start again today no. 85: fellowship
venture fellowship, hitchhiker's guide, the scorpion and the frog, lazy dealflow
On Friday, I announced the Hustle Fund venture fellowship.
It has been a year in the making, but started somewhat accidentally.
Every month, we’d gather a bunch of 👼🏽 investors together to talk through deals, and some people leaned in. Asking questions, sharing experience and research, finding ways to do more.
I asked a stealth cohort of those leaned in 👼🏽s to build out a program with me. Over 6 months, fellows looked at hundreds of companies, formed opinions on next steps, and joined dozens of calls.
It feels like building a company again, starting with an opportunity with no idea what the end result would be (and we’ll probably always be iterating!) and bringing in people who love the work to hustle alongside.
Dream big, start small, keep going.
What I read this week
🛠️ composed: the hitchhiker’s guide to starting, scaling, and winding down a company - Hari Raghavan, CEO of Autograph, GP at Autopilot.fund
We see an unexpected outcome amongst startups: almost every company spends time reinventing this wheel, and not enough time focusing on their core: product & customers. We’re here to help.
💰 the greatest sales deck i’ve ever seen - Andy Raskin
What attracts human attention is change. If the temperature around you changes, if the phone rings — that gets your attention. The way in which a story begins is a starting event that creates a moment of change.
📹 the scorpion & the frog (2m) - Tucker Bryant
Triumphs against our nature only happen one river crossing at a time.
💡 nobody knows what’s happening online anymore - Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic
The very idea of popularity is up for debate: Is that trend really viral? Did everyone see that post, or is it just my little corner of the internet? More than before, it feels like we’re holding a fun-house mirror up to the internet and struggling to make sense of the distorted picture.
💡 lazy dealflow is so boring and embarrassing - Carolyn Newman, Point72
As an outsider (in publics) looking in (to privates), I can see that a lot of the old world still exists. A lot of the processes, philosophies, and strategies that have been innovated on in public markets are stagnant in private markets.
I see you, I love you, keep dreaming,
H