Josh Wand

ForceBrands

At ForceBrands, we build the teams that build the brands. 

ForceBrands is the consumer product industry's leading recruiting firm. Our industry-specific divisions BevForce, FoodForce, BeautyForce, HerbForce, and PetForce offer white-glove executive search services, board of director assembly, and a self-service digital job board to connect directly with qualified candidates.

As the Founder and CEO, I'm proud to lead the team through dynamic growth and expansion. We’ve made great progress in the past ten years helping people and companies find their ‘hire purpose,’ and we’re excited to continue this momentum.

We are proud to work with companies such as KIND Snacks, HIPPEAS, Justin's Nut Butter, siggi's, Suja Juice, Vita Coco, Hershey’s, Proximo Spirits, Pernod Ricard USA, Vital Proteins, Glossier, Sierra Nevada, and dosist. 

Get in touch!

Follow @ForceBrands - LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat

Founder & Motivator in Chief

The Family Fund & Founder Community

The Family Fund & Founder Community is a venture capital firm that pairs its expansive network of proven CEOs and founders with up-and-coming consumer brands and the technology companies that support them. As active industry leaders, the Family Fund brings an entire community of 50+ operational experts, founders and industry thought leaders to your cap table, helping portfolio companies with the strategic growth and expertise required to take their business to the next level.

General Partner

PINATA

Co-Founder

Wellfare

Wellfare is a nonprofit raising the standard of health & wellbeing for low-income communities.

Board Member

Sidebar Spirits, LLC

Vice President Sales & Distribution

AV Imports

Managed the AV Imports Wine Portfolio in the State of Nevada. Developed corporate beverage programs with National Hotel, Casino and Restaurant Groups

Nevada State Manager

Southern Wine & Spirits

Developed Beverage Programs for Hotels, Casinos and Restaurant Groups

Asian Account Specialist

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been interested in organizational structure and the kinds of social behaviors that help companies grow. I am the founder and CEO of ForceBrands and PINATA, two companies that are unique in the world of recruiting and hiring.

I founded ForceBrands in 2007 with the launch of BevForce, a hiring resource with an exclusive focus on the beverage industry. The success of BevForce evolved into the expansion into the food, beauty/wellness, and cannabis industries. With the understanding that people are a company's greatest asset, ForceBrands offers executive search services, board of director assembly, and a digital job board that services its industry-specific divisions: BevForce, FoodForce, BeautyForce, HerbForce, and now PetForce.

ForceBrands specializes in working with emerging and enterprise consumer brands to help build world-class teams while also elevating professionals at all stages of their careers. I attribute the company's success to the unique qualities and dedication of the people involved. After years of building relationships with companies of all sizes, I saw a need among clients for a better solution to external field staffing. Enter PINATA.

PINATA is a hiring platform with the mission to unleash the potential of brands and individuals through a data-driven community that elevates the freelance workforce. PINATA aims to revolutionize field marketing by utilizing a multi-sided marketplace across both web and mobile. PINATA has connected thousands of brands, agencies, and freelance ambassadors across the country by harnessing time-saving software, curated local partners, and powerful data to maximize field marketing efforts.

Founder & CEO

Feeling energized with a huge smile on my face after grabbing a cold brew and walking past the old ForceBrands & PINATA HQ in Tribeca this morning.

In this treehouse in the sky, we built companies from scratch, launched brands, hosted boot camps for founders and CEOs, and welcomed global strategics looking to innovate. We built partnerships, celebrated wins, and brought a true sense of community to life.

It was a space where founders, CEOs, investors, retailers, and global strategics gathered to share ideas and build the future together. We held the space where everyone came together in the heart of New York City. What an honor it was to play even a small part in so many incredible companies evolving and growing. But more than anything it was about the people, the amazing humans I got to see and speak with every single day.

The memories and relationships will last a lifetime.

Man, I feel grateful 🙏

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Caught up with my friend Richard Mumby, CEO of Wip, at their HQ in Tribeca and left blown away by what they’re building.

WIP is redefining the energy space with a pouch that delivers clean natural energy with no nicotine, no sugar, and no synthetic caffeine. It’s powered by natural caffeine from non-GMO green coffee beans, B vitamins (Niacin, B6, B12) and chromium for steady sustained energy.  

The buzz coming out of Founderland and NACS is next level. WIP is shaping the future of energy and this is a brand to keep on your radar

Deep respect to Richard and the entire WIP crew for their vision. This is the kind of innovation that moves industries forward.

