Founder Weekly (Issue 442 - July 1 2020)

Founder Weekly - Issue 442

July 01, 2020

Founder Weekly

Welcome to issue 442 of Founder Weekly. We have a packed issue this week. Enjoy it!

General

Keith Rabois and James Currier examine the rule deviation behind some of technology's greatest startup feats — PayPal, Square, Yelp, and even Apple, Tesla, and SpaceX.

It's a great time to build a company, but the coronavirus pandemic, economic downturn and Black Lives Matter movement will shape startups in new ways, according to top venture capitalists.

Why Meme Startups Should Be More Like Leo Than Will.

Over the next decade, the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will start to materialize. The intricacies of the global economy and the often nonlinear nature of technological development means it is difficult to speculate now as to what that future will look like, except to say that it will be radically different from a course not altered by a global pandemic.

GitHub Sponsors is built for funding all types of work that advance open source software. Anyone who contributes to open source—whether through code, documentation, leadership, mentorship, design, and beyond—is eligible for sponsorship. In this post, Caleb Porzio shares how he is able to hit $100k/yr On GitHub Sponsors; more that what he made as a full-time developer the previous year.

Web apps. Push notifications. Software as a status symbol. It all started with email.

The New Normal for the Global Startup Economy and the Impact of COVID-19.

Debate/discussion/rants about app stores (or perhaps The App Store) have rapidly polarized to the point where it seems difficult to have a rational discussion.

A Guiding Principle for Consumer Product.

Marketing, Sales and PR

How SEO, Outreach & Content Led To A $6B Valuation.

For B2B startups, a downturn can be a boon – the trick is to survive.

Uri Ar and Erica Marom, aka Urica™, share the 3-step methodology they use as a basis for helping startups build their brands.

Seven powerful concepts to help you attract new customers, grow your business and build your brand.

Here's how to design a SaaS lead generation strategy that attracts users who are not only ready to try your product/service but who will become loyal users.

Money and Finance

If you’ve run a full Series A fundraising process and haven’t found a lead, pulling together a syndicate can be a good Plan B. (We’ve even seen a few cases where pulling together a competing “offer” from a syndicate triggered a term sheet offer from a lead.) If you’re in this position, here’s how to do it.

Enabling access to investors and capital. Made by and for ?? underestimated founders.

Startups of the Week

Get an extra month of runway with the R&D tax credit for early-stage startups.

Machine learning for creators. Bring the power of artificial intelligence to your creative projects with an intuitive and simple visual interface. Start exploring new ways of creating today.

Never cut your grass again. Toadi's self-driving lawn robot uses a camera to autonomously drive around in your yard. The high-performance mowing motor cuts even the wildest grass at the perfect length. And the night-vision enables Toadi to secure your yard during the night.

Tips, Tools and Services

The board diversity problem is a symptom of a much broader problem around lack of diversity in founders that get funded and lack of diversity in VC firms. Most startup boards are made up of a few founders and a few VCs. No wonder you have no diversity on the board. Here are some suggestions for addressing this situation. 

Want to learn how to sell more and grow your business? Here we share 21 real-life copywriting examples on how to write brilliant copy that sells.

Onboarding emails are make-or-break for SaaS companies looking to acquire customers long-term. These nine onboarding email templates can help you do just that.

Why They Work, How to Make Them, and More.

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