This Week's Resources (7/5/21)
AWS University Scout
Hey All,
Due to popular demand, I've decided to create a mailing list for all of the resources I offer as an AWS University Scout.
Events Happening Tonight:
First Founders Accelerator Weekly Community Sessions at 7 PM EST:
About First Founders: “We help early-stage entrepreneurs launch successful startups through our accelerator programs, community support, and access to resources. Our support is free, and we take no equity (we create it).”
I work here as a VC Scout in Residence. It’s awesome.
Here’s the link to sign up: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEqfuiprj4pHtchUdG5MUCwF1LaDvshFrFr?_x_zm_rtaid=5pJz_FHzRByyAUvd_59TAA.1623864564031.90317817229dd1e546a7172fb567e893&_x_zm_rhtaid=705
AWS Office Hours with Michael Greenberg at 8 PM EST:
Michael Greenberg is a brilliant entrepreneur, and I consider myself lucky to know him. In addition to being the coordinator of the AWS University Scouts Program, Michael has founded two venture-backed companies. His first startup, Scalefunder, was acquired. His second startup, Retina AI, raised a Series A round last month!
If you have any business-related questions, office hours are great for this. Michael will be able to provide guidance and answer any questions you might have about your startup or any challenges you're facing!
I will not be publishing these links openly. If you’re not a company that I’ve officially scouted, but you’re interested in attending this event, please let me know, and I’m happy to forward you the Zoom link. If you’re a company I’ve scouted, you’ll always get an email from me on a weekly basis with these links.
Here’s Michael’s background: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelallengreenberg
AWS Resources:
To my “portfolio companies” and anyone it may concern —
As a University Scout I have access to the following resources:
Up to 2000 dollars in AWS Credits (reach out if you want these!)
Free AWS Developer Support credits: Receive an additional $350 in AWS Developer Support credits valid for 1 year, including technical support via email during business hours as well as general architectural guidance as you build and test.
Access to technical trainings: Get hands-on practice with 80 free credits for self-paced labs. These labs provide hands-on practice in a live AWS environment with AWS services and real-world cloud scenarios.
Exclusive content & offers: Take advantage of discounts, free products, recommended content, and a library of AWS services and tools through a personalized AWS Activate console.
One Year of OnePager Pro for free, a tool used by over 600 active investors.
Good for sharing projects, fundraising, sales, and recruiting
Let me know if you want a discount code for a year of OnePager Pro for free.
https://onepager.vc/
Access to Techstars, YC, 500 Startups, & etc. If you apply to any major startup accelerator in the country, all you have to do is let me know ahead of time, and my connections at AWS can potentially help you get a guaranteed interview.
Office Hours / Startup Events every single week!
Pitch Competitions (next one is this Fall)
Personal Support from me, a friend.
Access to other companies in my network: TheraV, GetPotluck, etc.
Additionally, I can do these things:
Accelerator intros: If you know of any startup accelerators or universities with accelerator programs, we can help them get their own package of AWS credits to support the startups that they work with through the AWS Activate Program.
This package can include up to 100,000 dollars in credits.
I recently “activated” a local startup accelerator in the Greater Philadelphia area, and I’m looking to help out even more. My next goal is to support every university accelerator in the Delmarva Peninsula.
Here’s more information on AWS Activate: https://aws.amazon.com/activate/
Other Value Adds:
I’m organizing a pitch competition specifically for UD students only with a company called Pitch Pages. Read more if interested:
PitchPages is the Fastest way to turn your pitch deck into an online scrolling page where you can track investors and manage your digital deal room by launching a university pitch competition tour in partnership with AWS, Entre, and a handful of other partners.
The format will have interested student founders create a PitchPage (Airbnb example). After this, three VC judges will select 5 founders to pitch live in front of them + the audience via Zoom. The Top 5 Finalists will get access to over $60K worth of credits and services.
The top five finalists from UD will only be pitching against other UD students, which makes this a win for the entire ecosystem.
If you’re interested in participating in this pitch competition, just let me know!
I work as Venture Scout at MAVA Ventures, and as a Venture Fellow at Laconia Capital.
