Introducing the First-Time Founder Food Club
Calling all AI-native pre-seed founders looking for community and a good meal.
Quick Link to FTFFC Application
The other day, a friend from college asked "How did you get into VC" and I shared the winding road from being a science nerd turned NGO save-the-world person to becoming a tech founder as a way to get people to see Africa as the dopest destination (and did!) to being a COVID casualty in the business world to having great investors who believed in me as a person and wanted to continue working together.
My journey was unconventional—first-time founder, HBCU grad, built a company in Africa with no reference points and no friends who even worked in startups. I'm also a DJ, foodie, and always know where to catch a vibe. My deep analytical chops and strategic thinking aren't always what I lead with, but are def a secret weapon. Through grit, determination, and some level of charm, I managed to raise venture and build a real business on my first go, but boy was it hard. I didn't exit though. I had to experience seeing my life's work valued at "zero" on a spreadsheet and it SUCKED.
That experience taught me about the disadvantage of not knowing what you don't know. I had amazing investors and support, but I still faced critical blind spots—from hiring decisions (see my last post about my journey with offshore talent) to making the hard call of when to shut down. The gaps weren't about being alone—they were about missing the institutional knowledge that helps you see around corners.
The problem is real. First-time founders who are building incredible companies often lack the context, relationships, and deep know-how that serial entrepreneurs take for granted. These aren't founders who can't attract funding—many have won pitch competitions, raised angel rounds, or closed pre-seed funding. They're proving their potential, but they're missing key pieces that create an invisible ceiling in their journey. How do you actually build a GTM strategy that scales? How do you experiment efficiently with limited resources? Where do you find the right customer introductions? How do you navigate board dynamics or hiring at different stages? Fire people who aren't a good fit? Build an A-class team when your network doesn't have what you need?
These questions aren't limited to first-time founders, but they are places where that disadvantage can slow you down, not to mention all the intangible dynamics and bad vibes that are sometimes a part of this world. The challenge isn't just getting in the door—it's knowing what to do once you're inside. Even brilliant founders building the future can find themselves isolated, making expensive mistakes that experience could have prevented, or missing opportunities that the right network could have unlocked.
We can change this. As Aubrie Pagano puts it: "Your lived experience is your competitive advantage." The more I reflected on that, the more I realized we need to create conditions where first-time founders' unique perspectives actually become their superpower—not just believe it should happen, but make it happen.
Introducing the First-Time Founder Food Club
I realized my unconventional path isn't a bug, it's a feature. So I'm doing what I do best—curating experiences that unlock potential through real connection and a bit of insider wow. Once a month, I'm bringing together my love of food, passion for experiences, and commitment to investing in incredible AI founders—especially those building companies that'll keep us human and connected in the age of AI. My investment thesis centers around AI x Belonging and the future of places, so if you're working on something that makes the world feel more connected rather than more isolated, we should definitely talk.
Here's what you can expect:
Incredible food — I built a travel startup, I'm everyone's go-to for restaurant recs, and I even have a Notion database called "NY In My Belly" with 200+ spots (PM me and I'll send it to you)
Intimate gatherings (max 8 attendees) of first-time founders building venture-scale companies
Real talk and real support from people who truly get what it's like to do this for the first time
Access to experience — I'll bring at least one other person who's been in your shoes and made it, and sometimes another investor
Direct investment opportunity — I'm making a commitment to invest $50,000 (via Next Wave NYC) in at least one founder from these dinners each year (and hopefully more)
Who this is for:
First-time founders with early traction—maybe you've won a pitch competition, raised angel funding, or closed a pre-seed round
People building AI companies that keep us human and connected
Founders proving their potential but needing support navigating the complexity of scale
People who love great food and authentic conversation
Especially (but not exclusively) Black and Brown founders who may be building outside traditional networks
This is a space where incredible people, coloring outside of the lines and doing this all for the first time, come together to get real, get support, share wins, and break bread together. You'll need to apply, but the meals will always be on me.
I feel like this is the best way to pay it forward and show up authentically as a new investor. If you're a first-time founder on the path to building a venture-scale company and love to eat, apply to join us here. If you know someone who should be part of this, please share post.
