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Silvia Mah (Stella Impact Capital), Yehong Zhu (Zette), Nnamdi Okike and Aaron Holiday (645 Ventures)

It’s almost the end of the year. It’s time to reflect and plan to start anew in 2023. If you’re looking for a reflection framework, I’ll share mine. I keep it simple. First, think of what you live to do. Outside my personal life, for me, it's about investing in the best founders in our community and changing the face of VC. Second, list categories that are important to you (e.g., culture, community). Third, reflect on celebratory outcomes and new year goals for each category. Fourth, consider how you can involve others to achieve goals through win-win opportunities. Let me know if you give my framework a try and, for reference, I share some of my reflections below along with opportunities to collaborate.

Culture | This year, I backpacked with Josh throughout Latin America in search of investment opportunities and culture. We lived with the people, and I started to truly accept my indigenous matriarchal-communal roots and beliefs in the sacredness of Mother Earth without the shame that comes from a world that wants us, people of color, to assimilate. Ayahuasca helped a lot. I plan to continue embracing my indigenous and Latine identity, starting by reading more books written by our people like Julissa Arce. ☼ Read her book You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation with me.

Capital | We launched Ganas in March, raised $4.2M+, and invested in 6 companies. 33.3% are pre-seed, and 66.7% are seed. 100% are community-driven. 67% fall under the future of work/creator economy, 33% in ecommerce/fintech, and 50% are in the US and 50% in Latin America. Our portfolio companies are 100% BIPOC-led, 67% women-led, and 17% LGBTQ-led. We’re excited to continue to invest in founders from our community. Want to pitch us? Do it here. In Q1'23, we will restart inviting community-driven diverse investors into the Ganas LP family and target completing our $10M raise. ☼ I cordially invite you to learn more about joining the Ganas LP community and to schedule a 2023 call with me here.

Community | We put together 31 newsletter issues, grew to an 18.6K+ newsletter community, and reached an average open rate of 47%, which is more than double the average of all newsletters (21%). We partnered with 20+ organizations looking to serve our community (e.g., Silicon Valley Bank, Target, Techstars, Visible Hands). We coordinated 20+ events (not counting speaking engagements or pitch competitions); events happened online, in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and across the US. The average rating for these events was 4.8 out of 5. The plan is to continue the newsletter, and our events, and add educational posts for aspiring diverse LPs, community-driven founders, and more. ☼ It'd be great to have you become a sponsor and collaborate here.

Connection | We grew our community of over 76K underestimated founders, funders, and friends on Twitter; posted hundreds of questions as part of our "Asking for a Founder" series; grew to over 1000 investors and made 900+ underestimated founder-investor intros via the Startup-Investor Matching Tool. To date, 60 startups have self-reported ~$8M in investment post-intros. We plan to keep this free tool going. ☼ Sign-up to get founder-investor intros here.

Happy reflections!

✨ Lolita Taub, GP at Ganas Ventures | twitter | luma
Recently in Forbes, Nasdaq, LinkedIn News, and book Better Ventures

Congrats

Nnamdi Okike and Aaron Holiday raised $347M for 645 Ventures fund 4 and select fund 1. Corinne Vargas of Smart Charts won $100K, and Jeff Osuji of Eventnoire won $25K at this year's TechRise Competition, where Lolita Taub attended as a judge. Yehong Zhu of Zette (port co), Alexis Alston, Ilse Calderon, Nicole DeTommaso, and Jai Malik made the Forbes 30U30 2023 list. Jillian Williams became a Partner at Cowboy Ventures. Erika Brodnock and Johannes Lenhard published their book Better Ventures. Lolita Taub of Ganas Ventures is featured in Better Ventures. Rashad Lambert made Black Enterprise's 2022 40U40 list. Silvia Mah of Stella Impact Capital made SDBJ's 2022 list of 500 Most Influential People in San Diego.

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Funders

Carta | Read the stats behind the kind of funds women LPs are backing
Asking for a funder | Find out how big the opportunity is to invest in Latinos
Asking for a funder | Learn how often investors should get updates from port cos
Ganas Ventures | ID cos, build your investor track record and get compensated
Startup-Investor Matching Tool | Meet thesis-aligned underrepresented founders

Sponsored | Existing & aspiring investors: would you like to become a Ganas Deal Partner, identify early-stage companies to back, build your track record, and get compensated? Learn more about our scout pilot program and apply.

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Founders

Carta | Discover the top industries for women founders
Asking for a founder | Learn the best way to send pitch decks to investors
Asking for a founder | Find out where you can order quality & affordable swag
Asking for a founder | Get the best tech to track BD and customer contact tasks live
LaaS | Underrepresented founders: get resources made for you

Sponsored | Underrepresented founders globally: Techstars Detroit Powered by JP Morgan has opened up their 3-month virtual/hybrid program application. Selected companies will receive up to $120K in investment. Learn more and apply by 1/4!

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Money

Startup Runway | Founders: apply for $10K grants by 12/15
Visible Hands | Founders: apply for $10K grants by 12/16
Women Who Tech | Women founders: apply for $5-15K grants by 12/22
Techstars Detroit | Founders: apply for <$120K in investment by 1/4
Hyper | Founders: apply to get $300K in investment by 1/6
Hello Alice | Founders: apply for a $25K grant by 1/6
Fearless Fund | Black women founders: apply for $10K grants
SoGal Foundation | Black women founders: apply for $5-$10K in grants
1863 Ventures | Black founders: apply to get a 3Rs $5K grants
Non-dilutive capital | Create a profile to find non-dilutive capital
Equity Crowdfunding | Raise up to $5 million
Startup-Investor Matching Tool | Founders: get intros to investors

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