Jonaie Johnson

The Favcy Venture Builders crew recently wrapped up an epic Startup Mastery Series at Innov8 Coworking by OYO, Aerocity, and let me tell you - it was FIRE! Huge shoutout to all the amazing founders, investors, and startup champions who joined us. The energy in the room was electric, and the connections made were priceless. Here's what was carefully curated for the founders: Ragini Sharma dropped some serious knowledge bombs in her mind-blowing masterclass. Everyone left buzzing with actionable insights! Networking Nirvana: From founders to investors, the connections made were pure gold. New partnerships were forged, and the support network is stronger than ever! It was great interacting with so many founders with unique ideas and insights across various fields. Great catching up with Dr. Deepankar Dass Akash Chaudhury who were a part of our Idea Validation Cohort. It was great to hear your the thoughts Shivangi Sardana and other founders shared in our exclusive 1 on 1 with Founders (keep an eye out for the video) We can't wait to do it all again soon! Want to be in the loop? Join Favcy's exclusive Founder community! Just drop a comment below or DM us for the details. A huge cheer and pat on the back for Geetansh Popli and the Favcy VB team for making this event a successful one Akshit Girhotra Aman Sharma Bhanu Aggarwal Siddhartha Dubey #StartupEvents #StartupCommunity #FavcyVentureBuilders #Learning #Networking #MastermindMoves

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SPONSORSHIP > MENTORSHIP This is an important conversation Techstars CEO, David Cohen, and I had last week about: 1. Overlooked founders being over-mentored and under-funded 2. Why sponsorship > mentorship, and 3. How to convert mentors into sponsors Founders, grab a pen and paper and get to these 💰💰💰. Let's grow. 📈

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Another book finished! On the recommendation of Marc Glasser, I made Sam Walton's "Made in America" my nightly reading for a week or so. Retail is tough. I now appreciate how much effort and thought goes into making the seemingly mundane parts of our lives as easy as they are. Reading about Sam's humble beginnings running Ben Franklin stores and improvising endcaps or stacks of detergent to excite and engage customers helped reveal the hard work behind the scenes to make things as fast and enjoyable as possible. I had many great takeaways...here are just a couple: Sam gives a great legal lesson...always have a renewal clause in your leases! Sam lost his first growing store. His landlord took control because he did not have the right to renew. (I think Sam later came back into town and ran it out of business...) “Think small." Thinking about one store at a time and not letting the size/power of your big organization distract you from the small business speed/culture. Gratitude and sharing responsibility: People deserve appreciation for their work. Gratitude/appreciation makes everyone happier and feel seen. Giving people responsibility and buy-in with an organization also helps boost morale and motivation. Collaboration: Sam forced “cross-pollinating” by having managers trade roles. He also made most managers and upper execs go to stores themselves and see the work being done on the front lines. Customer, customer, customer: Sam never stopped thinking about the customer. Whenever he surveyed his competitors worldwide, he immediately considered the customer experience. It was not uncommon to find Sam Walton roaming around competitor stores with a notepad and tape recorder, observing things that worked well. He would pepper managers with questions about how things got done. I aspire to that level of curiosity and motivation!

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JHB's rainy, windy (and a little snowy ❄ ) Saturday has kept me indoors (off the golf course ⛳ ) and given me the chance to dive into "Founders at Work" by Jessica Livingston. 📖 The book shares interviews with startup founders about their early challenges, showing how even the most successful companies started with a lot of uncertainty and struggle. 😕 I'm about halfway through, and what really stands out is how familiar the founders’ problems feel. It’s not that they all faced the exact same issues, but the patterns are similar, especially in the way they had to push through tough moments. 📈 One part that hit home for me is this section about perseverance being the most important quality in a founder. I’ve always believed my biggest strength is that I don’t give up. It’s something we can all control—our level of determination. You can’t always control what happens, but you can control how hard you keep pushing. 💪 Never give up. Every founder has gone through something similar. 🚀 #EnjoyTheCold #Persevere

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Are you a #startup #founder prepping to talk to VCs? An #investor preparing for your VC #interview? Considering #MBA to #Pivot into Venture? As part of our mission to break down #knowledge barriers in #venturecapital, Madison and I are teaming up to create an interactive, generative #AMA experience. This innovative tool is designed to help both founders and investors who are eager to break into the VC world. Our *LLM* is trained on Ayushi’s comprehensive guidebooks and Madison’s insightful podcasts, ensuring it is packed with valuable knowledge and resources. We are offering **early access** to the product ! To get involved, simply #comment below with a question you want the bot to answer. Your feedback will be invaluable in refining its capabilities. 💡 **Bonus points if you repost!** 💡

