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
Is the pipeline problem a myth?
A ton of advice for founders
New funds to check out
Women on the move
What's On My Mind 💭
I’ve been thinking…
In my meeting with my business coach yesterday, he challenged me to journal the peak moments in my life to help identify what a Janine looks like that is at her highest and best place. I'll tell you, it was actually a little harder than I thought. I mean, sure you have the usual life events that are peak moments (having kids, getting married, completing a race). But then there are other moments that completely fill you up with energy and joy but are not life-changing. And those are the moments that can help you identify what it is that you need more of in your life. I've done a similar practice before where I pull out a sheet of paper and put a line down the center and on one side write the word ENERGY and on the other side, write the word EXHAUST. Then you walk through your day on the paper and fill it up to find out where you are drained and what you are seeking. But this peak moment exercise is something new to me. I thought about the times in business that really lit me up, and they all involved leading people, cheering for them, building together. One peak moment was the first team retreat I organized and hosted where we brought our Serbian team to Columbus and we all got together to make a life-size kanban board on the glass walls of our conference room, looking into the future of our startup.
Another peak moment in business was when I decided to quit raising capital and start focusing on customers. I can still remember the weight lifting off my shoulders as I closed my laptop, and said out loud to myself "I am done." Raising capital was arduous and discouraging, to say the least. I applaud every founder who is attempting to raise capital right now. Anyone who is telling you that it’s “easy” to raise millions in your sleep has a certain kind of privilege that underrepresented founders will never have and that's why we need to change the system.
Over the last month, my company Let's Start Up ran a campaign for founders of color, Black founders, and womxn-led startups in what we called 10 Days of Dealflow. Our team shared tweets every how on the hour for 10 days masking all of the startup information so that we could get more deals to the public without bias. Nearly 100 startups applied through our form in only a couple of days' time.
The main goal of 10 Days of Dealflow? Connect startup founders across several industries to investors. The outcome? Investors around the world were watching the Let's Start Up twitter for the next hottest deal and asked for intros to our founders.
A total of 98 founders were included in this 10 Days of Dealflow, making up our first cohort, Flow Founders Winter 21. Over 87% of the founders featured were overlooked or underrepresented and came from across many industries, including tech, health/beauty, and more.
This impressive group of Flow Founders and the entire 10 Days of Dealflow campaign revealed a lot about the startup and investment industries. The most important being: there is no such thing as a pipeline problem. The talent and innovation are out there, and it's easy for investors and VCs to find but are they looking?
We need to put in the work and write the checks.
What I’ve Been Working On 💁🏻♀️
Things I care about that I want to share
The Pipeline Problem is a Myth
The first-ever 10 Days of Deal flow officially wrapped up last week, and we're so excited about the results. This event connected so many investors and founders while also spreading the news about some amazing startups, 87.75% of which had an overlooked or underrepresented founder. We summarized the entire 10 Days, including the stats and information on the companies involved in the Flow Founders Winter 21 cohort and key takeaways, in this article written by Let Start Up's Nagela Dales.
Women Who Tech, founded by Allyson Kapin, opened applications for their emerging tech grants this week. Their rolling grants program funds women-led startups equity-free. Apply by February 19th to be selected as one of five finalists who will pitch to the investor jury for one Innovation Grant of $15,000 and one Impact Grant of $5,000. I'm judging the pitch competition, so founders in North America, Europe, & Africa, make sure to apply before the deadline for this amazing opportunity.
Overcoming My Fear of Public Speaking
Even though I'm so scared of public speaking, I agreed to speak at a few virtual events this year. I decided that being afraid of public speaking was the old Janine. Now that I'm 35, I'm no longer afraid of public speaking. Zoom also helps a little. In March I'll be speaking at the UC Berkeley College of Engineering - Newton Distinguished Innovator Lecture Series and will be sharing announcements of speaking events soon.
Recently Hit the Stands 📰
Things in the news you should check out
‘Unity With Purpose.’ Amanda Gorman and Michelle Obama Discuss Art, Identity and Optimism
You might already know of Amanda Gorman, who read her poem "The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Amanda is referred to as an inspiring young artist of the renaissance and has three upcoming books at the top of Amazon's bestseller list. Read Michelle Obama and Amanda Gorman's conversation in this Time's article.
Sesame Street, Gaslighting & White Mediocrity
The 90's gaslit an entire generation. Madison Butler recently wrote a powerful piece on Living Corporate about how the 90's media failed to teach what to do when society fought against individual identities and preached that shortcomings were due to shortcomings and lack of education, not barriers created by our society. She also explores how problematic systematic racism and white supremacy have been and continue to be. Go read this now.
