22 essential newsletters for startup founders ‘22 + Fundraising Fieldnotes - 2.4.22

New content type, who dis?

Hey - it’s Jason Yeh 🕺🏻

This is my Friday recap of thoughts I’ve had while helping founders solve their fundraising challenges this past week (2.4.22)

If you have any questions, please reply! I try to get to every comment/question I get :)

On to the Fieldnotes for 2.4.22…

New content type, who dis?

From the beginning, this newsletter has been a way to share my deep dives into the inner workings of startup fundraising and investing. As a means to support founders preparing to raise capital, it has been helpful but incomplete. 

I say “incomplete” because there are so many other sources of content out there that are amazing at improving your approach to fundraising. There are expert minds out there with very different backgrounds providing valuable insights. There are tools that enhance fundraising and startup operations. And, there are inspirational real world models to follow who are founders just like you.  Till now, we’ve expected you to discover those on your own. 

Starting today, we will be making a concerted effort to fix that and begin mixing those various sources of support into the Fundraising Fieldnotes newsletter.

Jonathan’s research project

Over the last month, my teammate Jonathan has been researching some of the expert voices who write newsletters relevant to fundraising and startup operations. There are so many insights that will push forward your approach to fundraising, but they’ve been scattered around the internet waiting to be discovered.

Thanks to Jonathan’s research and work, you now have a great list of 22 newsletters to subscribe to in 2022.  Check them out:

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22 essential newsletters for startup founders ‘22

It seems like everyone and their third cousin four times removed has a newsletter these days. With so many options vying for attention, how does a busy founder select which sources are worthy enough to welcome into an already overflowing inbox?

After a full year of supporting startup founders with Adamant Ventures, the Funded podcast, and the Fundraise with Confidence cohort fellowship, as well as making my first significant venture investments in tech companies, I’ve become fully immersed in the dynamic world of startup fundraising. Along the way, I’ve picked up priceless guidance and insider tips to empower founders and supercharge their fundraising efforts. But I’ve also encountered countless self-proclaimed gurus hawking their latest eBooks and to unsuspecting targets (possibly the subject of our next post/ “AV Investigates” exposé? 😆).

So, I sifted through the riff-raff (and a mountain of unsubscribes!) to bring you the 22 Essential Newsletters for Startup Founders in 2022 

I aimed to highlight newsletters that contain actionable advice, compelling insights, and as little fluff as possible. Here’s the list!

Venture Capital & Fundraising Newsletters

StrictlyVC

Their pitch: StrictlyVC’s free daily newsletter provides you with all the info you need to know about the VC scene in Silicon Valley and beyond. Our events bring together VCs, entrepreneurs, and corporate development execs, among others. Sign up for our newsletter today and see what you’ve been missing!

Why we subscribed: Stay up-to-date on new funds, notable funding rounds, & acquisitions/exits in a conveniently bite-sized format. If you’re ready to fundraise, new funds with capital to deploy should definitely be on your target list.

Frequency: Daily

Femstreet

Their pitch: ​​A weekly newsletter featuring must-read content by female CEOs, operators, and investors. Where women in tech lead, shape and fund the future.

Why we subscribed: Sarah Nöckel’s curation of indispensable guidance from female voices in tech is especially critical at a time when despite record levels of funding available and widespread commitments to achieving parity, women-led startups received just 2% of VC funding in 2021.

3 of our favorite articles/editions

• Making the most of your equity compensation; Managing a high-impact design organization; Hiring contractors or employees?‍

• The internet’s 3% difference; When to hire and how to judge a CMO and VP Engineering‍

• Community-Led Growth Nirvana

Frequency: Weekly

First Round Review

Their pitch: We believe that there is powerful, untapped knowledge out there that can transform the way people build technology. There's just one problem: It's trapped in other people's heads — people who are at the top of their fields, who rarely have time to share what they've learned (even when they want to). The Review is about liberating this knowledge to inspire and accelerate action.

Why we subscribed: First Round Capital is a highly-respected seed-stage firm with early investments in companies like Uber, Warby Parker, Blue Apron, Notion, Roblox, and many more. The Review draws upon first-hand experience from portfolio companies and offers uncanny insight on topics like leadership and management, community, growth, and others that are especially relevant to first-time founders.

3 of our favorite articles:

• 8 Product Hurdles Every Founder Must Clear — This PM-Turned-Founder Shares His Playbooks‍

• How to Become Insanely Well-Connected

• ‘Give Away Your Legos’ and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups‍

Frequency: Weekly

 (see the rest of the list…)

Weekly Fieldnotes 👇

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Community support, friendly shoulders, sympathetic ears…  they’re all keys to winning

Adrian Cole 🎲 @theothercole

Founders. Talk to your founder friends if you need help. Don't go through it alone. The conversation can be medicine for all parties.

This is a different way to think about warming up a fundraise

Jason Yeh @jayyeh

The best fundraisers build a brand to warm up the market before transitioning to performance when they launch their process

Wes Kao 🏛 @wes_kao

Should you prioritize brand or performance? This decision will impact how you define success for any marketing tactic. I call this the Law of Brand vs Performance Marketing. It states: All marketing activities are a trade-off between immediate conversion and brand equity. https://t.co/koKmV77Ixb

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Till next week. Stay adamant and be chased.

Jason

P.S.  i miss traveling my brains out :( 

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In case you missed it…

Last week’s post revealed what founders can do to optimize their momentum after closing a round of funding

Congrats, you just closed a round!... Now what? + Fundraising Fieldnotes - 1.28.22

Small asks!

If you thought this was helpful or enjoyable in any way, I’d love for you to:

• Forward this newsletter to others who would enjoy it

• Share Fundraise with Confidence with founders who want to launch an optimal fundraise

• Follow me on Twitter where I’ve begun building in public (my course, my podcast, etc)!

• Listen with a friend to Funded, my podcast that tells the rollercoaster stories of how founders raised millions (and subscribe🙏)

• Ask me your fundraising questions so I can help you and cover them in a future issue