Sputnik ATX VC

Sputnik ATX VC is an Austin, TX-based venture capital investor and accelerator that funds early stage maker-founders and combines capital with training and experience to help startups reach their full potential.

Venture Intern

Romanko Venture Group

20+ Speaking Engagements:
• LinkedIn 101: Presentation to Westwood High School Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance Class
• The Super Founder Speaker Series Hosted by Jeremy Barr
• Inside.com's Portfolio Diversification: Innovations In Investment
• Almost Weekend Podcast: Pitch Perfect | How to Fund Your Startup
• Venture Capital 101: Presentation to the Delta Sigma Pi Theta Omega Chapter at St. Edward's University for their Professional Speaker Event
• Think Like a VC: Guest Lecture to Executive MBA Columbia Business School Class x2
• Launch Today #15: What VCs Really Want with Sarah Romanko
• Venture Institute Apprentices Q&A
• Tach Ignite - Securing Funds: The VC Perspective (from the workshop series How Startup Leaders are Made)
• Gen Z Speaks: Are HR Leaders Listening? (hosted by Dextego)
• University of Texas at Dallas Entrepreneurship Club: Late Nights at the LaunchPad
• GenZ Tea- Venture Capital Demystified: A Startup's Guide to Raising Funds
• Goodie Nation Prequel: Origin Stories & Inflection Points
• Junior Economic Club of San Francisco: Learning the Art of Investment Capital
• Tech Leadership Lab - Shaping the Future
• Marketyze Global Summer Marketing Challenge (GSMC) 2023 Pitching Workshop
• Startupholic Catalyst Webinar Keynote Speaker on Getting Experience in VC & Tips for Startups While Reaching Out to VCs
• Founders Tribe Founders MBA - What Makes a Good Startup Investment
• SparkTank x Annie VC Startup Challenge w/Sarah Romanko
• Venture Starters
   - Founders After Party Panel x2
   - Co-Host of Breakout Session on Funding and Investing

Public Speaker

• Venture Intern, Sputnik ATX VC
• Inaugural Brand Ambassador, twenty
• Wall Street Prep’s Financial and Valuation Modeling Program 
• Venture Analyst, Dash VC
• Wall Street Prep’s Demystifying VC Term Sheets and Cap Tables Course
• SXSW 2024 Conference PanelPicker Evaluator
• Marketyze Global Summer Marketing Challenge (GSMC) 2023 Finalist Judge 
• Venture Fellow, Inaugural Cohort at Venturous
• Founding Ambassador, Optimatik
• Venture Scout, Pegasus Angel Accelerator
• Inaugural Cohort, Venture Institute
• VC Advisor, Boss Me In
• Focus Group Lead Recruiter and Member, Dextego
• Venture Analyst, Inaugural Cohort for Catalyst XL
    - Sourced startups for IgniteXL Ventures
    - Aided Techstars startup WingDriver with their fundraise
• Venture Capital 101 - The Basics Course, Maven
• Venture Capital Virtual Internship, H2 Ventures
• Inaugural Gen Z Advisory Board Member, Able Partners
• Inaugural Growth Scout, bulletpitch
• Venture Fellow, Venture Cooperative
• Venture Fellow, Hawke Ventures
• Venture Fellow, GenZScouts
• Student Pitch Evaluator, Naveen Jindal School of Management, UT Dallas
• Venture Deals Course Participant, Techstars
• Honors Capstone: How Startups Obtain Venture Capital Funding
• Venture Fellow, Moonshots Capital
• Hacking 4 Defense, Inaugural Class
• Venture Intern, RevTech Ventures
• Venture Capital Associate, UT Dallas Seed Fund
• Blackstone LaunchPad Startup Weekend Honorable Mention Award
• UT Dallas Entrepreneurship Club: Vice President of Operations, Co-President, Operations Coordinator, Operations Lead

VC/Startup Expert

twenty

twenty is a mentorship & community platform that helps rising leaders navigate their twenties, personally and professionally. We’re an early-stage, female-founded startup, based in NYC and backed by top VCs.

