U.S. Energy’s Post

A week later, and I'm still buzzing from TMV 's 2024 Annual General Meeting "LP x Founder Dinner". ✨ Ever notice how the right gathering of the right folks can take your passion to soaring new heights? Dreamers, builders, founders, investors - all in one room, united by a shared vision of what's possible. Each person had a personal story for why they're doing what they're doing, a personal reminder of what's at stake each day. It's moments like these that remind me why we do what we do at Novellia: empowering people to take control of their health, one medical record at a time. To the TMV team (Soraya, Emma, and crew): you created magic! This wasn't just an event - it was a collision of ideas, a celebration of grit, and a testament to the power of community. The NYC startup ecosystem never ceases to amaze me. It's not just about hustle (we've got that in spades!)- it's about heart. The way we challenge each other to think bigger, move faster, dream wilder. A week on, and I'm still carrying that energy. Because at the core, every founder is powered by the same obsession: the relentless pursuit of impact, of change, of a better world. The crazy, delusional belief that, yes, that wild idea *is* possible. At Novellia, we're more motivated than ever to help the world say goodbye to early goodbyes. The best is yet to come. 🚀

SCV COMMUNITY | In the early stages of development, start-ups face many challenges, with the biggest one revolving around the ability to navigate uncertainty and manage various aspects of the business simultaneously. It is crucial for them to have strong support from the onset. Check out this short clip from our annual Summit, where all of our founders come together to share experience and help each other. ⬇️ 

We're here to be the catalyst that accelerates your growth, providing the resources and support to turn your startup into a thriving enterprise. We know the challenges of launching and scaling a business. Which is why we're committed to being the driving force behind pre-seed founders' success, especially those from underrepresented communities. Learn more about what we do at: catalystlabshq.com

If you’re new to joining boards, check out these helpful tips from my extremely talented friend Jacqueline Grant

Yesterday 👏 was 👏 EPIC 🤯 The Rare Founders Investor Conference and Demo Day was an absolute success. 🚀 (Which I do *not* say lightly, I'm usually very critical 😅) 👉But when one of the founders said they had 8 (EIGHT!!) investor conversations after their pitch 😱 👉And another founder literally got chased 🏃♀️down by an investor who wanted to make sure they got a chance to talk (how often do things happen that way around) - you know you did something right. In the short time I've had the pleasure of working with Vasily Alekseenko, I've been witness to his incredible hard work, dedication, and creativity. And it all paid off yesterday. 💪 We had: ✅Over 200 investors 📈 ✅Over 300 founders 🚀 ✅Over 700 day tickets ✅Another 120 evening reception tickets 🍻 ✅4 sponsors, 4 partners ✅40 investor partners ✅25 community partners If you're part of the startup ecosystem and weren't there - why??? 😂 In all seriousness, I could not be more thankful for the incredible community and the team we had around us. Over the next few days, I'll be shouting 🗣️ them out in more detail - stay tuned. But for now, I'm buzzing for one *main* reason: The FEEDBACK 🔥 🥺It seemed to far surpass everyone's expectations. People did NOT expect that some scrappy founders could deliver something so different, and get so many people in a room together. 💯 If you were one of those people, make sure to tag us - the more that people know how great it was, the better we can do next time, and the more accessible we can make it too. 🎉 And THANK YOU for being a part of the journey. It means more than you could know. Stay tuned! 👇 Love and luck!!  Seven 💜

What is an experiment you are running to allocate capital to mission-aligned founders with a long-term view? If this resonates, email me for access to a small group conversation among mission-driven investors this Friday in Austin at Black Future House SxSW: https://lnkd.in/gn5j2FMm We are convening investors who are exploring new models to fill the capital opportunity that is hiding in plain sight. This is not a panel. This is a closed-door roundtable discussion where we can be open and honest about how we're pursuing the opportunity in front of us. Our team at Cinematica Labs is convening this conversation in partnership with Black Future House as well as Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL) and New Media Ventures (NMV). I have talked for years with Lauren Washington, Jill Johnson, and Jessica Salinas about the experiments we're running to innovate on the capital stack to build sustainable, futurist entrepreneurial ecosystems that support intersectional founders. We as investors have the opportunity to build new structures and strategies to realize the future that is within our grasp. I have led an AI-powered venture fund, an angel syndicate, an angel network, and most recently a mentorship program with Black Ambition supporting 600+ founders. The common pain point I am experiencing, along with many asset managers I talk to, is that we need to collaborate with other investors while we develop capital stack. After Marcia Chong Rosado, Trivia Edwards and I joined forces with Jennifer S. Roberts of Building Utopia to convene the Cultivating Capital Investor Roundtable at Afrotech bringing together Ansley Carlisle, Monica Dean, Evan Boswell Hamilton, Dominick J. Ard'is, I Nasir C. Qadree and others, we knew we had to run it back. Check out more on Building Utopia's Afrofuturist Toolkit here: https://lnkd.in/gMmb3rqk

