October VFA Fellow Newsletter
the Slack has an expiration date, smart people build things, and more.
Hello all! I’ve been more inspired and hopeful about VFA in the past two months than I’ve been in years. In the weeks since the closure, I’m reminded again and again of how the magic of Venture for America has always been in the people. It’s the Fellows who plan family dinners, who found companies and hire other Fellows, who create solutions to problems. It’s the team members who went above and beyond to find jobs, secure grants, to provide mental and emotional support. It’s the company and regional partners who believed in VFA and the mission, who literally and figuratively bought into the vision. And over the past two months, I’ve seen that magic again and it’s fucking incredible. So, thank you, truly, to everyone who has stepped up, donated, and put their hands up and out.
Lots of updates below; let’s keep building.
<3 amanda tien
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Critical Updates & Key Asks
VFA Fellows Slack has an expiration date
2024 GoFundMe deadline is October 6
5-Min Survey About Future of VFA
Community Initiatives & Events
Shared “National” VFA Google Calendar
LinkedIn VFA Alumni Group: Join!
VFAbundance Literary & Art Magazine: Submit!
Working group of organizers: the VFA Community Collective; all are welcome!
St. Louis Reunion, Oct 4 - 6
RIP VFA Party in NYC, Nov 2
Birmingham Bamasgiving Nov 15 - 17
Skillshare Project: DIY Guidelines for Teaching Others & Learning!
Update on Mentorship Project & Office Hour Project
Jobs, Opportunities, and Resources
Community Job Board
VFA Notion got a big update
Venture for Canada sessions for 23/24 Fellows
Workshop on Cold Outreach
Bulletin Board
Ciara May (‘18) is crowdfunding her company, Rebundle!
Sean Lane (‘12) has written a book! The Revenue Operations Manual
Max Eisenberg (‘12) is looking for Cleveland media connections
Ethan Lane (‘12) has a new AI Dictation product, Wispr, on ProductHunt!
Amanda Tien (‘15) shares a personal story + volunteer shout-outs
1. Critical Updates & Key Asks
1A. VFA Fellows Slack has an expiration date.
The current contract for the VFA Fellows Slack will officially expire March 2025 (ugh). Despite repeated efforts, we have not been able to gain Slack admin status and control from the VFA Board of Directors. Because we do not have admin status, we can't even add/invite members, much less take over the Slack payments to keep it running (which is estimated to be $7,000/a year).
What do we do about it? Y’all tell me! I have some thoughts. Check out this "SOS: Save our Slack" document. Page 1 is a more detailed update from me, and page 2 is a “sign-up / discussion forum.”
I probably don’t personally have the bandwidth or the connections to run this Slack saving or next steps effort. If you do, I would absolutely love you to take the lead on it; write something in that doc above and we can get connected. For now, I’ll keep working in the Slack, but I would say we should all mentally prepare ourselves for some kind of migration/next steps plan by December 1. - Amanda Tien (‘15, Providence & New Orleans)
1B. The 2024 Training Camp GoFundMe Ends October 6
The campaign to support the 2024 Fellows re: Training Camping Reimbursements ends on October 6. We’re over 70% of the way to our goal and only need $2600 more to fully reimburse 2024 fellows for their flights to the training camp that never was. Thank you so much to everyone who’s donated already! Appreciate you. Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jb84z
1C. 5-min Survey about the Future of VFA
This survey asks about The Future of VFA and asking y’all what is most important to YOU. It is fully anonymous and takes 5 minutes or less to complete. Connie Bowen (‘16, STL) is especially interested in having people answers by this Saturday am so she can use it to guide a conversation with stakeholders at the Community Jam Session at Reunion. This survey is open until 10/31.
2. Community Initiatives & Events
2A. “National” Shared VFA Google Calendar
Click here to subscribe to it.
We welcome calendar additions for events that are meant to build community locally or nationally or offer free resources/workshops to VFA Fellows. There are two ways to add events:
#1: Simply invite vfafellowsdotorg@gmail.com as a guest to your existing event, and it should show up on the calendar! Big s/o to Briggs Uhler (‘23, Kansas City) for setting this up!
#2: Email vfaaab@gmail.com with subject line: “Event for Calendar: [YOUR EVENT NAME], and then include dates/times, write a short description, the location (is it national, virtual, or in a certain city), and any action item (register here…), and we will manually add it for you.
