Future of VFA Town Hall, A Letter from Andrew Yang, Cool Projects by Fellows!
The November 2024 VFA Fellow Community Newsletter
Hi! I’m sending this newsletter from a little coffee shop in Brooklyn, voice only a little lost from karaoke last night, ready to party my face off tomorrow night at the VFA Funeral party (if you’re in NYC, RSVP and come through)! It’s already been so nice to see a few people, and looking forward to seeing many more. The critical update here is that we are having a Future of VFA Town Hall on Sunday November 10 at 4pm eastern (rsvp here). If you care about what happens with the VFA community from here, this is the moment to come through and show up. We have a Call for Concepts out to ask people to pitch ideas. Below, learn more about the Town Hall and how to pitch along with more cool content like a letter from the OG — VFA Founder Andrew Yang! — and updates from Fellows (books, launches, events, creating opportunities for ourselves and others!).
Be well and don’t forget to vote (iwillvote.com),
amanda tien (‘15, providence & new orleans)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Critical Updates & Key Asks
Future of VFA Town Hall w/ Call For Concepts - Sunday Nov 10, 4pm est
Letter from Andrew Yang
Keep an eye on your personal email
Community Initiatives & Events
National Social Committee — interested in joining?
Birmingham Bamasgiving, Nov 15-17
SF/Bay Area Friendsgiving, Sat Nov 23
Reaching Out to Partners: We’re Still Here!
Jobs, Opportunities, and Resources
The VFA Notion Got An Update!
Ben Weinberg’s Skillshare Session: “Making Cold Outreach Cool Again”
The Skillshare Project: Upcoming Fellow-Led Webinars
Bulletin Board
Max Polec ('17) Published a Startup Book! Many, Many Hats
Sean Pak's ('24) Design Studio with Opportunities for You to Make a Quick Buck or Help with VFA Fundraising
Lili Hostetler (‘24) is founding Phoenix Prosthetics (using 3d parts to make artificial limbs) — looking for funding!
VFA Reunion in St. Louis Was Awesome!
1. Critical Updates & Key Asks
1A. Future of VFA Town Hall w/ Call For Concepts - Sunday Nov 10, 4pm est
What should and/or could the future of this community look like? We* invite you to join us at a Future of VFA Town Hall virtual meeting on Sunday November 10 from 4-6pm usa est! Please visit https://tinyurl.com/futureofvfanov10 to 1) learn more, 2) to rsvp on the Google cal here, and 3) to explore and reply to our CALL FOR CONCEPTS (5-minute pitches at this meeting to share big ideas and vision; submit pitches by Nov 6). This is open to Fellows, former team members, and community partners—please share the invite with discretion. We are primarily interested in hearing ideas for and by Fellows, but welcome all in our community.
Hosted by Amanda Tien (2015) on behalf of the *VFA Community Collective, a working group of a couple dozen volunteer Fellows who have supporting Fellows (especially 2024 and 2023 Fellows), building new systems, and propelling action in the wake of VFA’s cease of operations.
Note: There will also be a short update from me on the progress we’ve made over the last few months, but the majority of time is intended to hear ideas from and by Fellows. I (Amanda) intend to lead a concept pitch about the future of the Slack situation, so if you have opinions about that, please make sure to join.
1B. Letter from Andrew Yang to VFA Fellows
Andrew Yang reached out the VFA Community Collective group and asked to share the following letter to Fellows!
Hello VFAmily,
Andrew Yang here. Some of you know me quite well. For others of you, I’m something of a founder campfire story or someone you’ve seen on television or social media.
Venture for America has obviously gone through a lot this past number of months, as the original organization has fallen into debt and is being wound down. That hurts. Having something you poured your heart and soul into for years go inert is painful.
I haven’t had a formal role with VFA in a number of years, but the thought of it continuing to channel the energies and ambitions of a new generation always brought me immense gratitude and joy. Seeing it in its current state is rough.
All that said, what is Venture for America, fundamentally? It’s not paperwork or a balance sheet.
It’s people, relationships and a community that wants to help each other have a positive impact in the world.
And we are still here, trying to do just that.
I run into VFA alums or fellows all of the time. There is a spirit that everyone has of optimism and possibility. The country still needs that, perhaps more than ever. We need that in our own lives.
I’ve also been invited to a wedding or two that came out of VFA. We need that too.
