Deferred Interest Vol. 18
Bagel-gate, an active investigation
Hey Everyone,
Today’s lesson on adulthood: solace comes from opening up, not closing off. I hosted friends at my apartment a couple of nights last week, and while hosting can bring all sorts of anxieties—Will people come? Will they have a good time? It’s always more than worth it. For the past year and change, I candidly have avoided initiating a lot of social outreach because of work. When you’re pouring into a new business, salaries, especially those that allow you to live and breathe in New York City, are the last thing you pay yourself. Every dollar I have has become more precious. Expensive dinners, lunches, and drinks have fallen to the bottom of the priority list.
More and more entrepreneurs and business owners are being transparent about the realities of taking this career path. We’re not supposed to admit these challenges aloud, making it seem like we have it all together for our investors, but the sacrifices are very real.
In turn, some of my personal life has suffered—because I felt like I literally couldn’t afford to see people. A $100 dinner + drinks? That could go toward a business flight. A late-night $50 Uber home? That could go toward tech stack subscriptions.
Thankfully, the weather outside of last week’s heat wave has allowed for more low-cost and free activities. It’s something I have had to adjust to, and many others do so quietly. Last week, choosing to host groups of people at my own home offered a form of relief, but more importantly made me feel really good on the inside. I am beyond grateful for the friends and community I have, supporting me in obvious and less visible ways.
If you’re in a similar boat, feeling like in-person connection is a steep luxury, I hope this is your reminder that showing up doesn’t always require trying a new restaurant or ordering overpriced martinis. Sometimes it’s UNO cards and some wine, making the decision to let people in anyway. That, I’m learning, is more than enough.
Now, let’s get into the latest news.
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Quick Hits
Novo Nordisk ends partnership with Hims & Hers
Novo Nordisk has abruptly ended its partnership with Hims & Hers, which was meant to make Wegovy ($1,349/month) more accessible to Hims’ telehealth patients at a reduced cost of $499/month. Novo claims Hims has been using “deceptive marketing” and pushing knockoff versions of Wegovy, compromising patient safety. It looks like the partnerships with LifeMD and Ro are still active for patients who were relying on the lower cost.
PayPal partners with Big Ten & Big 12 to enable payments to student athletes
Following the recent NCAA settlement, which allows colleges and universities to pay students for their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”), PayPal has partnered with Big Ten and Big 12 conference schools to facilitate revenue sharing with student athletes. Each institution can share up to $20.5 million in revenue per year, which presents a $697 million opportunity ($20.5 million x 34 schools) for PayPal annually.
Consumer spending decreased by $29 billion in May
U.S. consumer spending fell 0.3% (inflation adjusted) in May. This is the first time spending has declined this year and follows an increase of 0.2% in April. As consumers remain uncertain of how President Trump’s trade policies will impact them, spending behavior has pulled back. Most notably, the recent decline in spending was driven by a fall in auto purchases and services (i.e. dining out).
The Latest
As you all gathered from my deep dive into Charlie Javice and the fraudulent Frank acquisition, fraud is my preferred corner of true crime.
This week’s person of interest is Aimee Yang, the Founder & CEO of BetterBrand. Yang’s illegal and all-around sketchy business practices have become more public in recent weeks as the company mysteriously ceased operations and Yang disappeared into thin air. A private investigator, receivership, and bagels, all in one plot.
Let this case be a friendly reminder that press and accolades like Forbes 30 Under 30 can distract us from assessing operational capabilities—the real work. Yang joins the growing list of Forbes30u30 veterans accused of deceitful business practices, which also includes Elizabeth Holmes and Charlie Javice.
P.S. Yes, this is coming from someone who wasn’t 30u30 LOL.
About BetterBrand
Founded in 2021, BetterBrand promised a new era of nutrition by turning notoriously carb-heavy comfort foods into low-carb options using its so-called Grain-changing Technology™.
Aimee Yang, the company’s seemingly impressive Founder & CEO, was previously a consultant at Ernst & Young and received her MBA from Wharton.
BetterBrand launched with the Better Bagel, a reengineered take on the classic bagel, packing just five grams of net carbs (roughly two banana slices), 24 grams of protein (on par with four eggs), and the sugar content of a single celery stalk. Powered by its trademarked technology, the brand set out to expand into other categories and, in theory, rewrite the rules of healthy eating.
I won’t lie, I have seen some odd-looking photos of the actual products, but apparently the bagels and buns were pretty good, which makes this situation all the more disappointing.
So how did we go from celebrating a better-for-you bread option to watching its distributor apply for receivership? I’ve walked through a timeline of what we know so far.
What happened (that we know of)
2021
BetterBrand is founded by Aimee Yang
Feb 2021
BetterBrand raises a $1.2M pre-seed round led by VERSO Capital (also an investor in Impossible Foods and Eat JUST) with participation from notable celebrities like Patrick Schwarzenegger and Dillon Francis.
Yang was praised for her historical fundraise, becoming the first sole female founder to raise over $1M in a venture-led pre-seed round across the food tech, food and beverage, and consumer sectors (that’s a mouthful, I know).
