Happy Sunday, everyone!

What a week! First President Trump’s tax returns, then the Presidential debate, then COVID hit the White House. After the news that the President tested positive and subsequently took Marine One to Walter Reed, I actually forgot about the rest, which I think reflects the velocity and deafening roar of the news cycle today. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get political here. I just had to mention that the world just continues to get stranger and stranger.

In more relevant news, I had the honor and opportunity to host a Speaker Series with Jewel Burks Solomon, cofounder at Collab Capital, this week. Jewel and her cofounders focus on supporting black founders with a new investment approach. A quick recap follows, but before that, I want to just mention that Jewel came in hot from a meeting right at the top of the hour with no time to get Zoom set up or really do the usual few minutes of prep that I do before these conversations. You won’t notice that because she’s a pro, and went right into sharing her story and the important work she’s doing. Well, you might notice that I forgot to enable her screen share, but that’s on me.

During our conversation, Jewel shared her background and why she co-founded Collab Capital, their first investment and how it’s going, and the unique way in which they invest in early-stage companies. I think Collab’s structure is fascinating, and you’ll learn a lot about another way to think about supporting entrepreneurs while delivering returns to your LPs. Along the way, Jewel will contrast her approach to those of Indie and Earnest. Granted, Collab’s portfolio is young, but that’s true of most portfolios in this space, and I think there’s tremendous potential to use similar approaches to support underfunded entrepreneurs out there.