Forbes 30 under 30, a Hatch Apps Rebrand, and our latest hiring spree!
It's been a while...
I haven't sent one of these emails out for a few months, so I'm sure I'm forgetting some highlights. For those of you who are new to this newsletter, welcome! I send an email out once per month (typically, with the exception of the past 2 months) with a collection of personal and professional updates.
Since I last infiltrated your inbox, we've gotten some great press in the Washington Business Journal (thanks Sara!), Cheddar TV (thanks Kalliopi!) and TechCrunch (thanks Morgan Stanley!). I was also honored to be included in this year's Forbes 30 Under 30, thanks to a nomination from my awesome cofounder Param.
You may have noticed a new look for us - we rebranded! Our phenomenal VP Marketing Selina McPherson led in establishing a new look. Let me know what you think :)
We also brought some wonderful people onto the team including Peter Loewenhagen, who came on to lead customer success following 3+ years at Social Tables as their Director of Customer Success.
I haven't been doing a ton of writing, but I did get a chance to contribute a short piece on hiring to FastCo. On that note, we're hiring for a content strategist and UX/UI designer!
Awesome reads...
I'm a nerd and loved this map of the most valuable startup in each state. I was impressed by some of the heartland valuations - there's a lot happening out there.
My friend Shizu (founder of JRINK for you juicers out there) just sent me this collection of 100 charts on billion dollar startups. There were a lot of interesting conclusions on how age, repeat foundership, industry experience, and more correlate with success.
I'm listening to Harry Potter on Audible right now (knee deep into the fourth book now). I haven't read them in over a decade, and these books are just so amazing at every age. For those of you who haven't read it in a while (or ever) I definitely encourage a revisit :)
Brilliant stuff my friends are building...
For those of us looking for herbal alternatives to traditional medicine, look no further than Apothékary, "the farmacy of the future." Shizu Okusa of JRINK just launched a line of herbal remedies that can help you de-stress, promote mental health, and get your gut in gear.
For those of us seeking some founder inspo, check out the Founder's Mind podcast. I got a chance to sit down with my new friend Adam Mutschler and be featured, and it was a blast :)
For those of us looking to exercise our creativity, check out Salon Betty. Cameron Hardesty just launched a startup creating "a new kind of art class." Hope to see some of you at their upcoming workshops!
A few ways to help...
I've been working on a creative marketing project where I'm interviewing folks who had rough experiences with software developers. If you know of anyone who has lost time and money to a bad developer, please let me know! Everything will be super anonymous.
We're looking to interview people at foundations for some market research. Any intros to your foundation contacts are super appreciated!
Lastly, we're hiring for two roles:
Content Strategist - this person will build a sustainable channel for growth through content creation and optimization. They’ll be responsible for driving organic search traffic and will manage all our content (emails, sales materials, etc.). We’d like to bring on someone who has ~5+ years content experience, has a master knowledge of SEO, and is an excellent writer and editor.
UX/UI Designer - this person will help us establish a design system that will serve as the foundation for our product. They’ll own the full design cycle, working with product, customer success, and sales teams, and will quickly spin up interactive prototypes for customers, and will develop a library of design components as they go. We’d like to bring someone in a few years’ experience (they’ll be the only full time designer on the team, so they need enough experience to be comfortable working independently).
Sending some love...
To some of the many who made the last couple months great like Denis Whelan, Liam Healy, Katherine Feeney, Dustin Yelinek, and Todd Gibby who shared great advice for us as we think towards growth; like Dave Sandrowitz, Eric Spiegel, Jamey Jeff, Robbie Holmes, Alisha Ramos who helped us with our most recent hiring spree; like Angela Long who helped us understand potential new markets; like Stephen Rodriguez and Anuj Gupta who made some great intros; like Ksenia Coulter, Jess Bell, Kelly O’Malley who helping to throw a great event celebrating lady technologists; like Michelle Chang, Jessica Sprinkel, Vanessa Ferragut, Andy Mohan, Ellie Thompson, and Ayanna Smith who helped with a research project I’ve been working on; like Jonathan Aberman who put together the Tandem Product Academy - it’s been a great experience so far; like Anisha Vora who accomplished some really awesome work for our company; like the folks at Morgan Stanley who put on a great demo day; like Yao Huang, Kari Clark, Kate Goodall, Kay Parry, and Mahvesh Qureshi who partnered together to put on an amazing dinner event; like Jessica Carson, Megan Humphries, and Heather Grace Thomas who commuting to National Harbor to give a talk with me; and like so many others who have moved the needle in my personal and professional lives. I put this list together really quickly, so I’m sure I missed some of you who did incredible things for our business. I’m lucky to have you all in my life :)
One of the highlights of my month was a surprise party I got to cohost celebrating one of the most amazing people in DC Tech, Kelly O'Malley. For those of you who don't know her, she's the worker-bee behind the Vinetta Project in DC. To celebrate her one-year Vinetta-versary (and yes, those are T-shirts with her face on them) we brought a few Vinetta folks together for a Kelly-themed surprise fête. A huge TY to Kelly and all that she does to make the DC Tech community inclusive for female founders!
Thanks for skimming this email and being a part of my journey :)
Onward and upward,
Amelia