As a member, you can…

• 📞  Book 1:1 mentorship calls with leaders across industries
• 🚀  Roadmap your life and career and explore what’s possible
• 🤝 Join an incredible community of peers and mentors
• 🎁 Gain access to resources, events, networking opportunities and more!

Apply at www.twenty.team, mention my name so they’ll fast-track your app, and then use my promo code SARAH25 to get 25% off your membership!

Inaugural Brand Ambassador

Dash VC

• Crafted deal memos, attended founder and LP calls, enriched Dash VC's LP data on Decile Hub, and suggested product improvements to enhance the functionality of Decile Hub

Venture Analyst

Pegasus Angel Accelerator

• Sourced industry-agnostic pre-seed and seed U.S. based startups with a valuation cap of $3.5m

Venture Scout

Boss Me In

• Provided feedback on Boss Me In’s pitch deck, provided advice on fundraising (including organizing 2 pitch practice sessions to prepare for investor pitches), wrote an executive summary, and suggested new ideas for the startup
•  Placed a recent college graduate at Boss Me In for the Special Projects role

VC Advisor

Venturous

• Sourced 400+ industry agnostic idea stage, pre-seed, seed, and Series A U.S.-based startups and onboarded 70 founders onto the Venturous platform, earning me the distinction as the #1 performer for my cohort
• Laid out the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Austin to help others navigate it
• Developed key relationships with founders, VCs, students, and other members of the startup and VC community in Austin

Venture Fellow, Inaugural Cohort

Able Partners

• Selected as 1 of 12 national board members to serve as an expert on all things Gen Z and surfaced ideas, articles, and content from Twitter, Instagram, and other emerging platforms identifying trends, themes, and specific startups building for Gen Z
• Supported due diligence on investment opportunities within Able Partners’ Gen Z thematic focus area
• Acted as a liaison between Able Partners’ investment team and the broader Gen Z community to help them grow their network, meet entrepreneurs, and connect with relevant startups

Inaugural Gen Z Advisory Board Member

Venture Institute

Not only was I part of the 10% of people who were accepted into the Inaugural Cohort of the Venture Institute program, but I also completed the program at the top of my cohort. As a result of my hard work, I was selected to work with Dash VC to gain additional VC experience.

The first half of Venture Institute was focused on individual learning, where I:
1️⃣ Researched the benefits and risks of venture capital, the role of venture capital in startups, the investment process and stages of venture capital, venture capital structures, key metrics (e.g. IRR, TVPI, DPI) in venture capital, how to discover limited partners based on their archetypes, and how to pitch to limited partners
2️⃣ Researched and crafted an investment memo for Boss Me In
3️⃣ Learned how to use Decile Hub, the leading venture capital platform
4️⃣ Developed a data room for a hypothetical institutional limited partner
5️⃣ Researched best practices for a venture fund model, such as the failure rate of investments, and implemented these practices into a hypothetical venture fund model
6️⃣ Crafted a plan to build my venture brand and updated my LinkedIn to reflect my branding and vision
7️⃣ Became fluent in essential venture capital terminology

The second half of Venture Institute was focused on group learning, where I:
1️⃣ Sourced and evaluated 3 startups for our assigned VC firm
2️⃣ Crafted a concise email to our assigned VC firm that highlighted our combined team skills, the top 3 startups we sourced as a group, and our group recommendations on how our assigned VC firm could improve their deal tracking
3️⃣ Collaborated with my group to evaluate a cap table with 3 co-founders, multiple funding rounds, and an employee option pool that adjusts with each funding round and the growth of the team
4️⃣ Researched successful government VC initiatives in Texas for my group's venture research project on successful government VC initiatives in the United States

Inaugural Cohort

Optimatik

• Provided honest feedback on content, videos, and copy
• Brainstormed and contributed ideas relating to diversity, product, and competitive analysis
• Expanded the reach of Optimatik by sharing it with friends, on social media platforms, and with various networking groups.

Founding Ambassador

Asset Management | Startups & Venture Capital | NTX Inno Under 25 | SkillsUSA Past National Officer & National Champion |

👋Hi! I'm Sarah Romanko.

