Fern Mandelbaum

Managing Director, Emerson Collective and Lecturer in Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business

📍 Palo Alto, California, United States🔄 Updated September 2026💼 3 investments📅 18 years investing🗓 Last invested Jan 2009
VC🌍 United States
3
Total investments
1
Early stage
0
Mid stage
0
Late stage
18y
Years active

Portfolio

1 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Investor and Advisor
Jan 2008
popchips is a delicious line of popped potato chips that are never fried, but always made with real ingredients. how do we do it? well, first, lets talk about how we dont do it. we never fry our chips. that just puts a lot of stuff in there that we could all do without. thanks to the magic of popping, we found a way to pop all the flavor in, while keeping all the fried oil out. we take potatoes, add heat and pressure, then pop! you get chips that are deeply satisfying, but not deep fried. plus no grease, and no guilty conscience. all that’s added is a flavorful blend of seasonings to create taste-bud popping flavors that appeal to the whole family. pop open a bag of popchips and try for yourself.
early stageFood & Beverages
Experience · 7 entries
All (7)
Investments (3)
Founder (2)
Board (2)
2019
Managing Director, Venture Investments
Sep 2019
Emerson Collective is a company that invests in entrepreneurs and innovators driven by purpose and a sense of possibility, working to create a world of abundance for future generations. Complex challenges in education and economic mobility, immigration and the environment require audacious ideas, rigorous thinking and hard work. At EC, we are proud to partner with those taking big swings – with humility and hustle.
2014
Partner and Co-Founder
Apr 2014
Vista Venture Partners (VVP) is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage technology and consumer product companies. VVP was initially created to invest directly in new companies created by Adero Partners (formerly Vista Wealth Management) clients and at times, alongside them. STRUCTURE General Partner – Fern Mandelbaum (Contact Fern) Limited Partner – Adero Partners INDEPENDENCE Adero Partners does not invest any of its client’s capital into VVP. Adero Partners does not receive any fees or incentives from VVP. CURRENT COMPANIES Picnic Health, Grid Space, Power Reels, Guild, Vocate, and Better Up
2009
Limelife, Inc (Acquired by Total Beauty Media)
Board Member and Investor
Jan 2009
Greystripe (Acquired by ValuClick)
Board Member and Investor
2009
2008
Investor and Advisor
Jan 2008
popchips is a delicious line of popped potato chips that are never fried, but always made with real ingredients. how do we do it? well, first, lets talk about how we dont do it. we never fry our chips. that just puts a lot of stuff in there that we could all do without. thanks to the magic of popping, we found a way to pop all the flavor in, while keeping all the fried oil out. we take potatoes, add heat and pressure, then pop! you get chips that are deeply satisfying, but not deep fried. plus no grease, and no guilty conscience. all that’s added is a flavorful blend of seasonings to create taste-bud popping flavors that appeal to the whole family. pop open a bag of popchips and try for yourself.
early stageFood & Beverages
Show all 7 entries ↓
Investment activity
2008–2009 · 3 investments
2008120092
Recent (last 2 years)Earlier