Zap's Wrap August 16th

hi friends,

this week was a great week because it was the first time i hosted a dinner with just my portfolio founders! ive invested in 8 startups so far and have my line of sight on the next several as well.

startup stuff that’s cool:

• i met andrew mcgarrity, founder of brighttrip. they are a travel education startup that wants to be as beloved as airbnb, but better than trip advisor through video content. they recently hit breakeven.

• i caught up with matt hertz who recently started third person. they are a digital marketplace that enables e-commerce brands to discover and engage with 3PLs. they’ve already had a dozen customers through word of mouth and are about to start marketing to prove PMF.

• i met simba jonga. he just raised his preseed in SF, but is planning to move to the southeast to be closer to his customers. obviously nashville is the right pick (: they are in stealth building an ai-hiring platform for the manufacturing industry. he’s looking to hire a lead growth/ops role that would help them reach talent. ping me and ill send you the JD.

• i was very happy to get another $175k in angel $$ to inrev’s seed round. they are crushing it!!! this puts me at 3.9M raised so far. very ready to cross that 4M mark soon!!!

• also thrilled to find out that my friend jimmy got 10 new customers this month for glasshouse. nobody works harder than this guy.

• the startup myhome just launched their app! download it here. they help homeowners identify, schedule, communicate with, and pay their maintenance vendors. congrats to the team, lindsey, gabe, and joel!

events coming up:

• entrepreneur family pool party on saturday sept 7th: me and my friend/entrepreneur/angel investor bill brennan are hosting a pool party for the families of entrepreneurs. somehow i am roped into running childrens games like diving contests and water balloon toss and mr zap is on the grill lol. you should def come and bring your kids. let me know and ill send you the details!

some personal stuff:

• i sit on the board of mending hearts, a non-profit dedicated to helping women recover from addiction. our annual breakfast is coming up on thursday, september 26th and i am raising money for it. if i have ever helped you get a job, meet people in town, find customers, etc, i would really appreciate it if you gave a donation. here is the link.

to the moon,

zap