Grace Parker Gluck

🚀 Exciting news! Episode 8 of "Funded, Now What?" podcast is out! 🎙️ I'm joined by Sam Obletz, founder of Claim, joins me to share how his social shopping app secured $4 million in funding. Here we discuss leveraging the Power of College Athletes for Influencer Marketing Success Tune in now for more invaluable insights! 🔊 Episode Link: https://lnkd.in/deVCRatK Enjoy. Share. DM me with feedback. #startupsuccess #startups #founder #fundraising #funding #seedstage #startupfounder #startupmarketing #podcast #business 

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How Etsy built a global marketplace one craft fair at a time... Rob Kalin is a maker of things. Bed frames, chairs, cobb ovens for bread—even his own underwear. After graduating college in 2004, he fell in love with carpentry, offering his amateur skills to friends around Brooklyn. In 2005, Kalin crossed paths with Jean Railla—founder of Get Crafty, an arts and crafts forum. Railla needed a new website and asked him to build it. Kalin said yes. During the build, a question loomed large: Where do artists sell their creations? Kalin pitched his idea for an arts and crafts marketplace to Railla, who resonated with the vision but wanted to keep her site focused on community discussion. Armed with the idea, Kalin and his artist friends decided to create their own marketplace for makers and craftsmen. He called it Etsy. On June 18th, 2005, Etsy greeted the internet. The first product? A flamingo print zip pouch for $8. But Kalin and his team didn’t stop with the flamingo. They attended every arts and crafts fair, flea market and vintage sale across the U.S. and Canada. They bought artists lunch, handed out “craft show kits,” and shared handmade Etsy promos. “These were artists and crafters influential in the handmade world,” Kalin said. “We knew if they set up shop on Etsy, and were successful, others would follow.” And follow they did. In year one, Etsy had 9k sellers, 22k buyers, and over $1 million in revenue. Two years later: 450k sellers, $26 million in annual sales, and $3 million in VC funding. Today, Etsy is the powerhouse niche marketplace with 96 million buyers, 8.6 million sellers and over $2 billion in annual revenue. None of that would’ve happened if they hadn’t stepped away from the screens and into the real world. The lesson? Success isn’t built from behind a desk. Show up, connect and the rest will follow.

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Brij front and center in the Assembled Brands newsletter this morning 🤩 A huge part of our day to day at Brij is educating brands on the importance of omnichannel + advising on tactical strategies. I love brainstorming creative ways our platform can help brands bridge the gap between the offline and the online. The best part is seeing those experiences come to life and watching our customers better connect with their consumers! ❤️ The full blog post breaks down what exactly omnichannel is and features awesome examples of brands who are crushing it! Link in comments.

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Calling all #Founders: Venture Capital Association of Alberta (VCAA)’s Deal Flow Calls represent a great opportunity for #PreSeed to #SeriesA companies to gain exposure to some of the countries most active Venture Capital #investors. If your company is raising equity capital, I strongly encourage you to check out the link below!

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It's been a crazy 3 months growing baby vc's "What's Up, Tech?" newsletter together with Sarah Luna Mongin. We just released our 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 with some exciting announcements: 1. We've received incredible support from the community, including monetary commitments. So, we're officially receiving donations from paid subscribers. 🎁 To us, it's been a sign of the newsletter's impact and our readers' continued support. To clarify - the newsletter will remain 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. 👌 All donations will go towards the baby vc organization and our fellows. 2. This is our 2nd week of working with fellows from the current cohort, so shoutout to Rebecca Vesco, Oriol Del Moral, Iñigo Brenninkmeijer, and María de los Ángeles Carranza for their amazing contributions. It's great to be part of a community with strong commitment to learn and analyze tech, startup, and VC news in the European ecosystem. 🤓 3. We added some required reading at the end of the newsletter - Atomico's 10th state of EU Tech report and STATION F's #Future40 list. ✨ 💌 Link to the newsletter in the comments 💌

