Welcome to Easy, Breezi.

Your friend who sends you a weekly update on what she's working on, reading through, and thinking about – in a list.

My dream cap table for Breezi

1. Gary Vaynerchuk: a pioneer in the early days of content creation. The main reason I want Gary as an investor is because of this video – posted 6 years ago which predicted the future that we’re currently in with TikTok/ daily vlogs/ creators.
   

2. Ryan Hoover: a few years ago, I saw Ryan launch YourStack – it felt like “Breezi for products”. I think we have the same vision for what a list-based consumer product could be. YourStack never took off as a broader social network but Breezi could 👀
   

3. Julie Zhuo: Facebook’s first software engineer intern in 2006 and eventually becoming their VP of Product Design. Not only does Julie provide insights from a technical perspective, I would learn a lot on leadership and people management from her. Love her book also.
   

4. Clara Shih: a true technology leader, founder of Hearsay Systems, and currently the CEO of Salesforce AI. I heard of Clara when I was a barista in 2015. I was stalking the Starbucks Board of Directors (don’t ask why) and was excited to see a woman POC. She’s made a few early-stage investments in recent years – including Gusto and Octane AI.
   

5. Marc Randolph: cofounder and first CEO of Netflix. I feel weird being obsessed with him – I’ve read his book, saved hundreds of his tweets, and will watch anything that he’s featured in. I admire his investing philosophy and want him in my corner.

Other notable mentions include:

• Scott Belsky: founder, Behance

• Alex Cooper: podcaster, Call Her Daddy

• Biz Stone: co-founder, Twitter and Medium

• Elizabeth Khuri Chandler and Otis Chandler: founders of Goodreads

• Mark Gainey and Micahel Horvath: founders of Strava

In case you’re new to raising capital and investing, here are some terms defined

• Cap Table: a spreadsheet or document that breaks down exactly who owns how much of the business
  

• Angel Investor vs. VC: both are equity investors but angels operate as individuals using their own money and VCs operate as a corporation using other people’s money (limited partners)
  

• Pre-seed round: the earliest round of capital a company raises, can range from $250k-$2M and usually from friends, family and angels – typically on a SAFE and will give you 6-12 months of runway
  

• SAFE: stands for “Simple Agreement for Future Equity”, the benefits to raising on a SAFE is its simplicity (no interest rates, minimal terms to negotiate) and flexibility (typically no shareholder voting rights so founders can focus on building)
  

• Equity Dilution: to gauge your level of dilution, you can use the back-of-the-envelope formula of Equity Dilution = SAFE Amount / Valuation Cap so if you raise $500k from a SAFE with a $5M post-money valuation cap, you’re basically selling 10% of your company

Here are 3 unique things I look for in angel investors

1. Very active in building and maintaining their personal brand online
   

2. Backs new platform companies instead of new tool companies
   

3. Has an “against the grain” or untraditional path in their own journey

The 3 books that I’ve been reading lately

• Onward by Howard Shultz: an inside look into Schultz's (Starbucks CEO) central leadership philosophy
  

• Facebook, The Inside Story by Steven Levy: this book gives you a view on Zuckerberg’s journey with all the tea
  

• 100 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Weist: compilation of short pieces on pursuing your purpose and embracing new ways of thinking

5 signs the only problem with your life is that you THINK about it more than you LIVE it

1. Your goals are perfect outcomes, not perfect actions

2. You’re a maladaptive daydreamer

3. Your purpose in life is abstract

4. You’re always busy, yet never productive enough

5. Most of your problems come back down to a fear of judgment

My goals for being in New York this summer

In no particular order…

1. Find users for Breezi

2. Find investors for Breezi

3. Find a boyfriend

The 3 things I did in New York this week

1. Went to General Catalyst’s Founder Fridays and got to meet other founders and investors/ hear feedback and advice on Breezi

2. Got 30 new waitlist signups by going to events and talking about Breezi

3. Finally got to meet my internet bestie Liz from Landing IRL

Super random but here are other names I was considering before Breezi was Breezi

• Casa; a home, your little space on the internet

• Peek; inviting others to peek inside

• Bullet; well …you get the point

If you found anything in this newsletter helpful, I'd love to connect on Twitter – tweet me a screenshot of your favorite part and let's chat 👋

In addition, it would really help me if you could forward and share this newsletter with a friend.

I'll be back next week with more lists!