Hi friends,
Welcome to the second official Black Unicorn newsletter, where we bring you everything you need to know about the startup community and an inside look on what we're building.
It was looking a little soft for a moment there when Q4 didn’t kick-off as a rip roaring success. I know lots of folks were concerned that we would have a lackluster BFCM this year, but it turned out not to be the case! Shopify reported that it was the biggest BFCM ever, which feels like a great way for consumer brands to wrap up the year.
It’s safe to say your hard work paid off. And hopefully you can reward yourself with some time away from work this holiday season. If you’re the type of person who gets anxious at the thought of a vacation (hi, 👋 ditto), remember that time away from your laptop can often bring about the best ideas.
I took a holiday over Thanksgiving break to visit my mum in Texas for her 60th birthday. We went away to New Orleans for the weekend and I didn’t open Slack once for the whole week I was gone. I felt like my creativity levels were spiking the whole time I was away. It’s so much easier to see the bigger picture when you’re not caught up in the weeds. I had so many new ideas come to me (that I can’t wait to implement and show you!). Time away from work is good for work.
BU Community Wins
Mezcla co-founder Griffin Spolansky (Founding100 member) was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30. Go Griffin!
Nadya Okamoto’s (Founding100 member) Tigress podcast is back after a 2-month hiatus. New episodes just dropped all about social media, trolls, and setting up boundaries. It’s a great listen!
Creative director Meng Shui (Founding100 member) launched her new typeface, Project Body Type, where each character reflects a real and diverse body type. It is very, very rad.
Tatiana Steel and Chelsea Leyland (Founding100 members) just launched Looni to elevate the menstrual cycle. Check it out.
Hugimals was just named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022 for their weighted stuffed animals that “hug you back.” Awww. Congrats, Marina Khidekel!
Building BU in Public
We’re excited to introduce the first 100 Black Unicorn members: the Founding100. You’ll start to see them make appearances in newsletters, on social, and maybe even on a podcast episode 👀. I’m so proud our membership is comprised of over 50% women + non-binary people, over 50% PoC, and 100% of the most remarkable founders and operators in the game.
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for an update on when we’ll open access to a wider group.
It’s mid-December, which means that the artificial deadline I set for myself to relaunch our website by EOY has passed. I’m “punting it to 2023” as they say and that’s just fine!
Jobs
One of our favorite brands Topicals is hiring an Affiliate Marketing Manager. Let me know if you want an intro!
Premium womenswear brand Cuyana is hiring a Director of Brand Marketing (remote, PT hours).
The social media whizzes at Starface are looking for a Director of Social & Content ($135-170K, love when companies are upfront about comp.)
And now, I’ll leave you with this:
The answer: Ready for your morning aka the latest possible second. You’ll never be left feeling disappointed.
Until next time,
JT
🫶
You're too kind! Thank you, Kristin. Just replied to your LinkedIn message!