Zap's Wrap August 4th

hi friends,

I am itching to do another deal, but the months of July and August just won’t allow it! lol

So instead, I’m working on:

• A hackathon!! (details below)

• Planning events around 3686! If you want to visit Nashville, this is the time to come. Ping me if you plan to come.

• A new website for the Lighthouse (coming soon)

• Helping my startups hire

Startup stuff that’s cool

• I met Sam in-person as he just moved to Nashville from Canada! He is building an AI-driven HIPAA compliance automation startup with Iron Fort. He is looking to connect with HIPAA audit firms or anyone who wants help on making sure they are staying compliant! Feels like Nashville is the right place for this…

• I met Logan who just moved back to Nashville from NYC. She recently quit her job as a lawyer for startups at Cooley to build a new startup in the legal tech space and is spending the next 2 months with her team here to build their MVP.

• I had lunch with Jeffrey, the founder of SavvyFi. Jeffrey is like an OG Nashville founder since SF is almost 8 years old! They are growing the team and looking for more early career salespeople.

• I caught up with team Olomon, aka Jeremy & Katie. You can try out their platform if you care about building your wealth. Olomon helps you track your assets and plan your legacy!

• I caught up with Pete, who has bootstrapped After Transparency to profitability and is thinking about what he wants next in his business.

• I saw my friend Victoria who is looking for civictech engineers who share an interest in building a new digital public square where we are all empowered to be civic changemakers. If you care about this mission, hit her up!

• Once again, I am always looking for engineers, salespeople, revops, etc who want to join early stage startups! HMU.

Events

• Tuesday, August 5th @ 2pm- How to build a winning startup with your unit economics with Tim Connors [virtual]

  • This workshop will give you the fundamentals to understand how to scale. I make all of the founders I work with participate in this event!

• Wednesday, August 6th @ 6:30am- Startup Run Club

  • Join us to run 4 miles and grab coffee at Silver Fox after.

• Thursday, August 14th @ 9am- Scaling Your Team & the Legal Considerations to Protect Your Company

  • Topics will focus on bringing on cofounders, advisor agreements, the difference between an independent contractor and an employee, etc.

• Monday, September 8th @ 8:30pm- BURNT with 11 Tribes

  • 3686 is a MUST attend event for folks inside and outside of Nashville interested in startups! I’m hosting a founder late night hang with Kristina, GP at 11 Tribes in Chicago.

Hackathon

Lightspeed is a 48-hour sprint where builders turn real startup and investor challenges into working MVPs- no fluff, just launch. Challenges come from active startups and VCs, so what you build could actually go to market.

🏆 $2,500 Judges’ Pick

🏆 $2,500 Audience Favorite

🔥 Mentorship prizes from challenge sponsors like Tim Connors, GP of PivotNorth, Mike Rosengarten, GP of 1121vc, and others.

Sign up here! Or DM me if you want to find a way to get involved.

Lighthouse

• Attended a founder dinner at Chris’s house!

• We had a BBQ hang at the Lighthouse.

• We hosted Mike Rosengarten for founder office hours.

• I’m working on a new website I hope to launch soon!

Personal

It was a lowkey weekend because next weekend I leave for Costa Rica!

I had a date night with Mr Zap and we went to one of our favorites, Urban Grub. I love that place and think it’s one of the best restaurants in town.

Ask me questions about Nashville startups through my AI-self here.

Or, come visit me at in-person office hours weekly on Thursdays.

to the moon,

zap