Why Your 9–5 Might Be the Best Startup Investor You’ll Ever Have

Welcome to the 2nd 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: James Massaquoi, Senior Associate at Glasswing Ventures

​Glasswing Ventures invests $2M - $3M in visionary founders who push the boundaries of possibility to reinvent enterprise and security markets using the power of AI and frontier technology at the Pre-Seed and Seed stage.

Session #2: Ashley Ryder, Partner at VamosVentures

VamosVentures is a Los Angeles-based venture capital fund investing $250K - $3M in the earliest stages across Health & Wellness, FinTech, Future of Work, and Sustainability.

Session #3: Founder Debrief & Faith Discussion

A new open-format session where founders reflect on lessons from the investor conversations, share real-time challenges, and discuss how faith and purpose shape their entrepreneurial journeys.

2. Office Hours Recap:

• Session #1 - James Massaquoi, Senior Associate at Glasswing Ventures

  Stage: Pre-Seed & Seed

  Industry: AI, Cybersecurity, Frontier Tech (e.g. photonics, quantum), and Enterprise Software

  Check Size: $2M - $3M initial checks

  How to Apply: Reach out through Glasswing’s website or connect with James directly via LinkedIn

  Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Know the Landscape Deeply: James emphasized that the best founders have a deep understanding of their competitors—not just by company name, but often by founder names. Founders who know who else is building in the space are typically more well-positioned to win.

  • Differentiation is Key in Crowded Markets: If you're in a highly competitive or “frothy” space, especially like AI for therapy or writing, your traction or technical novelty must clearly stand out to earn investor conviction.

  • Build Trust with VCs through Relationships: VCs are in for the long haul—10 years or more—so they're evaluating whether they want to work with you long-term. That means your ability to communicate transparently, build rapport, and show integrity matters just as much as your metrics.

• Session #2 - Ashley Ryder, Partner at VamosVentures

  Stage: Seed & Series A

  Industry: Health & Wellness, FinTech, Future of Work, and Sustainability

  Check Size: $250K - $3M

  How to Apply: Submit via the founder form on the VamosVentures website. Attach your deck, company info, and team bios. The team reviews submissions weekly and follows up for intro calls with companies aligned to their thesis.

  Key Takeaways from Session:

  • Impact and Returns Can Coexist: Ashley emphasized that founders don’t have to choose between mission and profitability. Vamos seeks companies proving that social impact and venture-scale returns are not mutually exclusive.

  • Transparency in Process: She provided a full breakdown of Vamos’ investment process—from application, to diligence, to investment committee—making clear what founders can expect at each step.

  • Tech-Enabled Scalability Matters: Even in mission-driven sectors like healthcare or sustainability, VCs want to see how technology drives scale. Ashley encourages founders to lead with the tech and show how it enhances impact and business growth.

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

  In this new experimental session, Darrel Frater opened up space for founders to reflect, decompress, and speak openly beyond pitch decks and fundraising. Cauveé, the founder who inspired this idea, joined to share his testimony and emphasize the importance of faith, community, and authentic conversation in the entrepreneurial journey. Founders shared their stories, struggles, and spiritual reflections—ranging from navigating capital gaps to how faith sustains them through the startup rollercoaster. The session closed with a powerful prayer and a renewed commitment to create a safe, faith-anchored space that supports the whole founder, not just the business.

3. Funding Resources:

Resources of the Week:

• OHUB’s Climate Tech Bootcamp

  A 10-week pre-accelerator program for climate tech and new energy entrepreneurs from around the country that have an interest in building in or expanding to South Louisiana; opportunity to receive a $100K investment.

  Deadline: 3/28/2025

• 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

• 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

Podcast of the Week:

The Product Market Fit Show, Season 4, Episode 19
Saurav Chopra, Founder of Perkbox – From $0 to $36M ARR to a $170M Exit

Saurav Chopra shares the story of launching Perkbox as a Groupon-for-SMBs startup, pivoting multiple times before landing on a high-margin, scalable model serving employee perks to small businesses. By leveraging unconventional growth tactics like B2C-style Facebook ads for B2B sales, he bootstrapped the company to $36M ARR and exited for $170M—all while raising less capital than revenue generated. His journey reveals the grit, pivots, and capital efficiency that define successful startups.

Why I recommend it: This episode is a masterclass in startup resilience. Saurav openly shares the real, gritty stages of building a startup—multiple pivots, painful failures, scrappy growth hacks, and ultimately a huge exit. His advice on capital efficiency, building company culture, and “winning without battle” is gold for any founder navigating early-stage chaos. 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 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.

​For session #2 we have Katelyn Perryman, Associate 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.

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.