The essence of VFA is amazing people doing positive things. I’m so grateful to Fellows Amanda Tien, Anand Macherla, Ben Weinberg, and others who have been organizing alums and fellows; to Connie Bowen and Amanda for taking over and organizing the St. Louis Reunion; to Caitlin Morelli, Brooks Sime, and Alyssa Dizon for hosting the NYC event; to Ben Rothschild, Gabi Rudnick, and Jess Agyepong for organizing the 2023 Fellows, and similarly, Bee Golding, Aurorah Arndt, and Alex Welch for organizing the 2024s; and many more Fellows who have been connecting in big and small ways, virtually and in-person, to create opportunity and value. I have been looking to see what I can do that would be most helpful in giving rise to the next iteration of VFA. I’ll be attending the Nov 10th virtual Future of VFA Town Hall session and I’m sure will see some of you there.
For those of you who don’t know me, I hope we have a chance to meet in the days ahead.
I love VFA – and there is nothing that can take away or diminish who we are, what we’ve done, what we represent, and the relationships that we have formed. VFA has changed so many lives, including mine, for the better. I can’t imagine life without it. And if we put a proper amount of energy, resources and ingenuity into keeping the spirit of our community alive, I’ll never have to.
Your fellow VFA alum,
- Andrew
1C. Keep an eye on your personal email
Another community initiative is in-progress. Please keep an eye out on your personal email accounts for messages from the VFAAAB account and/or people from your year to learn more.
2. Community Initiatives & Events
2A. Sarah Tatarski ('22, Philadelphia) Is Calling For Folks Interested in Creating a VFA National Social Committee!
If you’re interested in helping to build a VFA National Social Committee, please fill out this form. I’m happy to take the lead for now, envisioning a core group (the national social committee) along with subgroups. Each subgroup could have leads who contribute to the larger committee discussions, connecting all the incredible work being done and exploring new ideas everyone wants to engage with.
This is a work in progress, but my main goal with this national organizing effort is to prevent siloed conversations. Think of it as a CLC 2.0—only better! We can learn from each other’s successes and challenges in event planning, both locally and nationally, while sharing our creativity together. https://forms.gle/EVxpCxyS7QNkSxp46
2b. Birmingham Bamasgiving, Nov 15-17
Birmingham Bamasgiving is going big this year! November 15-17th, open to all VFA fellows + alum! Main event is Saturday night for a giant Friendsgiving. Other events including touch football and farmer’s markets. RSVP now to be first come first serve on housing with fellows + alumni—even if you're a maybe (there's an option for that): https://forms.gle/BomRiRaKFtoG9nt58 Can't commit quite yet? Join the Bamasgiving 2024 GroupMe for key updates and banter here. Hope to see you there! - Cameron Champion (‘20, Birmingham)
2C. SF/Bay Area Friendsgiving, Friendsgiving, Fri Nov 22, planned by Curtis Chou (‘24)
VFA fellows in the Bay are getting together for a Thanksgiving potluck. Would love to have fellows in the Bay and across the country come join us! It'll be fun and at a very nice house in SF on Friday 11/22 at 6pm in SF. Looking forward to seeing y'all there :)
RSVP here and learn more on Partiful: https://partiful.com/e/8VoZH2kRHttS7Lbmb3Qy
Join the VFA in the Bay WhatsApp Group
https://chat.whatsapp.com/BLv8sSAGZIq2GiPPRHq4z4
2D. Reaching Out to Partners: We’re Still Here!
We posted on LinkedIn — here (Amanda Tien, 15) and here (Emily Sjoberg, 22) — encouraging community partners to reach out to us. VFA may have ceased operations, but we haven’t! We have heard from many partners that they want to find a way to connect with Fellows in their city, still want to hire Fellows, and collaborate. To help us spread the word, please consider liking or sharing those posts, or doing your own version to tell people in your network that we’re still here, still working. You can also email us, too! vfaaab@gmail.com (that’s 3’as)
3. Jobs, Opportunities, and Resources
3A. The VFA Notion Got Streamlined!
It’s hopefully even easier to explore and find things now :) Now, all resources (job hunt, mentorship, leadership dev, etc) are under one page, except for mental health resources which still has its own page for easy access. Shout-out to Emily Sjoberg (2022, Pittsburgh) who volunteered to take over managing submitted updates to it! We have so many resources, and we welcome new additions. Check it out: tinyurl.com/VFANotion - amanda tien
3B. Ben Weinberg ('18, Birmingham) gave a Skillshare on building your professional network
Thanks to everyone who joined! For those who weren't able to, you can watch the recording here and also find it on the VFA Notion (tinyurl.com/VFANotion) under Resources.
