Greeting Pioneers,

Jack’s not here, so there’s no intro.

-Rachel & Dan

A Dark Horse

The Velocity Gauntlet was a 12 week competition where competitors in the cohort had to 3X their customers and their revenue (or go from an idea to a launched product in the market with customers & revenue) over 12 weeks. That was the minimum bar in order to be eligible for Demo Day. The furthest/fastest moving startup of the group would win an investment of $25K on an MFN SAFE.

5 of the 6 made it to Demo Day, and by week 8, there were two potential winners emerging neck and neck. Then a third contender finally launched, then a forth, then one of the initial two doubled their revenue.

By week 9, it was becoming anyone’s game and we all met up, reviewed the leaderboard, and challenged each founder in the cohort to step it up. We looked at what it would take for each one to beat out the competition and it lit a fire for everyone.

Especially Felipe.

Felipe had come into the competition with ~$270 in MRR. His business was 6 months old, he had a mailing list with fifteen thousand Brazillian job seekers, and a chrome extension that helped them filter for US jobs that might hire them. They could pay for access, and a few did. But he couldn’t get very many of them to pay.

His plan was to get recruiters to pay for the talent instead. So he tried that, for 9 weeks. For 9 weeks, revenue was flat. He didn’t have a mailing list of recruiters. He didn’t know them, struggled to connect to them even for customer interviews, struggled to find an edge over the competition. He’d thought about going back to his original model but was hindered by the belief that his market of job seekers didn’t have money (hence the job seeking) so they would use but never pay for his product.

Then he came to the cohort meeting that day, saw where everyone else was despite all of their own problems and threw down the gauntlet.

Felipe heard that people were not interested in a subscription, so he went home and did the LTV math on the customers who had paid for the extension, then added $10 to it and ran a lifetime pass.

He made over $8,000 in 3 weeks - still growing.

There are a few lessons for all of us here.

1. We should challenge our assumptions, especially when they’re broad. Not paying for the package you lay out doesn’t mean they’d never pay for any package.

2. Tinkering product won’t solve our sales problems. At the end of the 12 weeks, the only thing different about the product and positioning was the price.

3. Don’t count yourself out just because you’re down. Be a champion. For 9 weeks, LeapFrog sat at the bottom of the leaderboard while nearly every other company stacked wins. He could have let that sink him, or become his fuel. He chose fuel.

Huge congrats to all of our Velocity companies. You moved faster in 12 weeks than many startups move in 1 year, proving to yourselves what you’re made of - and to all of Louisville that high growth companies can and will be born right here. Great job 🎉

Special Thanks

Huge thanks again to our 2025 Velocity sponsors, JPMorganChase. From the moment we pitched this idea, they were behind us - and that tracks, because for more than 170 years, JPMorganChase has been investing in Louisville’s future - not as a distant institution, but as a committed partner in the city’s growth.

Today, JPMorganChase serves more than 23,400 small businesses across Greater Louisville, backing the builders who keep this city moving. Whether you’re launching your first product, scaling a team, or breaking into new markets, having the right financial partner isn’t optional — it’s leverage.

With 25+ branches across Louisville, their team is never far. Walk in, shake a hand, and start a conversation with a partner who’s been in this city longer than most of our buildings.

Velocity wouldn’t have been possible without JPMC. A huge thanks to Duffy Baker and David Lambert for believing in us and the future of Louisville.

The 2025 LOUIES Awards!

Congrats to all of our winners:

Warm Intro Award - Maggie Harlow 🥰 
Hey Check this Out Award - Jonathan Vanderford 😀 
Relentless Award - Kahlil Garmon 🛞 
Up All Night Award - Maya Jamner 🥱 
Louisville’s Favorite Angel Investor - Brook Smith ☕️ 
Highest Velocity Startup - DueGooder 🧑‍🎓 
Louisville’s Favorite Community Builder - Kevin Gibson 🧑‍⚕️ 
Founder Therapist Award - Larry Horn 🏗️ 
Gift of Gab Award - Timmy Tweet 🦜 
SPAM Award - XENA Intelligence 📧 
MVP Award - DueGooder 🫠 
Best Fundraise Award - VSimple 🤑 
Assistant to the Founder - Ethan Havertape 🐕‍🦺 
Louisville’s Favorite Founder - Akhil Nair 🙇‍♂️ 

Thanks again to our very gracious hosts, Sarah Blackmer and her whole team at Solyco Capital. The space was beautiful. Thanks for leaning into the fun and loosely organized chaos that is KYX - we’re so grateful for you and your support.

Note’s on The Distill’s co-EICs: Jack Crowdis & Rachel Edenfield

Jack runs the newsletter, helps run KYX. He’s a career startup kid, past founder, and current operator. Weekly contributor. Always editor.

Rachel’s the Founder/CEO of venture-backed Swell, and a driver of KYX. Routinely delivers the city’s sharpest long-form startup advice. Always re-edits Jack’s edits (including this bio).

Know someone who should read this? Forward it, or send them this link.

That’s a wrap 🎬
Keep showing up 👊 
Keep shipping 🚢 
Peace, Pioneers ✌️