How venture capital funds source deals, select and support startups is still opaque in the industry and we want to change that at The Community Fund (TCF). We believe that to build community we need to be transparent in our processes and build in public because we want to keep real, stay accountable, and bring you on our journey. So, in this post, we’re pulling back the curtain for you to peek into who we are and sharing our approach to sourcing, selecting, and supporting startups.

What is TCF?

The Community Fund is a $5 million early-stage fund that invests in community-driven companies through a wildly different investment partner team. We believe that companies with community at the center of all that they do will become unicorns and produce outsized returns. We focus primarily on investing in North America and write $50K checks. …

We’re thrilled to announce The Community Fund investment team.

After +450 applicants went through our selection process, we accepted just 2% of the talented and community-centric applicants as partners on our new team. Our 11 partners will work closely with Jesse and me to change how the world thinks about who builds the most successful companies and who funds them.

Our partners include Elias Torres, Cheryl Campos, Calanthia Mei, Melissa Moore, Hassan Bhatti, Sonia Nagar, Aaron Samuels, Kara Weber, Mike Swift, Songe LaRon, and Dave Salvant. They are leaders in communities that span across and within North America. They are collaborative operators, founders, and investors who bring with them a wide range of complementary functional and industry expertise. The best part is that they are good human beings that care to share their gifts with their communities and the founders they invest in. …

Hi there! You’ve likely landed on this page because you heard that, along with my co-founder Jesse Middleton, I launched a venture capital fund called The Community Fund. You’re likely wondering “what is this fund about and who is Lolita Taub?” Well, the short of it is that through the fund, we’ll invest in community-driven companies destined to become unicorns through an investment team, taking a page from XFactor’s playbook.

As for me, I’m an unlikely VC fund manager. Yes, I have fourteen years of experience as an operator and investor in tech corporations, startups, and VC that equate to over $50M in sales and 38 angel and VC investments. But I’m also a Latina who grew up in the hood, survived cancer, and entered my professional career without the advantages of many. …

Fundraising is hard. Full stop. What can make it even harder is not knowing the capital options your business is best suited for and chasing after money that may not be in your best interest.

Why can this cause hardship? Because choosing the wrong type of fundraising strategy is likely to cause emotional and time depletion, in addition to a failed fundraise. So to increase your chances in fundraising successfully, you’ve got to pick the right fundraising strategy for you and your company.

Below I share 5 steps on how to select the best fundraising strategy for you and your company, as well as where and how to access capital. …

Latinx founder numbers are growing at a faster rate than any other group and we’re expected to yield $1.4 Trillion in US GDP.

A couple of years ago, I started my journey in supporting Latinx founders as an investor at Backstage Capital through the Accelerator and with this post. And I believe what I wrote then even more now!

TL;DR Latinx entrepreneurs are a strong force to be reckoned with! With capital and support, we can grow our businesses to produce in the trillions — trillions that can better the lives of our families, ourselves, and the world.

Now: I want to invest and support more Latinx founders because I want to support my community and there’s money to be made.

Guide: My mami always taught me to be resourceful to those I want to help and work with. …

To efficiently give founders access to investors and capital, Josh Taub and I created a free startup-investor matching tool. Learn more about the backstory, the tool itself, and feel free to submit your co!

Startup-Investor Matching Tool Backstory

A couple of months ago, pre-COVID, I was given the opportunity to take on two operator titles, Chief of Staff and a Sales Head role at Catalyte. I said, “yes!” and ran with it! It’s super fun but my workload has definitely increased. Well, a few weeks ago I accepted that and the fact that in order for me to provide quality work in both my operator (weekdays) and investor (evening and weekend) roles, I needed to optimize for quality and efficiency. …

After several years of working with first-time founders and writing my First-Time Founders Guide, many first-time founders have reached out to ask about how to fundraise. Amid COVID, the volume of questions has risen and the need to understand how to fundraise during COVID widened. To help, I’m including the most frequently asked questions and my answers to them in this post. Bonus: all answers are linked to actionable resources.

Review the Q&A and if after reviewing the Q&A…

• You still have questions: you’re in luck and I’ve partnered with Arlan Hamilton on her Fundraising from Scratch course and you’ll be able to get most of (if not all) your first-time founder questions answered there. …

The other day, I posted a poll on what post I should write next, and 57.1% voted for a “founders resource guide.” And because I’m working on a first-time founders course, I thought I’d focus the guide on first-time founders. Here we go…

In this post, you’ll find:

• Founder Basics
• A Note for Underestimated Founders
• Resources

And although the concepts that I share in the Founder Basics are simple, in the +1,000 startups I’ve reviewed for investment, I’ve seen first-time founders skip these foundational blocks, spend a lot of time and money, and then end up creating a business that ends up a zombie or flat out fails. …