Yesterday’s Longevity Summit with YPO Santa Monica Bay was electric.

Massive thanks to Abe Malkin, MD MBA , Sean Kelly, and Erik Huberman for helping bring it to life. Our chapter of founders and CEOs dove deep into the future of human performance, exploring peptides and NAD drips, red light therapy, how Daybreak is tackling sleep apnea and redefining sleep health, full body scans with Prenuvo, recovery on Orion’s sleep system and DEXA scans showing us exactly how muscle, fat, and bone density work together to shape your overall health and longevity.

It’s amazing to see health, science, and community converging like this. Longevity isn’t just about adding years, it’s about amplifying the quality of every one of them.

Grateful for everyone who made it an unforgettable experience.

Character predicts everything.

As parents, leaders, and partners, we get so caught up chasing outcomes like the next deal, the next milestone, the next big win. But what really matters is who we are when no one’s watching.

Character is being kind when it’s inconvenient, doing what’s right when it’s hard, and keeping your word even when no one’s checking. It’s how you treat people when there’s nothing to gain, how you show up for your family after a long day, and how you lead when things get messy.

That builds trust, shapes culture, and creates real legacy.

At home, at work, and in our relationships, character is the foundation that holds it all together. The world needs more of it, and it starts with us.

Let’s raise the bar for our kids, our teams, and ourselves. Because when character leads, everything else follows.

This is what happens when your 14 year old son attends Founderland and discovers the world of biohacking and longevity

One minute he’s a kid crushing snacks… the next minute he’s asking about red light therapy, cold plunges, sleep optimization, and whether he can get an Ammortal chamber for his room.

What a trip.

Curtis Christopherson

Yesterday had that kind of energy that makes you pause, thank the universe, and feel grateful for the work you get to do.

A heartfelt thanks to the YPO  Global Business Summit for inviting me on stage for the Super Connector panel in downtown LA. The scene was incredible: CEO’s pitching ideas, building innovative companies, and exploring partnerships. 

And the afternoon was full of magic at The Female Founder Collective Seed Her Demo Day, I joined an incredible panel of judges as (8) founders shared inspiring, well articulated  businesss pitches. Being in that room reminded me how much I admire entrepreneurs who are building the next gen of consumer businesses. Thank you Alison Koplar Wyatt and Carli Roth for putting on this exceptional event! 

Honored to be welcomed on stage by two extraordinary communities in one day

What a day. What a privilege

Rebecca Minkoff  Mark Stagen Taylor (Voelker) Stagen The Family Fund & Founder Community ForceBrands Julie Smolyansky Ellen Chen

We’re growing and hiring a Head of Fund Operations & Finance at The Family Fund & Founder Community.

This pivotal role accelerates the next generation of brands and technologies transforming consumer products, health, and wellness, while partnering with innovators shaping the future of the consumer ecosystem.

If you’re driven to build the systems that power innovation and impact, we’d love to meet you.

Apply below - let’s build the future together.

Sean Kelly Christine Wang Colleen Kang

View company: The Family Fund & Founder Community

Our Family is growing.

We’re hiring a Head of Fund Operations & Finance at The Family Fund & Founder Community — a role at the heart of how we invest in, build infrastructure around, and accelerate the next generation of high-growth brands and technologies shaping the future of consumer products, health, and wellness.

If you bring mastery in fund operations, finance, and systems design, and thrive at the intersection of capital, creativity, and execution, this is an opportunity to architect the infrastructure powering the next generation of consumer venture funds.

Apply directly below — let’s build the future together



https://lnkd.in/eryFZxER

#hiring #vc #finance

Los Angeles, California, United States (Remote)

Job by The Family Fund & Founder Community

Very excited to partner with the Orion team.

Sleep is one of the most overlooked drivers of health and longevity. It’s foundational, not just for how we perform, but for how we show up in life. Yet so few companies are building real solutions to improve it.

Orion is changing that.

Harry Gestetner and Daniel Gestetner are building at the cornerstone of longevity and tackling one of the most overlooked drivers of human health.

We're honored to support this next chapter.

The Family Fund & Founder Community Christine Wang Sean Kelly Colleen Kang

Very excited to announce my new company Orion and our $17.5m Seed Round. 

Sleep is the cornerstone of longevity, yet very few technologies exist that actually improve and compress your sleep. I believe that longevity is the future of consumer.

It's been amazing to co-found Orion with my father Daniel Gestetner, also partnered with Blake Johnson, Scott Cohen, Jonathan Zwiebel.

