Deborah Benton is a former President and COO of consumer brands like Nasty Gal and ShoeDazzle who learned from raising large tech VC rounds that consumer brands shouldn't be funded like SaaS companies, leading her to build Willow's thesis around capital efficiency and realistic exit sizes rather than chasing billion-dollar outcomes. She targets enterprise values under $10M at entry while focusing heavily on product margins and unit economics even at seed stage, and spends significant time addressing founder loneliness and mental health challenges, creating what she calls a safe environment where founders can share problems without fear of blame. Deborah Benton is a former President and COO of consumer brands like Nasty Gal and ShoeDazzle who learned from raising large tech VC rounds that consumer brands shouldn't be funded like SaaS companies, leading her to build Willow's thesis around capital efficiency and realistic exit sizes rather than chasing billion-dollar outcomes. She targets enterprise values under $10M at entry while focusing heavily on product margins and unit economics even at seed stage, and spends significant time addressing founder loneliness and mental health challenges, creating what she calls a safe environment where founders can share problems without fear of blame.