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Hi SM Family,

…and we’re already 8% through 2022! 👀

Luckily, we’ve done a fair bit of prep work in Q4 to set us up for a good start to 2022.

Firstly, the Summer22 Accelerator cohort has kicked off.

We’ve also hired a bunch of legends.

1. Paul Redfern (Fellowship Coach) is joining the team as Head of Programs, coming from Brighte (Head of Product).
2. In a magical example of the Startmate community circle of life, Megan Elizabeth, Founder of Bellish (SYD18), is joining us as Entrepreneur in Residence.
3. Renee Bibby (Women Fellow who spent 6 months at Startmate as an intern) who joins us full-time as Operations Associate now that she’s finished her uni degree.
4. Matt Koloymyjec as FundOps Associate (ex-KPMG).
5. Ben Simai as Operations Associate (ex-PwC).‍
6. Cassie Arangio (Women Fellow) as Community Growth Associate (ex-Lululemon).
   

Ask

• Calling all aspiring angel investors! First Believers cohort 3 applications are open until the 10th February.
• If you’re hiring in Aus/NZ this year, you can sign up to the waitlist for our new TalentEngine to then access the full pool of incredible Startmate Fellowship talent.
• Based in Melbourne? Register for our monthly Startmate Family drinks (on the last Thursday of every month). The whole SM family (and their friends) are welcome. You can find all the info here.

Startmate Snapshot

Happening Now.

• Accelerator - S22 is in Week 1.
  

Happening Soon - applications open.

• First Believers - March 2022
• Women Fellowship - March 2022
• Founders Fellowship - April 2022
• Engineering Fellowship - April 2022
• Student Fellowship - June 2022
  

Planning in progress - register your interest.

• Media Fellowship - April 2022 - more here.
• Talent Acquisition Fellowship - April 2022
• Talent Engine - want to hire Fellows, sign up for the launch here‍
  

Startmate goals

We call this the Triple P strategy - Programs, Products, Platform. 

1. Programs — get everyone working in their power lanes and launch 7 new programs.

• We’re preparing to launch two new Fellowships in April: Media (see this Twitter Thread) & Talent Acquisition.
• We’ve created an EOI function for joining, pitching or running an upcoming or brand new Fellowship. We’ll be adjusting our roadmap based on what you tell us you want. 🙏
• You can sign up for all of the above here.

2. Products — build our first tech product and raise a financial product (the Continuity Fund).

• We’re putting the finishing touches on our first tech product (the TalentEngine) to give subscribers access to the entire pool of Fellowship talent. You can sign up for the waiting list here.
• We’ve kicked off the 3-step process required to establish the Continuity Fund.
• Prep. All our alumni submitted when and how much they’re estimating to raise, enabling us to calibrate the size and deployment of the fund. The next step is to put the story together in a pitch deck by the end of Feb.
• Pitch. We’re putting together an investor list. If you want in,  hit me up!
• Close. Our targeted first and final close is the end of Q2 and Q3 respectively.

3. Platform — integrate programs and products to work together on one platform.

• We haven’t kicked this off yet.
• The goal is to launch one platform by the end of Q2 through which the whole Startmate community can connect.
  

Good

• Women Fellowship ended with an NPS of 74 with many already in startup jobs (including Cassie who we just hired as Community Growth Associate).
• Our second First Believers cohort finished with an NPS of 82. We’ve taken some great feedback on board and are currently looking for our next cohort.
• The Student Fellowship finished with an NPS of 87 with many parents (and students) hitting us up with heart-warming feedback.

Bad

• On the flipside of our hiring spree, Cristabel Gekas left us last week and joined the XY Sense team as People & Operations Manager. While she will be missed, we’re stoked she’s joined XY Sense alongside many of our mentors and coaches.
  

Ugly

• Due to the fact we started hiring at the end of the year, and the process always takes longer than expected, some of our timelines no longer align with program kick-offs, and we are running lean.

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Thanks Team!

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Michael Batko

CEO, Startmate