The Distill - The Final Countdown

Greeting Pioneers,

The week is here. Velocity is ending. The Louies are beginning. It’s a wonderful time of year. Plus a guest section from a former YC Operator, now Louisville resident.

Down To The Wire

Demo Day is Thursday. Five Velocity startups have either 3X'd their starting numbers or went from zero to a launched product with paying customers in 12 weeks flat.

The execution speaks for itself: Jokester streamed six comedy sets to paying customers opening night. Bottle Episodes rebuilt their entire platform from scratch and then shipped a fully playable multiplayer game. Moneybot landed 4 paying schools. DueGooder both built a new mobile app and scaled DueGooder V1 to hundreds of new users in their off season. And LeapFrog – sitting dead last for the first ten weeks – 22X'd their revenue in the final two.

This is what founders look like when they stop planning and start shipping under pressure. When they’re in an in-person cohort of founders all pursuing the same dream and there's no hiding behind "we're not ready yet."

Thursday, these five teams show everyone what they built and how they accomplished it all so fast. Come see what Louisville founders are capable of.

This Thursday, December 4th, 5:00 PM @ Solyco Capital

The Louies Nominations are IN

Cast your vote! - here - voting closes tomorrow December 2nd at midnight.

The winners will be announced at Solyco Capital on Thusday December 4th. Doors open at 5p. Velocity Demo Day up top with The Louies to follow. Gonna be an awesome night - join us.

RSVP for the event - here

Guest Section: Lindsay Selvitelle - Former Sr. Director of Events @ YCombinator

Now living in Louisville, Founder of ls /events and Co-Founder of The Platform Team. Join her substack and learn more about executing high-caliber events and/or meet her IRL @ Velocity Demo Day / The LOUIES.

“I love planning events. I always have.

And after 17 years of event experience, I’d say I’m pretty damn good at it.

There’s something about bringing people together over a shared passion…thoughtfully and purposefully… that lights a fire in me. And I’ve discovered that there’s nothing as powerful as a carefully designed event to drive business results.

As a tech event contractor/consultant and former Sr. Director of Events at Y Combinator, I thrive on helping startup founders and venture capitalists grow and connect with their communities through impactful events. I geek out on analyzing current event trends, pinpointing what makes an event so successful, and talking strategies to prevent the waste of time and/or money.

If you’re a founder or VC looking to connect with your target audience through events, paying attention to what resonates in the Bay Area is crucial.

Join my community if you’re eager to learn, grow your business, stay on top of the event landscape, or just nerd out on all things events.”

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 ✌️