I've been involved in the startup and VC space since 2019, and since then, I've worked for several VC firms and startups.

My current roles include:
1️⃣ Venture Intern @ Sputnik ATX VC: Sputnik ATX VC is an Austin, TX-based venture capital investor and accelerator that funds early stage maker-founders and combines capital with training and experience to help startups reach their full potential.
2️⃣ Chief of Staff & Investor Committee, Texas Venture Gala and Forum: The Texas Venture Gala & Forum, the state's inaugural high-powered, high-end gathering featuring the Texas investor and innovation community, will be taking place on April 12th and 13th at the Fairmont Austin.
3️⃣ Public Speaker, VC/Startup Expert @ romanko venture group: I created romanko venture group to pay it forward to the startup and vc community through consulting, speaking engagements, and coffee chats.

I served as the Chief of Staff, member of the Investor Committee, and Founding Speaker for the sold-out inaugural Texas Venture Gala and Forum last week, and here are my top 5 learnings:

1️⃣ Guest Experience: I learned that it’s better to give too much information than too little information when welcoming guests and checking them in. For example, we had a QR code for the agenda at the registration table, but not a lot of guests were scanning it until we explained what it was for.

2️⃣ Volunteer Scheduling: When creating the volunteer schedules prior to the event, I didn’t set aside rest breaks for the volunteers, because most of our volunteers were only working a few shifts. However, a few of our volunteers signed up to help with the whole event. I’m glad that I checked in with the volunteers throughout the day, but I should have scheduled breaks ahead of time (instead of waiting until they asked for them).

3️⃣ Time Management: In addition to managing the volunteers during the event, I also spoke on a panel. Although I did factor this into when I was available to help the volunteers, I should have planned ahead for this farther in advance, been more clear on how long I would need a replacement for, and established what their responsibilities were. 

4️⃣ Problem-Solving: Challenges that arose during the event included registration spreadsheets not being organized, guests and speakers having difficulty finding the correct rooms, a volunteer canceling last-minute, and guests not showing up on our registration list or having an assigned table for the gala. In these moments of difficulty, I learned how to stay calm, think on my feet, and handle the situation professionally.

5️⃣ Taking Initiative: I pride myself on going the extra mile. For example, after the event, I sent a short and sweet thank-you email to volunteers that asked them to take a survey, share pictures, and post about their experience on LinkedIn. This will provide us with suggestions for next year, images for promotional materials, and brand recognition on LinkedIn.

Thank you to CS Freeland and Marisa Vickers of the Texas Venture Alliance for championing my efforts as the behind-the-scenes magician (term coined by ★ Jeff Fryer), and to the amazing team of volunteers (Melody Borg, Max Chen, Bryce Harris, Muriel Foster, Will Herrmann, Gabriela Perdichizzi, ★ Jeff Fryer, Vidhi Data, Malur Narayan, Chloe Tomlinson, Jesse Martinez, Martín Martinez, Leigh Harris, Chris Shiver and Devin Pigera) that helped make this event at the Fairmont Austin a success!

A special thank you goes to my team at Sputnik ATX VC (Oksana Malysheva, Joe Merrill, Amanda Eakin, Austin Longoria, Ethan Hansen, and Mary (Masha) Krainov). I love that I’m part of a firm that supports my efforts to give back to the VC community.

We’re already planning for next year’s Texas Venture Gala and Forum, so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way.

#venturecapital #startups #publicspeaker #eventplanning #texas

Sarah Romanko

My career is important to me, but it’s not the most important.

Why?

Well, growing up, I wasn’t a traditional child. 

I was always very studious and serious, and in kindergarten, I remember doing my homework twice because I liked it so much.

This love of learning continued into high school, where, instead of going to parties, homecoming and prom, I focused on performing well in my courses and participating in extracurriculars.

But when I got to college, I learned that there’s more to life than school.

I learned that I could actually perform better if I took time for myself and had fun with my friends.

What really solidified this change of heart, though, was when I met my boyfriend Nikolas Hamon. 

Here was someone who was intelligent and hardworking, but also caring and kind and always making time for me.