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When Founders don't get what they want → they can get HANGRY → I get it → 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 But what I've LEARNED over the past 40 years as a faith-driven serial entrepreneur (6x) and leader of the first faith-driven venture studio and startup incubator in the world ... → there's the hard way → 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 There's no easy button for sure I'm amused by the HANGRY comments I get when I write about startups and VC. Although every comment lubricates the LinkedIn algorithm (they help me), over time I can't stand to be around haters and victims — so I eventually block them. Pain makes us hungry 𝗨𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 can make you hangry No one (Potential Customers & VC) wants to be around an hangry founder. They will run from you. For me, this pain led me to God. For the past 40 years of my entrepreneurial journey I've learned 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱-𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱. What does that mean? God establishes His plans inside me, and my every step of the journey. 𝗛𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀. → I answered His call → I am chosen → I have an unfair advantage → victory is mine (that's an old-school song) His Holy Spirit lives in me and gives me wisdom, understanding, and the know-how (the skills) to do everything in His plan for me. And I can have PERFECT PEACE along the entire journey. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵*𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗻. That's why/how I rarely stay angry. Even through the worst moments of my life ... → the death of my 10 year old son Alec → cancer → business failures → the betrayals → losing everything at one point I got better, NOT BITTER Never got those HANGRY eyes 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗿𝘆, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘆 —  𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗜'𝗺 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴. Need help, visit our site. Like this? Follow Gerald Duran for daily Startup and VC advice, and sometimes — a kick in the nuts. #startups #founders #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

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Being a Christian CEO can be a lonely path. But it doesn't have to be. Here are 3 ways to build community as a Christian CEO. // Join a CEO-Circle Peer groups are an excellent way to build community, relationships, and support from people going through what you're going through. They have similar issues with that employee your worried about. They've understood and implemented a new sales framework or negotiated supplier contracts. They are in the trenches with you. Examples: The CEO Forum / C12 Business Forums - // Attend a Conference or Event Conferences are a great way to network with people in your situation, learn about new developments in your industry and share your expertise. US Christian Chamber of Commerce / The Lion's Den DFW / 4word Group - // Connect with Thought Leaders Experts in their space - whether it's the intersection of faith and work, marketing, sales, or operations. They know specific areas well and can provide insight and encouragement. Many of them produce content for free that you can pick up and digest in your own time. These make great discussion resources for a local church small group. Faith Driven Entrepreneur / Praxis - What else do you find helpful? ⬇

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Wrapped up our first week and nobody died..... or fell asleep during class! I call that a win! HARBOUR.SPACE is cultivating a culture of high-tech entrepreneurship for its students. Their capstone project before they graduate is to create a startup that they want to build. I've talked with some of my students about their companies since they're building a sales playbook for their startup in my class. They have some amazing and innovative ideas! - Apps that connect construction to manufacturing to reduce construction waste in landfills - Hyper-personalized concierge app powered by AI - Digital marketing firm focused on reducing "brain drain" keeping talented digital marketers and designers in their local region. I love seeing the creativity and innovation from the next generation. I'm excited to be part of their journey and give them a leg up on their sales strategy. #salescoaching #entrepreneurship #salestraining

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I'm going through applications for our upcoming cohort 10. I'm excited by many of the businesses that have applied and I know cohort 10 will be another awesome group. As I go through applications I thought I'd note some things I'm seeing that founders should avoid when they apply for programs/funding or simply when pitching their businesses. Today I will mention geographical focus. We have a question on our application that asks where your target customers are. Many startups put upwards of 15 countries! This is NOT a plus. You must be very focused in the early days on a very specific target customer. This means that they are at least in one country, often just one city or even one neighbourhood. For instance, Facebook's first target user group was one dorm at Harvard (~100 students). What's your version of that? Focus or fail.

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💡 I'm spending the rest of the week diving into the Fintech space! Are you an operator with 7+ years of experience building, consulting, or ideating in the Fintech space? Do you have unique insights that could lead to a VC-backable business? Let’s chat! Here are a few key opportunities I’m exploring, and I’d love to hear your thoughts: 1️⃣ Financial Inclusion: Including the Excluded In Africa, 350 million people lack access to basic financial services like banking, loans, and insurance. However, digital financial solutions are expected to generate $90 billion in revenue across emerging markets by 2025. What financial solutions do you think could break through the barriers and reach the unbanked? 2️⃣ Supporting African Businesses: Making Trade and Payments Easy Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face challenges with cross-border payments, logistics, and finance access, making it tough to compete globally. How can we simplify trade and payments to empower African businesses? 3️⃣ Improving Access to Credit: Removing Growth Barriers There is a $331 billion SME finance gap in Sub-Saharan Africa, indicating that traditional banking isn’t working for everyone. What innovative ways can we provide access to credit for businesses that lack traditional credit histories? 4️⃣ Vertical Banking: Going Deep, Not Wide I came across an insightful piece by Fisayo Durojaye on vertical banking. They say every startup is destined to become a fintech, but the real opportunity lies in vertical banking—building financial services tailored to specific industries or customer segments. Which industry would benefit most from its own niche bank, and why? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or send me a message if you’ve been working on solutions in these areas! Malanee Hutton Sona Mahendra Yunus Ibrahim Kennedy Kamau Amara Muoneke #Fintech #Innovation #FinancialInclusion #VerticalBanking #Startups #Africa #Founders

