Let Go and Haul: The most exciting news yet!
Week 15, 2018 – Los Angeles / Brooklyn
Journey: where we’re at
Thank you for hitting reply or texting about demo day! Was so cool to hear from you and proof that this weekend experiment is working to be more connected :)
The most exciting news yet: Geneviève Patterson is joining us as a co-founder! She'll be coming on board full time this summer. We’re wired with excitement. This week, founder comms mostly looked like this:
I got back to NYC today from LA pitching. Doing business there is so different from New York. It’s equal parts lovely and frustrating and I’m determined to figure out how to operate there!
(How I feel most of the time. Agh! Faster! How!)
Our progress, pace and quality of product is impressing people in repeat meetings. This is a nice data point because I worry we’re not going fast enough and nothing is even close to good enough all the time. (I will stay worried about that nonetheless haha)
I also had productive meetings on our music strategy as well as starting to plan for the next raise and what we need. (I’m learning I need to always have a part of my brain operating 6 - 12 months in the future to not be dead in the water).
After pushing so hard for so long to Get Things Started, it feels like we have amazing momentum. It’s all starting to come together :) This is a great feeling after so much hard work to get to where we're at today. I know there’s even more ahead of us, but I’m taking a moment to savor the feeling. It was bliss to take a day off on Saturday (for the first time in months) and stop to reflect on all this over leisurely coffee with my friend Will in the lobby of the gorgeous new Nomad LA. I definitely tried to touch all the textures. It was also a good place for testing out the TRASH Cam.
Look at those velvet tassel chairs!
Journal: what I learned
This week’s learnings were many, here is a quick collection the ones that stuck with me:
• I might have finally started to penetrate the fortress that is Hollywood this week. I’ve been chipping away at this on every trip, because the studios could be strategic to our long term success. These relationships just Take Time. This week I started to realize these dudes might be as interested in me as much as I am in them. Well, well!
• I’ve decided I have no time for Adversarial Guy right now. In the last couple days I’ve been in two social settings where there is That Guy. You know the one. He’s a friend and he’s fine but he’s always finding something to jokingly pick on. This dude never agrees with you, and he’s curious to see how far he can push your knowledge and patience on every topic. This dude thinks this “banter” is fun, but I do not, at least not right now. Every day I listen to (mostly) men ask me about all the potential problems with TRASH. Now, it’s an investor’s job to try and poke holes in our thinking, so I expect this and come prepared. However, it’s how these questions get asked to women founders that is exhausting as fuck, and it keeps me playing a mad game of defense. Not only do I need a great answer for each question, I also have to answer each question in a way that flips the tone from negative to positive. This is because men get asked about the potential of their company, and women get asked about why it will fail. HBR’s research around this is stunning, and is a huge driver in why women only get 2% of VC funding. Wild, right!? So, if you’re that person that enjoys a lot of contrarian banter (some people do, I get it!) I’d suggest asking yourself: “is this person a female founder? Do I want to connect with her?” If the answer is yes, you might want to pick a different style. In the meantime, Adversarial Guy is cancelled from what little of my social life exists right now. I have have to save my energy for the important conversations.
• Related to this last point, knowing how the deck stacks against you is half the battle. I used to find it low key depressing to read these articles, but I’ve reframed it as critical intel. Since I’m at a disadvantage, I need to use every piece of information I can get my hands on to figure out how to play the game to win. Winning is how we change the game :)
Jams: what I’m into
My friend Sam’s podcast Talk Easy! If you love hearing about the lives of creative people, this is for you. Sam is an incredible interviewer, and somehow manages to make people so comfortable they get into the Real Shit with him. Also, this show is one take (no edits!) and has a diverse set of guests. I really enjoyed this recent episode with Alia Shawkat (Maeby Bluth in Arrested Development). Soundcloud / iTunes.
Loving the RUN-D.M.C.-esque drum sounds on the new Nicki
If you’re curious about the whole Cardi / Nicki beef, I enjoyed this FACT piece on how it’s OK if Cardi and Nicki don’t like each other. “It’s not anti-feminist to not want to be friends with or be a fan of another woman. (In fact, it’s actually more belittling to women to expect that they like each other simply because they share a gender.) Plus, this is hip-hop! It’s about competition!” – Claire Lobenfeld