Characteristics of a slow burn company; Advice for emerging managers; A DevOps conference in Animal Crossing & More
Your weekly Newsletter on Women in Tech and Venture Capital
Happy Sunday, and happy Mother’s Day to all mums.
2020 has been wild so far. We are seeing mass unemployment like we haven’t seen in a century, crushed consumption, a liquidity crisis that must get absorbed somewhere, and it’s unclear when and how the pandemic will end. And the stock market seems to be totally untethered from economic data.
We’re all being robbed of our rituals. From jobs, loved ones to weddings and exercising… I started this newsletter to shine light on all the incredible things women are achieving. And sharing knowledge is more important now than ever as we all navigate this crisis from different perspectives. The sky may be falling but you got an entire community willing to catch you.
Thank you for being part of Femstreet this Sunday. 👋
Insights
Social network for women Peanut, now used by 1.6m women, raised a $12M Series A. A good overview of the global support ecosystem for women entrepreneurs and investors. ReadySet is scaling to meet the demands of a changing workplace. If you’re a consumer startup looking to raise, you should read this.
From The Investor
Shopping x Gaming: On the rise of social e-commerce.
— Anu Hariharan / YC
Accelerating into a New World of Edtech.
— Mercedes Bent / Lightspeed Venture Partners
Be patient. Have an MVP fund size where your strategy works and consider bringing your target now. Focus on existing relationships. Close on what you have committed if it’s enough to get you “in business.”
Advice for emerging managers in the times of COVID-19.
— Mar Hershenson / Pear VC
How to approach strategic planning when the sky is falling, including a sample company playbook and a rocks & KPI template.
— Sarah Hodges / Pillar VC
The IT compliance and security automation landscape.
— Priyanka Somrah / Work-Bench
What are the characteristics of companies that are uniquely suited to tough times?
Single, simple use case
Small (often developer-led) team
User acquisition is cheap, simple, self-service
Margins sustain growth
Strong community-driven support
Here’s more on the characteristics of a slow burn company.
— Parul Singh / Founder Collective
On the future of live, interactive entertainment.
— Li Jin / a16z
Join Femstreet Premium
If you become a paid member for $100 per year or $10 per month, you can connect with like-minded startup operators and investors on Slack, receive the complete suite of Femstreet resources, a member directory and full archive with Q&A expert sessions + an additional weekly Member Briefing with a curation of community-sourced learnings, opportunities, and resources.
From The Founder & Operator
How to manage increased IT demand in wake of COVID-19.
— Rachel Obstler / PagerDuty
These are the five things to focus on as first time CEO + a monthly focus planning doc.
— Deborah Okenla / YSYS
Here’s what I’ve learned building an unlimited graphic design business for 5 years.
— Marilyn Wo / MeetAnders
How my Microsoft interview landed me a higher position than I applied for.
— Mara Hart / Microsoft
From data science to product management: the journey of a woman in AI.
— Fernanda Baker / SamsumgNEXT
Are you a mum and trying to start your next company? Here are some tips for getting more done with less time.
— Amanda Goetz / TheKnot
Virtual Events
Fundraise from Home: Pitch early-stage investors at once, from the comfort of your own home. You can even wear your PJs. Apply now.
🗓️May 12
How Do Enterprises Manage Their Spend with Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg and Zendesk CFO Elena Gomez
🗓️May 19
Leading with Empathy and Kindness with Guild Education Founder & CEO Rachel Carlson and Textio Founder & CEO Kieran Snyder
🗓️May 21
Navigating your team through the new normal
More Things I Consumed This Week
Read: The exploding market for sweatpants. How Not to apologize in quarantine. How to run your startup in a recession.
Copy: A recession planning framework for SaaS companies.
Watch: Ian Coldwater of Heroku hosted a pretty cool DevOps conference in Animal Crossing.
Listen: Enterprise sales strategy and tactics during COVID-19.
And In Case You Missed It
Remote management strategies - for members only
Tips on hiring, people operations & GTM strategy - for everyone
Tips for founder personal brand building - for members only
How to build and scale a remarkable startup without compromising on people or culture - for everyone
6 lessons from building a business in a downturn- for members only
VC interview tips and templates with Going VC- for everyone
You can contribute to Femstreet
If you find articles from founders, other startup operators and investors that make you think, you believe others can learn from, see as a ‘must read’ for the startup community, etc. – you can send the link directly to us. We will happily read and consider featuring them in our weekly newsletter. We like to feature recent posts, mostly published within the past week.
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Written by Sarah Nöckel, Early-Stage investor at Northzone