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My mission is to build the Nashville startup ecosystem. I track my personal efforts toward that goal through a few simple metrics: ⚪ Capital: $3.94M toward Nashville founders ⚪ Talent: 17 hires for Nashville startups ⚪ Customers: 5 customers for b2b startups ⚪ 9 angel investments from myself It's been 1 year since I committed myself full-time toward this mission and I'm still figuring out how to do it. These #s help me stay on track and decide what's worth spending time on. If you want to follow along with what I'm doing and what I think is cool happening in Nashville startups, I do a deeper dive each week in a newsletter. https://lnkd.in/g69wnkQ5

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It's funny how insecurity can play a role in our work. Every day, I spend hours editing and posting content for others—first in my role as a Social Media Manager for a nonprofit foundation, then through my marketing internship, and even as a promoter for an audiovisual project at university. Creating content has become second nature to me, and it's what I spend most of my time doing. Yet, when it comes to producing my own work, everything changes. Working on personal projects is different. There’s no one to tell me how long a video should be, what clips to include, which titles to use, or even what topic to cover. But somehow, when it's just me, my SD card, and my laptop, I turn into my harshest critic. Before I even begin editing, I hesitate (sometimes even avoiding it) fearing that the final result won’t match the vision I had in my mind. This constant self-doubt has kept me stuck in an editing block. Today, I'm choosing to push past this. I want to prioritize my personal content and share it with you. With that, I’m excited to introduce my latest project: Girl Talks in Greece, a short film I shot last summer and recently finished editing. It’s a video about the art of listening and the pleasure of being heard. I hope it resonates with you and maybe even inspires you to make time for your own personal projects! 😊 https://lnkd.in/e6B_piS4

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Meet our founding team: Tee, KC, Yo, and Zee (TKYZ Kids Entertainment) When I woke up this morning I didn't know a creative kids entertainment company was going to be born today. Creative Lesson of the day: Trust that everything that you need is already within you, stretch out your arms to empower others to empower themselves, and embrace the adventure of your own life! Don't fight the process, let it flow! Local Makers Market in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa Exciting news: on the 11th of May, we will be hosting a special curated children's entertainment experience for different age groups featuring storytelling, drawing, face-painting and indigenous games and African dance and so much more We are TKYZ Kid's Entertainment we will be helping children to grow and develop: critical thinking skills, creative skills and problem solving skills. Through both group and independent play - join us for an immersive children's entertainment experience you will never forget. And for adults, come and buy beautiful art work, pottery, clothing, jewelry and lots lots more. See you there. Message me if you want to hear more about our local creative entrepreneurship projects and our children's storytelling entertainment experience. With love and hope from your joyful resilience coach and creative visionary in South Africa. Indigenous Knowledge for the whole family, the Afro-creative connection! #MakersMarket #SupportLocalBusinesses #BuyLocal #CriticalThinking #CreativeThinking #ProblemSolving #IndigenousKnowledgeSystemsOfLearning #IndigenousKnowledgeSystemsOfCreativity #IndigenousKnowledgeSystems #AfricanConnection #AfroCreativeConnection #BuySouthAfrican #HomemadeBrands #SustainableLocalBusinesses #SouthAfricanIndigenousKnowledgeSystems #Vernacular #LocalLanguages #AccessibleAffordableFun #StorytellingExperience #IndigenousKnowledgeStoryTellingExperiencesForAllAges #Childlikeness #CreativeSolutionsFromTheCommunityToTheCommunity

