📢 HCP Newsletter: Gratitude in Growth – Nov 2024 🌾
Happy Thanksgiving week! 🦃
The Headlines 🗞️
Empowering Women in AI 🦾
Sapienne is a brilliant community of top women talent building in AI. We at Harlem Capital joined forces to connect intrepid women founders and operators shaping the future of AI.
🌐 From transformative ideas to vulnerable conversations, these trailblazers are building a more inclusive and impactful tech landscape. We’re bullish on a brighter, smarter, and more inclusive tomorrow! ✨
vSaaS Lessons from the Juggernauts 🎓
🚀 How Vertical SaaS Startups Scale to Industry Leaders
Wonder what it took to build a successful Vertical SaaS startup like nCino or Veeva? We explored the key strategies that drive these industry leaders to thrive:
🔎 Validate the Problem: Start with the customer. Founders like Guidewire Software’s observed workflows firsthand, transforming pain points into solutions. Trust begins with listening.
🤝 Strategic Partnerships: Scale smart. nCino’s partnership with Accenture expanded reach without needing a massive salesforce. Integrations = faster growth!
🔥 Catalyst Events: Marquee clients like Mark43’s DC Metro Police partnership establish early credibility, while expanding TAM (like Blend’s lighter offerings) brings in new markets.
Want more insights? Read the full report here.
🎤 SEEN Summit 2024
The SEEN Summit, powered by Tech:NYC and Visible Hands, brought together founders, funders, and allies to celebrate and empower diverse-led teams in the tech ecosystem.🌟
Harlem Capital’s Jarrid Tingle participated in a panel with USV's Fred Wilson, exploring how founders and investors can leverage NYC’s diverse tech talent and coalitions like the Venture Access Alliance to drive growth. Gabby Cazeau shared actionable strategies for underrepresented founders to secure funding and scale their ventures. 🔑
Harlem Capital Related 🚀
🔎 LP Podcast Series
A reflection on our 7-episode series featuring HCP LPs, where industry leaders shared their strategies for balancing risk, leveraging data, and navigating market downturns.
Stay tuned for a blog post from Fall intern Samantha Preston who explores how these takeaways apply to today’s market.
🎯 Diversification: Willie Woods (ICV Partners) emphasizes spreading investments across industries to hedge risks and build resilience.
📊 Data-Driven Credibility: Josh Evans (TPG) discusses how transparency and metrics build trust and help emerging managers stand out.
🌪️ Downturn Resilience: Josh Kopelman (First Round Capital) highlights the importance of reserves and proactive strategies during tough markets.
Gabby on VC Relationships 🕸
Gabby joined the Lynx Collective to share tips for founders:
🌱 Building trust is a marathon, not a sprint.
📬 Tailor your updates—skip the generic investor blasts.
💬 Clear, consistent communication builds trust.
🤝 Partner with investors who stand by you through challenges and success.
🎥 Watch the full interview on YouTube.
Your Weekend Read 🤓
Looking for a productive distraction during your Thanksgiving weekend? The HCP Syllabus might be just what you’re looking for.
We’re often asked how to break into VC. So much so that we created a syllabus as an essential manual for anyone looking to learn the ins and outs of the venture ecosystem, and where you might fit into it. Start with two must-know topics:
📊 KPIs: These metrics are the compass for company success, helping you track progress, flag growth opportunities, and keep teams aligned.
🛠 Market Sizing: More than just big numbers, it defines revenue potential (TAM), short-term profitability (SOM), and frames a startup’s big-picture vision.
Dive into your delightful and insightful doom scroll here.
Gabby on Crain’s 40U40 🎉
Gabby has been named to Crain’s New York Business' 40 Under 40 Class of 2024! From her start as an engineer to her ascent to HCP Partner, Gabby exemplifies the power of community and dedication to innovation. Kudos on the well-deserved recognition!
🚨 Jobs in VC 🧑🏾💻
Jobs at HCP portfolio companies harlem.capital/jobs
Mark Your Calendars – Save These Dates! 📅
Harlem Capital is partnering with AlleyCorp and MLT to launch the Peerless 2025 Program, empowering underrepresented founders to shape the future. The program supports early-stage startups with under $2M raised, showcasing tech innovation, strong go-to-market strategies, and diverse leadership (Black, Latin, Native American, or female founders). Participants gain access to exclusive events with top founders and VCs. Apply by December 6.
Ready to break into the startup ecosystem? The Factor Fellowship, backed by Primary VC, is a part-time, 18-week program in NYC designed to help early-career professionals from diverse backgrounds transition into startup operator roles. Learn the ins and outs of startups and VC, connect with leading investors, and gain hands-on support. Applications close December 15.
👩🏽🎓 MLT MBA Prep Program
Applications for the 2026 cohort are now open! This program provides underrepresented minorities with coaching, workshops, and networking to navigate the MBA application process and excel in business school. Apply by January 13, 2025.
Helpful Resources 💯
🦾🦾🦾 Prosumer Proliferation: How is AI transforming search, discovery, and planning for consumers? Redpoint shares key findings from its survey of 250 consumers and how we can expect AI to seep its way into more and more everyday use cases.
⚔️⚔️⚔️ Download on DefenseTech: Defensetech is a red-hot, capital-intensive sector where likely few winners will emerge. NATSEC100 is Silicon Valley Defense Group’s annual ranked list of leading VC-funded security-focused startups. As of June 2024, the list of companies has attracted over $52 billion in private funding.
🖥🖥🖥 Enterprise Gen AI Pulse Check: The enterprise AI landscape is being rewritten in real-time. Menlo Ventures surveyed 600 enterprise IT decision-makers to reveal the emerging winners and losers.