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At Costanoa Ventures, we pride ourselves on identifying and supporting exceptional founders poised to create impactful, lasting change. Hona is a shining example, driven by a trio of extremely talented founders: Manny Griffiths, Joshua Christensen, and Matt McClellan. They each bring unique, differentiated expertise to the table, and Amy Cheetham and I are extremely excited to partner with them. There are approximately 450,000 law firms in the United States, with half of those firms being B2C - think personal injury, mass tort, or immigration law as opposed to BigLaw. One of the reasons we love how Hona is tackling this market is their focus on B2C law firms and product excellence - B2B firms are historically difficult to sell brand new software products into, but B2C firms are completely different buyers. Oftentimes there's just a handful of lawyers and paralegals in a partnership, and any piece of technology they can use to give them an edge would be valuable. 44% of negative Google reviews on law firms directly reference poor communication as the reason for a negative experience, and the number 1 reason for Attorney Bar complaints in the U.S. is "lack of communication". On the lawyer's side, attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants spend an average of 7.4 hours per week on unnecessary updates, redundant communication, and activities that aren't directly contributing towards getting a client's case solved. Manny and the team at Hona are working to change all of that. Hona delivers a tightly-integrated communications platform to help facilitate better communication between law firms and their clients. During legal proceedings, client communications tend to be a large resource-stressor for law firms. Clients will frequently call firms for case updates, legal explanations, or general administrative questions that tend to eat away at firm resources without providing any additional progress toward case resolution. Hona exists to ease that burden - it’s a platform that allows law firms to efficiently communicate with their clients over text, easily build customizable web pages and embed videos, and share information on case status and basic legal process education. This crucial communication processes allow attorneys to focus on their job – moving cases forward, while keeping their clients informed and educated. If you're a lawyer dealing with these problems - don't hesitate to reach out to us or the Hona team! It's a privilege to work with Hona on this journey. The company has been growing at a rapid pace, and they're delivering meaningful technology to help people get through legal proceedings in a much more fluid, transparent, and easy process. Manny, Joshua, and Matt are exceptional founders whose combined skills and dedication to continuous learning position them perfectly to lead Hona to success. They're just getting started, and we can't wait to see what they'll achieve.

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Do politics matter in dating? 72% of CMB Daters think so. Check out our feature in Mashable for more insights on how politics affect dating. cc: Anna Iovine

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I would LOVE to talk to some DTC people (share if resonates) Listening to the My First Million podcast (with Shaan Puri, Sam Parr & Ad Professor); over the last months I've been finding out how great of a business idea the Healthy Holistic Homes brand actually is that we've been growing with Miriam Gubovicova over the last 2 years. It's always been kind of a side thing lagging behind but now, I just need to expand a little bit of my focus on this. So far... 👉 We've built @miriamgubovicova & @healthyholistichomes to 55.6K & 75.9K on TikTok 👉 We've now also been growing on Instagram – still low but moving 👉 And we have 2.11K on YouTube (this is our main focus right now) 👉 There's also a great website, a banger quiz & other working lead magnets 👉 Email list is something around 4k but it needs a cleanse https://lnkd.in/dXe9rfX4 https://lnkd.in/d7Q6zNsA https://lnkd.in/dKPZ7Yuw https://lnkd.in/dqCst-MR After realizing what we've been sitting on, we've... 👉 Spoken to some great industry top people & gotten valuable advice 👉 I've stepped down from the HHH brand, and now Miriam is the face 👉 Turned up the content production knob slightly 👉 And this has enabled me to gain a fresh perspective on things So, I realize there's quite a few ways we could take this, but I understand that the product side is where I'm lacking. Do I start affiliating mold remediation & testing services? Start testing & create a database of high quality healthy products? Offer really high-ticket consulting & at-home visits? (which we've done & recorded a couple) Or launch our own product line of clean ______ products? (e.g. clean cleaning products?) So far out most popular videos — where we have the most views both on YouTube & TikTok have been about air purifiers for short-form and mold for long-form. Since we're already producing media that's doing tens-to-hundreds of millions of views for our clients, turning up the intensity on our own content is not a challenge. What's been holding us back the most till now has been the return on investment part — not knowing if the effort we're putting in will ever translate to something tangible. So, this is where we're at — would love to talk to somebody that resonates with what we're building! --- --- --- BONUS CONTENT — Here's a gripe of mine. So, we've generated tens of millions of views on TikTok with our content, but it for some reason NEVER performed on Instagram. However, what planted the seed of our disgust for Instagram was finding our videos (that were stolen from our TT) & seeing them have more views than the original ones. Literally our video, downloaded, from our TT, and posted to Instagram. AFTER we already posted it. And the ours had like sub 1k views and the stolen one had hundreds of thousands or millions. This happened quite a few time and IG refused to take them down 🙃

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Dilution can be confusing, especially if you have multiples SAFEs/Convertible Notes stacked on top of each other. In my Atlanta Ventures blog, I write about how to understand dilution, as well as provide a simple tool to forecast the impact of a fundraising round: https://lnkd.in/eVFBS2At

