Weekly Roundup: May Contain Metal 🔩

Happy Friday, DVC! U.S. chicken megacorp Tyson just recalled 30,000 pounds of its “Dino Fun Nuggets” after customers found small pieces of metal in the product.

The recall is obviously good news for consumer health & safety. But I think I speak for the masses in saying this was a devastating way to learn that Dino Fun Nuggets’ ingredients contain zero fun and zero dinosaurs. Lunchtime will never be the same 💔

Startup News & Weekly Poll:

This week the legendary (for better or worse) startup WeWork officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

It’s sad to think that Adam Neumann’s noble mission to “elevate the world’s consciousness” and bring the world’s 150M orphans into “a new family: the WeWork family” was foiled by something as simple as wildly irresponsible spending and unsustainable long-term lease obligations.

Join us in pouring out a bottomless kombucha for WeWork 🫗 Unless, of course, it comes back again…

Time for a pop quiz... Choose an answer and see how you stack up next week!

Last Week's Results:

Last week we asked you what “Pari Passu” means in Latin… and just 44% correctly answered “Equal Footing”! In finance, this generally refers to the equal distribution of profits, dividends, or investment returns to shareholders with Pari Passu Preferences.

P.s. For anyone looking to brush up on their finance lingo, we challenge you to beat our high score on Duolingo Latin 🦉

Vote for New Deals:

Help select DVC's future deals! Please view the options, upvote your favorites, and suggest your own!

New companies suggested this week:

• AI Box, ShiftPosts, Waxelene, FitLitX

Venture Pool #69 Summary:

This Venture Pool for BabyQuip was successfully funded with $285 in commitments from 6 Investing Members! DVC has committed the Club's investment on StartEngine (see DVC Portfolio Manifest) and issued individual confirmations to the "My Portfolio" section of your DVC accounts.

Overall, DVC members were impressed with BabyQuip thanks to its 1) experienced founder, 2) notable traction ($3M+/year revenue & survived COVID), and 3) the fact that it seems to be solving the very real problem of traveling with children.

However, there are still some unknowns about the deal. Most notably:

1. It’s unclear how BabyQuip’s private funding round (off StartEngine) is progressing and whether the terms are the same as its RegCF round

2. There’s limited context on how big the team thinks the company could get… I.e. are they swinging for a home run or just a single?

3. Why are recurring customer rates so low despite overwhelmingly positive reviews? What is the company doing to turn this around?

We’ll keep you posted on the founders’ responses. But in the meantime, go BabyQuip!

DVC Portfolio Updates:

Read on for recent updates from past DVC Deal Reviews & Venture Pools!

Happypillar (VP #4) - Test → Iterate → Repeat:
In its November update, Happypillar shared multiple product and growth developments. Notably, the team has been heavily focused on talking to product experts & customers in efforts to improve its user experience, retention rates, and sales in 2024.

Seedsheet (VP #34) - Anndddd Action!
In a somewhat cryptic update, Seedsheet shared that next week it will be featured on one of “America’s Biggest Daytime Shows”! They gave no other hints, so naturally I’m hoping it’s The Young and the Restless…

Thanks for reading & participating! Have a great weekend and see you for a new DVC deal review next week!

Sincerely,

Team DVC