🤔 Reflections on George Floyd, optimism, more money for underestimated founders and fund managers, US valuations reports, the fastest-growing states for VC investment, new jobs, and more
A bi-weekly newsletter of curated actionable resources for underestimated founders, funders, and friends.
Welcome to Lolita’s Newsletter! We share curated actionable resources for underestimated founders, funders, and friends. We are at 8,684 members. To give or get access to exclusive founder content, office hours, our Slack community, and get your pitch deck reviewed become an annual subscriber.
I can’t believe this week was George Floyd’s death anniversary. And while racism continues to abound, I am optimistic. Initiatives such as The Diversity Rider program are getting underrepresented investors on cap tables (e.g., Finix, Bevy, SUMA 🚀); founders are carving out allocations in their rounds for us; and Black and Latinx venture capital fund managers are raising vehicles larger than $100 million (e.g., Ulu Ventures, Mac Ventures, Harlem Capital, Base10 💰). It feels like we’re making progress - on the COVID front too. 50% of all US adults are fully vaccinated. Josh and I are now part of that stat and we are excited to live in a post-COVID world. I predict this world will be filled with IRL community-building events, self-care (home spa days are trending 🛁), and e-commerce unicorns (online shopping is on the rise 📈!). Speaking of, have you heard of Poparazzi, an app that lets you be your friends’ paparazzi? It was all over Twitter last week but I didn’t download it because I was catching up on what creators are doing to earn money, the social media tipping wars, and celebrating underestimated founders and fund managers raising capital!
✨ Lolita Taub
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ICYMI: I'm pitching The Community Fund at Jason Calacanis's Meet our Fund on 6/8. I was featured in Elpha, Lightspeed, and accepted into the Recast Emerging Manager program. The Startup-Investor Matching Tool's intros have led to 27 checks (~$4M!).Congrats
Anjali Sud took Vimeo public. Heather Hasson & Trina Spear took Figs public. Miriam Rivera raised $138M for Ulu Ventures fund III. Jewel Burks, Justin Dawkins, and Barry Givens raised $50M for Collab Capital. Carolyn Rodz & Elizabeth Gore raised $20M for Hello Alice founder grants. Krish Ramineni and Sam Udotong raised $14M for Fireflies.ai. Naj Austin raised $3.75M for Somewhere Good. Rei Wang & Anita Hossain raised $2.4M for The Grand (portfolio company). Paige Doherty raised $1.6M for Behind Genius Ventures. Samara Hernandez, Sarah Kunst, Marcos Gonzalez, Jewel Burks, Nisha Dua, Sean Mendy, Arian Simone, Jessica Peltz, Ivan Alo, LaDante McMillon, Mac Conwell, and Kelli Nikole raised from Carta Venture Funds. Andrea Hippeau, Caitlin Strandberg, Isabelle Phelps, and Stephanie Manning for becoming Partners at Lerer Hippeau.
SPONSORED Looking to explore the New York City Startup ecosystem? On Deck NYC is a 3-week experiential program that brings together startup operators, investors & subject matter experts to explore ideas, build projects & forge lasting relationships in the heart of NYC. Mention Lolita's Newsletter in your app for expedited review! Learn more & apply by 6/17.Funders
Paypal | Learn about their plan to invest $50M into Black & Latinx fund managers
Lolita Taub | Find orgs, communities, and programs for emerging fund managers
StartOut | Go to the “Raising a VC fund for diverse managing partners” panel on 6/3
🔥 Want to meet underestimated and underrepresented emerging fund managers? Sign-up here.
SPONSORED Founders: every year, the government sets aside $150B in tax credits. MainStreet plugs directly into your payroll system and checks for 200+ credits every month. We’ve helped startups claim $80M+ the last year alone, and it’s free to see how much you’re owed. On average, we are saving founders $51,040! Learn more here.Founders
Guide | Get this free fundraising guide
Lolita Taub | Check out these American and European women investor lists
Asking for a founder | Find out what investors think about founder salaries
📚 Want more resources? Here is a resource map made for you.
SPONSORED Are you a Black Founder building a scalable company that rejuvenates your community? Genius Guild is a business creation platform that is supporting high growth Black Entrepreneurs. Learn more here.Money
WFLA | Female founders: apply for $40K cash and more by 6/1
Hello Alice | Female founders: apply for $10K grants
Lightship Capital | Founders: apply to Twitch Pitch for $5K and Amazon credits
Equity Crowdfunding | Raise up to $5 million
Non-dilutive capital | Create a profile to find non-dilutive capital
👋🏽 Want investor intros? Sign-up for The Startup-Investor Matching Tool and, if you founded a community-driven co, submit to The Community Fund.Jobs
🪐 Product Design > Remote | Space Soft Inc, an audio first platform that helps businesses add audio chat to their websites and products. Apply.
Social Media Manager > Detroit, MI | Healthy Roots, a toy company that empowers young girls to love their curls. Apply.
Research Intern > Remote | Ayana Therapy, a telehealth platform which provides online therapy for marginalized communities. Apply.
💼 Want to post OR find a job? Visit Lolita Jobs, a board for jobs at companies founded & led by underestimated founders, here. Like the newsletter and know others would benefit from it? Become a newsletter sponsor or gift an annual subscription. Btw, if you want to sponsor an annual subscription for an underestimated founder but don’t know who to give it to, let me know and I’ll help you out.
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