Founder & Partner @ Kanvas | Foster Innovation, Develop Business Strategy, Drive Growth

Katie Nowak

It’s been 3 years without my dad.
Here’s what I'm reflecting on today -

My dad taught me to build a career that I loved.

He did that by taking me to his medical presentations and dinners around the world when I was young.

I remember I joined him at a private investigator meeting in Munich, Germany, and his colleagues were torn over whether or not Dr. Nowak’s 12-year-old daughter needed to sign an NDA to attend. 😂 

In that same meeting, he introduced himself as being from “Day-toi,” instead of Detroit, as everyone else was from various European cities. Lots of laughter ensued, and the whole room suddenly felt warmer, kinder. It was his magic.

Every time I travel internationally for work or step on stage (virtually or in-person), I think of my dad. 

Every time I make a pun or a joke in a meeting (approx 23408 times a day) and see my team light up, I think of my dad.

I wish I could share with him how watching his love of his work, and thus his love of people, all over the world fundamentally shaped who I am today….

…someone who loves what she does.

I often reflect on how I could someday pay this forward to my future family, someday.

How could I involve them in international travel? Have them attend my presentations or panels? Ask them to join me while I write invoices in my office? (That was hilarious - “what do you think, Kate, let’s add an hour, I read fast!!”) … and how might I make each shared moment more fun than the last?

Today, I’m reflecting that I hope to be even half of the role model that he was for me.

I hope this inspires a reflection for you, too - he would love that.

Miss you, dad.

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Innovation Leader, New Venture Designer, Speaker @ Kanvas || Investor @ Altra Venture Partners

If you don’t have a moat for your business, you’re in trouble. 🤯 
A moat is exactly what it sounds like - 

the water around a castle.

If your moat is shallow, intruders can simply walk through it (with some inexpensive rain boots).

If your moat is deep and wide, intruders will have a harder time (requiring expensive speed boats, scuba gear, maybe a small airplane - you get the drift).

In business, moats are imperative.

Here are the two biggest moats to have on your radar:

✨ Technology moats.

A successful tech moat means your cost to deliver drops as you scale, and your switching costs keep rising with every new feature.

The best tech moats are often built via rare talent, intellectual property, budgets, and, historically, time.

Because software is easier to spin-up than ever,

We’re seeing tech moats shift to robotics, complex hardware, and deep infrastructure - things that are still slower, harder and more capital-intensive to replicate.

The harder your tech is to replicate, the deeper your moat!

✨ Distribution moats.

Not a tech person? 

Never fear - distribution moats are one of my favorite angles!

A successful distribution moat means the cost to acquire customers goes down over time, while your stickiness and engagement go up.

“Unique” paid marketing doesn’t go the mile anymore, as most have access to the same ad platforms, targeting tools, and growth hacks. 

Real distribution moats look more like:
+ Being embedded in someone else’s workflow (so ripping you out is painful)
+ Owning a community that actually shows up for you, not just follows you
+ Ecosystem partnerships - my favorite are ones where your “competitors” quietly become your best channels

-

As someone who deeply enjoys all movies/books with magic, this castle analogy makes my heart warm.

I hope that it helps you memorialize how you think about moats in your business.

So, tell us - which of these moats are you most excited about - either in your company, or in the industry as a whole?

Bonus points if you share a moat you've noticed in the wild!

See you in the comments. 😎 

PS - this photo is of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. It is as beautiful as it is hard to pronounce!! It does not have a water-based moat, but certainly has elevation on its side - proving that the best moats often don't look alike.

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Hustle Fund

Content: Write, edit, and manage distribution for two weekly newsletters. One for investors, one for founders. Sign up here: https://www.hustlefund.vc/newsletters

Events: Manage two flagship events + multiple free (in-person and virtual) community events for both investors and founders.  

Portfolio Support: Created and ran customer acquisition bootcamp for portfolio companies.

Operations: Management of internal projects, like website redesign, employee onboarding, employee benefits, etc. 

(Note: Hustle Fund is NOT an extension of The Hustle, but it was started by the very same folks who launched the first Hustle Con.)

Head Of Marketing

The Hustle

I oversee all of our people operations, hiring / recruiting, retention, internal communications, internal processes, and internal policies.

Chief Of Staff

I plan and produce 100% of our external events, including:

Hustle Con 
- A 2,500-person event hosted every Spring in the Bay Area. Hustle Con is a startup conference for non-technical entrepreneurs, and has featured speakers such as Casey Neistat (Beme), Andy Dunn (Bonobos), Payal Kadakia (Class Pass), Amanda Bradford (The League), and Tim Westergren (Pandora), among many others.