MAVA's Thesis: We invest in SaaS and Fintech companies which are B2B, with a focus on solutions that increase their customer’s productivity or enhance their customers’ offering. https://mavavc.com/
Laconia's Thesis: We invest exclusively in capital-efficient seed-stage B2B software companies. Our focus is on companies solving urgent, high-pain workflow problems in legacy industries. Existing investments include fintech, insurtech, and adtech. https://www.laconiacapitalgroup.com/
If you’re looking to raise money, and you’d like an introduction to either of these firms, please feel free to let me know. momahmo13@gmail.com is my email!
Disclaimer: I benefit financially if your startup receives investment from MAVA Ventures. Please do your research on each of these firms prior to taking VC investment. If you take investment from anybody, it’s a HUGE responsibility and one that will likely last for the next 5 - 8 years.
Resource list for entrepreneurs in Delaware:
https://cffg.so/ud
I’m almost certain this list has nearly every resource available to entrepreneurs in Delaware, but if I’ve missed anything please let me know so I can keep it updated.
Resources from the Delaware Prosperity Partnership:
Programming/Funding Opportunities:
Delaware Innovation Space – Science Inc Accelerator – now accepting applications!
Fall 2021 Science Inc. Cohort is now open
More info: https://gust.com/programs/science-inc-accelerator-fall-2021-cohort-delaware-innovation-space
Emerging Enterprise Center/NCCCC
Swim With the Sharks Pitch Competition applications are being accepted
Information Session: http://business.ncccc.com/events/details/information-session-swim-with-the-sharks-pitch-competition-4742?calendarMonth=2021-07-01
Horn Entrepreneurship – I-Corps (link)
I-Corps is launching soon – spots are still available – Up to $3,000 in grant funding for customer discovery and instruction – great opportunity!
More Info: http://www.tfaforms.com/412884
Plug and Play – local connection, see below:
(PnP) is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm with several unicorns in its portfolio, including Dropbox, Paypal, and LendingClub. PnP invests in early-stage (seed/pre-seed) startups across a broad range of verticals, typically in scalable technology platforms. PnP also runs a weekly virtual pitch competition organized by vertical (mobility, health, fintech, etc.); startups give a 3-minute pitch to an audience of investors who provide feedback and have an opportunity to network with the founders. If you're a founder interested in pitching at one of these sessions, shoot an email to Rob Weiss (robert.m.weiss09@gmail.com) to get connected.
I’m also happy to answer questions about this ahead of time.
Events:
Tech Forum- Summer Social – 7/21/21 – Wilmington Brew Works – 5pm-7pm
MILLSUMMIT 2021 – 8/2-8/4/21
Delaware Bio – Lunch and Learn Series for Entrepreneurs
Upcoming events: https://www.delawarebio.org/page/upcoming-events
DESCA – ChemTech Conference
Save the Date! – October 7 and 8 2021
More info: https://desca.net/chemtech
Tickets are now on sale
Cool Article I Read:
https://www.hoover.org/research/optimistic-thought-experiment
“The real alternative to good globalization is world war. And because of the nature of today’s technology, such a war would be apocalyptic in the twenty-first century. Because there is not much time left, the Great Boom, taken as a whole, either is not a bubble at all, or it is the final and greatest bubble in history.” - Peter Thiel
Questions I’ve been contemplating:
Can we build new major cities in America? Would it be possible in today’s society? Do we have the technology for this? Where would we build them?
Can we build more world wonders?
Can we build major cities in the Metaverse?
What classifies something as a world wonder? Even if we built something which we consider “a wonder”, how would we know if the rest of the world also recognized it this way?
Is the International Space Station a “wonder”?
The last “World’s Fair” happened in the ’80s. Do we have nothing left to share with the world? What does this say about our society?
How can we make America more innovative? How can we make Delaware more innovative?
Updates from Mo:
I’m running an event at the B. PHL Innovation Fest in Philly this year. Virtual tickets are free until August: https://www.bphlfest.com/event/a0063279-7aa6-42ae-9ccc-712577ada0f9/summary
I’m traveling to other ecosystems to interview entrepreneurs for my Summer Founders project. If you know an ecosystem I should visit, or people I should speak to, let me know.
Unsubscribe Options:
If you ever find my emails annoying, just let me know, and I’ll take you off of my mailing list. I won’t be offended!
If you also have any suggestions on what I can do better, or somebody I should consider speaking to and/or supporting with resources, please let me know! Thanks!
Keep hustling,
Mo