At an event last night, I was reminded to share (again) 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.” Most people are genuinely happy to help you 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺. Just make it easy! 🔗 This is a great guide : ✍️ 𝗔𝗻𝗱, 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 👇 --- Subject: Intro to [Connection Name] Hi Laurie, Thanks so much for offering to introduce me to [connection]. I’m interested to connect because [they are interested in

Grounded in my work with early-stage global funds, 800+ founders, and the mobilisation of $40m+ across asset classes, I am using the opportunity I have as a Newton Venture Fellow to incubate a fintech-for-good twin fund model. The model backs Seed–Series A startups serving under-financed markets. A bit about the model is that it's based on my experience with many global funds like Antler, Crisis, Techstars, Village Capital and others and is designed to enable liquidity and

If you're a founder or funder curious about what kinds of funding might be right for you, check out Capital Explorer , a free tool that will help you discover which of up to 16 different financing options might be right for you ! Capital Explorer is one of several free tools from Village Capital  that help entrepreneurs on their way to building scalable, mission-driven businesses worldwide -- including with aligned financing sources. Here's a nifty preview. Want more support?

*I wrote the following background in the fall of 2021, from the HQ of UpSurge Baltimore where I was just starting as a Entrepreneur In Residence with Techstars in their Equitech portfolio. Since then, I've worked formally with Techstars and many other funds in the US, UK, and UAE as a Senior Advisor and Operating Partner to founders in their programs and portfolios. Whether you're looking for a quick orientation ( The Skinny ) or to go more in-depth ( The Whole Enchilada ),

I've had a few conversations of late that reminded me to share why 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲”: 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶�