NEWS
· SAVE THE DATE: Our annual NY fund event will be the evening of December 5. Stay tuned for details and your official invite!
· Change is a natural part of business, and we have a number of changes in the team to let you know about:
· Tony Peccatiello will be shifting from full-time NY Principal to part-time Venture Partner. Tony is making this change to pursue his dream of leading a blockchain start-up of his own.
· Jim Louderback, our SF-based venture partner, has just been named CEO of VidCon, the worldwide event series that is the primary in-gathering for the digital video universe. Jim will remain a Venture Partner, but will be less active, given his new day job.
· Joining us to take up the slack in NYC will be Principal Kevin Sullivan. (Kevins@socialstarts.com) Kevin has been product lead at Peer IQ and a Venture Partner at Flatiron Investors.
· In San Francisco, we will be adding Venture Partner Brett Durrett (brett@socialstarts.com) and Principal Mayra Ceja (Mayra@socialstarts.com). Brett has most recently been EIR at Ordinary Ventures, the fund started by Biz Stone, founder of Twitter. Brett has run and headed engineering for a number of start-ups. Mayra launched Princeton University’s first early stage fund and has been an active individual investor.
· Jon Broscious (jon@socialstarts.com), our intern who was based in SF this summer, is back in Austin, Texas for his final year of B-school, but will remain as an active Venture Partner. He will be traveling to NY and SF regularly to buttress the teams on both costs.
TALENT
· A cadre of experienced engineers is now available from one of Brett Durrett’s previous companies. If your company is looking for senior engineers or quality assurance experts (and who isn’t?), let nicole@socialstarts.com know and she will send you a private link to backgrounds on these candidates.
· Are there other positions open at your company? Let us help! We can add your opportunities to our website and circulate among our network. Email job listings to nicole@socialstarts.com.
REGISTER FOR THE SOCIAL STARTS SALES TRAINING
· Due to popular demand, Founding Partner Bill Lohse is offering his full day legendary sales training to Social Starts portfolio companies again on Monday, October 2 in New York City. Learned directly from legendary media mogul Bill Ziff, this approach has made its way through the Ziff Davis diaspora and has been adopted in some form by Google, Microsoft, Forbes, and many other media and tech companies. Register yourself or your CRO to attend.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU
· Our portfolio company Pistol Lake makes ultra-functional men’s workout apparel for minimalists. Our partners wear it and love it. As a portfolio company, receive a 20% discount on your first Pistol Lake order using code "socialstarts."
· Need a place to set up shop? Our portfolio company Inverse is subletting office space in SoHo for up to 12 people with exclusive access to one meeting room and shared use of a common area. Email dave@inverse.com for details.
· Portfolio company Eden is the marketplace for all workplace needs –– consistent office cleaning, handyman services, and all office snacks and supplies. Clients include Airbnb, Slack, Pinterest, and over 1,000 others. They save these companies an average of 5-10% off their workplace costs Social Start's portfolio companies get 2 free hours of handyman help when the giv Ede a sho. Interested? Reach out to CEO Joe Du Bey joe@eden.io.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
· Get big savings from Amazon Web Services (use organization ID 14cU3)
· Access Facebookls FbStart benefits for mobile app startups (use code "SocialStarts")
· Get Google Cloud Platform credits (email mike@socialstarts.com)
PORTFOLIO COMPANY FUNDRAISING UPDATES
· Vendorhawk raises a $1.2M seed round to help companies track their software spending
· Hookit Raises $16M in Growth Funding
· Astronomer raises $3.5M to make data analytics more accessible
· AI company Stratifyd raises $5.9M in Series A
· Edtech startup Grovo raises $11.3 Million
· MagicCube closes $8.5 Million Series A Funding Round
PORTFOLIO COMPANY NEWS
· Hookit and McLaren Honda Sign Long-term Partnership
· Canvs Announces Artificial Intelligence Integrations
· TripleLift Selected by BBC Advertising for Native Advertising Globally
· Grovo Releases First All-in-one Microlearning Platform for Today's Rapidly Changing Workplace
· Binded Unveils One Click US Copyright Registration for Photos at No Extra Fee
· CodeFights Launches Database World and 11 New Languages In One Of The Biggest Updates Yet
· IRIS.TV Fuels Global Standardization for Video Personalization with Publishers
WE BLOG
· Where We Are Investing Now, by Managing Partner Mike Edelhart
· My In-laws Wrecked the Online Me, by Venture Partner Jim Louderback
· What Does This Raise Get You?, by Venture Partner Charles C. Smith
WE’RE HERE TO HELP
· Mike Edelhart, Managing Partner
· Nicole Staudinger, Director of Marketing
HELP US MAKE CONNECTIONS
· Do you know fellow entrepreneurs who are making strides in content, commerce, work platforms or IoT software? We want to meet them- if you'd like to make an introduction, get in touch!
PROMOTIONS
· We're dedicated to sharing your news with our networks! Feel free to send any news releases, photos, or press about your company to nicole@socialstarts.com.