😊 Inauguration optimism, Gen Z, emerging fund managers, building a $3B co, the passion economy stack, and $$$
A bi-weekly newsletter of curated resources for early-stage founders, funders, and friends.
Welcome to Lolita’s Newsletter! We share up-to-date and nugget-sized practical resources and advice for early-stage founders, funders, and friends. We are at 6,242 members. To access exclusive content, office hours, join our Slack community, and get your pitch deck reviewed become an annual subscriber or gift a subscription.
Tuesday was the beginning of my 2021! Seeing Black, Latinx, and South Asian women at the inauguration filled my heart with optimism. Kamala is our first woman VP, but not the last. JLo reminded me that, no matter our ancestry, if we’re born in (or become citizens of) the US, we are 100% American. And Amanda. WOW. Her poetry gave hope for what Gen Z will bring to this country - creativity, inclusivity, and passion for a country that never loses sight of the light.
“There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it — if only we’re brave enough to be it.” Amanda Gorman
I’m celebrating and so happy to hear that, with Joe and Kamala, we’ve already gotten rid of the Muslim ban, the border wall nonsense, rejoined the World Health Organization, suspended federal student loan repayment through the end of September, and are extending moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures on federally guaranteed mortgages.
As for COVID, Biden is aiming for 100 million vaccine shots in his first 100 days in office. Fingers crossed on that one.
Look forward to going into next week re-energized to fight the fight to both increase the dollars going to underestimated founders and increase the number of investors that come from underestimated backgrounds. And on that note…
If you are a wealthy individual or institution who wants to invest in women, POC, and LGBTQ+ led emerging fund managers (like me), share your details here.
If you are an underestimated founder, submit your co for investor intros and investment consideration here.
If you are an investor looking at underestimated founder-led pre-seed/seed cos, hit reply, and let’s plan to co-invest.
PS If you loved the Bernie memes, you can make your own here.
✨ Lolita Taub
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ICYMI: I won The Buildies Actually Helpful Award 😂 and DivInc nominated me for its Champions of Change Awards. You can listen to my fav song on the VC Hype Anthems playlist. Startup-Investor Matching Tool intros have resulted in 17 checks (+$2M!). Congrats!
Congrats to Maryanna Saenko for raising $200M for Future Ventures. Yode for raising $30M for Unseen Capital. John Henry and Carey Anne Nadeau raising $3.25M for Loop. Kate Hernandez for making Partner at Detroit Venture Partners. Demi Obayoni for joining Sapphire Ventures as VP. Maëlle Gavet for becoming CEO at Techstars. Alex Guerrero for making Partner at Act One Ventures. Henri Pierre-Jacques and Harlem Capital team for partnering with Apple. Oscar Pedroso for his Indie.vc Scout investment into Thimble. Wendy Xiao Schadeck for making Partner at Northzone. Cheryl Campos for launching VCFamilia.
Funders
Elizabeth Yin | Learn how to get started as a micro-angel investor
Ryan Hoover | Emerging fund managers: get feedback on your first fund LP pitch deck
Frank Rotman | Learn about the the realities of producing a 3X fund
TCN x VC Inclusion Lab | RSVP to the 1/26 "Amplifying Funders Of Color" Panel
Startup-Investor Matching Tool | Receive thesis-aligned and customized deal flow
Harlem Capital | Apply to their 10-wk remote internship program by 2/17
💰 Raising or looking for co-investors? Here's what I invest in.Founders
First Pitches | Learn how to build a ~$3 billion dollar co with Aaron Levie, Co-founder and CEO of Box
Christopher Brown | Learn one way to creatively jump start relationships with investors
Justin Kan | Take these lessons and avoid having to shut down your co
Lolita Taub | Find out where to find investors and slide into their DMs
Start Up Grind | Learn more about and RSVP to "Beyond the Valley: Investing Between the Coasts" panel on 1/28.
📚 Want more resources? Here are courses + services for you.
PORTFOLIO CO 🤖 Thimble teaches kids (ages 10+) about robotics, coding, and video game design through subscription STEM kits accompanied by live and on-demand instruction. For curious parents and kids that would like to observe a live class for free, you can sign up here.Community-Driven Cos
Mikaela Reyes + Zack Khan | Check out the Passion Economy Stack
Christina Garnett | Read reasons why people join online communities
Hanne Deceuninck | Learn how brands create strong communities
Forbes | Invest in VCs from underestimated communities
Clubhouse | Join our fireside chat on investing in community driven companies 2/23
🙌🏽 Building a community-driven co? Submit your co to The Community Fund.Money
XRC Labs | Underestimated founders: apply to this fellowship to get mentorship and a $5K grant by 1/24 (end of day today)
MedTechColor | Black and Latinx founders: apply to the $100K MedTech Color pitch competition by 2/5.
Black Ambition | Black and Latinx founders: apply to compete for $1M in funding by 2/18
1863 Ventures | Black founders: apply to the 3Rs Grant Program and get access to a pool of $500K in grants by 6/1
Founder Institute | Black founders: access +700 accelerators, investors and more
Founder Grants | Access +80 grants for founders
Equity Crowdfunding | Raise up to $5 million on Republic
Non-dilutive capital | Create a profile to find non-dilutive capital on INTRO
👋🏽 Want investor intros? Submit your co to The Startup-Investor Matching Tool.Like the newsletter and think others would benefit from it? Want to join me in helping underestimated founders? Become a sponsor and gift 3 annual subscriptions to them.
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