The newsletter is a monthly communication that currently goes out on build3’s linkedin page & each team member’s respective whatsapp broadcast list.
The purpose of the newsletter is to update the external world about major developments at build3, seek help from the external community & educate people as well. In short, the newsletter is informative, insightful and fun!
Here are some examples of previous linkedin newsletters :
build3 on LinkedIn: What happened at build3 in January :) + other learnings
build3 on LinkedIn: What happened at build3 in December 2023 (plus other learnings ;)
build3 on LinkedIn: What went down at build3 in Nov 2023 ;)
And here is an example of the whatsapp newsletter!
<aside> 💡
💸 When money goes to the right places…
We celebrated the mid-way point of our impact accelerator with a demo day where external investors wrote cheques amounting to Rs 54.5 lakhs on top of the Rs 25 lakhs of seed money that build3 has put in each impact startup.
The startups are now racing to achieve the coveted PMF status, where they will have the opportunity to unlock follow-on funding as well.
The five startups that have been selected are working in the domains of employee wellness, education for students, fair wages for gig workers & elderly health care. (check out the LinkedIn update to know more :)
We invite aspiring founders who have the necessary grit to build for-profit AND purpose to apply to the 2nd edition of the impact accelerator. Applications are open; you may apply here.
🏖️ Fancy a visit to a 'startup ashram' ;)
With the advent of our cohub program, the build3 beach villa kinda feels like a startup ashram. Founders of different ilk stay with us to take a workation with fellow founders. We have a workspace nestled in nature, and we regularly host wellness, bonding, and knowledge sessions for entrepreneurs. And founders get to bounce off ideas with people who understand them. If you would like to take a workation with founders in Goa, please click the following link.
We are now piloting a program designed explicitly for aspiring founders called the "Sea Side Startup Retreat." This is designed for first-time founders who seek to understand the tenets of starting up, be part of a community of founders who have their back, and access resources that will help them on their entrepreneurial journey. You can learn more here.
https://www.build3.org/seaside-startup-retreat
🛠️ Penny wise Pound foolish when investing in tech tools
When we started our chub operations last year, we cobbled together a system to manage inventory and leads using Google Sheets and Airtable. We quickly realized that the expansion of our inventory and our surge in leads resulted in an unwieldy mess when we were trying to manage bookings.
We now have a tech stack that allows us to manage inventory, the sales journey of our leads, communications, bookings, etc. The stack comprises Zoho bigin (CRM), Wati (Whatsapp messaging) & StayFlexi (inventory and booking management system)
Usually, when startups are early on in their revenue journey, it's hard to foresee the long-term benefits of investing in tech tools versus the short-term costs. We avoided that mistake and invested in the tools early on, and our life has become easier since :) There is a learning curve associated with adopting new tech tools; upskilling is best done when a startup is in the early stages of its journey.
📚 Whatchu reading builders
The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida: Where do the world's most creative & talented people live, and what attracts them there? Florida challenges the prevailing assumption that the best people move to places where the jobs are. Instead, he suggests that the most creative and talented people move to areas where their individuality is respected and that boast a high standard of living.
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During the last week of each month, a data-collection sheet is circulated among team members during the weekly all-hands meet. During the Q & A section, team members take out 15 mins to fill up the sheet. Team members are encouraged to provide detailed and nuanced responses to the questions in the data collection sheet; this directly impacts the quality of the final newsletter.
Here is the data collection sheet : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y4O9MzfXIPWOhIMkkf4AisbQE22dxc-U5bA7J4IAHp8/edit#gid=1406470774
Please refer to the questions in the header of the sheet, the questions are self-explanatory.
After going through the responses in the data collection sheet, you can begin filling out this google doc and get started with writing an awesome newsletter!
The linkedIn newsletter forms the basis of the whatsapp update, therefore it makes sense to start writing the linkedin newsletter first. After finishing the linkedin newsletter, you may begin to write the whatsapp newsletter which is essentially a snippet of the linkedin newsletter.
After writing the newsletter, its time to post it!
The best time to post it is usually between 3 pm - 6 pm on a weekday on linkedin. Tag the relevant people & use appropriate hash tags to increase the reach of the newsletter.
For the whatsapp snippet, post it on the ‘team build3’ whatsapp group and ask the build3 team members to post it on their respective newsletter broadcast list.
Each team member has a broadcast list that comprises of people who they think would benefit and be interested in the knowledge that we share 🙂