Zap's Wrap September 15th

hi friends,

Last week was crazyyy…..

Startup stuff that’s cool

• Grace announced her 6M seed round for Elysian, AI for insurance claims. I am the most proud investor and friend!

• I am hiring for a chief of staff for an ecommerce startup…hmu

• I had dinner with my newest portfolio founders, Luis & Adarsh! I can’t wait for them to announce what they’re building in restaurant tech….

LIGHTSPEED Hackathon recap

We wrapped the first Hackathon ⚡️ and wow… I had no idea what I was in for.

We had 100+ signups, 80 participants, 17 teams…and over half of those teams met that weekend!

I thought I was just planning a little builder weekend, but instead people ate more food than I could’ve ever imagined, slept at the Lighthouse, and basically turned the place into a 48-hour startup factory. Turns out, the Lighthouse is actually the perfect hackathon venue.

Huge gratitude to my cohost John Berryman- the ideal partner to pull this off (and yes, he tried to warn me what I was signing up for).

🏆 Audience vote winners: Team App-Stats (who came with matching shirts, naturally).

🏆 Judges’ pick: Team Bits out of Bounds, who also built on a challenge from Mike Rosengarten.

And thanks to our challenge sponsors- Tim Connors, Laborup, Optura, Gust, DBTwin- many teams walked away with prizes.

Extra special thanks to our main sponsor, Cline. A year ago, Cline started at a hackathon just like this and now they’ve raised $30M. Proof that big things can be born in weekends like these.

Already can’t wait for the next one. ⚡️ We’re thinking ~February so stay tuned.

3686 Highlights

This was my sixth time attending 3686, and every year I walk away thinking it was the best one yet. But this year stood out in a whole new way.

For the first time, I got to participate not just as an attendee or community builder, but on stage. I had the honor of speaking on a panel about my angel investing journey and serving as a judge for the pitch competition. Both of those opportunities felt like a dream come true- the kind of full-circle moment you imagine years earlier but can’t believe when it actually happens!!

Beyond that, I thought this year’s 3686 was one of the most well-executed productions yet. The energy, the programming, the attention to detail, it all clicked.

Some of my favorite highlights included:

• InvestTN Day, which brought together founders and investors from across the state in such a meaningful way.

• The women’s investor dinner hosted by Build in SE, which felt like both a reunion and a rallying cry.

• Hosting VCs with Gaby & Jacqueline during the conference, it’s always special to create space for real conversations.

• And, of course, the moment when way too many people crowded into the Lighthouse with Will, chaotic, but hilarious to look back on lol

3686 has always been a milestone on the Nashville startup calendar, but this year was a personal milestone for me too. Same mission, same passion, but now with new ways to contribute, new people to learn from, and an even deeper excitement for where this community is headed!!!

Upcoming events

• Tuesday, September 23rd @ 1pm What First Time Founders Need to Know About (with Peter Swan from Gust)

• Friday, September 26th @ 7am Rise & Grind at Framework (cold plunge + sauna)

• Thursday, October 2nd @ 9am Raising Money 101

Personal

After 3686 wrapped up, I got sick, laid in bed for 3 days, and then got myself to do a sprint triathlon in Winchester! Ended up getting 3rd overall for women, which I was stoked about.

I even convinced one of my portfolio founders to do the race too! Brooke is building Offload, vertical saas for the overweight freight industry. It was her first ever tri and she crushed it!!! I was also joined by my friend Shea, Shannon, and Analys.

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