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Trust is essential to marketing because it’s the backbone of decision-making. But in industries like cannabis, where regulation and social stigma create a barrier to trust, how can businesses build it? That was the challenge in a recent client project of ours. One that I’m going to tell you all about (and encourage you check out the final video we delivered). But first, let’s lay a little groundwork on what we know about how customers push past awareness and actually begin to trust a brand. Fact: trust takes more than just targeted ad campaigns. That’s because it’s not about chasing clicks–it’s about authentic, meaningful connection with your audience’s situation. You need to grab their attention, sure, but your goal is to turn their skepticism into trust. And the most powerful pathway to building those connections is storytelling. So, when FundCanna approached Pennant Video, they already understood the power of connection and the impact of video storytelling in the cannabis space. Because they’d tried it the other way and were ready for a strategic pivot. For those unfamiliar, the cannabis industry is no easy field. It’s fiercely competitive, tightly regulated, and highly scrutinized. In such an environment, numbers alone don’t cut it. Emotional connections do. And that’s exactly how storytelling can humanize brands, shift perceptions, and inspire action. Because when companies share their customers’ experiences, they open doors to deeper relationships and lasting impact. The video attached to this post is our “case in point.” FundCanna recently partnered with us to produce a video featuring their client, Tradecraft Farms. Not to tell their audience what impact they have on budding cannabis business, but to show them. So, this stylish story captures Tradecraft’s journey—from financial hurdles to transformative growth—all made possible through FundCanna’s innovative debt financing solutions. The takeaway? 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐞. Peer-led testimonials and visually compelling narratives build credibility that resonates and validates. And in emerging markets, where trust is hard-earned and the rules are often unclear, these stories become trust amplifiers. ________ Credits: DP: James Buchmann Gaffer: Ken Appel EP: Tim Bradley Writer: Shaw Flick Editor: Michael Palumbo Motion Graphics: Ben Drake Special thanks to JP Lagos 🏂 and Team FundCanna.

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At some point, your cause will grow out of start-up mode. You'll then need to graduate from the Squarespaces and Wix's of the world and onto a website platform that allows you more control and the ability to reach more people and better tell your story. Here's a basic list of options available to you: - Wordpress can accommodate the majority of nonprofit and school websites; it's flexible, relatively easy learn and use and has a deep community of product support. - If your organization publishes and shares massive amounts of content, some people like Drupal, but a capacity-limited org may find it less user-friendly than Wordpress (and it definitely has a smaller support community). - There are nowadays also "no code" options like Webflow; while these are better able to quickly create web pages, they're also less flexible if you need to access site data and underlying code. - Lastly, there's a whole series of "niche" options, products like Craft and Expression Engine, that can be tailored to meet specific workflows, but I've found that most NPs don't require this level of customization. Bottom line - if yours is a growing nonprofit with standard content management needs, Wordpress is the way to go, but you certainly have other options to choose from. If you need help deciding on which system is right for you, DM me here and we'll talk through your needs.

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This UGC video review from Amber R. drove the most eComm conversion for Laura Geller Beauty during BFCM last year. Here’s why! ⬇ According to Hue.’s 2023 BFCM report, brands that added ‘Conversion-driving video content’* on eComm during BFCM saw 55% increase in engagement compared to non-BFCM periods. But, video play time reduced 28%, from 60 to 43 sec Attention spans are short! 🦋 Amber’s video review for Laura Geller is informative and, most importantly, succinct. Amber authentically represents Laura Geller's 40+ beauty consumer and speaks transparently about relevant skin characteristics and how the product addresses them. The video answers specific questions customer may have, such as: - Which shade she’s wearing and how it matches her skin tone? - How do I apply this product? - What skin concerns does this address?  - How effective is this product?  - On what occasions does she use this product? The results? Amber’s video of led to a 27% increase in engagement on the product page. 📈 Can you think of other reasons why Amber's video successfully drove conversion on eCommerce during BFCM? *‘Conversion-driving video content’ helps customers quickly learn about a product and make an informed purchasing decision. #BFCM #blackfriday #cybermonday #UGC #contentcreators #poweredbyhue #beautymarketing #huecommunity #marketing #beauty #shoppablevideo Sylvan Guo Janvi Shah Holly Guenther Elena Allison Noureen Shallwani Shraddha Harikumar Angel Catalan

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The company that Cody Coleman, William A. Gaviria Rojas, and the amazing team at Coactive AI are building is incredibly important. They are quickly solving one of the BIGGEST and FASTEST growing problems in data infrastructure today: Unstructured Visual Data - What is it, What to do with it, and How to monetize it. Congrats on the $30M series B!!! Pumped to work alongside Martin Casado at Andreessen Horowitz + Stacy Brown-Philpot at Cherryrock Capital + Brentt Baltimore at Greycroft + Fern Mandelbaum at Emerson Collective in this journey! Coactive AI's Multimodal Application Platform offering is also a testament to how having a diverse team can help customers address a very complex and diverse set of technological & business challenges. More from team Coactive AI below and in the great coverage from my friend Kenrick Cai at Forbes! Read Funding Coverage Here: https://rb.gy/42rsc5 Read more about the Coactive AI MAP Product Release: https://lnkd.in/ed4Gykkz "The world we live in is visual—it’s in every aspect of our lives, from the way we work and communicate to how we shop and enjoy entertainment. Yet, understanding visual data has been elusive, expensive, and tedious for many businesses for far too long. It’s been previously unachievable to intelligently search and analyze large volumes of unstructured visual content without spending countless hours labeling, tagging, or adding metadata to images and video, resulting in lost time and productivity. We are solving this problem at scale. Our mission is to transform how companies understand and analyze their visual content, turning data from a tax to an asset."

