The #1 Marketing Channel You’re Probably Ignoring

Welcome to the 3rd edition of The Good News Newsletter—proudly serving over 2,937 founders! Here, we break down the latest insights from our weekly Family Office Hours sessions and equip you with tools to help you secure the capital and spread ‘The Good News’.

Missed this session? Listen to the recording here.
Want to join the next session? Check out the full list of past and upcoming VCs here.

1. Overview:

This week, we hosted two insightful sessions with our fantastic guest investors and introduced a new third session:

Session #1: Naomi Goez, Principal at Forum Ventures

​Forum Ventures is the leading early-stage fund, program and community for B2B SaaS startups; writing $50K - $750K checks at the Pre-Seed and Seed stage.

Session #2: Katelyn Perryman, Investor at Black Tech Nation Ventures

Black Tech Nation Ventures (BTN.vc) is a Pittsburgh-based, national fund that aims to invest $250K - $1M primarily in U.S.-based technology companies founded by Black and/or diverse teams.

Session #3: Founder Debrief & Open Discussion

A new open-format session where founders reflect on lessons from the investor conversations, share wins and testimonies, and ask for support.

2. Office Hours Recap:

• Session #1 - Naomi Goez, Principal at Forum Ventures

  Stage: Pre-Seed & Seed

  Industry: B2B Software (sector-agnostic)

  Check Size: $50K - $750K

  How to Apply: Founders can reach out to Naomi directly via LinkedIn or submit here to Forum Ventures' programs (studio, accelerator, and fund) for potential investment opportunities.

  Key Takeaways from Session:

  • It's Never Too Early: Naomi emphasized that Forum Ventures is eager to engage with founders even at the idea stage. They are highly active across their studio, accelerator, and fund, and want to be early partners in the journey.

  • Best Ways to Get in the Room: The top ways to connect with VCs include getting warm referrals from portfolio founders, networking with ecosystem partners (lawyers, banks, accelerators), and attending industry events.

  • Cold Outreach as a Critical Skill: Many founders underestimate the power of direct outreach. A well-crafted, personalized cold email can be more effective than people think in securing investor interest.

• Session #2 - Katelyn Perryman, Investor at Black Tech Nation Ventures

  Stage: Pre-Seed & Seed

  Industry: Enterprise and B2B SaaS (excluding consumer-facing products, life sciences, deep tech, and highly regulated industries)

  Check Size: $250K - $1M

  How to Apply: Founders can apply directly through the BTN Ventures website; all submissions are reviewed by the investment team. Warm intros are welcomed but not required.

  Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Align With Value-Add Investors: BTN Ventures looks for founders who want more than just capital—they’re hands-on with hiring, biz dev, and financial modeling. If you're only seeking a check, they may not be the best fit.

  • Strong Emphasis on Access: BTN aims to be accessible to underrepresented founders and actively reviews all inbound submissions. The process includes screening, partner review, and (if advanced) a 3-call diligence process over 8–12 weeks.

  • Know Your Go-to-Market and Traction Story: Especially for B2B SaaS targeting overlooked markets, it’s important to show an efficient path to customer acquisition—even if you only have a few customers. Early validation and sticky, verticalized solutions stand out.

• [NEW] Session #3 - Founder Debrief & Open Discussion

  This week in our new Founder Debrief & Open Discussion session, founders gathered to reflect on the investor sessions, share personal wins, and offer support to one another. Darrel shared his vision for The Center For Faith and Business in Tulsa—a space blending entrepreneurship, mentorship, coworking, and spiritual growth—which sparked an outpouring of encouragement and ideas from the community. Founders expressed gratitude for the platform, opened up about their journeys, and emphasized the power of faith and fellowship in building purpose-driven businesses. The session closed with powerful words of affirmation, prayer, and a renewed commitment to lifting each other up.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures

  Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures provides early-stage innovators with $250K in access to capital and resources to help them develop and scale.
  Deadline: 3/31/2025

• Makers Mindset Workshop & Grant
  An opportunity for early-stage entrepreneurs in the consumer goods industry to receive up to a $5K grant.
  Deadline: 3/31/2025

• Camelback Fellowship

  The Camelback Fellowship is a 16-week program that supports the development of both founder and venture with a $40K investment and additional resources.
  Deadline: 4/7/2025

• Famous Amos Ingredients For Success Entrepreneurs Initiative

  IFS creates pathways for early-stage Black business owners to thrive by providing $150,000 in capital awards, mentorship, networking, and educational resources.
  Deadline: 4/23/2025

• The MSP Equity Accelerator

  The MSP Equity Accelerator sponsored by Allianz invests $100K each into five high-growth startups founded by undervalued entrepreneurs.