Elizabeth Weil, former Twitter Executive, recently struck out on her own to start Scribble Ventures. Founded by Elizabeth, her husband Kevin Weil, and Annelies Gamble in March 2020, Scribble just closed its first round. Scribble Ventures is looking to write small checks to early-stage startups and has already made 18 investments. Learn more about the new fund and its initial investments in this article.
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
Jesse Draper founded Halogen Ventures in 2015 and she's been investing in womxn business owners, who are often a highly undervalued investment opportunity, since. The firm has invested in more than 60 womxn founded companies, and a few of which have been acquired my major players like Twitter and Walmart. This newest fund is allowing Halogen Ventures to put even more money behind womxn entrepreneurs.
Backstage Capital made history for being the fasted $1M equity raise on Republic
Arlan Hamilton has been changing the VC game since day one when she started her firm Backstage Capital, to fund underestimated founders. Now she is giving everyone, no matter your investment accreditation, the chance to invest alongside her and her team for as little as $100 through the equity crowdfunding campaign on Republic. There was so much interest that they filled the $1M campaign within a few hours. And THAT's how you change VC.
Foundry Group Invests in Gig Wage
Founded by Craig J. Lewis, Gig Wage is a financial infrastructure that supports the "companies and workers that make up the world’s growing gig economy." Foundry Group announced their investment in Gig Wage's Series A funding to help drive the gig economy and economic empowerment for contract and freelance workers.
Founders You Should Follow 👀
Founders making moves
Aagya Mathur, Aavia
Aagya Mathur is the co-founder and CEO of Aavia, an app for people with uteruses. After spending years forgetting to take her pill and experiencing migraines, acne, unexpected periods, and more, Aagya knew women needed a way to better understand their hormones all month long. She went to the University of Virginia and MIT Sloan School of Management where she met her co-founders and started Aavia to help women live their best hormonal lives. Aagya and the Aavia team just launched their app, which is free for anyone to use!
Liana Fricker, Inspiration Space
Founder of the Inspiration Space, Liana Fricker is a champion for women in business. She's spent over 15 years helping businesses think "outside of the box." With Inspiration Space, Liana and the company are creating a platform for entrepreneurs to grow their business and reach their goals through collaboration, problem-solving, and open knowledge exchange. We admire Liana's work with Inspiration Space and think it's a must for all entrepreneurs!
What Founders Need to Know 🤔
Advice and resources you didn't know you needed.
Ever wondered what it takes to be a successful founder or investor? Here are 6 traits that give startup people a leg up, like passion and a love for learning, from Gale Wilkinson.
We've been working from home for nearly a year now (whoa), it's time to upgrade your set up so that you can have better meetings and more productive workdays. Raúl Rosas listed out all of his favorite tools and how he uses them here.
Jason Fried says that venture capital money can be like overwatering a plant. Entrepreneurs should first learn how to make money, not how to spend it. Read great advice from Jason Fried and Kevin Rose, first heard on Clubhouse.
How do SAFEs work? Josh Ephraim and the Y Combinator team share The Complete Guide to SAFEs. SAFE stands for Simple Agreement for Future Equity and is a popular method for investing in early-stage companies.
Building in public can work to your advantage. Kevon Cheung put together the definitive guide for building in public and using transparency to win. Use this guide to learn the best practices for building in public.
Building a startup is hard and the strength of your partnership matters. Infuse your co-founder relationship with more honesty, alignment, and resiliency with Tapestry.so, founded by Eric Friedman and Steve Schlafman.
You can do better than your first draft. Julian Shapiro says that all great authors have bad first drafts. So get re-writing. Here's how you do it.
Cleared for Takeoff 🚀
Aavia is one of the newest startups in the women's health space. The app addresses hormone health and helps you understand and manage your hormones. Based in Brooklyn and founded by Aagya Mathur, Alexis Wong, and Aya Suzuki, Aavia just launched with a seed round of $2.5 million. The company also sells a smart birth control pill case that reminds you to patented to take your pill on time, every day. What a great free app for helping women stay healthy and balanced.
Before you go 🚪
Check out what you might have missed
Founders need a tool that helps them vet VCs and choose the right investors for their startups. This is a big opportunity, says Jai Malik.
Just in case you were under a rock. Here's a summary of Elon Musk on Clubhouse.
Please don't judge social media managers by their personal accounts, we're just busy.
In honor of Black history month, sign up for this virtual exhibition of 28 works that celebrate Black legacy in the U.S.
Thanks for reading! I’ll catch you next time. And don’t forget to share Let’s Start Up with your community!