HCP Newsletter: Road to 1,000 - April 2020 🚀
The Road to 1,000 newsletter is Harlem Capital’s monthly recap of updates on our portfolio companies, industry news, content, and events we suggest to check out and more!
Monthly Update
Hi HCP Fam! Were trying out a new service (substack) for our newsletter, so it may look different than usual. We hope you still have the same experience and enjoy all the updates and news we have to share.
We’re now weeks, not days, into social distancing and the fight against COVID-19 is starting to feel like a marathon, not a sprint. We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe in these trying times. As always, our deepest sympathies to those affected. At Harlem Capital, we’ve also been coming to terms with the new normal and adjusting our day-to-day. You can read more about our COVID-19 response here.
We published our “Female Founders Report” and our “Navigating, Entering, and Thriving in VC” article. Invested in 1 company this month. Selected our rockstar Summer 2020 intern class from a record 834 applications.
Harlem Capital Related
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we recently released our Female Founders Report. We hosted a live Zoom discussion on our findings. If you missed out, don’t worry—you can watch the recording and learn more about the state of female founders here!
For those looking to start or grow their career in VC, check out our “Navigating, Entering, and Thriving in VC” article as we share 5 lessons from 6 venture capitalists of color from across the U.S.
Learn More About These Five Lessons!
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Have An Opinion and SHARE IT — Generally and During Interviews
Follow Your Interests — It Will Lead You and Help You Track Trends
Act Like You’re Already in VC
Be Patient and Don’t Give Up
A warm welcome to our newest portfolio company! Join us in welcoming Compt, an HR tech startup helping companies everywhere provide personalized employee perks, led by fearless CEO Amy Spurling. Read more about why we’re so excited about Compt here.
On the (virtual) road! 🗣🗣Managing Partners Henri and Jarrid gave talks at the MIT Sloan School of Business and Harvard Business School. With only 3% of HBS cases featuring black protagonists, we’re proud that our story is being told in classrooms and blessed to be inspiring the next generation.
Content, content, and more content! Venture Partner Brandon Bryant will be doing a Zoom webinar around the founder’s mentality on Thursday, April 30th at 7:30pm ET – you can sign up here. Then, we’ll be hosting our very first HCP IG Live on Friday, May 1st at 12pm ET. Give us a follow over at @harlemcapital. See you there!
Top Diversity & Tech News
How will your favorite brand survive COVID-19? Consumer companies are taking a hit. Here’s how Forerunner Ventures’ Kirsten Green is advising startups in her portfolio.
Tired of Tik Tok yet? Tech industry titan Meg Whitman recently launched Quibi, a new mobile streaming service for high-quality video content. Despite the hype, the app saw a lackluster 300,000 downloads in its first 24 hours. Will Quibi be the next big thing? Let us know your thoughts.
***Black Excellence Alert*** 👏👏👏 This black-owned health startup is treating COVID-19 patients from home. As hospitals overflow with patients, 4D Healthware is enabling at-home treatment.
Rep. Ayanna Presley fights for fair allocation of PPP funds to black-owned businesses. Presley believes racial data is necessary to ensure the $349 billion in government funding is allocated fairly.
📢💰Resource Alert 💰📢 Each year crunchbase releases a report covering the funding going to female founders, make sure to check out their recent 2019 report.
📢💰Resource Alert 💰📢 As we’re navigating the new normal brought on by COVID-19, guide your job search with this list of who’s hiring, firing, and freezing from Candor. Also be sure to check out Drafted, Pangian, and Layoffs.fyi.
📢💰Resource Alert 💰📢 In a similar vein, check out this comprehensive GitHub repo of who’s hiring and firing for their summer intern class.
Other Suggested Content
These times can be quite frustrating. Elizabeth Yin writes about operating in tough times.
A tactical guide on weathering the emotional storms of a crisis from First Round Capital.
Rebecca Minkoff talks vulnerability, honesty, and building deeper connections.
👟💪🏾Resource Alert 💪🏾👟ClassPass’ global fitness membership may be temporarily out of commission, but they’ve offered unlimited access to their archive of 2,000 free video and audio workouts. Check them out here.
Mark Your Calendars - Future Events!
HCP IG Live - we are doing a Q&A Session on Instagram Live Friday at 12pm EST! Join us to hear how we’re approaching investing during COVID and all things HCP.
Stay up to date with us on social (@harlemcapital) Twitter + Instagram!