Let's Start Up Issue 16 | Tech but make it romance 💝
POV: You're a founder building a startup
Hi there 👋 Welcome to the Let's Start Up newsletter, curated by me, Janine Sickmeyer, a tech founder turned angel investor. Follow me as I share startup tips, industry news, founders you should know, and investors putting their money where their mouth is. Let’s Start Up, is a community of its own with an emphasis on the overlooked and underrepresented.
What's In This Issue 🗞
A brief look into what you'll be reading about
People finding love on Clubhouse
Founder Fridays are back!
Startup news you can’t miss
Women you need to follow
A new book coming soon!
What's On My Mind 💭
I’ve been thinking…
Who needs Netflix reality love shows and The Bachelor when you can listen to thousands of people in your inner circle find love on a Thursday night while laying around in your pajamas?
Clubhouse is a place to pitch your startup, recruit top talent, learn from industry leaders, and... find true love? That's what a group of NYU students thought when they started the room Shoot Your Shot this week.
The rules: raise your hand and when you come on stage, give a 15-second romantic introduction of yourself, and then you "shoot your shot" by calling out someone on stage or in the audience that you want to get to know better. Some people were doing friend shots if they didn't have a love interest in the room. When someone is called out, they have to tell the person shooting their shot, if they want to hear more by giving them an interesting way to reach them. It started with "my DMs are open" and progressed to requests for love haikus and Spotify playlists. It was perfect. The whole conversation had me laughing, cringing, and most of all, feeling the love.
I tuned in Wednesday night when there were just a couple hundred people and was impressed with the charming moderators, creativity, and quippy remarks. I came back Thursday, and the room had over two thousand people who couldn't turn off their phone, waiting to know who was going to get roasted and who would find love. The moderators are women you want to be friends with and the guys... well, they're tech guys looking for love so you can imagine.
I can't wait to see where this goes and if the concept can grow into something more. We are all craving entertainment, connection, and love right now.
We all know how important it is as a founder to have people who support your journey along the way. Finding the right partner in life makes all the difference in building your startup.
But make sure no matter what, you find someone who will grow with you but on their own. Now go shoot your shot! ♥️
What I’ve Been Working On 💁🏻♀️
Things I care about that I want to share
The gang is back. Amanda Goetz, Jaime Schmidt, and myself are resuming our weekly chat on Clubhouse. Hosted in Startup Club, the three of us talk authentically about entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, marketing, and a ton more! The session takes place every Friday at 11am PT / 2pm ET, so mark your calendar and get ready to take notes. This week, we turned to Twitter to decide the main topic we're going over, and "what if it all went right" was the clear winner. See you there!
When a startup founder submits her book proposal
As you might already know, I'm writing my first book. It's called She Starts Up, and is a memoir all about my startup story. Since the summer, I've been working with a book coach, Danielle Anderson, and she is helping me through the entire process. When I started putting together my book proposal, I had an idea. Whenever you're pitching your startup, you use a deck. Why not do the same with my book? So like any entrepreneur, I turned my long book proposal into a concise and visually appealing deck. Just this week I submitted my proposal and book deck. Next step, more writing!
My Portfolio is Growing
Let's Start Up Ventures is now backing three more startups. In 2020, I began angel investing in startups with an overlooked or underrepresented founder and it's been so exciting to be on the other side of fundraising. We're only in the second month of 2021 and I've added three new investments for a total of 3 personal investments through Let's Start Up and 3 syndicate investments with Backstage Capital and Hustle Fund. And I'm not quite done yet, one more personal investment is closing next week. Here's to a year of investing in underfunded founders solving problems with innovative technology!
Recently Hit the Stands 📰
Things in the news you should check out
Venture capital funding boomed in 2020. But women’s share of the pie shrank to 2.2%
While the pandemic temporarily put venture capital at a standstill, the industry came back stronger. The move from the office to home caused a surge for tech companies, delivery services, and more. So much that startups raised 13% in capital in 2020 than the last year. $150 billion in total (Pitch Book) was received by startups in 2020. Unfortunately, this boom didn't carry over to womxn-led startups. In fact, total capital invested in womxn went down.
Smart VCs Recognize That Black Female Founders May Lead The Next Unicorns
The next unicorn in VC could likely be a Black womxn founder. If you take a look at the stats, Black and Latinx womxn founders have only received 0.64% of total capital raised in venture. Even though this number is low, keep in mind that this is how trends start. Black womxn make up 42% of new womxn-owned businesses. The numbers speak for themselves.
VCs who want better outcomes should use data to reduce founder team risk
Startups heavily rely on data and tracking KPIs, so why don't investors? While much of venture capital is based on intuition, the objectiveness of data would bring a lot of value to venture capitalists. A huge benefit from using an objective assessment process is breaking old patterns, i.e., investing in yet another white male. Data takes out the bias that humans are often at fault for so that investments can be made in the best teams, product ideas, and companies.
