The stats still holds true today of how less than 10% VC deals go to women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ Founders. Well, one founder has been working to change this. Arlan Hamilton founded Backstage Capital and to date has invested in over 180 companies that are led by underrepresented founders.
Just in 2015, Arlan faced immense judgment as being an LGBT black female, non-college-educated, having no background in tech, no connection in Silicon Valley, and was at one point homeless while she was raising funds for Backstage Capital.
Watch Arlan's interview to learn more about (timestamps in the video description):
What made Arlan decide to go all-in on fund even without a single investor
The historical moment that she got her first cheque / funding for Backstage Capital
“Without it (Product-Market Fit), a company fails. But with it, you might not win. Product-market fit is the foundation; Product-Channel fit is the house. They work together but are different. Breakout companies must master both.” -Nicole Farb, Advisor, Founder and CEO @Darby Smart (Acquired)
While it is true that finding PMF should be one of your highest priorities in your early-stage days, Nicole introduces to think about Product-Channel Fit as well. While PMF is about finding a problem and creating a solution, Product-Channel fit is the inverse of that. You start with a solution, find a channel (marketing channels of either: SEO, Paid, Influencers, or Viral), then show the market how to get the solution. This helps to establish a connection between the solution (your product) and the customer and you can get growth from this.
"A lot of people might be wondering how does growth and marketing relate to each other? Is it the same thing or how should I think about it?" -Gustaf Alstromer, YC Partner, previously growth expert at AirBnB (@20:09)
In the talk, Gustaf goes over how every startup should be thinking about growth tactics (there are 3 ways to grow at scale @21:02).
However, before a startup can work on growth tactics, they should first find product-market fit by identifying the metrics that represent the value your users get from your product/service (@13:01) and measure retention rates, knowing if people are repeatedly using your product (@19:19).
"In Jackson's opinion, having your positioning down is even more important than having a name for your company. That name, and eventually all of your messaging, website copy, branding, and even product features can all spring from your positioning"
Arielle Jackson is an experienced technology marketer who previously worked at Google and Square. She shares exercises that entrepreneurs can use to nail their product positioning, develop the right assets (eg. the name of your company), and making a first big impression on the market when you're launching a new feature or an entire company.
Neat Finds ✨
Pre-seed/Seed underestimated founders looking for funding: Submit your company to the Startup-Investor Matching Tool to get investor intros- Created by Lolita Taub
