Zap's Wrap September 2nd

hi friends,

Last week I invested in startups #20 AND #21 😅🚀

One is in restaurant tech and the other is in insuretech- hopefully I can share more details soon!

This week, I’m also running my 4th SPV, which lets people invest in the same venture-backed deals as me. If you’ve ever wanted to back Nashville startups, now’s the time. I’m in the process of formalizing my SPV structure and would love to bring more folks along for the ride!! If that sounds interesting, shoot me a message ⚡️

For me, this week is all about prepping for the hackathon + 3686!

Cool startup things

• Laborup announced their 7.7M raise and move to Nashville! Super pumped they are here. They are hiring more engineers too (:

• I hungout with Bobby from TaxNow. I’m not sure how he does it, but Bobby makes tax tech fun (check out their marketing lol). If you know any accounting firms, send this to them!!! Also, TaxNow just announced their integration with Karbon, which is a big deal!

• Briana launched Cookie pilots with her first b2b customers. Cookie is a platform built for families, making invisible tasks visible, keeping your family running smoothly.

• I got to hangout with one of my favorite founders, Grace, who is building AI for insurance claims. I am so excited to see where this one goes!

• I had dinner with Brooke, who is building software for the overweight freight industry with Offload. If you love tech in niche verticals, you should talk to Brooke about what she’s working on.

• I am currently looking for some talent for local startups. Specifically for Customer Success, full stack engineers, & account executives.

Upcoming events

3686 is 1 week away!!!

• Wednesday, September 10th @ 9:30am- Founders, Funders, & Financiers Breakfast

  • Breakfast with JPMorgan at the Lighthouse!

LIGHTSPEED Hackathon

🚀 In just a few days, we’re hosting 100+ builders for a full weekend of hacking!

We’ve put together a list of startup + investor-sourced problems that participants can tackle (plus you can check out our judges). 👉

We made a deliberate choice: all of our judges are engineers. Why? Because we want to highlight that engineers aren’t just great teammates- they can be incredible founders too. Can’t wait to see what gets built. ⚡️

The hackathon is full, but if you want to get a taste of the event, there’s two other opportunities:

• Sunday, September 7th @ 12pm AI Leaders Hangout

  • Not everyone has an entire weekend to dedicate to hacking, so we made this event for other builders who want to connect with other techies too (:

• Sunday, September 7th @ 2pm LIGHTSPEED Final Pitches

  • You can vote on who wins the $2500 audience choice! And watch as the judges decide for the other $2500 cash prize!

The Lighthouse

We hosted a hibachi founder dinner at the house, which was quite climatic. I would recommend this service LOL.

We also hosted a fundraising whiteboarding session with Joey and all of our founders raising this Fall!

Personal

Me and Mr Zap biked to Loveless Cafe! I’ve been meaning to do this ride for forever, it was awesome.

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