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Welcome to The Good News Newsletter—proudly serving over 4,067 founders! Here, we break down the latest insights from our weekly Investor Office Hours sessions and equip you with tools to help you secure capital for your business.

Missed the live session? Listen to the recording here.
Want to join the next session? Check out the full list of investors here.
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🌟 Building In Public - MeetAnyone.co

This past week, I launched a brand-new product called MeetAnyone — and I’m committing to building it in public so you can learn from every step of the journey. My wins, my misses, my lessons — all of it. If you’re an entrepreneur, I want this section to inspire you and give you real, practical insight you can apply today.

So what is MeetAnyone?
It’s a platform designed to make high-quality introductions simple. We just released — The Directory — is a verified network of vetted investors and founders who are open to connecting. No cold outreach. No guessing. Just real people ready to build.

The crazy part?
We already made our first few connections through the platform within days of launching.

How?
Because tools like Lovable have completely changed what’s possible. What used to take me weeks with a traditional dev team now takes minutes — at a fraction of the cost. The speed is unreal.

Key Lessons From Week One

• Speed is a superpower. What once required full-stack developers, long sprints, and big budgets can now be built in hours.

• The downside is tiny. Worst-case scenario? You spend a few hundred bucks on coding credits.

• The upside is unlimited. You can ship, iterate, get users, pivot, or scale — all with almost no barrier to entry.

• Feedback is Priority #1. When launching a new product, getting it in front of real users early is critical. Otherwise, you’ll continue to build but all the wrong things.

Right now is the best time in history to be a builder. No excuses. No gatekeepers. Just possibility.

More updates next week as we keep building MeetAnyone — and as I keep sharing everything I learn along the way.

Try MeetAnyone Today →

🙏🏽 The Good News - Investor Office Hours

Office Hours Recap:
This is was our third week using Chatter Social for Office Hours and it as been incredible. Being able to see founders and our VC guests via video has been a game changer for authentic relationship building. Be sure to join us on Chatter for the next session.

Session #1 - Ben Wiggins, Chief Investment Officer at Calumet Investments

Stage: Post-revenue preferred; some pre-revenue if the founder has prior exits

Industry: Sector-agnostic (does not typically invest in fine arts or food/beverage; evaluates most other industries based on founder quality and traction)

Check Size: Varies — active angel investor with flexible check sizes; family office allocations depend on thesis fit

How to Apply: Connect with Ben on LinkedIn and engage with his content to begin building the relationship. You can also find Ben Wiggins in our Directory on MeetAnyone.

Key Takeaways from Session:

1. Founder Quality Is the First Filter: Ben invests heavily in the person before the product. He looks for founders who are curious, coachable, credible, and committed — especially those with prior exits or meaningful experience in their category. As he noted, “I bet on the founder’s momentum more than anything.”

2. Traction Comes in Many Forms: Revenue is great, but not required. Ben looks for signs that a founder is moving fast and validating demand — LOIs, pilot users, partnerships, retention signals, or community engagement. He emphasized that founders must show progress that isn’t dependent on investor capital.

3. Relationships Drive Fundraising: Ben stressed that investors fund people they know, like, and trust. The easiest way to build that trust is simple: engage with an investor’s content consistently, show up in their comments, and stay top-of-mind long before you ask for a meeting. In his words, “Warm relationships lead to warm checks.”

Session #2 – Mark McCoy, Senior Principal at AHA Ventures

Stage: Early stage (Seed through Series B)

Industry: Healthcare-focused; especially cardiovascular, stroke, women’s health, medical devices, therapeutics, and social determinants of health

Check Size: Varies by fund within AHA Ventures; typically early-stage institutional checks aimed at mission-aligned companies

How to Apply: Connect with Mark on LinkedIn and begin building the relationship. You can also find Mark McCoy in our Directory on MeetAnyone.

Key Takeaways from Session:

1. Impact First, Always: AHA Ventures evaluates every investment through the lens of mission alignment — will this solution meaningfully reduce cardiovascular disease, stroke risk, or improve health outcomes at scale? If a startup can show a clear tie between its product and measurable health impact, it stands out immediately.