On top of this, he was more than supportive of my career aspirations and shared my interest in business.

We ended up working together in 3 different capacities in college, and even attended networking events together.

Whether you’re starting a business or are trying to break into VC, you should have someone who understands, as well as supports, your entire journey.

It’s so important for me to highlight this, because we often only see the constant grind that our industry encourages and we sometimes forget (including me) that we are still human.

Just because you only see one character in someone’s success story doesn’t mean that there aren’t other characters who co-authored that story.

#venturecapital #startups #networking #learnings #event

Pictures: Last week’s Austinpreneur Podcast recording with Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin of Cedar Park (hosted by Nick Spiller at Capital Factory, produced by Aaron Handwerker, and event managed by Sam Zaugg)

I’m excited to share that I will be speaking at the Texas Venture Gala & Forum at the Fairmont Austin on April 12 & 13, 2024!

I’ll be speaking alongside Carter Bourassa from Moneta Ventures, Ileana Gonzalez from SomosVC, Arooj Sheikh from the Wealth Visionaries Collective, David Pérez Hernández from Roble Ventures, and Bader Alam from Full Frame Growth Partners on rising star VCs and the future of venture.

The firm that I work for, Sputnik ATX VC, is a founding sponsor for The Texas Venture Gala and Forum, the first statewide gathering featuring talks from investors, innovators, high net worth/family offices, and our Texas state government. 

I hope to see you all at THE venture capital event of the year! Be sure to visit https://lnkd.in/gfXu5q2a for a special price of $150 off.

Texas Venture Alliance, CS Freeland, Gabriela Perdichizzi, Marisa Vickers, Chris Shen, Jesse Martinez, Clara K., Joe Blackman MBE, Chloe Tomlinson, Texas Venture Gala & Forum, April 12-13, 2024

#venturecapital #startups #conference #austin #publicspeaker

*Full-Time VC Executive Assistant Opportunity*

Nurture Ventures (https://nurtureventure.com), a VC firm that invests in early-stage AI, SaaS, FinTech, and HealthTech startups, is hiring a full-time venture capital executive assistant.

They’re looking for a self-starter that will wear multiple hats: 
1️⃣ Assist with investment planning and strategy
2️⃣ Create presentations, reports, and other documents related to investment management
3️⃣ Handle general administrative tasks
4️⃣ Coordinate investment-related projects, including dealing with invested companies as well as investors.
  
This is a great opportunity for those who are looking to break into venture capital. A top performer in this role will have the opportunity to be given more responsibility and be promoted to an analyst/associate.

Location: United States (Remote)
Start Date: Immediate

Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gh74_Sbe

#venturecapital #hiring #startups #earlystage #opportunity

nurtureventure.com • 1 min read

Nurture Venture

And then there were 5…

…5 student startups that were fighting for $150,000 at the Sunbelt University Startup Competition last week at The University of Texas at Austin:

1️⃣ Pecan Credit - Jonathan Naoukin from The University of Texas at Austin
Transforming access to clean energy financing
2️⃣ Hatchet - Dylan Lewis and Alexander Forgosh from the University of Southern California
Command technology to coordinate, track, and rescue firefighters
3️⃣ Dime - Abby Huang from Duke University
Dime enables brands to penetrate the Gen Z market
4️⃣ VigilAI - Pranavkrishna Suresh, Ohm Patel, and Shrikar Seshadri from Georgia Institute of Technology
Use AI to search through thousands of hours of police bodycam footage to extract actionable insights
5️⃣ BuildSync - Carrie Tam and Aliyan Ishfaq from Stanford University
Software that transforms natural language or sketches into detailed building models

It’s never too early to start a startup, and I, as well as Sputnik ATX VC, love supporting student startups.

From freshmen who were pitching for the first time to graduate students who were experienced pitchers, I enjoyed seeing the next generation of startups being developed before my very eyes.

Thank you to the judges (Amanda Eakin, Sputnik ATX VC; Blake Hatten,  CEAS Investments; Zaz Floreani, FirstMile Ventures; Kelly LaBuff, Antler; Juliette Richert, The Artemis Fund ) and to the team at The ORCA Network (Arda Bulut and Charlie Wehan) for a fruitful event!

