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🌎 April's Founder Newsletter
📆 Founders Building in NYC, Events & Resources
Tori at the Knowledge Shop
April 23, 2024
⭐️ Who are we? the founder community in NYC. Don’t build a startup alone.
Quick Links:
🏡 Join the community 📅 Attend an event 💰 Sponsor an issue 🗞️ Appear in the newsletter 🙋♀️ Volunteer ⏰ Book a mentor
👋 Hello Everyone,
The sun is shining, the mood is bright, AND if you are reading this, presumably you survived the earthquake 🤣, proof that we all have super powers 💪
User feedback - how do you get yours???
It’s essential for startup success, and yet… how good are you at really listening and “hearing” what is being said? Are you building something they want, that solves a real problem - or just what you “think” they want?
How much do you “lead the witness” - and just ask the questions you already know the answers to? Or hold back, because you are afraid to hear that you have an “ugly baby”??
I’m about to launch the MVP for my startup (Meet in 10), and not gonna lie, putting it out there is beyond scary! And yet….
I know I have to overcome my fear of failure, and put my ego aside, in order to stack the odds in my favour! But… OMG it’s hard. Must keep breathing!! 😱
If you are looking for feedback for your startup, first read “The Mom Test”, massive fan of Rob Fitzpatrick and then, come to out Demo Day aka Show & Tell on April 30th. The perfect opportunity to show off what you are building amongst peers, and receive meaningful feedback. I doubt your fellow founders will spare any punches, but I guarantee they will help you problem to make it even better!
See you there, and in the mean time, below are:Coming up in this issue….
📸 Event round ups - were you famous?
🌟 Upcoming TKS Events (next is that Demo Day on Apr 30th)
👋 Member Shoutouts - doing amazing things!
🗞️ Sign up for our weekly event digest email (the best founder events across NYC - 65+ and counting)
🛠️ Tools & Resources to help you build!
And let’s dive in, 3, 2, 1….
Tori
🚨 Do this now: Sign up for our weekly Event Digest
📆 Event Re-Cap 📆
💰 March’s Coworking Day: Startup Financials (cohosted with the amazing Your Cohort and sponsored by Grasshopper Bank, who are not only great at lunch, but also help connect founders and VCs - that's pretty cool!)!)
This time we met at Primary, in the Financial District - the greenest of green coworking spaces (ooh - that would be a perfect climate week space)
CFO extraordinaire’s… Jonna Piira, Flore Gimello and Juan Manuel Barrero and moderated by Alexandra Satine (who i owe SO MUCH for inviting such a stellar group of experts).
Key insights…
1. ✍️ Do your books now!!! The sooner you collect account information, the stronger your financial model will be.
2. 📊 Financials models:
- Create at least 3 scenarios (eg disaster, stellar and something in between)
- Have a plan of what to do if you need to conserve cash quickly (most cash crunches are outside of your control).
3. 🗣️ Be able to clearly explain what your numbers mean to a 3rd-party
4. 💰 SHOW when you become profitable.
5. 🎯 Advisors holding equity should have clear KPIs around performance.
6. 🛑 Avoid vanity expenses and expensive contracts, a startup should not be signing a long lease on a property.
7. 🤝 Never pay for intro’s…
We had...5 of NYC's top investor experts swung by...
Alex Chung, Chai Ventures, Andrew Cohen, Erica V. Intel Capital, Gedion Haddis Camber Creek, Jess Schram Remedy Product Studio and Juan Manuel Giner Gonzalez ALAYA CAPITAL, to sat down 1:1 with founders 💪
And then this is us at the end of the day,
📓 HERE ARE THE NOTES, and a financial model that Your Cohort shared.
☕️ A week later, and it’s straight into coffee huddles (twice) 🇬🇧
Nomadworks are always amazing hosts. 🙏 🎟️ They are offering a free day pass to folks who want to check out their Times Square spot - email me for details.
📢 Member Shout Outs 📢
It’s been amazing seeing so many of you at recent events, and hearing about how far your startup has come - in some cases getting term sheets and launching in the space of weeks!
