Common and costly product messaging mistakes; How to write a great fundraising blurb; The art of giving and receiving feedback
Where women lead, shape, and fund the future.
Welcome to Femstreet’s life online. I’m Sarah and this is the 288th edition of Femstreet.
Insights
Video generation company Pika Labs, co-founded by Demi Guo and Chenlin Meng, announced another $80M fundraise led by Spark Capital on a $700m valuation to take on OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s Veo, and RunwayML. GV Partner Terri Burns launches own firm Type Capital. Crypto startup Station Labs, founded by Tina He, was acquired by Coinbase. Cowboy Ventures’ Amanda Robson has left to start her own pre-seed and seed firm. Former A16z general partner Kristina Shen, former Index Ventures partner Mark Goldberg and outgoing Bessemer Venture Partners partner Ethan Kurzweil are aiming to raise around $300M for their debut fund. How Chinese immigrant and Deel co-founder Shuo Wang became one of America’s most successful self-made women. Is the push for board diversity over? The portion of US VC funding that went to female founders hit a new peak in 2023, but only due to massive AI deals. Why investors can't get enough of AI robotics deals right now.
A message from Kernel
Opinionated brand naming for decisive founders
Kernel is an opinionated naming studio for companies, products, brands, and startups. We use a methodical creative process and deep cultural knowledge to create names rooted in linguistic, metaphorical, and historical context. Kernel builds names that are meaningful and memorable. Our process is radically simple. First, we launch a rapid intuitive client discovery. Then we explore the infinite possibilities of sounds and meanings so you don’t have to. In 3 weeks, we present our curated list of 3 winning brand names. You choose the perfect one.
From builders and investors in our universe…
How to write a great fundraising blurb
Ever struggled with how to summarize your startup in a concise yet compelling way for investors? A good blurb is concise and short. Elizabeth Yin drops pro tips on nailing the one-sentence pitch, showcasing traction with hard-hitting metrics, highlighting your rockstar team's experience, and leveraging press clips or marquee partners…Read more.
Coding smarter, not harder
Can AI truly replace human engineers? Unlocking high-fidelity AI for code generation is a massive opportunity, with startups taking three key approaches: enhancing existing workflows with AI co-pilots, creating end-to-end AI coding agents, and building code-specific foundation models. Corinne Riley on how we can create more powerful context awareness, get AI agents to work better for E2E coding tasks and whether owning a code-specific model lead to long-term differentiation…Read more.
Breaking into VC in 2024
Maya Bakhai from Spice Capital shares her insider tip: Study founders who've raised at least a Series C round across different eras. From the 2020 bull run to the dot-com boom and bust, pattern matching excellence over vintage years provides an unbiased view of "great." Get creative with podcasts, newsletters, consulting gigs and hosting events for that prime "eavesdropping" opportunity…Read more.
Advantages that respected operators with deep domain expertise see when they choose to start a company
While there’s no silver bullet to finding product-market fit, there is one approach that makes fundraising, building an MVP, and ultimately converting early believers into paying customers a tangible reality in a relatively short amount of time: Build for the expert, you. Brianne Kimmel on why this will lead to a faster time to market as you’ve spent your entire career in the customer discovery phase and you’re able to independently drive your own sales pipeline…Read more.
The what, why, how and art of giving and receiving feedback
Ever dread feedback like doing taxes? The most important ingredient for giving effective feedback is care for the other person. Julie Zhuo flips the script, making a zealous case for why you should embrace the "gift" of quality feedback. In her manifesto, Zhuo breaks down the litmus test for helpful feedback (did it spur positive action?), why most feedback falls flat, and the three key ingredients for delivering excellence: care for the other person, courage to be vulnerable, and an ambitiously high bar…Read more.
Common and costly product messaging mistakes
Are messaging missteps strangling your startup's growth? Good messaging is rooted in customer insights, emphasizes the results the product delivers and highlights compelling differentiators with strong proof points. Marketing pro Allyson Letteri breaks down 7 costly mistakes that cause websites to miss the mark - from failing to convey transformation to lacking customer specificity. Letteri shares 4 powerful frameworks to nail your positioning, personality and value props…Read more.
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A straight-talking deep dive into the equity terms that matter for founders
Thanks for tuning in this Sunday!
👋 Sarah
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