👊🏽 Black lives matter, hire and wire, money, COVID, gratitude, the desert, and more
A practical bi-weekly newsletter for founders, funders, and operator friends.
Welcome to Lolita’s Newsletter! I share up-to-date and nugget-sized practical content for founders, funders, and friends! To access exclusive content, office hours, join our Slack community, and get your pitch deck review, become an annual subscriber. To sponsor founders of color, email me.
Hard stop. Black lives matter. Big brands and VCs have taken to making bold statements about taking steps to address racial injustice on Twitter and beyond. Many of us have responded with a simple call to action: hire and wire. Actions and money speak louder than words. And, for goodness sake, know it’s not okay to ask people of color to help address their diversity and equity problems for free or to underpay us, in general.
The silver lining: Softbank and a16z have launched funds amounting to more than $100M to fund underestimated founders. Lo Toney is building a path forward for emerging fund managers. Allies do exist, love is as beautiful as ever, and Gianna Floyd is inspirational.
COVID. It’s still a thing. We still don’t have a vaccine and the US is opening up. Eeek. Take precautions, WFH if that’s an option, and if you have to go into the office, demand that the office is retrofitted for health safety.
On that note, Josh and I are going to the desert and hanging out with cacti for a much needed mental health vacation. But before we go, let me say thank you to all the wonderful sponsors who are making it possible for founders of color to get access to my newsletter bundle. Thank you. Oh, and our Startup-Investor Matching tool has led to 3 investments to date and Jason Calacanis invited me to his podcast.
✨ Lolita Taub
link.tree | twitter
ICYMI: Check me out on BBJ's Diversity Leaders list, on Yourstack and Forbes + Techcrunch posts on supporting black founders. Listen to Republics Angel Masterclass (I taught). Support me on Patreon. Book me for a 1:1 or to speak. Congrats!
Helen Adeosun for raising $9.5M for CareAcademy. Jewel Burks, Justin Dawkins, and Barry Givens for setting out to raise $50M for Collab Capital. Songe Laron and Dave Salvant for raising $34M for Squire. Ablorde Ashigbi for raising for 4Degrees (portfolio company) from Harlem Capital. Marcelo Claure + for launching Softbank’s $100M Opportunity Fund. Michael Seibel for joining Reddit’s board. Iñaki Arrola, Pablo Ventura, Carina Szpilka, and Ignacio Larru for raising €70M for K Fund. Claire Lee for becoming Silicon Valley Bank’s first Global Brand Ambassador. Naithan Jones for launching and leading a16z’s Talent x Opportunity Fund.
Funders
Founders
Operators
Friends
Money
Remember: do not pay to pitch investors. Also, Mucker offers $100-200k investment.
Events + Office Hours
6/11 | NetCapital | Black Founder Demo Day
6/16 | Techstars | Issac Kato Office Hours
6/18 | Women’s Startup Lab | Leveraging Social Media to Pitch Your Startup
6/19 | Owning Our Future with Arlan Hamilton, Michael Siebel, and more
6/30 | Anthemis | Female Founder Office Hours
7/4 | Lolita | Ask Me Anything (complimentary to newsletter subscribers)
Resources
Blog | First-Time Founders Resource Guide
Course | How to Raise Capital For Your Company From Scratch
Developer Talent | Find developers for your company
Equity Crowdfunding | Raise up to $1 million on Republic
Guide | Anti-Racist Resource Guide for the Tech & VC Community
Investors | Founders of Color friendly investors
Investment Consideration | Submit your co to the Startup-Investor Matching Tool
List | Black Founders of Enterprise Startups Database
One-on-one | 30 or 60 minute calls with Lolita
Podcast | What makes for a successful MVP?
Podcast | Should you raise money for your MVP?