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/

Today is my last day at Hustle Fund. Soon I'll share more about what's next for me, but right now I want to talk about what this company has meant to me.

I joined Hustle Fund in July of 2019. I had no prior experience with VC, no desire to be involved in the world of venture capital, and no understanding of how this industry operated.

But I knew Eric Bahn, Elizabeth Yin, and Shiyan K.. And I trusted them. I shared their values and I believed in their mission. So I took a leap.

The first few months were... a little rocky. To say that I was out of my depth is an understatement. I knew NOTHING about VC. 

But that cluelessness soon became my superpower. It led me to ask questions ike "what is equity, exactly?" and "what is a SAFE?" and "how do VCs make money?".

These questions made us realize that the VC ecosystem is a black box. And if you don't understand how it works, you can't make it work for you.

So we took my "know nothingness" and turned it into a "learning in public" content machine. And it worked.

We did a lot of other cool stuff along the way, too. Like hosting virtual events for 1000s of founders during Covid. And transforming Camp Hustle into the coolest investor event ever.

But the biggest win - by far - was getting the chance to learn from and work with the incredible people at Hustle Fund. 

People like Elizabeth Yin, who has become my mentor and personal sounding board for all aspects of my life. 

And Eric Bahn, who is the most empathetic leader I've ever known.

And Shiyan K., whose brilliance is outweighed only by her generosity.

And Janel Spilker, who brings joy to everything she does - personally and professionally.

And Haley Bryant, the most gracious human (and investor) I've ever met. 

And Brian Nichols, who works faster and smarter than most AI bots. 

And Kate Shepherd, whose ability to pick up a ball and run with it surpasses anyone I've ever met.

And Wael Jabir, who has repeatedly demonstrated -- quietly but effectively -- how easy it is to show kindness to others. And how much of a difference it makes when you do so. 

And Maxwell Harris, who's ability to juggle multiple balls at once is a bit of a mind f*ck. 

And Audrey Dou, whose appetite to learn and grow has made her an instant asset to the team.

And Elaine Littlejohn Lamsus, without whom we would all just be puddles of chaos and migraines. 

Not to mention all of the contractors who help keep the Hustle Fund engines running, and the gigantic ecosystem of founders and investors that I've had the pleasure of connecting with over the years.

Many of you have become true friends.

When I joined this team, I was shellshocked. I had so much trauma from my previous company... I couldn't see a future for my career.

But Hustle Fund did. They took a chance on me, and it changed my life.

I will never be able to repay this team for their unlimited supply of kindness, support, and teaching moments. And cookies.

Thank you, friends. Much love.

Kera DeMars

Head Of Marketing at Hustle Fund | 🌲 Creator of Camp Hustle | Employee 1 at The Hustle

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