2B. VFA LinkedIn Group
The VFA LinkedIn Group is being reactivated! It's more important than ever to keep this group active, especially since we don't know the future of VFA Slack, and we want to make sure it turns into a helpful place to: 1) Communicate, 2) Share updates (ex: "Big news, we're launching our product!") 3) Make asks (ex: "Does anyone have a connection to ...?"), And 4) Offer help (ex: "I have capacity to mentor..." or job opportunities). Please join the LinkedIn group and comment on the pinned post here with what you’d like to see! - Alexandra Bacchus (‘17, Nashville)
2C. VFAbundance Literary & Arts Magazine
VFAbundance is working on a magazine to reflect on, collect, and share folks’ experiences with VFA. The magazine will be a collection of creative works like stories, essays, drawings, poems, etc, curated around the themes of experience & community. If you are interested in showcasing your creative abilities and contributing to a collective understanding of what it means to be in the VFA community, please share your pitches with us (https://t.ly/Ou0Vy) by October 6 (deadline extended)! - Heb Braggs (‘22, San Antonio)
2D. The Working Group of Organizers = VFA Community Collective
The working group is “officially” (lol) calling ourselves the VFA Community Collective. We’re making shit happen (see the end of this newsletter for some shout-outs). To join us:
Join us in #vfacc-community-collective in the Fellows Slack
or email vfaaab@gmail.com and we’ll plug you in
or join our next meeting, tentatively scheduled for Tuesday 10/22 at 8:30pm eastern. All are welcome to attend; please note that this is an active working meeting and not like a presentation lol. Calendar invite here.
2E. St. Louis Reunion, Oct 4-6
St. Louis Reunion is this weekend!!! I’m genuinely so excited. Connie and I have done some VFA ass shit and made something out of nothing. We have a lil website about it: https://vfareunion2024.squarespace.com/ (pw: community) If you want to grab a plane/car/train/wings thiis Friday and come to St. Louis, do it — all are welcome! Please fill out this late registration form and we’ll see you there! - Amanda Tien (‘15, Providence & New Orleans)
2F. RIP VFA | NYC Farewell Party on Nov. 2
As is the VFA tradition, we will always find a reason for a themed party, even our own demise. Please join us in gathering as many VFAers as we can for a sendoff celebration of our favorite fallen org in NYC on Saturday November 2! The theme is funeral, your finest mourning attire is encouraged. If enough folks come through we'll self-organize daytime hangs throughout the weekend too! Details here: https://partiful.com/e/OaX2vYFw1uPF9tR2Eqlm? - Brooks Sime (‘16, New Orleans), Caitlin Morelli (‘16, Baltimore), Alyssa Dizon (‘16, New Orleans)
2G. 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)
2H. Skillshare Project: DIY Guidelines
From the Mentorship Project (below), we were hearing from a lot of ‘23 and ‘24 Fellows that they’re interested in getting skills-based training. However, we do not have capacity to run a Skillshare project (if you’re interested in running it, let us know at vfaaab@gmail.com), so our solution was to create a Do-It-Yourself process sheet! Check out the Skillshare DIY Guide here (step-by-step for how to teach something new or request to learn something new!). - Amanda Tien (‘15, Pvd & Nola)
The first “official” Skillshare will be hosted by Ben Weinberg on October 15! Ben writes, “Making Cold Outreach Cool Again. People want to help you, if you ask and make it easy for them. Learn (and share!) best practices for identifying people you admire who you want to chat with, techniques for reaching out and reaching out again when you get ghosted, and following up when you finally have that great convo! This session is especially valuable for 2024/23 fellows who have opted into mentorship and want to learn how to make the most of that relationship. When: Tuesday October 15 @ 11am - 12pm ET. RSVP and dial-in here: https://calendar.app.google/5pnRhjUTNbnnX9gs7”
2I. Updates on Completed Projects: Mentorship & Office Hours
The VFA Mentorship Project has overall been a success!
Thank you to everyone who mentored, even if we haven’t matched you with anyone — we had more mentors than mentees, amazing! Everyone who requested a Mentor was matched with one.
Mentors — please consider reaching out to your mentees, even if they haven’t responded; we’re getting a lot of feedback that ‘23 and ‘24 Fellows have been super overwhelmed by everything that’s happened, and they may not be peak managing up right now.
