š Adulting, jobs, teddy bear hunts, zoom parties, sentiments, money, tequila and more
This is a bi-weekly newsletter offering helpful life and work updates/resources for founders, funders, family, and friends.
Adulting is extra exhausting these days. +7K died and +270K are infected by COVID-19 in the US; and, we set an all-time weekly unemployment record with 6.6 million Americans filing for unemployment. Itās hard to see the bright side. But there is some good news: some companies are still hiring. Hereās a list of +1,500 jobs. Also, there will be $1,200 checks for many Americans. Fingers crossed on that.
So how are people staying sane? Weāre getting creative, doing teddy bear hunts, holding zoom parties (hereās how to run your own), dressing up as caterpillars and doing other things like stress-baking (which some say is leading to an egg shortage). Josh and I are taking daily walks, and re-learning how to play old game favorites like Jacks and Mancala.
Itās helpful to remember that weāll get through this. And then, weāll be able to do all the things weāre craving to do (like getting another tattoo)! š
āØLolita Taub
lolitataub.coĀ |Ā twitter
Reach out with requestsĀ here.
ICYMI
: Received the
BBJās 2020 Leaders in Diversity Award
, joined the
Vinetta Project
Venture Committee to help support female founders, and Josh + I invested in
Crafter's Box
.
Shoutouts
Congrats!Ā MandelaĀ for establishing a partnership between Founder Gym and the Anita Borg Foundation. April for making Partner at Obvious Ventures. Arlan for her book Itās About Damn Time (itāll be out May 5th). Emmett for putting in $1M to keep small businesses running. Ablorde for his three new hires. Henri for Harlem Capitalās 2020 Female Founder Report.
Work
Funders
According to NFXās VC & Founder Sentiment Surveyā¦
There are investors who continue to write checks amid COVID-19.
And Unshackle Ventures is set to write <30 checks of $200-300K checks for immigrant founders.
Founders
According to NFXās VC & Founder Sentiment Surveyā¦
While some investors recommend you pause fundraising, some say go for it.
If you choose to raise, make sure to ask questions.
Operators
The NVCA put together a COVID-19 info and resource guide that covers refundable employee retention credits, unemployment insurance, loans, PPP, and more. And, if you have to do layoffs, take a look at A16zās post below.
Friends
Funny friends are must-haves. I mean, tequila.