing to back a number of new ventures into the new year.

According to a report in Fortune, nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In your opinion or experience what is the cause of these unfortunate numbers?

Andy Stenzler: Unfortunately, financial literacy has not been a core part of the American high-school education system, thus many are not well equipped with the tools and skills for even basic budgeting. It feels like with the advent of the internet and mobile phone, more Americans are interested in learning about how to manage their finances, but they often don’t know where to start. Hopefully we can continue to make strides in changing this.

If you had the power to make a change, what 3 things would you recommend to improve these numbers?

M.J. Bas:

1. Create a mandatory “financial literacy 101 class” in all US high schools (similar to Algebra, Chemistry, History, etc.)
2. In this class, force each student to create a simple “net worth” statement and monthly budgeting statement.
3. Make more private corporations and public sector entities host financial literacy classes for their employees.

Now to the main question of our interview: You are a “finance insider”. If you had to advise your adult child about 5 non intuitive essentials for smart investing, what would you say? Can you please give a story or an example for each?

Andy Stenzler: It really comes down to 4 simple things as opposed to 5:

1. People — When you are investing, you are investing in people who are either building a company, managing an organization, or building real estate, etc. If you can find the right people to invest in, you will be extremely successful. At The Lab, we are thankful that we get to work with some of the smartest and most ambitious entrepreneurs on the planet. Without them there would be nothing to invest in.
2. Markets — After finding the right people, you have to think about what “market” or sector are you investing in. If it’s 2009 and there is an opportunity to buy real-estate, that’s probably a great market. If it’s 2012 and there is an opportunity to invest in a tech company that’s also a great market. It’s about finding trends and understanding why a certain area could become more valuable due to technology, trends, etc.
3. Business Models — At the end of the day, you can have the right people and market, but if the company doesn’t have a strong product then it won’t be a good investment. And product means whatever they’re selling — popcorn, apartment buildings, boxing classes — it needs to be differentiated and have a reason to attract customers who will want to buy whatever it is the company is selling.
4. And finally — it is about money. Investing at its core is about finding a way to put your money to work and hopefully make more money. You need to make sure that no matter what you’re investing in, it’s at a price that makes sense.

What are your thoughts about investing in cryptocurrency? Can you explain what you mean?

Wilton Speight: Crypto is a real asset class, and while it definitely was overhyped during the pandemic and into 2021, that doesn’t mean that it’s going away. The modern financial system has plenty of pros and cons, but one of the things we lack is a universal currency to use globally. I think crypto and its associated technologies definitely have a place in the financial system and it will be interesting to see it play out.

What are your thoughts about daytrading, using apps like Robinhood? Can you explain what you mean?

M.J. Bas: These apps are great and I think they’ve really democratized the ability for everyday non-finance workers to learn the basics of investing. As mentioned above, I think there is still an education element that is important, but I think they will continue to be instrumental in giving financial freedom to all.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Andy Stenzler: For me, it’s Fred Deluca, who founded Subway. When I was a young entrepreneur he took me under his wing. I remember him explaining how Subway was built on a whiteboard. It was simple enough for a kindergartener to understand yet by the time he was finished he had described how a multi billion dollar organization was built and now spanned across the world.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Wilton Speight: Success favors the prepared mind.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be?

M.J. Bas: Eradicating extreme poverty: A global effort to eliminate extreme poverty by providing basic necessities like food, clean water, and shelter can significantly improve the lives of millions, creating a more equitable world.

Where can our audience further follow your work online?

Andy Stenzler: Check out our website, labcapitaladvisors.com — we hope to have more portfolio companies soon. Feel free to reach out!

Thank you for the interview. We wish you continued success!