Zap's Wrap July 7th

hi friends,

Just made an investment into a Nashville startup! (#19, but who’s keeping track).

I invested in the powerhouse team at WVN: James, Katie, Kendra, & Oscar.

They are building an AI-powered platform that transforms retail data into actionable insight that improves store performance, drives loyalty, and boosts sales.

Here’s why I’m excited:

• I’m betting on this team. They already spent 2 years together building a different startup and decided to immediately sign up to do it again, together. I love how everyone brings something different to the table and is all in.

• They’re sales ninjas. Within 90 days of launch they’ve already booked demos and several pilots with household names. They’re starting with smaller, new-luxury brands like Tecovas and Faherty for pilots, but already attracted inbound interest from big players like Sam’s Club & Lego.

• They’re obsessed. Sure, they’re playing the c-suite game, but this team is also going to stores and making friends with their frontline retail teams to understand the entire opportunity from bottoms up.

Events

Even though the world gets slow in July, we still have a ton of things happening @ the Lighthouse:

• Tuesday, July 8th: How to run your fundraise like a sales process

  • A lot of founders have never raised before and don’t know how to do it. In this event, I’m interviewing Jimmy, 1st time founder, how he raised his most recent round and how other founders can follow his process.

• Tuesday, July 15th: Getting started as an angel investor

• Thursday, July 17th: Fundraising from your first SAFE to Series A

  • So many founders raise without knowing what is going to happen once they get the term sheet! This workshop will cover all those important details.

• Saturday, July 19th: Work Hard, Party Sometimes w/Laborup

  • Fresh off their latest venture round, Laborup is hiring for engineers, salespeople, designers, & anyone startup hungry willing to grind. Instead of throwing a job fair, we’re throwing a party! We also have special guest Allen sharing about the early days @ Uber.

Startup stuff that’s cool

• I finally met Simba in-person, who is building the hiring platform for the manufacturing industry at Laborup. Right now, their team is 4 engineers + a growth guy + him, but they just raised a new round and are growing FAST. They plan to build their entire team right here in Nashville so we’re throwing a party Saturday, July 19th as a chance to meet them & hear about what they’re building. Our friend Allen is going to come share about what it was like at the early days of Uber & what he gained from the experience. If you want to experience the startup life, this is the chance.

• Some startups hiring:

  • Product Marketing Director at AssistIQ

  • Glasshouse is hiring for sales, engineering, and customer success!

  • Financial Analyst @ a healthtech startup. Looking for someone w/2 years experience! HMU.

  • Marketer #1 at a community software platform

Personal updates

I tried Arrington Vineyards with my friends! This place was awesome, I will definitely go again. I am so happy to have girlfriends who are founders & work in tech like Analys & Brianna.

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