3C. The Skillshare Project: Upcoming Fellow-Led Webinars
A group of VFACC* Fellows—shout-out to Stephen Kita ‘16, Brenden Watson ‘23, Ben Weinberg ‘18, and Julie Bautista ‘24!—are organizing a skillshare process to share more value and lessons learned amongst the Fellow Community! They’re planning a series trainings and webinars (on subjects like fundraising/finances, personal boundaries, marketing, and so on) through 2025. Skill development opportunities has been a big ask from the 2023 and 2024 Fellows who had shorter Training Camps and wanted to see more professional, and so this awesome project is in direct response to that ask. Whenever we have dates for these, we’ll add them to the calendar, so make sure to subscribe/add the VFA Fellow Community Google Calendar here. - amanda
4. Bulletin Board
4a. Max Polec ('17) Published a Startup Book! Many, Many Hats
I wrote a book on startups reflecting on the many, many hats I've worn from startup employee to co-founder, accelerator director to ecosystem builder, and now as trusted coach. Would love to have you support by getting a copy (all proceeds go to The Arc Alliance which is a nonprofit doing important advocacy work for persons with intellectual disabilities in PA). Get your copy here!
4b. Sean Pak's ('24) Design Studio with Opportunities for You to Make a Quick Buck or Help with VFA Fundraising
Hey VFA Friends, I’m thrilled to announce that my design studio B'More Designful is launching its new Referral Program! Starting in November, we’re accepting 4 more clients looking for early UX support, whether it be bootstrapping their UX operations or providing ongoing design and user research help. Here’s how it works:
🌟 For Your Friends: They receive 15% off any of our UX services (using promo code VFA-15), including:
Bootstrapping UX Operations: Custom design systems tailored to their tech stack, essential UX resources, and a dedicated UX workspace—perfect for startups without a designer yet but looking to hire soon.
Ad-Hoc UX Design & Research: Flexible services like wireframing, prototyping, surveying, usability testing, user interviews, and A/B testing to meet their unique needs.
💰 For You: Every successful referral rewards you with $100-$250! Choose to receive your bonus in cash or have us donate it to the VFA Reimbursement Fund for 2024 fellows (here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jb84z).
Joining is easy! Simply share our website (www.bmore-designful.com) with your network and help fellow entrepreneurs elevate their UX game while earning rewards for yourself. Have them mention you as their referrer, and I’ll be in touch! For some founders, the distance from idea to launch has always been a deterrent toward launching new ideas into viable MVPs. B’More Designful is working to shorten that distance for as many early-stage startups as possible!
4c. Lili Hostetler (‘24) is the founder of Phoenix Prosthetics (using 3d parts to make artificial limbs) — looking for funding!
This is Amanda Tien (‘15) bragging on Lili Hostetler’s behalf! Lili did an incredible job pitching at Side-Project-A-Thon at the VFA Reunion in St. Louis. (Explore their Ideabounce page, hosted by Wash St. Louis, which includes a 2-min video pitch.) Lili has the opportunity to get a huge academic grant, but it requires being able to secure additional follow-on funding. Do you have ideas or connections in VC, biotech, health tech, or just want to fund an awesome venture? Please connect w/ Lili on LinkedIn and/or email Lili at lilihostetlerlg@gmail.com
4d. VFA Reunion in St. Louis Was Awesome!
It was such an amazing experience! We had small group vfamericano coffee dates, co-worked, pitched each other on projects, shared our values and stories, got to learn about and explore st. louis, brainstormed the future of vfa, did side-project-a-thon, slid down slides, climbed an art playground, ate bbq together, danced, laughed, saw a national monument, heard local music, hugged, and imagined. Thank you to everyone who made the trip and engaged with it! — Amanda Tien (15, PVD & NOLA) & Connie Bowen (‘16, St. Louis) Read a longer summary of the event in the VFA Fellows Slack here.
*Get Involved, Get In Touch, and Submit a Blurb
Getting Involved — Explore the drop-down menu on this page of the Notion to figure out how you could have the most impact: https://www.notion.so/Get-Involved-Stay-Connected-895d2c2baaa74ab1bc7d73d21e853102
Want to volunteer to help with the VFA community organizing? We welcome everyone! We are working under the name the VFA Community Collective (VFACC). Anyone is welcome to join us. We’re working on a variety of projects including Skillshares, founder support, exploring fiscal sponsorship, event planning, and more. If you want to join our working group of volunteers, please DM Anand Macherla, Amanda Tien, or Ben Weinberg on the VFA Fellows Slack and we’ll add you to our working group Slack channel! (Or email us at vfaaab@gmail.com.) You can also join our next working group meeting which is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday November 19 at 8:30pm usa est; you can rsvp here.
Getting in touch - If you’re not on the VFA Slack and/or if you have an idea or resource or want to make something happen, email vfaaab@gmail.com (that’s 3 a’s; it’s an old alumni board account) and we’ll get back to you within two weeks.
Submit a blurb for next time! Want to send a blurb for the December installment? Submit your blurb here (it’s also linked on the homepage of the newsletter) by noon eastern on 11/30/2024.