2. Science + Distribution = Their Superpower: One of AHA’s biggest value-adds is its internal research, clinical, and data science teams. They regularly help startups validate efficacy through studies, trials, and evidence generation. Combined with AHA’s national footprint of offices and community partnerships, this creates rare distribution advantages for the right founders.

3. Founders Must Be Driven by Purpose: Because many of the markets AHA operates in (Medicaid, underserved communities, public health) are challenging, Mark emphasized the importance of founder motivation. They look for leaders with deep personal conviction, lived experience, and a clear “why” that sustains them through slow, complex go-to-market cycles.

Funding Resources:

💰 Resources of the Week:

Techstars: NYC Accelerator - $220K | Deadline: 11/19/2025

Halcyon EquiTech Fellowship - $6K | EdTech & Future of Work Founders | Deadline: 11/20/2025

Blue Ridge Labs Robinhood Catalyst Accelerator - $100K | Social Impact Startups | Deadline: 11/21/2025

Gusto Impact Awards - $10K + Other Support | Deadline: 11/21/2025

Elbow Grease AI Accelerator - $300K | AI Founders | Deadline: 11/27/2025

The Fifteen Percent Pledge Sephora Beauty Grant - $100K | Beauty Founders | Deadline: 11/28/2025

AI Ventures Accelerator - $10K | Women Founders | Deadline: 11/30/2025

HBS Africa Business Club Competition 2026 - Up to $55K | Founder Serving the African Market | Deadline: 12/5/2025

Momentum Grant by CHASM - $25K | Female Founders | Deadline: 12/8/2025

D-Prize Challenges Global Competition - Up to $20K | Founders Addressing Poverty | Deadline: 12/14/2025

Visible Hands VHNYC 2026 Fellowship - $10K | Overlooked Founders in NYC | Deadline: 12/31/2025

AI Unleashed: Industry Disrupters Challenge - $10K | AI Founders | Deadline: 12/31/2025

The Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program - Up to $50K | Deadline: 1/5/2026

NewSchools 2026 Grant - Up to $250K | Edtech Founders | Deadline: 1/8/2026

Tulsa Remote - $10K | Rolling

💸 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.

Interested in 1 on 1 support from Darrel? In preparation for launching my own fund, I will be working 1 on 1 with select founders as an advisor. Interested founders can learn more and consider submitting their company here.

🎙️ Podcast of the Week: Grant Lee: Building Gamma’s AI Presentation Company to 100 Million Users | a16z Podcast

Summary:
In this episode, Grant Lee — Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma — shares the real story behind building one of the fastest-growing AI applications in the world. From an investor telling him “this is the worst idea I’ve ever heard” to reaching 100M+ users, Grant breaks down the product decisions, growth strategies, and design principles that helped Gamma stand out in a crowded market.

He talks about the early grind of fundraising from his kitchen corner in London, why empathy for users shaped Gamma’s entire product philosophy, and how the team engineered powerful organic growth by perfecting the first 30 seconds of the user experience. Grant also explains why taste, design, and simplicity matter even more in the AI era — and why being “different, not better” gave Gamma its edge.

Why I recommend it:
This episode is a masterclass for founders. Grant’s journey is a reminder that execution matters more than external opinions, and that thoughtful product design can beat incumbents — even in a space dominated by giants. His insights on user empathy, word-of-mouth growth, and building with a small, high-trust team are lessons every entrepreneur can apply today.

If you’re building anything in AI or SaaS, this conversation will fire you up and give you a playbook for creating products people love. You can listen here.

✨ Inspiration

💬 Tweet of the Week

🎵 Song of the Week

🙏🏽 Scripture 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?

We are back this Friday with more investors!

For session #1 we have Madison Faulkner, Partner at NEA

​Founded in 1977 and with over $28 billion in assets under management, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO.

For session #2 we have Jesús Salas, Principal at Slauson & Co.

​Slauson & Co. is an early-stage venture firm investing in SMB tech and culturally relevant products that empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and underserved communities.

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 lookout 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. - Fundraising and need intros to investors? Try our new tool, MeetAnyone.co.

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 entrepreneurship. To learn more, reach out to Darrel Frater directly.