March Edition

How to Maximize Intros in VC, deal flow from chats, highlight key founders I met with, and jobs in entrepreneurship & VC field

Hi,👋🏾 welcome to the March edition of The Group Chat Queen newsletter. I am Natalie, the creator of The Group Chat Queen and incoming Venture Captial intern. I have had 3+ years of experience managing and creating 300+ chats for different universities, startups, and organizations.

Coming from a non-target and non-traditional background, I found out about entrepreneurship and VC purely from group chats. So, I created this platform to share out resources, tips, and connections from space to show a different perspective on building community & entering VC.

Survey of the Month

What I’ve Been Up To

1. So I am happy to announce I got my 1st official job in VC! Thanks to the HBCUvc program, I was able to get an offer from 7wireVentures as a Venture Captial Intern this summer in Chicago. It took me only 8 months to secure a job in VC since finding out about it last year. Official 1 month it took me to get a job after graduation (I previously was going for MBA). God is good.

2. This spring break, I was able to attend Landing’s App Launch Party in NYC, meet Zehra at Republic’s Female Founders event, and meet with the founder of Choosii at Launch House (the day before it closed). I officially found out what an extremely successful community-led startup looks like at Landing’s party.

   

   Photo Credits: Created by me through Landing

3. I had the pleasure to attend Penn State Global, Penn State Career Services, and Penn State Alumni Association's Global Careers Institute - a professional development program designed to help Penn State’s international and domestic undergraduate and graduate students prepare for career success in the global marketplace.

   I felt like a celebrity because the Penn State Global team recalled my name from a group chat I was the community lead. I even got asked to get a selfie 😂.

   

   Main Feature (How to Maximize Intros in VC)

   Introductions can be very important in venture capital, as they can help to establish trust and credibility with investors, founders, and anyone else.
   
   In many cases, a strong introduction from a reputable source can be the key factor in getting a meeting or securing funding.
   
   When I get an introduction from a friend or acquaintance (or when I meet someone in the VC space), I like to create a document for the person. This varies depending on if they are an investor, founder, or student interested in VC.
   
   In this, I add for the person:
   
   1. Research I did about them (Linkedin, Twitter, podcasts, and articles)

   
   2. Introductions that relate to their sector and interests (I create a document for this)
   
   3. Founders that relate to their investment thesis (deal flow)
   
   4. Resources in their sector that I found interesting (articles, podcasts, tweets, etc.)
   
   5. My asks
   
   I don't always share this document, but I like to make sure when I meet with anyone, I want to show that I am genuinely interested in the person.
   
   Of course, this is not feasible in all cases, but I like to do this especially when I am meeting with an investor. The minimum amount of research, if I only have a couple of minutes, is to look at their LinkedIn profile.
   
   I am curious, what do you like to do when you meet someone for the 1st time?

   1. Suggested Reads of the Week

      Half of Black Students Can Barely Read

      Rex Woodbury @rex_woodbury

      One of the most underrated shifts happening in America: our aging population. • Every day, 10,000 people in the US turn 65 • By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be over 65 • Half the population is already over 50 At the same time, the number of Americans under 18 will remain… https://t.co/SwEXkqc9f9

      

      https://alphapartners.com/news/2023/03/business-insider-half-of-sequoia-capitals-vc-funds-since-2018-have-posted-losses-for-the-university-of-californias-endowment/

      What is good retention

      Deal Flow From Group Chats

      1. Stealth: founder called Jesse Lee; finished their undergrad with two majors in biochem and molecular bio at 20 years old; working on a proof of concept for medical-grade probiotics that can be consumed.

         1. Sector: Biotech

      2. Psyched4: a new platform for fans and a new marketplace for sports platforms that is fully customizable and highly scalable. They work in partnership with emerging sports, giving them a platform to find their fans and share in their success.

         1. Sector: Fintech

      3. Fundinc: product to help startups gain community funding. Brings the best of private startup markets through thematic investment baskets. The only platform providing access to the investment thesis of VCs, Angel Networks
         & Accelerators.

         1. Sector: Fintech

   Founders I Met

   1. Sophia Ghauri- Founder of Codified Health

      1. Sector: Healthcare

   1. Arushi Gandhi- Founder of Fundinc

      1. Sector: Fintech

   2. Ashutosh Kumar- Founder of Jha Ventures (his group chat is in my group chat database https://www.thegroupchatqueen.com/group-chat-database)

   3. Shirley Yu- Founder of Choosii

      1. Sector: Consumer social

   4. Avni Barman- Founder of Generation She

      1. Sector: Future of Work

   5. Malak- Founder of Koto

      1. Sector: Fashion tech/ cleantech

   6. Miri Buckland & Ellie Buckingham- Co-founders of Landing

   Jobs and Resources 💼

   1. Pineapple's 🍍 mission is to empower the next generation of the workforce, and have launched the fellowship to help this generation achieve even more, they are still some limited spaces left in the fellowship if you would like to attend, simply fill in this form: https://trypineapple.typeform.com/to/DWZQFqPI

      

      Avni @avni_barman

      @gensheinc is opening a few more slots for startups interested in joining our beta 🚀 We have 16K ambitious female engineers, designers, and marketers coming from top schools & big tech looking to join a startup. 👩‍💻 If you’re looking to add female talent to your team, DM me! 💫

      Gen Z VCs 💫 @genzvcs

      Each week, we’re sharing the coolest jobs for Gen Z-ers in startups, tech, & VC from around the world. Here are our part-time picks for the week 👇:

      Brooke LeBlanc @brookeleblanc

      Launching office hours to talk through how to navigate sober life in your 20’s. I’ve successfully coached dozens of my friends on sobriety, several of which have already passed their 1 year mark 🔥 Starting with Saturday and Sunday mornings, every week calendly.com/mbrookeleblanc…

      

      calendly.comSobriety Coaching - Brooke LeBlancSetting aside 30 minutes to help you achieve your health goals through cutting back or quitting drinking. Thank you for trusting me on your journey. I’ve been sober for almost 3 years and stopped drinking in my early twenties. I’m excited to help answer any questions and discuss tips, strategies and

      Allie Mullen @allieallieM

      Platform & Venture Ops – Weekly Jobs Roundup (w/o 3/19/23) 👇 #SoYouWantToWorkInPlatform #VCPlatform

      

      Asks

      1. I will be in Chicago this summer, so if you have any connections, good places to work, startup/VC lounges, housing, and really anything let me know.

      2. If there are any founders, investors, and aspiring people that I should meet with, feel free to let me know.

      3. If there are any interesting POC startups based in Tulsa or Arkansas, feel free to let me know. I am currently an HBCUvc Atento Captial scout and will be presenting in June a capstone about this.

      Signing out. Have a great rest of your day!