#venturecapital #startups #students #austin #pitchcompetition

It's not often you get to say you were there for the very first. 🌟

This weekend, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Texas Venture Gala & Forum, founded by the brilliant CS Freeland, with the steady hand of Marisa Vickers (and behind-the-scenes magician Sarah Romanko).

As a marketing advisor to the SOLD OUT event, I was thrilled to meet with and hear from the brightest Texas entrepreneurs, VCs, investors, and business leaders all in one place.

Key insights from industry leaders included:
✯ Adriana Cruz (Texas Economic Development): "We're the #1 state for semiconductor investment. Innovation is clearly Texas-sized."
✯ Elizabeth A. Onasanya (Lockheed Martin): "The CHIPS Act has enormous value long-term for investments and innovation in semiconductors."
✯ Dan Goldin (NASA's longest-serving chief): "50% of the tech used by the U.S. government was invented 50+ years ago. To get ahead, innovation in semiconductors & high tech will make the difference."

Speakers also shared valuable advice on investment strategies and the unique aspects of Austin's entrepreneurial culture:
✯ Joe Curry (S3 Ventures): "Being rational and staying with the fundamentals, with a focus on people, is where we'll succeed. We can wait on the trough of disillusionment that will eventually hit with AI."
✯ Roger Chen (Silverton Partners): "To be a tech investment leader, the goal is to be a strategic partner, not just writing checks."
✯ Rebecca (Becky) Taylor (Austin Technology Incubator): For investors, you should know that Austin culture is a garage band. It's about community and wanting to play together."
✯ Han Shen (iFly.vc): "To close the best deals, whoever sees the non-obvious ahead of others is the alpha."
✯ Jessica Karr (Coyote Ventures): "We talk a lot about the horses [product], but we need to focus more on the jockeys [leadership]."
✯ Amit Vasudev (Earl Grey Capital): "VCs are swamped with their 25 kids. Impress them with consistent proof of execution, not just your track record."
✯ Carla Stanmyre McDonald (Dynabrand Ventures): "The notion that male-founded startups outperform female-founded ones is affinity bias, not reality.”

Overall, I was pleased to hear how so many people were hungry to capitalize on semiconductors and a refresh of reconnecting with people as the top way to be successful! 🤝💡

What do you think about the future of the Texas startup ecosystem? Do you have any experiences or insights to share about investing in semiconductors or other technologies?

#AustinVC #TexasVC #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Innovation #Startups #VentureCapital  #VCs #Founders #Investors #B2BTech #ATX #Semiconductors #SAAS #Software 
-----
🔔 I'm Jeff Fryer, a marketing leader and business advisor for B2B tech startups and SMBs. Based in Austin, TX, I help founders, CEOs, and investors in semiconductors and software who need their first senior head of marketing. Follow me for B2B marketing tips to boost your overall brand and revenue growth.

When I was a freshman in high school, I suffered a severe concussion. 

I couldn’t attend most of my classes, and as a result, had to attend summer school.

For the few classes that I could attend, my teachers worked diligently with me to give me alternate assignments. 

One of those teachers was Glenda McClain Hovenkamp, who was also my first business teacher.

The combination of me loving the material in her class, Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance, with her kindness towards me when I was at one of the worst points in my life, led to me developing a love and passion for business.

I went on to take several more business classes with her in high school, including Accounting 1 and Accounting 2.

In addition to this, I participated in an organization that she served as a lead faculty member for, called Academy Ambassadors. 

Serving as student “experts” in their academy (like a college major; the 5 academies were Business and Industry, Visual & Performing Arts, Health Science, Public Service, and STEM), Academy Ambassadors planned new events, trained new Ambassadors, invited guest speakers from business and industry, led outreaches at middle and elementary schools, delegated roles for various events and outreaches, and promoted the 5 academies to parents and students.

This is all to say that Glenda played a huge part in my life, both personally and professionally, and this was instrumental to my success in college.

We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and a week and a half ago, things came full circle for me when I gave a presentation to her Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance class.