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My job is to make things like this happen. HOLYWATER has been featured on TechCrunch, and I’m super proud of it! 💪 I believe, you can’t truly succeed in brand management and PR without a great team, bold goals, and an innovative product — and HOLYWATER has all three. Check out the article where our founders bogdan nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov🇺🇦 talk about the new AI companion feature and how HOLYWATER is disrupting the mediatech and entertainment industry! Link in the comments 👇

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🚀 As a founder, whether of a cutting-edge startup or an innovative fund (VC, PE, etc.), understand the power of earned media! Partnering with a PR firm isn't just about visibility—it’s about credibility. Investors need to see you through the lens of reputable third-party validation, not just self-promotion. Impact Partners #EarnedMedia #VC #VentureCapital #PE #PrivateEquity #VentureDebt #GrowthEquity #PublicRelations #PR #StrategicCommunications #Founders #RaisingCapital

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💥 TikTok Shop is EXPLODING. The platform has crossed $5B in GMV year-to-date through November (in just the US!). Whether you’re looking to add ✨ viral brands✨ to your retail portfolio, source brands for investment opportunities, access competitive insights, or add brands to your sales pipeline, you need to know the trends shaping the TikTok Shop landscape. 📊 In this free report, Charm.io outlines the trending products and brands that have been seeing success on the platform and uses the data to highlight three key predictions for the holiday season’s top products.Don’t get left behind in the social commerce landscape. ➡️ Download the free report to get in-depth TikTok Shop data now: https://lnkd.in/eg-JiFds #TikTokShop #HolidayShopping #SocialCommerce #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt #TikTokShopSales #BlackFriday #CyberMonday

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As we’ve begun building Oversubscribed Ventures, we’ve learned that the world of venture capital is way too mysterious and insular. We wanted to crack it wide open and make it accessible to everyone. So, we launched a new podcast, with Phil Schwarz. Some of you may already listen to our World’s First Podcast (and if you do, thank you!). The Oversubscribed Podcast takes a lot of what makes World’s First Podcast great and focuses on the business world. This is a business podcast for anyone and everyone who is curious about stories of success, failure, recovering from rejection, pivoting, and more. Why launch a new podcast? - The lessons that come out of talking to founders, executives, etc can apply to everyone, whether they’re starting a company or not; - We could add something to the (way too few but super impressive) female voices in the startup and venture world; and - We could inject our own personality and - admittedly - often inappropriate humor into the conversations (iykyk). We hope our Oversubscribed Podcast does all of this and more. Link below, and of course you can find it anywhere you can listen to podcasts. More to come! Link: https://lnkd.in/e2E6kynn

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On this week's Andreessen Horowitz Raising Health podcast, Vijay Pande, PhD and I interviewed Tom Hale, CEO of ŌURA. Our conversation spans lots of fun topics, including: -- Our love for our Oura rings, despite them being literal “buzz kills” in revealing the ruinous effect of alcohol on sleep  -- How the worlds of consumer and healthcare are merging, as consumers essentially now have access to clinical-grade wearable devices  -- How AI algorithms are deployed in wearable devices & what wearables might look like 20 years from now (implanted into our bodies and clothes)  -- How the sexiest people sleep in earplugs and eye masks Check it out! https://lnkd.in/eTAsX_sY

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In 2015, Shaul Olmert built Playbuzz, which became social media's most viral internet company. Today, he's pioneering a new platform for courses, KwaKaw, tailored to the TikTok and Stories era. 🚀 In my podcast, Founders' Marketing Compass, I had the honor of interviewing him about the way he manages his marketing team. In this episode, we discussed the following questions (and more!): 🔹 Most Important Metric at Playbuzz: Share ratio 🔹 Most Important Metric Today: Number of creators returning to produce additional courses 🔹 How did he achieve these metrics? 🔹 How does he communicate the company's goals to employees? 🔹 What is most important to him when recruiting employees? 🔹 What are the common pitfalls for startup founders who think they have a winning product? We delved into these topics in an episode brimming with valuable insights. 🎧👇 Sign up for new episodes + the full episode: https://lnkd.in/dXTKpNKz Youtube: https://lnkd.in/dfdtbb69 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/d7bAsC4T #Startup #Entrepreneurship #Marketing #Leadership #Insights

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