Welfel Ventures approaches the launch and growth of businesses with robust planning. Before any time is spent on execution, we create detailed models that allow us to project business growth and understand the sensitivity of the business to the many variables that impact performance. Bryan Welfel and Peter Welfel founded Welfel Ventures in 2017 to house their collaborative efforts with a keen focus on direct to consumer brands. They have strategically built their portfolio through partnerships with businesses that possess a unique product or position within a community.
Bryan Welfel is a business and technology strategist behind the success of a handful of direct to consumer brands. In 2014, Bryan co-founded JSwipe. JSwipe quickly achieved rapid growth through product and marketing innovation and less than one year after launch, in October 2015, JSwipe was acquired by Spark Networks (NYSE: LOV). After the sale, Bryan stayed on to continue to grow and monetize JSwipe where it became a standout property within Spark Network's portfolio. During this time, Bryan also helped to deploy the underlying technology and principles into other Spark Networks dating properties. In 2017, Bryan decided to take on an active role in The Beard Club where he now serves as Chairman and CEO. At The Beard Club, Bryan has implemented changes in product and marketing to achieve profitable growth. Bryan continues to apply his knowledge of the direct to consumer space to other businesses across a variety of verticals while sticking to core principles and methods that consistently achieve profitable unit economies.
Peter Welfel is a proven team leader that has over 10 years of experience in computer system validation in the pharmaceutical industry. Peter's experience in this tightly regulated and high pressure industry has translated well to the direct to consumer space. In addition to overseeing the day to day operations of many portfolio businesses, Peter consistently plans large projects and oversees on time and on budget delivery. He does this by developing tools and processes that ensure accurately modeled user behavior which pipes to all functional groups of the businesses. In addition to working with internal resources, Peter leads all contract negotiations with and oversight of third party services. Peter's planning and management skills ensure that projects take off in the right direction and stay on track. Peter ensures that the unit economies of portfolio businesses are accurately maintained and that any fluctuations of assumptions are quickly detected and accounted for.
We engage partners who are experts at their craft. We work with product innovators, marketers, designers, and engineers that help to build amazing products, user experiences, and marketing campaigns. We believe in surrounding businesses with brilliant minds that are incentivized to achieve success. We believe in full transparency and so we prioritize timely and accurate accounting. We take pride in our network and ensure that the success of our partners is directly aligned with our own success.