Earlier this week, I had the privilege of attending my first Clinton Global Initiative Summit. It lived up to all the expectations: inspiring, welcoming, informative, and energetic. We even had a surprise visit from President Joe Biden!
This year's theme, "What's Working," focused on identifying, highlighting, accelerating, and scaling what's succeeding rather than dwelling on what's not. Many of the panels are available on demand, and I highly recommend watching them.
I never imagined I'd be in the same room with people like Jane Goodall, Prince Harry, Jill AND Joe Biden, Leymah Gbowee, Matt Damon, Katie Couric, Valerie Montgomery Rice, José Andrés, Bill Nelson, Laurene Powell Jobs, the Clinton family, and SO many others. |
|
|
Four key themes emerged from the powerful panel discussions and networking conversations:
1. Collaboration is essential for meaningful change.
As Bill Clinton put it, "Multiplication and addition work better than division and subtraction to make a difference. We make better decisions when we work together." Too often, organizations and individuals from marginalized communities hold a scarcity mindset, fearing collaboration will leave them with less. This mindset can hold us back from making progress.
2. Philanthropy and social entrepreneurship are merging.
This is creating innovative financial structures, with organizations now needing a blend of donations, investments, and debt to drive greater impact and growth.
3. Mothers are the great unifiers.
When Jane Goodall shared, "My mom was the only one who didn't laugh at my dream," everyone had an emotional response. A panel featuring Yael Admi and Reem Al-Hajajra highlighted how shared values and love between mothers are fostering dialogue and relationships between Israelis and Palestinians.
4. Data is critical.
I often say, "You can't change what you don't measure," but I loved how U.S. SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman phrased it: "What we track is what we value" when speaking about closing the financial access gap for women. Arian Simone, Patrice Brickman, Olivia Sterns Walton, and others shared data on the inequities in capital distribution. It’s not just the undervalued who should be tracking these numbers, though. Everyone must care, because this is everyone’s problem. --
I am immensely proud that both Scroobious and my advocacy work contribute to creating a system of equitable access to business capital. Over 900 founders have used our platform, community, resources, and connections to improve their fundraising journeys - most at no cost - through our impact-aligned business model supported by service provider sponsors. We constantly receive unsolicited feedback, like the snippets pictured below, showing that our approach is working, and we're determined to vastly scale this impact.
|
Keep reading to explore great upcoming events and opportunities below, and don't overlook our featured founder at the end! Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting us. I appreciate you. |
Allison Byers, Founder & CEO |
|
|
Click on an item to learn more and access content. |
|
|
|
Virtual Panel: Excited to help your startup scale? Join me on 10/2 at 9am ET with Startup Boston and City of Boston! We’ll dive into how to find the right service providers—whether it's legal, accounting, marketing, or tech—that fit your budget and goals. Register Here.
|
|
|
|
Virtual Workshop: Everyone has a leadership story. Join us on Oct. 15 from 2-3 pm ET for an interactive session where Wendy Ryan will lead you through a process to illuminate yours based on her bestselling book, Learn Lead Lift: How to Think, Act and Inspire Your Way to Greatness. Register Here.
|
|
|
|
Virtual Workshop: Founders, is your pricing holding you back? Join us on Oct. 17 from 2-3 pm ET for a one-hour workshop on Effective Pricing Strategy and learn how to craft a pricing model that not only covers your costs but also drives growth and appeals to your target customers.Register Here.
|
|
|
|
Fireside Chat: Join us for a Fireside Chat on Oct. 22nd from 2 - 3 pm ET with Shruti Shah, Partner at Symphonic Capital. As a former startup founder and operator, Shruti will not only share her story, but also how her experience as an operator has influenced her current role in early-stage venture capital. Register Here.
|
|
|
|
All Raise Opportunity: We could not be more excited to announce that All Raise is partnering with Scroobious as a Foundational Sponsor! All Raise is kicking it off by sponsoring 20 Medium Scroobious memberships for female and non-binary founders. Apply Here
|
|
|
| Baker Tilly Opportunity:
We're also excited to share the news that Baker Tilly is a Scroobious sponsor! Baker Tilly is a top-ten global accounting and advisory firm committed to helping innovative companies grow. They are providing 10 post-revenue startups located in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Boston with Scroobious memberships. Apply Here.