Mentees — Amanda emailed you some guidance on how to manage up to your mentors to get the most out of that relationship. Check it out on the Notion here.
As for what’s next, we’re exploring the Skillshare project (see above).
Thank you all! - Mentorship Lead Ben Weinberg (‘18)
The Fellow/Alumni Office Hours project has come to an end! We held open drop-in sessions 1-2 times a week for the first 6 weeks post VFA’s closure. These often ended up being intimate and (reportedly) impactful sessions. We would love to do more but just are at capacity right now. Let us know if you want to take it on (email vfaaab@gmail.com) and we can onboard you! - Office Hours Team (Anand Macherla, ‘18 and Amanda Tien, '15)
3. Jobs, Opportunities, and Resources
3A. Community Job Board
We have a VFA Community Job Board that was designed to crowdsource listings for 2024 Fellows who never got matched with a role, but it’s open to all Fellows and all jobs! Instructions are on the first page to add roles. Check it out!
3B. VFA Notion Updates
Got a big update! More organized by theme/interest area now. Check it out: tinyurl.com/vfanotion The goal is that this is the place that will always have all the links you need. Have ideas of what to add or notice something missing/wrong? Email us at vfaaab@gmail.com - amanda
3C. Venture for Canada Sessions for 23/24 Fellows
Venture for Canada has invited 2023 and 2024 Fellows to attend two sessions of virtual programming, per an agreement with Carrie Murphy! Those Fellows will be emailed directly from Venture for Canada; RSVP yes when the invite gets sent your way. Details on both are on the VFA Calendar - one is on AI on 10/23, and one is 11/6 on the job hunt.
3D. Workshop: Making Cold Outreach Cool Again
Workshop: Making Cold Outreach Cool Again by Ben Weinberg (‘18). People want to help you, if you ask and make it easy for them. Learn (and share!) best practices for identifying people you admire who you want to chat with, techniques for reaching out and reaching out again when you get ghosted, and following up when you finally have that great convo! This session is especially valuable for 2024/23 fellows who have opted into mentorship and want to learn how to make the most of that relationship. When: Tuesday October 15 @ 11am - 12pm ET. RSVP here!
4. Bulletin Board
4A. Ciara May (‘18) is crowdfunding her company, Rebundle!
From Ciara May (2018, Charlotte): Hey everyone! I’m Ciara, 2018 Charlotte fellow. First, I’m very happy that members of the community have stepped up. Hopefully we all donate a bit of our time to just keep it going. I am the founder of Rebundle, and we launched a crowdfund recently and I’d love your support.
Rebundle aims to dramatically reduce the health and environmental disparities in the hair extensions industry. Rebundle hair extensions are: - Biodegradable - Vegan - Itch-free (1 in 3 extension wearers will experience scalp irritation due to the toxins in braiding hair). More about Rebundle on our campaign here!
We’re hoping to raise $50k - $100k by October 14. One of the main pitfalls for the VFA community is the lack of funding startups are experiencing, and Rebundle is no exception. This crowdfund will help us get to cash flow positivity so that we’re not wholly reliant on VC. Investments start at $100 and would make a huge difference for Rebundle’s ability to control its own destiny. Any reshares or engagement online is also gratefully appreciated if you cannot invest at this time. https://invest.honeycombcredit.com/campaigns/Rebundle
PS: Anand Macherla (‘18, Baltimore) also hyped this up! He writes, “She's seeking $50k – $100k, and is using the platform Honeycomb Credit (a company partner – 2018 fellows "TP" Gomez & Sophia Fang worked there). Campaign is live until Oct 14th. I hope to be a co-investor with other fellow fellows! <3”
4B. Sean Lane (‘12) has written a book! The Revenue Operations Manual
Bragging on Sean Lane (2012, Providence)'s behalf, from Amanda Tien (‘15, Providence & New Orleans) -- Sean has published a book!!! THE REVENUE OPERATIONS MANUAL. "Growing a business is a team sport, and Revenue Operations — the #1 fastest-growing job on LinkedIn — is how you can deliver that growth. When you adopt the Revenue Operations Mindset, you can transform siloed, unpredictable businesses into high-achieving, predictable and scalable revenue machines. This book is the blueprint to do just that. Features 50+ operators interviews and real world models."
