If you’re reading this, it’s too late 😔✊🏼

Jk.. you’re reading this because at some point, you signed up for the Deck Doctors newsletter or reached out for some value from us.

To jog your memory: We create the best pitch decks, and we wrote an e-book with Hustle Fund last year that you might’ve peeped.

Our newsletter went MIA for a sec. We were pretty busy helping hundreds of founders pitch…but now we’re ready to help thousands of inboxes. Each week, we’ll be sharing some big value:

• ⭐️Investors, you’ll love this: Fundraising Features for startup’s we’ve worked closely with — that are actively fundraising + awesome.

• ⭐️Operators, you’ll love this: Services Spotlight of people we admired running their own services & agencies we think you’ll find useful.

• ⭐️If you’re actively fundraising, you’ll love this: Our Second Opinion video of the week and other content to help you raise.

• Community wins or asks

• Shifra-selected venture memes

We want to be respectful of your time, so if any of this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, hop out below.

With that out of the way, here’s an ANTIDOTE to some problems we keep seeing around the startup world.

Fundraising Feature 💸

Kinnect - Empowering Generational Storytelling at Scale - Seed Stage

Everyone knows that loneliness is at an all time high. Social media was created to connect us, but it’s had the opposite effect. Tack on remote work, and people are feeling more disconnected than ever.

Some startups have stepped in to solve the loneliness problem… but there’s a funny contradiction at play. Technology created this era of loneliness – so can more technology be the solution? 

Enter, Kinnect. A unique approach to fostering connectedness – and a tool our team is excited to use. 

Kinnect created a digital home for family memories, a place for families to share videos, images, stories, and conversations. And a GenerativeAI core lets users not just store memories, but engage with them. 

A few business reasons why we like Kinnect:

1. Founder, Omar, is energetic, experienced, and passionate 

2. Other less-tech-enabled players have been succeeding in the space. For example, there’s a service that lets you interview your grandmother, and creates a video/book about the memory. Kinnect provides similar value in a cheaper, ongoing, and more holistic way…that will definitely feel more natural to people who want to capture family memories, but are wary of the awkwardness of going to a studio and interviewing a family member. 

3. Kinnect’s model also improves discoverability, because it is much easier to invite a family member to an app than a studio session… so there’s potential for viral network growth

4. The product should be pretty sticky… because it delivers more value with more usership. Ain’t nobody canceling the subscription that holds the family memories. 

5. The “Memory Tech” space is growing alongside them (see below).

Wanna get in touch with Omar?

Services Spotlight 🔦

Sehreen Noor Ali

The team at Deck Doctor’s had a blast working with the brilliant Sehreen Noor Ali on a pitch deck for her company, Sleuth.

So we were very excited to find out she was bringing her talents to our favorite side – the services side – of venture. Fundraising workshops? Affordable sprints to help founders become thought leaders? Count us in!!!

Her most recent business, Sleuth, is an AI-enabled pediatric health platform answering parents’ “is this normal?” concerns. The product was inspired by Sehreen’s own journey as a mother. 

In addition to helping tens of thousands of families, Sleuth earned a spot on Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas list and was backed by notable investors, including Graham & Walker, BBV, and Gary Vaynerchuk. When she wasn’t business building, Sehreen posted on LinkedIn about the behind-the-scenes experience of caregiving her daughter’s difficult medical journey. The content made waves, securing angel investors, a strong personal brand within her vertical, and even the chance to “pitch” President Biden.

And here’s how we get to the services. During her post-Sleuth sabbatical, Sehreen started to coach founders, especially on how to parlay their personal story into a credible and compelling founder brand. With 15 years of 0 to 1 tech leadership experience and hundreds of hours mentors founders (including as an EIR at Brown University) already under her belt, it turned out she was pretty dang good at it!

Interested in? Secure your spot at her upcoming August 15th workshop HERE!

• “In just one conversation Sehreen saved me years of work and thousands and thousands of dollars. As a first-time, solo, bootstrapped founder- I don’t have time or money for… anything! She’s got her finger on the pulse of the ever-changing business landscape, can make brilliant connections-fast, has a heart of gold and doesn’t want to waste anyone’s time. If you’re feeling like you need someone in your corner, trust that reaching out would be time and money well spent”. - Ashley Brichter, Founder of Birth Smarter"

• “As a first time founder from a non-traditional background, I have battled self doubt and the fear of failure. With Sehreen, I’ve learned to channel those thoughts in a way that makes them my superpower.” - Säm Bagheri, Reso

Want to connect or learn more about her personalized Thought Leadership Programs?

Our Community Wins 🎉

Brev gets acquired by Nvidia 🥳

We invested through our venture arm Gutcheck - super pumped for the team!

Exa raises $17m from Lightspeed, Nvidia, and YC 🤩

So happy for the awesome team at Exa for leveling up!

Second Opinion 🩺

We’re in our YouTube influencer era ✨ Tune in every other weekly for tactical feedback on real-life pitch decks submitted by real-life founders.

This week we dive into 4 tips on dealing with investor feedback 👇🏼

Meme of the Week 😂

That’s all for now - see you soon! 🫡