Zap's Wrap February 16th

hi friends,

Last week was a tough week 🫠

I had to have several challenging conversations and it wasn't easy.

But here's what I got from it:

1) Immense gratitude that I get to do this work.

Even when it gets hard, I think: wow, I am so lucky to be learning this now. There are very few 29-year-old women who get to even have these conversations. To make real decisions and be in rooms helping founders navigate hard moments, it’s truly an honor.

It makes me feel confident in the path I’ve chosen. My investor career has been brick by brick. Showing up, doing the work, earning trust, and learning as much as I possibly can.

2) Most Nashville founders do NOT know the rules of the game.

And it is up to me to teach them and set clearer expectations.

I NEED to create more process around this.

Here's the reality: there is a very specific game to raise venture capital. Your company has to look a certain way. You have to say the right things. You have to run the right type of process. The legal structure matters. The cap table matters. The metrics you track matter. How you tell your story matters.

I cannot assume any founder knows all of the rules.

Some founders come in with experience from other markets and they already know the playbook. But most Nashville founders are building their first venture-backable company. They're exceptional operators, brilliant problem-solvers, deeply mission-driven. But they don't know what VCs expect to see.

That's not their fault. Nobody taught them.

So I need to get better at this. I need to build more materials, more frameworks, more processes at the Lighthouse to help founders understand the rules before they go out to raise. Because right now, too many founders are learning these rules the hard way-after they've already burned through their target VC list, or structured their cap table wrong, or told their story in a way that doesn't resonate.

I can do better. We can do better.

Help me!!!!

I'm in trouble at work 😹😹😹

Not, like, fired trouble. But definitely "hey, you're not doing your job" trouble. Which is fair! I need to find more customers…

I run a business with Mr Zap called Alvorada. We hire full-time software engineers in Brazil for American startups.

Here's how we're different: most offshore engineering groups charge a monthly fee and the engineer works for you through them, so there's always a middleman taking a cut. We didn't think this model worked well for startups. So we built Alvorada like a typical recruiter, we help you find engineers, they work directly for you, get paid by you, no middleman. Clean and aligned.

We work with startups that have technical leadership who know how to hire and manage a team. They just need access to a deeper talent pool and we give them that.

If you're looking to hire full-time engineers in Brazil, or you know someone who is, hit me up!!! So I can get out of trouble!

Startup stuff that I think is cool

• We released Episode 2 of our Founders Only Series. I interviewed Simba Jonga, founder of Laborup. Laborup uses AI voice agents to connect blue-collar workers- machinists, welders, fabricators, technicians- with manufacturers who desperately need them.

• I caught up with Jimmy, founder of Glasshouse, and one of my winning portfolio companies! He is hiring for an Associate Account Executive. This is an incredible opportunity to level up your sales game. 3x/week in person.

• I met Matt, a 2x founder who moved to Nashville ~1 year ago. He is a YC alum and looking for his next gig. He’s exceptional at ops and wants to join another startup with PMF.

• I am heading to SF next week with 8 other founders!!!!

Events

• Startup internship fair, Wednesday, February 18th

  • If you are a startup who is looking for interns or post-grad hires, hmu to join this!!!

• SAFE Notes 101: Intro to Early Stage Fundraising, Thursday, Feb 19th

  • If you are planning to raise your first round, you should come to this to make sure you know exactly what this means.

• AI Leaders, Tuesday, March 3rd

  • ​We're bringing together people who are doing the thing- making decisions, shipping products, managing teams building with AI in production. ​Share over food and drinks about what's working for you right now.

• FOUNDERS ONLY, Thursday, March 12th

  • Founders only hang @ the Lighthouse

Personal

For Valentine’s Day, me and Mr Zap went to Daddy’s Dogs vday dinner! They do a special ‘tasting menu’ dinner each year and it’s one of the best things that happens in Nashville!! You could even get your vows renewed this year.

We also got a new, giant bed.

Dating a founder is not for the weak!!! Even on Valentine’s Day he has to work for a few hours!!!

to the moon,

zap⚡