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“If you ask the founders of the world’s greatest tech companies, they’ll tell you: an ecosystem’s true measure isn’t what you take from it, but what you give back.” Growing up in Michigan, I never imagined that one day I’d be leading a tech company, let alone sharing my story with aspiring entrepreneurs at the Detroit Digital Empowerment Summit. But here I am, and I’m excited to talk about the reality of building something from nothing—especially when you’re a founder of color. This is more than just a business discussion. It’s about finding your strength in the face of adversity and using that to build something powerful. I’ve been where many of you are, and I’m here to tell you—you can make it. I’m proof of that. Join me at Black Tech Saturdays and let’s create, uplift, and move forward. Because when you win, we all win. Looking forward to seeing you there! 💪🏾 Sign up here: www.blacktechsaturdays.com #DigitalEmpowerment #BlackTechSaturdays #TogetherWeCan #GenerativeAI #TechForGood

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Hi all! Please consider taking this survey to help my fellow interns and I discover the relationship between Population Health and Employee Productivity. This topic relates to every industry and all responses will help us gather useful information!

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Let's dive into the realm of mental health for entrepreneurs. Recently, I had the honor of delivering a keynote titled "Cultivating Mental Resilience While Building Your Business" at the Entreprenista Founders Conference. One key insight that struck me during my speech preparation, and from the subsequent feedback, is the widespread impact of mental health challenges on individuals. These challenges can manifest as: 👉🏽 Irritability from lack of sleep 👉🏽 Weight gain due to prolonged stress 👉🏽 Or clinically recognized issues. In my research, I uncovered that a significant 75% of small business owners are wrestling with their mental well-being, with 56% having received professional diagnoses related to anxiety, depression, or stress. My guidance for founders and anyone facing these struggles is to treat mental health support like building a company - assemble a 'board of directors' for your mental well-being and be open to how this might look. Your 'board' could comprise a therapist, coach, and personal trainer, or it might involve group therapy, a trusted babysitter, and a spiritual guide. It can take whatever form you need- to feel, well, like "you". Remember, you're not alone - and it's okay to surround yourself with the support you need to flourish. #mentalhealth #femalefounder #entrepreneurship

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If you are a startup founder or VC in the Chicago ecosystem, or beyond, you'll want to pay attention to these announcements 👇 If you've known me at all for the last year or so you'll know that I've been an active community builder. I honestly never really put my full attention behind it since I was running one of my previous companies. However, I have seen the benefits of community building a lot recently and how important it is. Ergo, I have made it my mission to contribute to the Chicago ecosystem as much as I can for the near future. I am starting a new moderated Slack channel specifically for members of Chicago's startup ecosystem. This will also be one of the new best ways to keep up with my events. 👀 I am also building software to help serve our community here which has launched recently. This software, while currently rather simple, will very quickly become a full fledged platform that I intend to share with the entirety of our ecosystem. The link to the waitlist is in the comments. 🔥 If you want to be involved, join the Slack group with the link in the comments below (and let me know if you're a VC, since I made a private channel just for you guys!) 👇 As a last note, I am also looking to talk to founders that have insane fire inside of them. If you are a founder and you want to take over the world, whether in Chicago or elsewhere, I've provided a Google Form for you to tell me more about yourself in the comments. Antler is funding fiery early stage startup founders with up to $500k in funding. 😊 Kelly LaBuff Prerna Sharma

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When I first learned about the Praxis Accelerator, I thought, "Okay, another startup accelerator with a Christian twist." But let me tell you, I couldn't have been more wrong. Praxis is a movement of passionate entrepreneurs who have harnessed their energy to envision a world where we create impactful ventures that bring the redemptive power of Christ to fix the most broken parts of our world. They are fully committed to helping startup founders achieve this goal, but their highest importance is on the well-being of the founder over the venture in a way I have rarely experienced. If you are leading a Pre-Seed or Seed-stage venture and want to build alongside mentors and peers who have built some incredible things and will have your back when it matters, I'd encourage you to apply for the next Praxis Accelerator cohort by May 22nd. Praxis might be a game changer for your venture, but what it will be for you as a founder is even bigger! 

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For students interested in starting or joining a startup, the final application deadline for Cohort 4 of Catalyst XL is tonight. After having multiple students in the last Cohort start their own startups, find their co-founders, and secure startup internships, we decided we'd bring the program back even better than last time. Starting July 1st, we'll go through our 4-week curriculum on the startup ecosystem, interning with startups, making the 6 key decisions at an early-stage venture, and some useful ways to organize your work life to make room for building. You'll also get the chance to work on your own project with a team of students and pitch it at our Pitch Competition. And all of our students' favorite part: you'll meet other entrepreneurial students from around the world as you all work to complete the program and officially become Catalyst Fellows. Our goal is to save you years of painful lessons in entrepreneurship, and get you building ASAP. Comment your email and we'll send the application + more info! #collegestudents #undergraduates #university #college #startups #venture #opportunity #experience #builders #entrepreneurship

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