|
|
|
|
CALL FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: Do you have a service provider who you recommend to founders? Has there been a vendor instrumental in your company building journey? We want to know! We're bringing new and helpful features to the platform and are almost ready to reveal what we've built, but we need your recommendations for trusted providers! Let us know here!
|
|
|
Click on an item to learn more and access content.
|
|
|
|
NAACP: The NAACP Powershift Entrepreneur Grant aims to empower Black entrepreneurs and businesses through funding and resources through $25k grants and mentorship form Daymond John. Applications are due 10/11.
|
| |
|
HerSuiteSpot: Deja Vu Parker of WBLS, in collaboration with HerSuiteSpot, proudly presents the Hustler's $1,000 MicroGrant – a remarkable opportunity for business owners like you to receive the boost they deserve. Applications rolling. |
|
|
|
Black Girl Ventures: For founders in Austin, LA, NYC or Chicago, The BGV Pitch Program flips the traditional pitch experience on its head. They coach entrepreneurs, host a live crowdfunded pitch competition, then connect them to community and professionals to support them on their journey. Applications are due 11/6.
|
|
|
|
MassRobotics: Applications for the 2025 MassRobotics Accelerator are open. This program has a refined focus on hardware robotics, allowing them to deeply support their startups. This accelerator is an equity-free program. Applications are due 10/25.
|
| |
Some of the many wins from our community this month.
|
-
Materialize Bio, co-founded by Joanna Xylas, received an SBIR I grant from the NSF.
-
Sid Desai, founder of Novobeing launched a new partnership with BrinkXR.
-
Afreen Allam, founder of SiNON Nano Sciences, was the Seed stage winner at the Startup Stadium at BIO.
-
Joanna Shu, co-founder of FreezeNit, pitched at the HBS Angels of Boston September event and is a Women's Fast Pitch finalist pitching at this year's Women's Venture Summit.
- BLOOM, co-founded by Joanne Mercaldi, was accepted into Techstars Boston's latest cohort.
-
RT MicroDx, founded by Nathalya Mamane, has been selected to join the latest cohort of Springboard Enterprises HealthTech accelerator.
- Sydney Robinson, co-founder of Vessl Prosthetics, won the very first HBA Pitch Competition.
Naya Powell, founder of Utopia Global Wellness, is in the newest Techstars Washington DC powered by J.P. Morgan Accelerator cohort. -
Moxi, founded by Cori Fain-Forrest, raised $650,000 in their pre-seed round, marking Alabama's first-ever majority women capital raise.
Pay4Me, founded by Sunday Paul Adah, was accepted into the latest cohort of the Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator.
Dtocs, founded by Pallavi Pande, has been accepted into the SEED SPOT Retail Brand Accelerator.
Business of Science, co-founded by Pamela Groen, was accepted into the AI Lab for Startups at Harvard.
- Flourish Care, founded by Melissa Bowley, on the Women’s Health Innovation Showcase award.
|
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, we highlight Kyle Berman, Co-Founder and CEO of OD Revive, an opioid overdose detection device, alert system, and smartwatch application that can request life saving help.
OD Revive's smartwatch, The Revive Band, is a wearable opioid overdose detection device. The device reads specific vital signs and when those vitals go below the threshold that would be indicative of an overdose, it will alert their emergency contacts and reveal their location for a response to administer Narcan. |
"OD Revive was founded in the driveway of my good friend Chris where I found him dead from an overdose. By this point I had already lost 13 friends and my little sister and I said enough was enough. I looked down and there it was, an Apple Watch, capable of so much and yet so little. Since then, we have developed a wearable overdose detection device and alert system. As pioneers of addiction technology OD Revive is going to change the way the world responds to overdoses."
|
Do you want to be more Scroobious? Let's chat! |
|
|
The email was sent to lmacomber+newsletter@scroobious.com. To no longer receive these emails, unsubscribe here. View in browser . Copyright © 2024 Scroobious, Inc. All rights reserved. |
|
|
|