  Deadline: 4/25/2025

• 2025 Urban Future Prize Competition

  Urban Future Lab identifies and supports top climatetech startups; providing two $50K cash prizes.
  Deadline: 4/28/2025

• Enthuse Foundation Grant

  The Enthuse Foundation offers a series of financial grants, up to $10K, to assist entrepreneurs with critical business needs.
  Deadline: 4/28/2025

• The 2025 Black Ambition Prize Competition
  The Black Ambition Prize competition provides a platform for underrepresented founders across the nation to access $15K - $1M in growth capital, coaching, and a curated community of innovators and mentors.

  Deadline: 5/2/2025

• MassCEC Equity Workforce Planning & Capacity Grants
  Equity Workforce Planning and Capacity Grants provide up to $150,000 to start or expand a clean energy equity workforce program.

  Deadline: 5/19/2025

• Pathway to Opportunity

  Pathway to Opportunity is a competition designed to connect small businesses with corporations seeking to expand their supply chain with innovative products and services; providing a $5K cash prize to three winners.
  Deadline: 6/9/2025

• Santander x Cultivate Small Business
  Santander’s Cultivate Small Business helps early-stage entrepreneurs build and sustain businesses in the food industry providing a 12 week food-focused curriculum, mentorship, and up to $20K in capital grants.

  Deadline: 7/8/2025

Podcast of the Week:

20SALES: Julian Teixeira, CRO @ 1Password: How to Hire and Train Your First Sales Hires

Julian Teixeira shares hard-won lessons from scaling sales at Lightspeed and 1Password, offering a masterclass on how to hire your first sales reps, build a high-performing culture, and create a sales playbook that actually works. He breaks down why the founder must own the early sales process, how to spot high-potential hires, and why outbound prospecting is still essential—even in the AI era.

Why I recommend it: This episode is packed with practical, no-fluff advice for founders building their first sales team. If you're trying to figure out who to hire, how to train them, and how to structure goals and compensation—Julian doesn’t just give theory, he gives play-by-play execution from the trenches. You can listen here.

Alternative Funding Sources:

Access up to $2M in non-dilutive debt financing. Request information here.

Raise up to $5M in equity capital through a Community Round. Request information here.

Access up to $50K in AWS & Google Cloud credits and other perks from our friends at J.P. Morgan. Request information here.

Need additional support in your fundraising journey? I will be working 1 on 1 with select founders to help. Founders interested in 1 on 1 support from me can learn more and consider submitting their company here.

4. Tweet of the Week:

That’s all for this week’s edition of The Good News Newsletter. We hope you found these insights valuable as you continue your journey to securing funding.

What’s next?

Join us next Friday for two more amazing guests joining us for Office Hours.

For session #1 we have Arif Damji, Principal at Conductive Ventures.

​Conductive Ventures backs unconventional, often-overlooked founders, building capital efficient companies in diverse geographies; writing $3M - $10M checks.

For session #2 we have Mfoniso Ekong, Managing Director of the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator powered by gener8tor.

The Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator invests $100K in up to ten high-growth startups per year founded by entrepreneurs who have been historically underserved in accessing capital.

If interested in joining and/or pitching, please register here.

You can see the full list of past and future VCs on this Calendar.

Be on the look out for our newsletter next week where we’ll bring you more actionable advice, resources, and success stories.

Let’s All, spread ‘The Good News’

Best,
Darrel Frater
Co-Founder
The Frater Family Foundation
Linkedin | Twitter/X | 609-804-5999

P.S. - If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a founder you know who could benefit from these insights!

P.S.S. - Got ideas or suggestions for The Good News? Shoot me an email at [email protected] for us to discuss!

About TFFF: The Frater Family Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the family office of Darrel and Roselly Frater, dedicated to promoting human prosperity through giving. To learn more, reach out to Darrel Frater directly.