So here’s a shout out to some of these amazing founders. We see you! The hustle, the relentlessness, the passion and also the collaboration.
Startup | Industry | Description |
|---|---|---|
AI | Meet Bo, your 3rd Brain! Helping you share more of what you have to do so you can do more of what you want to do. | |
AI | "An easy-to-use powerful self-serve compliance platform for SMBs, ""Self-Serve Compliance"" powered by A.I." | |
B2B Saas | "Elemente creates software to help companies easily build, customize and deploy AI phone agents for automating call centers." | |
B2B Saas | Auto content superpowers | |
B2B Saas | Making in-person events more efficient, impactful and profitable | |
Climate | An investable, cash-efficient plan to reach Zero Carbon Emissions | |
Community | "Our mission is to empower workers with the tools, network and confidence to improve their life at work." | |
E-Commerce | Providing pet parents everyday products that blend effortlessly into their wardrobe, while keeping the comfort and safety of your pet in mind. | |
E-Commerce | GuardLab is a sports technology company changing the way you protect your teeth. |
📆 TKS Events 📆
🎤 30th April. Product Demos & Feedback - an amazing opportunity to showcase your startup and get real time feedback throughout the day.
☕️ 3rd May. Coffee Huddle - Small group sessions focused on support, and building meaningful connections. First Friday of every month.
🇬🇧 10th May. British founder Coffee Meet - Small group session with fellow founders from across the pond.
🚶♀️ 15th May. TKS & Tech Walk Collab! - The first collab we’ve done. Come walk with us, and two amazing TKS founders who are joining.
👭 3rd June. Co-founder & Founding Team SPEED DATING - chance to meet “the one”, or just find people to join you on your journey to rocketship!
Upcoming Events…
Our calendar of startup events across NYC, features our take on the BEST events for founders. From pitch nights, to networking events, accelerators and workshops.
A snapshot of our favourites….
📆 Wed 24 Apr 2:00 PM
TechWalk | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Wed 24 Apr 5:30 PM
Behind the Curtain: Insiders Guide to Investors | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/behind-the-curtain-insiders-guide-to-investors-tickets-876968746127
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📆 Thu 25 Apr 6:00 PM
Founders Night x VCs Deploying Capital @ The Rally Museum | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
RSVP: https://lu.ma/1924zh02
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📆 Mon 29 Apr 6:30 PM
How do I become a ChatGPT Power User? | 💻 Online | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Tue 30 Apr 6:00 PM
Free GTM Teardown | 💻 Online | 👋 Industry Agnostic
RSVP: https://lu.ma/q46s255x
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📆 Wed 01 May 6:30 PM
Pitch the Checkwriters | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Thu 02 May 6:00 PM
After the Raise | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Thu 02 May 6:30 PM
Out in Tech NY | Innovation & Inclusion: Learnings from LGBTQ+ Founders | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Mon 06 May 6:00 PM
Closing Your First VC Round | 💻 Online | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Thu 09 May 6:00 PM
Non-Dilutive Funding, Grants & Programs: Magic of Free Money & Knowledge | 🏠 In person | 👋 Industry Agnostic
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📆 Thu 16 May 8:30 AM
Startup Mental Health: How to Scale Without Burning Out | 🏠 In person | ⛑️ Healthcare
RSVP: https://lu.ma/6siyzk1d
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🛠️ A load of handy tools & Resources to help you 📈
🛠️ Legal AMA doc.
Who to hire and when, and how to get the most from your legal teams.
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🛠️ Need growth / revenue help?
VERY practical tips / strategies from the Primary ventures team here. Have a read if you are looking to increase cash
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🛠️ Writing an investor update.
Insights and structure template and more....
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🛠️ Finding your Startup's Wedge!
A smart tactic to gain initial customers, and using this traction to expand from there. Very tactical and specific insights / guides to using this approach for your startup.
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🛠️ Anyone need a new bank?
Through the powers that are Chat GPT - here's a comparison spreadsheet to help Some data may be out of date, but should be directionally accurate
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⬇️ Want a weekly digest of events just like these? SIGN UP NOW!
👀 See you April 30th for demo day, and don’t forget to buy your ticket 🎟️