Titled LinkedIn 101, I taught her students about the importance of LinkedIn, discussed how it’s helped me land major roles in startups and VC, and showcased my LinkedIn profile.

No matter how busy I get or where my career takes me, I’m a strong believer in paying it forward and continuing to support the people who always supported me.

#LinkedInbranding #venturecapital #startups #networking #publicspeaker

I never thought that I would become a creator and frequent poster. 

After all, I grew up not seeing the point of having a smartphone (my parents offered to buy me one and I refused), not being interested in taking pictures, and not being interested in social media. 

But the culture around content creation and influencing has changed to one that's personally more appealing. It's about authenticity. 

Big shifts are coming to the creator economy. This is just the beginning... 

https://lnkd.in/gmtnBUS5

#venturecapital #startups #personalbranding #creatoreconomy #creator

sarahromanko.substack.com • 9 min read

Clicks to Cash - What’s Next for the Creator Economy

Seven consumer products that make my life 1% easier: 


01: Manucurist nail kit: I use this to do longer-lasting gel nails at home and love that the formula peels off easily. This might be an unpopular opinion, but to me the nail salon is where relaxation goes to die (most of the time I'm a natural nails gal anyway). This is so much cheaper and more convenient. 

02: Lemon juice: I've always been bad at drinking water. And those gallon jugs with their optimistic time stamps? They might as well be taunting me. I did notice that fresh lemon juice or cucumbers make all the difference, but who has time to prepare that every day? Recently I started buying the fresh bottled lemon juice from Central Market. Now I'm drinking 2-3 big glasses of water each day. 

03: Cadence travel cases: I procrastinated buying these for a very long time thinking "Are these little plastic boxes really worth the price of a small island?" But I don't regret the purchase -- I like that their magnets keep them together neatly and you can order them with custom labeling. 

04: Athletic Greens Daily Nutrition: Yep, I'm a convert. I had heard of them for a while from Tim Ferris' podcast, then when my doctor recommended using it as a multivitamin, that sealed the deal. The first time I tasted it, I didn't know how I would be able to keep drinking it daily (pineapple and vanilla: a flavor combination that sounds like it lost a bet), but it made me feel like I had more energy throughout the day so I decided to give it a chance. Shaking it up with ice makes a huge difference. I also sometimes use it in Sakara Life's smoothie recipe, which is the easiest and most delicious homemade smoothie recipe I've ever tried. 

05: The Sculpt Society:  Megan Roup's workouts are like a dance party in your living room, complete with a sprinkle of "cozy sculpt" classes for those days when even changing out of pajamas feels like an Olympic feat. Roup is a former dancer and celebrity trainer for people like Dakota Johnson and Miranda Kerr. I love that she sends the message that you just have to show up and try -- it doesn't have to be perfect. The classes range from their 6-10 minute quickies to 30-45 minute full workouts, and the style is clearly influenced by Megan's dance background and pilates principals. The app is conveniently on mobile and Roku. 

06: Blue Light Glasses: I'm sure there are better ones on the market but this three pack by Gaoye on Amazon is my knight in plastic armor. If I have to do a lot of computer work, these help me to not get fatigued. 

07: FROWNIES: Their gel under-eye and neck masks feel so good at the end of the day and restore hydration to the skin. I like that these are reusable, so you can just spray some rose water on them and pop 'em in the fridge. 

If you have wellness products and life hacks that make your life easier please share!  


Seven consumer products that make life 1% easier: 

This past week I had the honor of meeting the longest tenured Administrator of NASA Dan Goldin at the Texas Venture Forum and Gala!
Thank you so much Mr. Goldin for being such an inspiration.

What an amazing Verticals session today!
Verticals: Founder + Expert Roundtables is a casual experience where experts from our community come together to discuss industry trends, predictions, opportunities, and more.

​This Month's Featured Rooms: Health, Education, Fintech
Big shoutout to our phenomenal Featured Guests today!

-> ​Health Room: Vanessa Stephens 
-> ​Fintech Room: Victoria Kennedy 
​-> Education Room: Sarah Romanko 

Learn more about Goodie Nation here: https://goodienation.org/

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