Zap's Wrap March 23rd

hi friends,

Things are working.

I've been building The Lighthouse for a year now and I can just feel it clicking. It's hard to explain, but when you're in it, you know.

Several of my portfolio companies have passed $1M in ARR. I'm anticipating several Series As in the next 12 months. Some are still figuring it out, and honestly, watching them persist when things are hard might be the part I'm most proud of.

When I started the Lighthouse, I didn't totally know what it was going to be. Kind of like my founders, I just knew there was a problem that needed solving. I wanted to bring people who wanted to build billion dollar companies into close proximity to each other. That was the thesis. The rest I've been figuring out as I go.

This past year has been finding my own product-market fit. I'm still working on the messaging. Still finding the right words for what this place actually is. But I can feel it working, and that feeling is really special!!!

We got a composite made of our founders. These photos were taken 6 months ago so there's like 30 more people missing from this board, but I don't care, I love it and I'm so glad it's on the wall.

Thank you Drew for being our photographer and for making this art!!!

Reflections

• I think founders are inherently misfits. You have to not fit in to build something different from everyone else. You have to not fit in to build your own world around yourself. I always joke that the Lighthouse is like an island of misfit toys, but sometimes it feels so, so real.

• My network is most valuable for founders who want to raise from a coastal venture market and are capable of doing it. I am not a fit for founders looking to raise from local angels, I don't spend any time building that network. The local angel market doesn't really look or feel like me!!! I am not at country clubs or, like, playing golf LOL. I'm trying to be more upfront and blunt about this with founders who want to go down that path!

• The hardest part is saying no. And the better I get at helping founders, the more I have to do it and that's really hard. I've always leaned on the framing that it's not me saying no, it's that a founder or company isn't a fit right now for the venture market, which is my network. I've almost always chosen to give feedback on why, so that if they want to become a fit, they know what needs to change. But sometimes founders get mad. And that part really, really sucks. It makes me not want to give feedback sometimes, even when I know it's the most useful thing I can do.

Startup jobs

• Joey Kim is hiring for a GM to build a home restoration business in Nashville, TN.

• Watt Data is hiring for a Data Platform Engineer!

• Jimmy Speyer w/ Glasshouse is hiring for SALES. These roles would be in their Cool Springs office 3x/week and have the chance to learn from the pro seller Jimmy himself.

Events

• Startup Run Club, Friday, March 20th

  • Run 3-4 miles with breakfast after!

• CTO Board Game Night, Thursday April 2nd @ 6pm

  • This is a CTO-only event! DM for details.

• B2C Founders Hang, Friday, April 3rd

  • Getting together all consumer focused founders to meet each other and find ways to collab!

• The SPV Playbook, Wednesday April 22nd

  • ​SPVs allow investors to share access to deals, build track records, and back founders alongside other great investors. But most people only see the surface- not how they actually work behind the scenes. ​Join us for a conversation on how SPVs really work in practice.

• Legal Issues to Consider when Onboarding Customers, Friday May 1st

  • ​This session will discuss customer contracts, pilot and beta agreements, privacy considerations, and AI technology as it relates to early customers through growth.

Personal

I finally made the trek out to Cheekwood!!! With my friend Brianna.

to the moon,

zap⚡