How to Break Out of Your Social Media Echo Chamber
Social media platforms use confirmation bias and powerful algorithms to show us our side of the story. While we claim to be neutral, it's more often than not that we're gravitating towards certain content whenever we're online. Not to mention that we also "seek, interpret, and remember new information in accordance with preexisting beliefs" confirmation bias. Here's how to avoid confirmation bias and broaden our feed to include more than just our side.
The Worlds Youngest Self-Made Billionaire
Thirty-one year old, and Bumble Co-founder and CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd ended Thursday with a net worth of $1.6 billion from her 21% stake at IPO. The second dating app to go public, after Match.com, Bumble's differentiation is that women have to make the first move. After the IPO, Whitney shared a post saying "Today is what happens when women make the first move."
Hot Take of the Week 🔥
Somebody had to say it
A Little Birdie Told Me 🐦
Tweet of the week
Walk the Walk 💰
Investors putting their money where their mouth is
Apply to Harlem Capital’s 1st Angel Program Cohort!
Harlem Capital is a leading investment firm, founded in 2015 with the sole mission of investing in underrepresented entrepreneurs. While Harlem Capital is making big moves for overlooked founders, they're also supporting the next great investors through internship programs and now their Angel Program Cohort. This 6-week remote program trains individuals to change the face of entrepreneurship.
Strategy Session: Fearless Fund Securing $20M To Back Women Of Color Entrepreneurs
The fearless fund started in 2019 to support entrepreneurs who are womxn of color. Arian Simone, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Ayana Parsons founded the fund and are raising $20 million for this underfunded group. Located in Atlanta, Fearless Fund is dedicated to closing the funding gap for womxn of color, and plans on investing in 30 startups.
'I'm Black. I'm a Woman. Let's Talk About Raising Venture Capital.'
Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon is a Black woman and Founder & CEO of Founder Gym, an online training program for underrepresented entrepreneurs who are fundraising. As a founder, investor, portfolio services manager, and a business coach, Mandela knows the industry in and out. She introduces six ways to get investors to help you grow your business in this Entrepreneur article.
Founders You Should Follow 👀
Founders making moves
Eloho Omame, Founder First Check and Mustard Seeds
Eloho Omame is an entrepreneur in the tech and finance space, an investor, and a mentor for womxn leaders. As a founder of two companies, FirstCheck and Mustard Seeds, and CEO of Endeavor, Eloho keeps busy advancing equity, capital, and wealth for womxn in Africa. She spends her time investing, mentoring, building, and speaking to help increase womxn's influence in technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership. We admire everything Eloho is doing to create resources for and inspire womxn in Africa.
Steph Gaither, Investor and Mentor
A great mentor, investor, and management consultant with Deloitte, Steph Gaither does amazing things for entrepreneurs. Recently, she opened up office hours for first-time founders, and now after just a month in, she's spoken to 42+ founders, many of which were womxn and POC. Steph advocates for early founders and encourages others to do the same because leaning in and supporting founders in the beginning stages can make a huge impact. If you're a founder, get into her office hours for valuable guidance and advice.
What Founders Need to Know 🤔
Advice and resources you didn't know you needed.
The secret to getting more opportunities is simpler than you think. Try asking for what you want. The worst they could do is say no.
It's hard to know what to expect when you're a new, or even seasoned, entrepreneur. Here are the 20 things I wish I would've known about starting and running a company.
Lauren Kleinman was asked about the best practices for pitching an editor. She shared her 5 quick tips that'll help any founders succeed in this Twitter thread.
To ensure the successful growth of your startup, it's necessary to hire executives early. But be wary of the bad advice you might get when it comes to hiring your first employees.
Imposter syndrome goes deep. Jesslyn shares the best way to think about imposter syndrome so you can overcome it.
Cap table software for startups, this or that? Captable.io and Pulley.com are two great platforms for helping founders manage equity.
Startup Bookshelf 📚
What we're reading
Minda Harts, author of The Memo, just released her newest book for pre-order! Right Within is a book for womxn of color who have experienced racial trauma in the workplace. Microaggressions and burdens are all too common for womxn of color at work, and Minda Harts new book is an essential resource for womxn to heal and even thrive despite past traumas. Action points, exercises, advice from therapists, and more are included to help womxn of color summon courage and rise in corporate America.
Before you go 🚪
Check out what you might have missed
It's time for a Black woman shark!
The perfect meme tweet from... Microsoft?
I spy a copycat.
Just when I thought I couldn't love her more.
Thanks for reading! I’ll catch you next time. And don’t forget to share Let’s Start Up with your community!