Building a $3.6M+ Marketplace, Solving Important Problems, and 1 Tweet to Get a VC to Invest

A newsletter for founders & friends (28th edition)

Jul 29, 2022

Hey 👋

Welcome to the 28th edition of Re:VITALIZE, a newsletter with tactics, strategies, and stories on building companies plus cool things we’re seeing in the future of work.

Did you miss last week’s newsletter about raising $400k in 5 days, the most surprising thing about being a founder, and the importance of protecting your time? Subscribe below so you never miss another👇

Top 3 Tweets

🥇 Building a $3.6M+ Marketplace

louisamay hanrahan @louisamayh

I built a $3.6 million+ marketplace of kids' goods in 7 months while also helping over 25% of refugees in my home country, here's how:

🥈 Solving Important Problems

Hassan Riggs @hassanmayriggs

“Solve important problems.” That’s the best business advice I’ve ever received. But how do you know which problems to solve? And for whom? Here are the g-doc and m-word templates I use to uncover customer problems.

🥉 1 Tweet to Get a VC to Invest

Some of my favorite replies to this tweet (I was going to choose a top 5 but there were way too many I wanted to include… so here we are) 👇

Kerry Schrader @themillplus

@justingordon212 Human connection matters! So does data. @Mixtroz SaaS technology provides both (in real-time) and we have the receipts from paying clients to prove it! #blackfemalefounded

DJ @mostlydj

@justingordon212 @tryreframe makes it possible for non-technical founders to build MVP without sacrificing code. re:frame auto-generates production-quality @nextjs codebase from your app so you can keep building without engineers while having the full flexibility to onboard engineer at any time.

Julie Griggs @30andtweetin

@justingordon212 Hands down the scrappiest, most resilient, ridiculously out-of-the-box, and entertaining founders you’ll have in your portfolio.

Kaveer Beharee @UbiquityAI

@justingordon212 Let’s predict customers who are about to default on a payment and help them before default. It’s much better for business than losing that customer, ruining their credit score and wasting money making debt collectors - with an average 20% collection rate - wealthier. #tech4good

Dawn Dickson @THEDawnDickson

@justingordon212 90% of the companies you invest in fail....ready to start looking at start ups other than white male founded ones? Holler at me and @PopComTech

Ryan Lombardi @Ryanlombardi1

@justingordon212 A fully automated platform that enables brands to add private label RX products that compliment their current offerings. (example: A men's grooming company that wants to add prescription hair loss treatment) Your customers are already buying it, why not from you?

Pooja Paul 🌎⛑ @PoojaPaulPhD

@justingordon212 The world needs to cut GHG emissions in half by 2030 to meet our Paris Agreement Goals. Our solution makes it easy, fun, and rewarding for regular people with busy lives to do their part. (Bonus: improved health, well-being, & savings!)

Christopher Langford @clangfordvc

@justingordon212 We're profitable, growing 300% YoY and not currently raising.

Nate Tepper @NateTepper

@justingordon212 oversubscribed

Resources

1 great automated email sequence
An equity-free accelerator for Black and Latino entrepreneurs
The biggest preventable cause of startup failure
Financial metrics that matter
Critical Startup Skills You Might Be Overlooking

Future of Work Reads

Five Lessons In Building A Hybrid Workplace For The Future Of Work (Forbes)
The office of the future: A whole new (floor) plan (McKinsey)
The future of remote work, according to 6 experts (Vox)
A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity for Workforce Innovation (SAP)
How will Web3 impact the future of work? (World Economic Forum)

The World of VITALIZE

VITALIZE portfolio company, Abstract, announced their $2.5M raise
This week on The VITALIZE Podcast we had Kelly Graziadei and Joanna Lee Shevelenko of f7 Ventures, a $50M seed investment fund comprised of seven senior female operators who met at Facebook.
- Watch on YouTube
- Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Open jobs at Vitalize portfolio companies

Written by Justin Gordon, Director of Marketing at VITALIZE, a venture capital firm and nearly 400-member angel investing community for everyone investing in U.S.-based B2B software founders in the work revolution. Find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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