June 2021
Better launches its hero SKU, the classic better bagel, online. With the help of celebrity investors and advisors, the brand sells out within one week.
Within three months of the direct-to-consumer launch, the company hit a $1M run rate. The rapid online success set the stage for a massive launch into retail.
Oct 2021
BetterBrand raises a $2.5M seed round led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six. The company is hailed as the “Beyond Meat of Carbs”
2022
Aug 2022
Better announces its global partnership with Whole Foods, entering the frozen section of 500+ doors. A global launch is a major move for any company’s first foray into retail. Typically you’ll see brands enter a limited number of doors nationwide or into a particular region to start. This is both for test and learn purposes as well as to strategically scale growth.
2023
June 2023
Better raises a $6M Series A at a $170M valuation. This round was led by VERSO with participation from returning investors like Seven Seven Six and high net worth individuals.
This was certainly a high valuation for a 2-year-old CPG company, especially off of a $6M raise ($164M pre-money valuation). For context, Stripe, the multi-national payments platform now worth ~$92 billion, raised its Series A at a $100M valuation.
Aug 2023
Better surpassed a $15 million revenue run rate, which was expected to double by end of year.
Oct 2023
Better announces its official international expansion with an exclusive launch into Whole Foods UK.
2024
May 2024
BetterBrand enters a $500,000 loan agreement with JSD Management & Consulting. Interest payments were set to begin June 2024.
Oct 2024
Having failed to make interest payments, JSD attempts to serve BetterBrand a Notice of Default and Demand for Payment.
JSD was unable to reach Aimee Yang via mail or in-person.
During this time the website was unexpectedly deactivated, causing delayed orders and suspicions the company was shutting down. Naturally, folks took to Reddit to find answers and express grievances.
Here’s where it gets spicy. Better posted on Instagram claiming then-terminated employees had conspired to steal inventory and money from the company. The battle between the company and its former employees were written off as the cause of the operational issues.
The offer further reassurance that BetterBrand was alive and well, the company said it was working with a new fulfillment partner, Cold Chain 3PL.
…But Cold Chain 3PL publicly stated they were NOT working with BetterBrand, categorizing Aimee Yang’s claims as false. In fact, BetterBrand owed 3PL and other vendors money (and still does).
At this point, it’s clear sketchy stuff is going on, but the website did come back, and the brand was back to posting on social media, business as usual.
Nov 2024
JSD files a petition with the court listing BetterBrand Inc and Aimee Yang individually as defendants.
2025
Feb 2025
JSD hired a private investigator to locate Yang. The investigator was unable to locate her.
JSD amended its petition with the court to include several claims for relief. A claim for relief in a lawsuit is what the party suing (the plaintiff) is asking the court to do for them. It’s basically their official request for help. For example, if I got hurt because a restaurant didn’t shovel their sidewalk, I’d want them to pay my medical bills.
In addition to demanding the loan be repaid, as there’s been a breach of contract, JSD is also building a case to prove Yang had no intention of ever paying the money back, otherwise known as fraud. Another claim requests that a number of “books and records” be made available regarding supplier and retailer relationships, financial statements, inventory records, even texts and phone calls related to the business.
June 2025
The eatbetter.com website and bagels have vanished and Aimee Yang is still in the wind.
The court ruled that Yang’s failure to appear or respond to outreach represents an admission of guilt. In addition to paying back the loan (+interest), Yang/BetterBrand are subject to additional penalties including attorney fee reimbursement, and must make their books and records available to JSD for examination. I imagine additional rulings will follow the examination of the private information requested.
A stay execution is now in order until June 28.
According to Snaxshot, Cold Chain 3PL, a distributor of BetterBrand recently applied for receivership in Delaware.
Receivership is a legal process where a neutral third party (the receiver) is appointed by a court to take control of a troubled business or its assets, often when it’s close to bankruptcy or in serious financial distress. A CPG distributor might apply for receivership of a brand when the brand owes them significant money or has defaulted on key financial obligations and the distributor wants to protect its interests or recover value.
I wonder if the stay execution has something to do with the parallel receivership application. Seems like a few different parties are looking to recoup the money lost based on their respective relationships with BetterBrand.
There’s A LOT of unresolved components to this case, but trust that I will put my Nancy Drew cap on and uncover as much information as I can.
*full disclosure: I am not a legal professional, but I am more than willing to peruse a public court document for my readers*
Here’s the problem
Aside from the explicit fraud, it’s the few bad actors amongst many good ones that put up roadblocks for the CPG and/or female and/or underrepresented founders to come. It’s already hard enough to raise capital within any combination of those categories, and some investors will use Aimee Yang as validation for existing biases.
Maybe Yang didn’t ask to be glorified (see above), but that’s what happens when you’re the first or one of few…you become a representative of a population whether you like it or not.
Praying for more success stories to drown out what’s happening here.
Save for Later
I am really excited about the launch of Soft Rows, a textured hair care company tugging on my nostalgic heartstrings when it comes to salon culture and hair rituals. I have met the Founder & CEO, Quani, and I’m so excited to see the continued momentum.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading.
X
Jamie
Thank you Jamie for the mention!