Carla Stanmyre McDonald

Carla McDonald is the founder and managing director of Dynabrand Ventures, a boutique investment firm that provides capital and marketing expertise to early-stage consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. Before founding Dynabrand Ventures, Carla ran her own marketing firm for 15 years, advising companies ranging from startups to multi-billion-dollar corporations and the portfolio companies of L Catterton, a leading private equity firm. She also served as the CMO of a venture-backed startup that she rebranded, repositioned, and helped steer toward a successful sale. Prior positions include running the marketing practices at two of the world’s largest PR firms, where she served as the top marketing strategist for clients including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Intel. A dedicated advocate for women entrepreneurs, Carla serves as Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force for Austin Women Entrepreneurs, where she is leading the effort to make Austin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem more equitable for women founders. Carla is a past Chair of the Board of Beam, an angel network and non-profit organization that supports women founders; serves as a mentor at SKU, the country’s leading consumer packaged goods accelerator; serves on the advisory board of the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a founding investor in Capital Factory, the nationally known startup accelerator and entrepreneurial hub. She has also judged numerous pitch competitions, including the Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business and Demo Day at the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute. Carla has been honored with the YWCA Leadership Award; the Girl Scouts of America’s Woman of Distinction Award; the Austin Business Journal’s Woman of Influence Award; the American Youthworks Community Leadership Award; the Austin Woman Change Maker Award for 2025; the Silicon Hills Angel Investor of the Year Award for 2025; the inaugural Austin Creative Alliance Community Achievement Award; and various marketing industry awards.