πΏ Josh Richards AMA And New AI Cohort, Wanna Join?
![πΏ Josh Richards AMA And New AI Cohort, Wanna Join?](/content/images/size/w960/2023/09/LOIKernal-Content-copy-1.png)
Hey Friends,
Happy September.
Pickleball's still hot. The weather's getting cold. Everyone's watching Blue Zones. Some of you went back to school. 30% of you started Walter Isaacson's new Elon book. We're interviewing TikTok's 5th highest-paid creator next week. And we just cold Linkedin DM'd a SVP at Starbucks to see if they'd donate 1,000 PSLs to our next startup event. And it's not even Friday yet. βοΈπ€
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/giphy.gif)
Enough jibber jabber, let's get to our menu for the day.
On Deck Today:
- π» Meet 20 young founders crushing it this month
- π€« We snagged the coolest venue for our Oct 25 event (more on that soon)
- πΏ Our AMA with a founder/VC that has 40 million followers (RSVP here)
- π₯ Andddd, we just announced our first LOI AI cohort starting this fall
Got an AI startup you wanna scale? Wanna AI-proof your venture? Apply to our AI cohort by September 27th. (application takes 47 sec, we timed it)
π© Why Join Our Fall AI Cohort?
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-12.34.24-PM.png)
AI isnβt just a big opportunity for startups. Itβs a particularly *once in a decade kinda opportunity* for young entrepreneurs.
Could this be bigger than Web 1 and Web 2 (ie. Facebook, Airbnb's startup timing)? We think so.
So this fall, we're excited to launch an AI track for founders building products in the AI space. If you are:
- π a founder under 30
- π building an AI startup (any stage)
- π open to accelerating/scaling your AI startup
- π interested in getting a chance to land a $100K cheque from LOI Venture
Interested? Smash that button below to secure your seat.
We're interviewing Josh Richards. Wanna RSVP?
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/LOIKernal-Content-copy-2.png)
We asked. And y'all answered. So on September 26th at 130pm PST we're having Gen Z founder and investor Josh Richards on for a community-wide AMA. Haven't met him yet? Here's a peek at his bio:
- built a powerful community of 40M+ followers across socials
- earned a spot on Rolling Stone's 2023's most influential creators list
- partnered with Mark Wahlberg on a production co and a dog food company with Snoop Dogg
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-20-at-5.25.41-PM.png)
- co-owns a podcast with the founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy
- founded @crosscheckstudios @ani.energy @swaylaGP
- investing via his VC fund at Animal Capital (with $15M AUM)
- estimated to be the fifth-highest earner on TikTok globally
- was on the cover of Toronto life last month
Got any questions you'd like us to ask him? Reply to the email or message us at hello@loi.vc. We're all ears π
If you'd like to RSVP to our AMA with Josh September 26th click here. This won't be recorded so grab a seat now or forever hold your peace.
September Founder News
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-1.40.26-PM.png)
- π LOI's Bet on Canada Event Happening Oct 25th: We're already 80% sold out for the Vancouver event we're hosting with The Peak. Wondering why you should cancel your day of meetings to come? A ticket comes with a free lunch, tasty espresso, a cocktail hour with bevs + appies, a DJ'd afterparty and Β 20+ amazing speakers to learn from. Use "LOI20" for 20% off your ticket if you wanna join.
- π Sam Park and his Gamelancer team rang the IPO bell last week. Sam sold his startup to Gamelancer in 2022 and now leads the team as CMO. Hit him up w/ a congrats note if you haven't already.
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-2.01.53-PM.png)
- π Joe Lee launched his Generative AI startup on ProductHunt
- πΈ Benny and Mintier got selected to be one of 10 startups out of 4,000+ applications to join Tara Bosch's Bold Beginnings program
- π΄π»ββοΈ Devon Hawkins crushed North America's largest Gran Fondo (122km cycle) in Whistler
- π° Marley Alles, founder of Rax, took home $40,000 from Coors' elevator pitch competition
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-1.44.21-PM.png)
- π° Marlon Thompson, Venture Partner at LOI and former staff member, announced selling Future Capital to Spring Activator
- π Alumni Livia Han and Jeremy Becker just announced a monthly book club starting with Stripe COO's people ops book. Join their club by messaging them here
- πΊ Tefari Bailey hung out with the CEO of TIFF last week
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-1.45.04-PM.png)
- π€ Β Vivian, Nadia and Sam shared their top LOI memories on social. Have a memory you wanna share? Email joelh@loi.vc.
- π Β Kristoffer from Spare tested out a self-driving car
- π₯ Lily Bond (19 years old) just closed a 100-store partnership with Farm Boy across Ontario.
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-1.45.47-PM.png)
Want to stay on top of future news happening at LOI? Hit that button below.
Swipes of the Week
For those that thought we bluffed about the Starbucks DM, here's a screenshot with a pumpkin background to prove it. Plus some other great swipes.
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-1.13.36-PM.png)
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-20-at-4.38.24-PM.png)
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-20-at-4.29.21-PM.png)
![](https://www.loi.vc/content/images/2023/09/Screen-Shot-2023-09-19-at-2.38.28-PM.png)
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Don't forget: apply to join our first AI cohort by Friday, Sept 22nd at 5 pm PST. Spots are filling up quicker than T-Swift's Toronto concert sales. Β
Your startup bestie-boos,
π The LOI Fam