CoFounder Weekly is a newsletter about startup life. Sections: Thought Starters, Crossword Puzzle, Trends, Founder Stuff, Investor Stuff, Asks & Offers, Weekly Thought. This is not your average newsletter (could beĀ better or worse).
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Source:Ā Ueli Johner
THOUGHT STARTERS
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New Year, new you? Check out this daily habit tracking system by Ali Yahya, inspired by Ben Franklinās habit tracker.
CROSSWORD
This weekās puzzle recaps some of the hottest (and not so hot) tech IPOs of 2018.
Can you beat our best time of 2:34? Give it a go: http://cofounder.life/
TRENDS
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By Greg Kubin via our Instagram account @cofounderlife
FOUNDER STUFF
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Interesting thread about being a high agency individual. Whatās high agency? āWhen youāre told that something is impossible, is that the end of the conversation, or does that start a second dialogue in your mind, how to get around whoever it is thatās just told you that you canāt do somethingā
See tweetstorm here.
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INVESTOR STUFF
New VC fund manager Elizabeth Yin shares how she and her partner Eric Bahn raised an $11.5 million VC fund (LINK). Fittingly, their fund is called Hustle Fund since they hustled their tails off, as youāll see below. Their process feels applicable to both entrepreneurs or investors raising funds. 10 highlights include:
As a first time fund manager, they focused on family offices, individuals, and corporates instead of institutional investors (who require track record).
They optimized for speed over total money raised.
She took 345 meetings in a 10 month span, creating momentum once she got her first couple of commitments.
She started with a low minimum check size ($25k) to close investors quickly and raised it over time ($300k).Ā
Raise from people who are pretty bought into what you are doing ā not people who will be an uphill battle to convince.
Most funds came from referrals (not their direct network). They started by approaching friends and acquaintances and asked everyone if they were interested in investing or knew 1-2 people who might be interested in chatting with us about potentially investing Hustle Fund.Ā
They made a video which allowed them to stand out.
Entrepreneurs and investors were very comfortable doing direct introductions, while friends who have always worked at big corporate jobs (and have never raised money before), were less comfortable.Ā
They hosted parties and dinners (diversifying their channels)
They conjectured that there might be much stronger interest outside of the Bay Area, where access to tech startups, is limited.
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10 skills you need as a VC, according to Zetta Ventures investor Ash Fontana (LINK).
OVERHEARD/FUNNIES
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Source: Wisam Abdulla
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ASKS & OFFERS
Ask: Our 2019 goal is to get 1,000,000 subscribers. Weāre only about 999,000 short. If you enjoy our newsletter, please share the love! Hit forward and send this to your most interesting friend.
Offer: Hazel (AI Coach for Managers) is looking for their first sales hire. Great opportunity for someone who may not have a traditional sales background to get involved with a startup at the ground level as itās about to take off. Being part of the founding team means being involved in building the company as a whole, not just sales. If you know anyone whoās looking for a new chapter in 2019 who might be a fit, have them email wisam@hazelhq.com.Ā
Offer: Got any Asks or Offers? Things like cool job opps, asking for feedback, etc. Send them to us and weāll include it in an upcoming newsletter š¤³š¾
WEEKEND THOUGHT
A newsletter? About startups? How originalā¦
We think CoFounder Weekly is a bit different. Informative, yet quirky. Less filter. More chuckles and aha! moments.
Itās been a labor of love curating and writing the newsletter every week, but it also has required discipline to put out an issue each week. We published the first issue on July 29, 2018, and have published 22 issues every Sunday since.
Weād love to hear what you want to see more of (or less of) into next year. Personally, Iād like to figure out ways to better incorporate our community of readers ā things like polls, challenges, and discussions. And more cartoons! Thanks for following along, and let us know! This is a social experiment and feedback is welcome.
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