Corey Lieblein ’93, Founder/CEO of CP8 Capital, will headline a virtual fireside chat on April 8 at 3 p.m. as part of a new “Tea Talks” series sponsored by the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at Syracuse Libraries in partnership with The Republic of Tea. The Zoom link for the event is here.
A graduate of the Syracuse University School of Human Development (now Falk College), majoring in retail, Corey has spent his career as an entrepreneur in consumer products and now brings his unique skill set of sales, marketing, product development, and negotiations to
CP8 Capital, a dynamic, extreme value-add private equity firm that focuses on acquiring and growing early-stage consumer products companies. Through its vast resources, CP8 helps its portfolio companies scale rapidly. CP8 Capital as CEO. He founded Innovative Technology / Victrola in 2004 and served as CEO for 16 years, overseeing Victrola’s growth from concept to the worldwide market leader in record players and nostalgic electronics. During that time, Corey built Innovative Technology / Victrola into a nationally recognized brand whose products have found their way into tens of millions of homes throughout North America. Through its vast resources, CP8 helps its portfolio companies scale rapidly. CP8 Capital’s mission is to help founders of early stage consumer products companies realize their personal and financial dreams by scaling sales and profits exponentially. Unlike the way traditional private equity operates, the firm partners directly with founders and provide vast amounts of value-added resources including over 50 of North America’s most talented salespeople, product development experts, and an international supply chain.
Corey has a deep passion for entrepreneurship, product development and sales. He loves working with early-stage entrepreneurs to help them scale from obscurity to national recognition. He will be joining the LaunchPad team as a virtual Entrepreneur in Residence, starting this spring semester. Working through the LaunchPad team, he will be available for virtual mentoring and coaching for high-value fast-growth ventures, and will also participate this fall to host several in-person sessions and workshops.
The focus of his “Tea Talk” fireside chat will be what he envisions as the coming big wave of innovation. Looking past the current COVID-19 challenge, he believes that innovators are standing at the leading edge of developing products, services and technologies that will redefine how we live, work and interact, and literally create a new future. “I am incredibly optimistic,” he says, “because I believe we are entering an unprecedented period of opportunity that is as big as the introduction of the Internet, of smart phones, and other technologies that have redefined the world. There is a massive opportunity right now to invent and re-invent, and shape the next generation of the future.” For those who are positioned for it, there will be “the opportunity of a generation” in the next ten years to launch profitable ventures at the scale of previous game-changing technologies, products and services.
“You are the generation to do this,” he wants to share with Syracuse University student entrepreneurs as part of the talk. “I am personally excited about the future as an investor, and want to share my vision with those poised to innovate. Investors are actively looking for big ideas, and they are coming out of startups and early stage companies who have a clear sense of where to find opportunity, especially in this time of crisis and challenge.”
Zoom in to the Tea Talk at: https://zoom.us/j/4547766985?pwd=Wmg1bnFJR2hlaHQ1M0hIVWZuVUFNZz09
