Teaching diverse founders how to create investable pitch material through a scalable online platform and making it easy for investors to discover them through data-driven curation. 

Hi there,

Whew, got this July newsletter out just in the nick of time! I hope that you've been enjoying your summer and that you've managed to unplug for some true downtime. Whether you're a founder, an investor, or an ecosystem partner, we all need to put aside work and allow ourselves a mental break every so often. I'm not a VC, but we did just get back from a family vacation in London. 🙂

Before we left for summer travels, my friend and very talented photographer, Doug Levy, invited me to try out some short form video clips. Special thanks to SVB for the beautiful setting and to Kristen Craft for the unparalleled coaching. Check out the clips below to learn more about our mission, the impact we've already made, and where the name Scroobious comes from.

Fall fundraising season is going to be in full swing before we know it and I'm predicting a very active one. Despite all the layoffs and market corrections, there is an unprecedented amount of capital in the system. There has also been a 33% growth in median deal size for angels according to CB Insights, which was the only investor group to see positive change since last year (click on my chat with Landon Ainge below for more). For all you founders reading this, we've got you. Scroll down for links to:

• Three different free virtual pitch workshops you can join! 
• Replay of our workshop with Shoobx on all things option pools.
• The all new Morse Minute feature! Morse is a fantastic Scroobious sponsor and we're thrilled to bring you monthly custom articles written by their legal professionals to help diverse entrepreneurs. This month's is about the benefits and risks of the ever popular SAFE.

Read on for upcoming events, replays of past ones, and don't miss our featured founder at the end! Let's chat if you run an accelerator or program and are interested in providing pitch content and guidance to your members. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for helping us. I appreciate you.

Allison Byers, Founder & CEO

Click on an update to learn more and access content.

Virtual Workshop: 8/9, 12-1pm ET Early stage startups have unique legal needs based on size, industry, budget, and a host of other factors that can be confusing to evaluate. Come learn how to navigate choosing the right legal counsel for your business with Kisha Brown of Justis Connection.

Virtual Workshop: 8/10, 2-3pm ET A fundraising pitch is unlike any other presentation. We'll help you understand how to look at your pitch through the lens of de-risking your opportunity for the investor, how to lead them through your story, and how to use supporting data effectively.

Virtual Workshop: 8/10, 12-12:45pm ET Understanding your objectives for your fundraising pitch and knowing what to do to keep the conversation going with an investor, and ultimately get funding, is always important, but especially so in the current fundraising environment. Join this Kabila chat to learn 3 key pitch deck tips!

Virtual Workshop: 8/17, 12-1:30pm ET We run our unique and lauded pitch workshop for dozens of prestigious accelerators and universities, and now we're going to bring it to everyone, for free! Don't miss out on this extended, interactive, and fun workshop. 

Virtual Workshop: How to decide on the size of your option pool with Shoobx. Option pools can affect everything from how much of your company you retain to your company’s effective valuation, so it’s important to be strategic.

Podcast: I sat down with Tim Ryan and Zack Miller to discuss my experience raising money for my medical device startup and what launched me into my new venture to help women and minorities navigate the fundraising ecosystem. 

Chat with Landon Ainge: We both believe that CREATING MORE ANGELS will have a greater impact on creating more a diverse set of founders than any other change, so we taped a chat about it. We covered a broad range of topics from how to start angel investing, to VC gender and racial bias, to due diligence, to SPVs and syndicates. Check out Landon's post and join the conversation!

Pitch Competition: Apply for the Plain Sight Black Founders Demo Day for startups in the SaaS, Transportation, FinTech, and Entertainment industries. Each of the 16 selected companies will receive $3,000 for travel, planning, and accommodations. Scroobious is providing a pitch workshop for the finalists. Applications close August 5th!

Event: Join me September 19 - 23rd at the 6th annual Startup Boston Week! 12 content tracks, 5 days of learning, thousands of connections with startup entrepreneurs and supporters – and it’s all FREE. If you’re looking to grow in the Boston startup community, this event is not to be missed. 

Accelerator: M2D2 Impact is accepting applications for its fourth cohort in partnership with  Johnson & Johnson Innovation.  

Morse supports diverse founders through their Scroobious corporate sponsorship and their legal professionals create exclusive content for our community to help entrepreneurs.

This month Elizabeth Resteghini breaks down SAFEs as an investment vehicle, the risks and benefits, and how it differs from a convertible note. Quick highlights below and click here for the full article. 

• The goal is to invest with a SAFE and have it converted into preferred stock upon the next preferred stock financing round; however, if a liquidation event such as an acquisition event occurs prior to conversion, it would typically result in conversion of the SAFE to common stock.
• If additional rounds of SAFEs or any convertible notes are issued after the issuance of a SAFE, the expected dilution and ownership percentages would change. 
• A valuation cap is the maximum valuation price a SAFE will convert into shares of stock.  The lower the cap, the better it is for the investor because it means that their SAFE could convert into more shares.
• A discount rate means that when the SAFE converts it will do so at whatever the agreed upon discount is upon the next preferred stock equity financing, resulting in the investor receiving more shares for their investment. 
• Convertible Notes have maturity dates and interest rates, which SAFEs do not have.  
• Benefits: industry standard so less time needed to draft/negotiate, don't represent debt, can raise quickly, investors can get more shares for their dollar.
• Risks: Investors don't receive equity at the time of investment so no stockholder voting rights, no interest or maturity date to put pressure on next financing round, if no triggering event SAFE can be outstanding indefinitely, founders could get very diluted with future rounds.

Each newsletter features the perspective of one of our members. I encourage you to reach out to offer networking, investment interest, or expertise.

This month's featured founder is Ruby "Sunshine" Taylor, and she is indeed the embodiment of Sunshine. Ruby suffered a traumatic brain injury after a car accident that forced her to retire from school social work after 10 years. On the brink of financial disaster, parents of one of her students taught her how to invest and earn compound interest to build wealth. She founded Financial Joy School, a virtual investing educational platform, to share what she learned with the Black and Brown community in an effort to decrease the racial generational wealth gap.

Ruby and her company have been featured in many publications including Forbes, Authority Magazine, Black Enterprise, and have partnered with Nasdaq and Wells Fargo. She is a double HBCU alum , Halcyon Fellow, 2Gether International graduate, and Goodie Nation member. Most of all, she is a tenacious, caring, and genuine person. 

"Being a founder is one of the most exciting, scary, and joyful experiences. To take a thought and create an idea and to take an idea and create a business is pure exuberance. Within that excitement, the brain goes full throttle ahead with optimism and freedom. As the journey continues, disappointments and frustrations knock some of that excitement down a few pegs, and a new feeling arrives, "SCARY." Scary begins the moment when you realize money is thin, new customers are hiding, and the ability to pay for the team is non-existent. Just writing those words made me scared lol. Just when scary enters a major new customer comes through, and the joy of seeing my startup thrive begins the excitement all over again. The life of a founder. "

Do you want to be more Scroobious? Let's chat!

• If you're a founder considering PiP but have questions, book an intro call.
• If you're a company looking to support diversity in the startup ecosystem, let's chat about collaboration.
• If you're an investor looking to access our deal flow, join the waitlist here.
• If you'd like to sponsor founder accounts and get involved in our community, let's chat!

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