2X
- A storytelling event featuring female business leaders -- all experts in their field. At 2X, each speaker has 10 minutes to tell a story about her entrepreneurial journey. Recently we hosted this in San Francisco for over 900 attendees.

Rise & Grind
- A morning event where a panel of experts share their tactics to a crowd of about 100 people. A great way to make the most of your morning before you even get to work. Topics include Content Marketing, Sales, and Biohacking.

Con Con
- A one-day conference to learn how to use content to drive your business forward. Speakers include founders, directors of content, and media gurus from companies like Quartz, NerdWallet, EverNote, and Beardbrand. 

Pizza & 40s
- A free monthly speaker series where one interesting entrepreneur tells her/his story, and shares tips about their experience launching and growing a company. Fun, informal, and a great way to connect with our local community.

Director of Events

Orchestrate Hustle Con: a 2,500+ person conference featuring non-technical startup founders. This includes venue coordination, permitting, ticket operations, marketing strategies, PR, sponsorship development, and speaker relations.

Plan, coordinate and manage all events and community relationships. Examples include meetups, workshops, partnerships, user relationships, and community events.

People operations. We're a small team, but growing quickly, and I handle all the logistics around recruiting, hiring, onboarding, employee development, company events, and office management.

Client Success. I was the primary liaison between the editorial team and brands advertising in The Hustle. I managed communication, process, quality check, and reporting. Also helped with editing as needed.

Director of Operations

Apartment List

Coordinate industry events: booth placement, booth design, personnel travel & registration, marketing materials, budget forecasting

Participate in branding efforts, including logo-redesign, video curation, company values, swag design and purchases

Execute on social media efforts: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn

Oversee blog content development: curating, inspiring, copywriting, editing, publishing and pushing to social media platforms

Write, edit and post company-related content: job descriptions, company descriptions, blog posts, etc.

Coordinate and execute monthly company-wide events, including multi-day retreats, annual parties, and off-site experiences

Own all logistical components of the Apartment List recruiting efforts: initial communication, schedule coordination, oversee onsite experience, post-interview analysis, candidate feedback

Senior Marketing Associate

Recruiting coordinator
Events coordinator
Content manager
Social media manager
Blogger
Editor
Product development for Roommates division
Oversees office manager

Operations Coordinator

Office Manager -
Complete all office supply orders, food and beverage orders, and employee resource orders
Process new employee paperwork
Spearhead company events 
Manage all office-related projects, including building additions, installations, repairs, etc.

Executive Assistant - 
Manage calendars for two top level execs
Schedule Appointments
Compose emails on their behalf
Research personal and professional projects

Recruiting Coordinator -
Phone screen all potential candidates
Write job descriptions
Coordinate on-site interviews 
Investigate new recruiting tools

Office Manager & Executive Assistant

Donna Romani Events

Overseeing and preparing for wedding receptions; arranging place cards, place settings and escort cards; facilitating smooth communication between the bridal parties, guests, bands, and wait staff; working directly with the wedding coordinator and event manager

Assistant Wedding Coordinator

Stratus Media Group, Inc

Generated sponsorship sales
Developed client relationships
Connected high-end companies with relevant consumer base
Generated marketing content
Supported operations manager
Instituted first annual wine festival
Designed and implemented 100-mile road tour with various activities and swag
Managed vendors and volunteers at a 3-day luxury lifestyle event

Account Manager

Daily Nexus

editing articles for grammar and content, writing headlines, training writers and staff, communicating with editors to ensure stylistic and grammatical excellency
Special Supplements Editor
Duties: writing restaurant reviews; communicating with restaurant staff; profiling events in Santa Barbara; creating layouts for at least two issues per week, including On the Menu, Weekend: Go Big or Go Home, Best of UCSB, Grad Gift Guide, and Holiday Gift Guide

Assistant Copy Editor

Evans, Hardy + Young

notifying publications about upcoming events, monitoring media outlets, making copies, making a media binder for the client, editing content on the client's website

Public Relations Intern

*Currently on maternity leave. To get in touch, please email my personal account.*

Master of messaging. Whether I'm marketing an event, developing a partnership, producing a newsletter, or managing an internal employee program, messaging is what matters most. And this is where I thrive. 

Boatloads of experience in content creation, event production, employee comms, biz strategy, and juggling 15 (thousand) things at once. 

I create content for startup + investors here: hustlefund.vc/blog-investors

And I produce Camp Hustle, where investors meet: camphustle.co/

If you're a startup looking for funding, apply here: hustlefund.vc/

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The Battle

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Kera DeMars

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Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Katie Nowak's LinkedIn Performance

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