Did you hear about the AIs’ digital arson spree and the smart contact lenses? Geez.
Any who, ICYMI: What Actually Matters: Startups, Capital, and the Rules Nobody Taught Us, a book for first-time founders, angels, LPs, and GPs navigating venture without inherited access - from someone who has sat in every chair. Publish date will be in Sept 2026.
I’m close to locking the cover for What Actually Matters. But I’m not making this call alone. And since this book was written for you the cover should look right to you.
So, what’s your favorite book cover? Vote by June 11th. We’ll announce the winner next month. Definitely going with what the community picks.
Also, if you want to learn more about the book or join our book community (that would make my day!), go here.
Lolita Taub, GP at Ganas Ventures and Author | X | LinkedIn | Lolita AI
Ganas Ventures invests $100K checks into early-stage startups.
What Actually Matters: Startups, Capital, and the Rules Nobody Taught Us, comes out in September 2026.
Featured in Forbes, Nasdaq, Techcrunch, and more
Leadsales (port co) grew from $3.5M to $5M ARR and launched Lead Agent, an AI that manages sales conversations on WhatsApp and social media autonomously. Chptr (port co) got 141 funeral directors featured in the heart of Times Square. Zócalo Health (port co) was featured in NPR for its community-anchored care model. LiquiDonate (port co) was named a finalist for the Women in AI Pitch Competition and has transacted over 12K items in donations. Vitrinnea (port co) has delivered hundreds of thousands of pre-owned items to households across Central America. Harmony AI relaunched as an AI operating system for American manufacturing.
Founder Series Office Hours
June 3 on “I’m working really hard. Why doesn’t it feel like it’s working?”
July 1 on “Raising feels weird right now. How much should I actually raise?”
Investor Series Office Hours
June 17 on “How do you avoid over-penalizing first-time founders?”
July 15 on “What does ‘traction’ even mean anymore?”
Crunchbase | Venture Capital Is Concentrating Faster Than Ever. What Happens To Everyone Else?: 80% of US startup funding in 2026 so far has gone to just 29 companies. All rounds of $500M or more. If you write small checks, your edge is the founders megafunds skip. Go earlier. Own a niche.
LatamList | Enter raises $100M round and reaches unicorn status: Brazil’s Enter raised $100M led by Founders Fund, hitting a $1.2B valuation. That makes it Latin America’s first legal-AI unicorn, less than a year after launch. Top US funds are paying up for LATAM AI. If you’re writing small checks, get in at pre-seed and seed before they do.
Startup-Investor Matching Tool | Investors: meet thesis-aligned founders
Carta | Solo Founders Are Building More. Getting Funded Less: solo founders now make up roughly a third of new startups, up from about 17% a decade ago. But only 17-18% of VC-funded startups are solo-founded. If you’re building alone, your traction has to do the talking.
PitchBook | SaaS Valuations Hit 3.3x in Q1 2026: Median enterprise SaaS EV/TTM revenue dropped from 6.2x at end of 2024 to 3.3x now, per PitchBook. Roughly $1T in aggregate market cap erased. Know your multiple before you pitch.
Startup-Investor Matching Tool | Founders: get intros to investors that get you
Ganas Ventures | Pre-seed and seed founders: apply for $100K
Jobber Grants | Blue collar founders: apply for up to $100K by June 11
CWI | Women founders: apply for up to $100K by June 16
EE Grant | Women founders: apply for $5K by June 19
Allstate Grants | Founders: apply for $20K by June 23
She Seals the Deal | Women founders: apply for $5K by June 30
Stanley x TOGETHXR | Food & bev founders: apply for $20K by July 31
Breva Thrive Grant | Impact founders: apply for $5K by July 31
SpringWell360 Grant | Health founders: apply for $1K by Aug 1
SSB Grant | Underserved founders: apply for $2.5K by Sept 30
PSBC | Small businesses in Philly: apply for $50K on a rolling deadline
McKinney | Texas-based founders: apply for $50K–$500K on a rolling deadline
NAACP | New England Black-owned cos: apply for $25K on a rolling deadline
Want more? Follow Lolita on X or LinkedIn for additional resources. Support our newsletter and get featured to our 22K+ community by becoming a sponsor.
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