Thank you to our amazing investors, Criticality (Ryan), Mucker Capital (William), Browder Capital (Joshua Browder), Second Sight Ventures (Patrick Finnegan), LEAD (Adidas Family), Power of N (Nikki), The Family Fund & Founder Community (Sean & Josh), Hawke Ventures (Erik), Break Trail Ventures (Jay), Antler, Intuition VC (Hugo), Cooley LLP 

+ angels including Allison Ellsworth & Stephen Ellsworth (poppi), Jim McKelvey (Square), Eytan Elbaz (Google AdSense/Scopely), Tanay Tandon (Commure), Jacob Peters & Max Marchione (Superpower), Luke Harries (ElevenLabs), Alon Matas (BetterHelp) and others.

Open article: This Under 30 Raised $18 Million To Make Sleeping Cool—Literally by forbes.com

This Under 30 Raised $18 Million To Make Sleeping Cool—Literally

Succession planning might be one of the most pivotal and personal decisions a founder will ever make. I know because I just went through it.

You’re not simply hiring a replacement — you’re evolving your role. You’re entrusting what you’ve built to a new steward, creating space for the next chapter of growth and impact.

My friend Geoff Woods recently shared a post (below) on AI-driven leadership that gave a glimpse into some of the work I personally did with CRIT™ —a prompt structure using Context, Role, Interview, Task —to help me think through this next chapter.

When used with context and care, AI doesn’t replace strategy, it reveals it. It helps you unpack the layers of your business, your team, and yourself.

When I used AI as a thought partner, it helped me:
• See my blind spots
• Ask the questions I’d been avoiding
• Workshop a sustainable handoff
• Redefine what legacy really means beyond a P&L

Here’s the same CRIT™ prompt that I used to get started.
It works best if you’ve built a GPT or Claude project for your business or personal leadership, but give it a try and let me know what happens. 

⸻
CONTEXT:
I want to design a CEO succession plan that ensures continuity of mission, culture, and performance over the next 3–5 years.

ROLE:
Act as an executive talent architect who specializes in succession planning and leadership development.

INTERVIEW:
Ask me 5 questions to understand:
• The company’s growth horizon and strategic priorities
• The leadership capabilities required for the next phase
• The strengths and gaps in our current executive team
• The cultural traits that define high performance here
• The transition scenarios we should stress test

TASK:
Based on our discussion, create a living succession plan that includes:
• A readiness map of internal and external candidates
• Development plans to close leadership gaps
• Scenario models for unexpected transitions
• A communication framework for stakeholders and investors

#1 Bestselling Author, The AI-Driven Leader. Founder, AI Leadership. We help leaders harness AI to grow their business, outpace the competition, and get more done in less time.

Most founders wait too long to think about succession.

They see it as an exit conversation—when really, it’s a strategy conversation.

Here’s what I tell leaders inside The AI-Driven Leadership Collective™:
Your company’s succession plan should evolve as fast as your business does.
And the best ones are now AI-assisted.

I recently worked with Josh Wand, founder of ForceBrands, PINATA and The Family Fund & Founder Community, using our CRIT™ Framework to design his CEO succession plan.

Instead of a static org chart, we built a living model of future leadership needs—one that updates as strategy, markets, and talent evolve.

Here’s the same CRIT™ prompt we used.
You can run it directly in ChatGPT or Claude to create your own version:

⸻

CONTEXT:
I want to design a CEO succession plan that ensures continuity of mission, culture, and performance over the next 3–5 years.

ROLE:
Act as an executive talent architect who specializes in succession planning and leadership development.

INTERVIEW:
Ask me 5 questions to understand:
 1. The company’s growth horizon and strategic priorities
 2. The leadership capabilities required for the next phase
 3. The strengths and gaps in our current executive team
 4. The cultural traits that define high performance here
 5. The transition scenarios we should stress-test

TASK:
Based on our discussion, create a living succession plan that includes:
 • A readiness map of internal and external candidates
 • Development plans to close leadership gaps
 • Scenario models for unexpected transitions
 • A communication framework for stakeholders and investors

⸻

The leaders who run this prompt don’t just get a plan—
They get visibility into how well their company can survive without them.

That’s what separates managers from builders.
And it’s why the CEOs inside The AI-Driven Leadership Collective™ are thinking at a completely different altitude.

If you’re ready to lead like that—
Apply to join The AI-Driven Leadership Collective™ → aileadership.com

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