What the heck is Zap up to

Hello friends!

Many folks want to know, what the heck am I up to? So, I decided to write it all down. Because honestly, it’s a lot.?

I work for myself. These are the things I do and I want to do more of them! Reach out to me about anything below:

My mission: Build the Nashville startup ecosystem (specifically focused outside of healthcare). That means getting local startups from point A to point B through connecting them with capital, talent, customers, and community.?

Capital: I help Nashville founders who are capital ready meet investors. I’ve now helped Nashville startups raise $3.65M.? That's 26 checks to 11 different companies.?

Talent: I help Nashville startups build their team. Recently I’ve helped teams hire a head of product, a CTO, and a head of ops.?

I started a company in Brazil called Alvorada where we help startups hire engineers down there so they can scale their engineering team at a more affordable price point. All of the engineers work together in the same office. We’re slowly creating a sister city down there!

Customers: I help Nashville startups find their first customers and design partners. Recently got a few lighthouse customers for one of my portcos and the design partner for another.?

Community: I help Nashville founders meet other founders and advisors.?

I host events with Josh Segall , some for founders and some for software engineers.?

I host founder dinners with my friend Pavel at Goldman Sachs.?

This past year I did my first conference, Lightning , where we had 44 VCs and 70 founders take over 300 meetings with one another!

I help run other investor events. I teamed up with ID8 , Mara Lewis and Brad Holliday, to run an investor/founder matchmaking event at CES in January. This year we’re also running a matchmaking event for fintech startups and investors at Money 2020.

I invest: I write angel checks of my own and have made 8 investments so far. You can check out my portfolio here . I am incredibly eager to invest in companies #9 and #10 as I know who I want them to be (: I only invest in Nashville startups. This is the thing I am most excited about right now!! I want to find more great deals in Nashville!?

I’m a scout at Overline. Overline is a preseed and seed venture fund led by Sean O’Brien and Michael Cohn based out of Atlanta. They’ve invested in 3 Nashville startups and want to do more! My job is to help make that happen.?

I’m the Expert-in-Residence on Capital at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. I am passionate about making capital education as accessible as possible. In this role, I get hands-on with founders who are investable on their pitch, deck, and fundraising process.?

Some updates personally:

I just crossed 5 years of living in Nashville and I love it. I live in Hillsboro village with my boyfriend. I hope one day I have enough money to buy a house there (:

We both ride our e-bikes almost everywhere we go! I’ve fallen in love with seeing the city from my bicycle.?

I picked up the travel bug and visited Peru, Colombia, and Iceland this past year alone. Planning trips to Morocco and Brazil (to visit our engineers) next. I host international travelers from around the world regularly in our home through couchsurfing.com .?

I am on the board of the non-profit Mending Hearts.

I lift weights multiple times a week, hike, read, try new restaurants, and host dinner parties.

Life has been pretty amazing.