Silicon Valley success stories who have raised *$0* in funding: 1. Adam Wathan, co-founder of Tailwind Labs. Total revenue of $4M in the company's first two years with < 10 people. They just closed an open role offering a salary of $275,000 + major benefits. 2. Pieter Levels, solo founder of at least 7 revenue-bearing digital businesses. Annual revenue of at least $2.3M. A whopping four of his businesses are $45K+ MRR. 3. Adam Pietrasiak, solo founder of Screen Studio. Annual revenue of at least $1.1M on a single product. 4. Marc Lou, solo founder of ShipFast. Failed 17 product ideas before breaking out into $1M of annual revenue. I admire these people a great deal, and it's a big reason why I'm working my butt off!

We tried something new last week in San Francisco. Usually, Bulletpitch dinners are all about connecting founders with investors. But this time, with our co-host InnoCrew, we created a space exclusively for founders. That's right—just founders in the room (even our sponsors Try Crew and Crescent were founders). So, what happened? Candor: Founders opened up more about their journeys. Empathy: Shared experiences brought the group together. Energy: There’s something powerful about gathering like-minded thinkers. At Bulletpitch, we take pride in being a bridge between founders and investors, but we also know the magic that happens when founders connect with each other. Next week, we’ll announce another major event where we plan to do just that. However, this week we’re brining investors back into the mix and gearing up to connect founders, GPs, LPs, and more at our LA penthouse event on Thursday. (Sign-up link below!)

For founders and investors who want to know how we're cultivating a venture community: 1. Start with a "friends first, business second" culture. 2. Maintain intentional criteria on who can join. 3. Curate events and matchmaking to help people connect authentically. 4. Layer in edu curriculum and resources to support companies. 5. Establish partnerships with investor networks to co-host events, co-create content, and share investment opportunities. Read specifics in our new deck: https://lnkd.in/gcqebd7J Leave a comment: What do you think is a necessary ingredient for a venture community? 👇

Just a couple of months ago, we ran our first ever London’s Largest Demo Day at Rare Founders. The overwhelmingly positive feedback floored us... 😱 And with the demand we’ve had and the impact it made, Vasily and I couldn’t let it be just a one-off event… 📢 So, we’re doing it all over again. 📢 That’s right, Rare Founders Demo Day will be a semi-annual event! We're BACK BABY! 🥳🥳🥳 This October 14th, 2024, we’re bringing you another Demo Day: same place, same format, all new experience. Last time, we welcomed almost 800 guests throughout the day. During our daytime conference, 200+ investors and 300+ founders attended. 100 founders pitched their businesses - whittled down from over 500 applications thanks to our 38 investor partners. 💪 The testimonials were wildly supportive: https://lnkd.in/eCGs3bxY So, are you going to be joining us? 👇 Grab your super-early-bird tickets here while they last (limited numbers!) 🎟️ https://lnkd.in/eS52Piit 🎟️ 🚀If you’re a start-up founder, we’ll be opening applications to pitch at the event soon - click here to sign up to be notified when applications are launched. https://lnkd.in/eiWcUMhE 🏦If you’re an investor, we’re looking for investor partners once again to help make this happen. Click here to learn more about being an investor partner, your options, and the benefits. We’re mainly looking for VCs for this. https://lnkd.in/ehNFaTWg And some really exciting news - to make this all happen, we’re HIRING! 💼 That’s right, at a time when some businesses are shrinking, ours is growing - we’re so privileged to have you, our dear community, to make that possible. So, if you or someone you know is an Events Manager, please click here to learn more about the role. https://lnkd.in/eV_7Gyka Over the next few weeks, we’ll be announcing the partners, sponsors, and more that are making all of this possible. If you want to be one of them, drop me a line at seven@rarefounders.com Stay tuned by following us Rare Founders and we’ll see you soon!