I'm married! The wedding was in October, so I've clearly been delinquent on this newsletter. Many of you know my husband Tonio from the DC startup community - he's the founder of an education startup called Vemo.

And as you'll notice in the from line of this note, I also changed my name. I posted a new personal website (starting from scratch on the SEO game).

I'm finally starting to feel kinda/sorta onboarded at Capital One. I've gotten to work on some pretty interesting projects— stay tuned :)

I've put startup community involvement on the backburner while adjusting to all of the new, but recently started leaning in again to connect folks and help some friends which has been really rewarding, especially in the current economic environment.

So the last 6 months have been characterized by change: new job, new hubs, new fam, new home, new name. I feel so fortunate to have the support of this community through the ups and downs of life/career. Y'all are so wonderful.

Awesome reads (and listens)...

• OpenView's 2019 SaaS Benchmarks are super well done. They collected data from 500+ founders from across the country, and focused on info that's not always covered like burn and growth rate by region - we won't be shocked to see that cash burn is 133% lower for low cost of living areas, but maybe surprised that growth rates for these companies is much higher. And yes, this was published in the fall– I started drafting this note a whiiiile ago but just haven't had my act together to hit send and I still think y'all will find it interesting.
• Loved this article by Allie Conti, a reporter who accidentally stumbled upon (and proceeded to unwind) an Airbnb scam. The story was unbelievable, but apparently these scams are more common than we know.
• Super Pumped by Mike Isaac was a fun, quick read, covering Uber from its founding through IPO. I'm always fascinated by how these stories are reported— Isaac dug up so much dirt. It's not quite Bad Blood, but honestly much easier to connect to as I feel like I've met more Travises than I have Elizabeths.

• For those of you looking to build new connections at work, Kari Clark recently launched Breakout. After leaving Google (where she launched their first hardware product) she founded Uplift to help moms in the workplace. They were onboarding customers left and right until the pandemic hit and their world changed. Kari and her team piloted a couple of ideas this month before landing on Breakout, and already have a couple of corporate contracts in place. Definitely reach out if you're looking for solutions for your team.
• For those of you who are looking to beautify your home and learn a new skill, Cameron Hardesty recently launched Poppy at Home. She's shipping kits with gorgeous flowers along with tutorials to teach us how to arrange flowers at home. Last month, Poppy was a startup changing the way we buy wedding flowers. Cameron launched a few months prior, and had every weekend this spring booked. But when the world changed, so did her company. So impressed by this lady!
• For those of you who are looking for a great home workout, Helaine Knapp's company has doubled down on their CITYROW GO, the Peloton of rowers. Helaine had been on a roll opening CITYROW studios (4 new studios in the 6 weeks prior to the shutdown). Now, with all studios closed, the CITYROW workout is accessible at home. So if you're looking to stay in shape during the gym/studio shutdown, check it out!
• For those of you who are looking for some candid startup advice during the crisis, Chris Wink at Technical.ly just launched a video interview series called the TWIJ Show. In addition to their awesome editorial coverage, Technical.ly does a ton of events and employer branding work, which has been impacted. The company has quickly pivoted to find new ways to contribute to the startup ecosystem - so impressed by this crew.
• For those of us seeking startup support, Juliana Cardona Mejia's team has moved all of their Street Entrepreneurs workshops online. They've served hundreds of founders, and have doubled down as partners to companies in need in recent months.
• For those of you who have some PPE hanging around, Tony Staehelin's team launched PPE Connect, a hub where people who have any spare PPE can send it directly to front-line health workers. Tony's team was working on something quite different (in stealth) prior to the crisis, and was quickly able to pivot to meet the current need.

A few ways to help...

• Please support the businesses listed above, or other local startups as you see fit!

Sending some love...

To all the founders that are making major sacrifices to save their companies and/or keep folks employed, to Kristen Sterbenz for helping me in my transition, to the many many wonderful colleagues who have answered my dumb questions and helped me get onboarded, to Kelly O'Malley for humoring my impulsive ideas, to Natalie Posever for walking me through cleaning a bike accident induced blood situation, to my parents for talking me through every COVID-related minimergency, to my fab friends for the many phone walks that have kept me sane, and to countless others that have helped me survive and thrive in the midst of many changes. I'm so so grateful.

Thanks for skimming this email and being a part of this journey!