This is Femstreet, a weekly newsletter featuring must-read content by female CEOs, operators and investors. I try to make this one of the best emails you get each Sunday morning. If you enjoy the content, please like it above and share it with friends.
Welcome to issue No. 168.
In this week’s newsletter, the rise of community is again one of the key themes. Want to get involved in the conversation? Join us on Thursday for a Q&A here on Substack on Building a community-first product with Femstreet member Kim Johnson, who runs community at the all-in-one community app Genevaand previously built the strategy for product co-creation at Glossier.RSVP here.
Insights
Bumble exceeded its IPO goals and Whitney Wolfe Herd becomes the 21st and youngest woman CEO to take a company public. Former NEA Partner Dayna Grayson and ex-Uber exec Rachel Holt raise $140M to back industrial startups. All Raise launches Board Xcelerateto diversify the boards of high-growth tech companies. The $30+ billion company creating the digital mall for kids today. Reach Capital III raises $165M to back early stage education technology companies. 53 Black founders and investors to watch in 2021. How to be an angel investor in early stage startups when you don’t have any money.A crash course in credit.Rent The Runway co-founder Jenny Fleiss joins Volition Capital as its first female partner. Ethena shifts its focus amid new capital.Female founders’ share of venture capital funding shrank to 2.2% in 2020. Where we’ve been learning and how we’re going to learn.Mastercard backs a $100m fund for female-led businesses. ETL vs ELT.
Changing the culture of investing
When people think of Wall Street they think of Leo DiCaprio movies and memes about “stonks.” The culture of investing has historically been white, male-dominant, but that’s changing fast. Public.commakes it fun and accessible. It’s a more educational, and more inclusive place where people from all backgrounds can share ideas and learn together. On Public, you can buy stocks and ETFs in small slices (even $1!) and see what your friends are buying, too. It's free, $0 fees on standard trades, and no minimums.
Sign up with my link and get a free $10 slice of stock in your favorite company: Get the app.
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From The Investor
The rise of the Community department
In recent years, community has evolved from a “nice to have” to a critical business priority in modern companies and in many ways, products (software or otherwise) are no longer sold by salespeople or by ads, but by community members. Lisa Xu from FirstMark lays out her thinking around why the community department is the next big SaaS category…Read more.
Design for the user, position for the Buyer
Entrepreneurs sometimes forget that there is often a difference between the end-user and the buyer. Eva Nahari of DNX Ventures goes into why the best products have solved for both the buyer’s or management tier’s needs and solved for pain points in the end user’s workflow with delight…Read more.
eCommerce 3.0
The sheer number of channels where a consumer can make a purchasing decision has grown significantly. But most retailers struggle with separate data silos and systems that are not interconnected. Anoushka Vaswani of Lightspeed Venture Partners on why eCommerce 3.0 is going to be all about composable commerce. Read more.
How to build a value-Based pricing calculator
How do you create a structured process by which to calculate ROI for enterprise sales? What are the top pricing components and deal economics to know? Jessica Lin of Work-Bench published a calculator…Read more.
From $10M ARR to $1B
$10M in ARR is the point at which a product-led growth company needs to focus on enterprise if they want to grow to a billion in revenue. Here is why to start early and how by Sheila Vashee of Basis Set Ventures… Read more.
Making sense of one year in venture
What is required to break into VC might not be the same things that make you a good investor. Beata Klein of Creandum reflects on her first year as a VC, long feedback cycles, and why you should shift your mindset from why not to why yes… Read more.
Our members are entrepreneurs, young professionals and decision-makers working in startups in product, sales, ops & strategy roles, and investors. While this newsletter will always be free, the membership for $100/year includes access to our private community network on Slack, monthly video networking sessions, exclusive savings on software tools, and an additional weekly Member Briefing.
From The Founder and Operator
Thinking beyond product
There is a saying that first-time founders care about product, second-time founders care about distribution. Successful founders focus on distribution - but how will they tell customers about their product or service? Read more.
“A senior PM is responsible for developing and evangelizing a strategy that leads to meaningful customer and business success.”
What it takes to become a Senior Product Manager
Senior PMs don’t actually need to be much better than a regular PM at the kind of work a regular PM does. The biggest differences are behind the scenes. Jackie Bavaro of Asana says Senior PMs make space for strategic work, are able to run a team independently, and master nuanced thinking…Read more.
How to make your startup’s first hires
You’ve finally got the funding or the customers and can afford to hire! Now what? Hiring is a commitment, Amanda Daering of newance breaks down how you can be done step by step…Read more.
FinTech is getting wavy
We are at the dawn of a social revolution that goes beyond any given social network, any framework, including that of your imagination. Fintech has been witnessing this social upheaval in recent years and now offers new community experiences, positioning themselves as cool players on the market…Meet the Fin-Fluencers
The team of Public.com is currently on fire and in hyper-growth mode after announcing their Series C funding round, led once-again by Accel and Greycroft. Join them on their journey to change the culture of investing.
🔥 Product Manager, Social (NYC) If you have experience as a Product Manager and a love for social platforms, join the team on their mission to make the stock market more collaborative, fun, and diverse Apply here.
🔥 Marketing Manager at Public (NYC) If you have experience working at a high-growth company, an editorial eye, experience in running social media channels, and are an energetic generalist Apply here.
🔥 Investment Associate & Analyst @Cavalry (Berlin) Cavalry Ventures just raised a new 80M€ fund and is looking to hire an Associate and Analyst. If you’re hungry to learn, fluent in English, and analytical by heart, apply here.
Apply to Harlem Capital’s 1st Angel Program Cohort, a 6-week program during which participants will acquire the knowledge, network, and diverse deal flow required to start functioning as investors committed to changing the face of entrepreneurship. Apply until March 1st.
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