Paperback or eBook is $32 on Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Target, and if you order from Kogan Page (the publisher), you can bundle it with an eBook for the same price. Looks siiiickkk. Congratulations Sean!!! Check it out: https://www.revenueoperationsmanual.com/
4C. Max Eisenberg (‘12) is looking for Cleveland media connections
“Looking for connections to local media in Cleveland! Please text me at 415.847.0109”
4D. Ethan Lane (‘12) has a new AI Dictation product, Wispr, on ProductHunt!
Hi VFAm! My company’s product is launching today on PH! This is the culmination of a huge amount of work from me and I’m super proud of the result. Wispr Flow is dictation software that works really well - it’s fast, accurate, and easy to use. Would love it if you would consider giving it a try and/or some support on Producthunt!
4E Amanda Tien (‘15) personal share + shout-outs!
From Amanda Tien (‘15, Providence & New Orleans): I’ll be honest with y’all — I stopped opening most emails from VFA about four years ago, and recently was just like “LOL now I’m writing them—how did I get here?” I wrote on my personal LinkedIn trying to answer that question. I wanted to share it in case you're like "who the hell is this girl lol." But I also feel super awkward sharing this about myself in the newsletter I’m organizing? Hence why I put it at the very end hahaha. Also please feel free to add me if we're not connected; I used to only add people I knew IRL but right now I'm adding any/all VFA people. Anyway here’s Wonder Wall / here’s the LinkedIn Post.
I also want to give some shout-outs on the work that some people in the VFA Community Collective have been doing!
Shout-out to Brenden Watson (‘23, Detroit) took on an offer from a VFA Miami Regional Partner to connect Fellows with jobs! This is a big time labor of love to collect resumes and discuss with the partner. Thank you, Brenden!
Shout-out to Gabi Rudnik, Jess Agyepong, and Ben Rothschild (all ‘23, Philadelphia) organized a network wide “City Organizing Call” to activate and encourage people to organize locally. Thank you to everyone who attended that call and is engaging locally with building community. They would love to hear from you about what’s happening in your city VFA-wise here and encourage you to join #vfacc-city-squads.
Shout-out to Gabi Rudnik (‘23) and Bee Golding (‘24) who are doing a phenomenal job at curating, collating, distributing information across the 23/24 classes. THANK YOU!!!!
Shout-out to anyone and everyone who has been doing a lot of work activating community in their local cities and online, such as but not limited to Gabi Rudnik, Jess Agyepong, and Ben Rothschild in Philadelphia; Brenden Watson and Naabia Romain in Detroit; Angelina Fung, Curtis Chou, Mark Bennett in the Bay area; Muhan Zhang and Alexandra Bacchus in New York; Emily Sjoberg in Pittsburgh; Cameron Champion in Birmingham; and Aurorah Arndt, Anand Macherla, Logan Cundiff, and Alex Welch! Thank you to them and everyone not mentioned that you’re doing to build and nurture community!
Shout-out to Erin Lee (‘22) who has consistently raised her hand to help with random things! Appreciate you!
Shout-out to Connie Bowen (‘16) who accepted my help when I raised my hand to make a Partiful for Reunion and then lol help co-lead the whole thing hahaha we’re making something and I’m excited to actually experience it with you slash meet you irl hahahahaAAAAH we’re almost done!!!
Shout-out to Ben Weinberg (‘18) who has consistently been organizing efforts to directly support and empower 23/24 Fellows — your impact is seen and appreciated!
Shout-out to Julie Bautista (‘24, Pittsburgh/DC) and Thomas Colgrove (‘22, Cleveland) for organizing a super sick large group loft airbnb for Reunion. Sounds dope as hell.
Thank you Ben and Erin for giving me feedback on this draft of the newsletter! Really appreciate it. Hoping all the changes here to formatting make it easier for people to find the info they need/etc.
Shout-out to Ethan Carlson (‘12, Providence), Sean Lane (‘12, Providence), Mark Bennett (‘15, Detroit), Emilie Schario (‘15), Connie Bowen (‘16) for giving money in some way to the community initiative work. Thank you.
If you want to give money in some way, email vfaaab@gmail.com and we can let you know what current needs are and where your $ could go a long way. Thank you!
Submit a blurb for next time!
Want to send a blurb for the November installment? Submit your blurb here (it’s also linked on the homepage of the newsletter) by noon eastern on 10/31/2024. You may have noticed we’ve slightly adjusted the categories! We’ll keep tweaking.