Hey friends of Soapbox!

It's August — It’s time to start blasting your favorite Folklore songs and start transitioning into our “end of summer” era. Start planning your fall trips now! 🍂

Here's the rundown on what happened in July: 

The Coconut Tree Queen is shaking up the 2024 presidential race, and Gen Z is here for it. She’s mobilizing young voters with her bold platform and iconic memes and edits. Pls tell us who is running her social accounts - it should be studied 🥥🌴

Meanwhile, the 2024 Summer Olympics are in full swing, with people discovering new sports and cheering on their favorite athletes. We’re obsessing over Simone Biles and St. Paul, MN native Suni Lee!! 🥇 Maria was able to watch some Olympic volleyball in Paris this month (more on that in the monthly report)!

The Cloudstrike outage of 2024 that grounded flights nationally was confirmed to be a cyber attack this week. Apologies to all of the VCs whose Euro Summer travel plans were interrupted by the blue screens at the airport 😵‍💫 

Here’s what we’re looking forward to in September:

• Emily’s birthday / Labor Day 🎉

• Autumn equinox on Sep 22! Spooky season commences 👻

• Twin Cities Startup Week - Sep 13-20

Soapbox of the Month

The Business of Birth Charts

Written by Meredith McCowan

Hey there! Meredith McCowan, Evolutionary Astrologer, popping in for a guest spot on Soapbox! I’ve been asked by Emily to share how astrology can help navigate us in business ventures.

Did you know that your cat, your car, and every person you know have a birth chart? Well, so does every business! This can be determined by when a business “took its first breath.” I’ve had many conversations about this, as I have a plethora of clients who own their own businesses, including myself. We typically use the date the business was incorporated and sometimes even when the idea of the business was born. 

I decided to file an LLC for my business, Earthling Astrology, during an eclipse in February 2017. In astrology, eclipses represent beginnings and endings. I used the eclipse energy to start a huge new beginning in my life! At the time, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the actual energy of the eclipse. You can browse eclipse tables at this link to see if you had any big life beginnings or endings around the timeframes given. 

I happened to file my LLC under a solar eclipse in Pisces. This means that the Sun and the Moon were aligned in the sign of Pisces during the ‘birth’ of my business. Pisces is the most spiritual, intuitive, psychic, and imaginative sign of the zodiac. I don’t have any Pisces in my birth chart, so I was initially surprised when I started attracting very psychic and intuitive clients. I even worked with an actual psychic for joint readings for over four years! Once I pulled my business birth chart a few years into my practice, I had an “a ha!” moment. I never imagined (Pisces energy) my business would become what it is today, and I am forever grateful for my clients that helped make that happen. Pisces also encourages us to surrender and trust the Universe - something my Capricorn Sun sign struggles with as Capricorn can crave control. I can confidently report that the less I tried to control the business and ‘let it flow,’ the Universe rewarded me.

Let’s look at the business birth chart for FTX, as an example. If you don’t know, FTX was a (now bankrupt) cryptocurrency exchange company with a notorious reputation for shady practices. For FTX, I am using a birthdate of May 5, 2019, in Nassau, Bahamas. I used 12pm as the birth time as this is standard practice when a birth time is unknown.

Long story short…WHOA. I could write a book on this business birth chart! I’ll pull out just a few things for you. The business was founded on a New Moon in Taurus. This means that the Sun and Moon were both aligned in the sign of Taurus. Please note that this was not an eclipse, just a ‘normal’ New Moon that we have each month. Taurus is THEE MONEY sign of the zodiac. Taurus is associated with security, comfort and stability, especially when it comes to material and money matters. This was actually a fantastic date to start a financial technology company!

This chart does have a ‘dark side’ represented by a rare Saturn/Pluto conjunction. Saturn is nicknamed the ‘lord of karma,’ and Pluto represents death & rebirth. When FTX’s corruption was revealed in November 2022, the Sun (light) was in Scorpio (secrets).. The Sun was in aspect (i.e. ‘talking to’) the tough Saturn/Pluto conjunction in FTX’s birth chart. This is all complicated astrology of course, but the secrets (Scorpio) of the company were meant to come out to destroy (Pluto) old ways of doing business (Saturn). Additionally, the planet Uranus, who is nicknamed ‘the awakener,’ was transiting the birth chart’s Sun sign in Taurus. Uranus ‘woke up’ the collective and brought to light (the Sun) more shady and corrupt financial business practices. Again, this happened during Scorpio season. Scorpio is the opposite sign of Taurus. Secrets, lies and deception weren’t going to fly for the business any longer! There was quite a bit more happening in the birth chart of FTX in November 2022. If you are a student of astrology, I’d encourage you to take a look at the FTX birth chart. It’s quite intriguing and fascinating!

I’ll give a quick report below on how you can use astrology to help you in business, even if you don’t speak the language!

• The New Moon each month is the best time to start things and set intentions for manifestation. You may want to submit applications for a new job or bring up a business idea to your boss around a New Moon.

• The Full Moon each month is the best time to let go of things. If you want to work on letting go of some angst you have with a coworker or let go of a business project, use the Full Moon energy to help with that.

The signs in business all operate differently. Here are the signs in business in a nutshell:

• Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn): the ‘workers’ of the zodiac. These signs can typically carry heavy loads. If you have a lot of Earth in your chart, be sure to take breaks and give yourself permission to not handle everything for everyone! Ask for help and be sure to delegate tasks if you feel overwhelmed.

• Fire signs (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius): the energetic salespeople of the zodiac. If you have a lot of fire in your chart, it’s SO important you don’t sit at a desk all day. This can actually drain your life force! Get up and move around!

• Air signs (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius): the idea generators. These are the signs that can struggle the most in a work environment, often from boredom! These signs typically want their freedom at work, especially Aquarius who comes hard-wired in life with an ‘allergy’ to certain authority figures.

• Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces): the feelers, empaths, and intuitives. Typically, businesses use data, analytics, spreadsheets and logic to make decisions. However, it is NEVER a bad idea to run a business idea across a water sign. Intuition will ALWAYS come in with the win, if you can learn to trust it!

Astrology can be a powerful tool in navigating the business world, offering unique insights and guidance. Interested in exploring your own charts? Book a time with Meredith here!

Meredith McCowan is a Professional Astrologer practicing in St. Paul, MN. Astrology found its way to her after a lifelong interest in science, metaphysics, astronomy and spirituality. She practices Evolutionary Astrology which focuses on our Soul's growth & development through lifetimes. Meredith is also a dream worker and certified in Reiki and Crystal Healing. Before launching her astrology practice, Meredith spent 17 years working in patent technology in the corporate world. You can find out more about her and her services at earthlingastrology.com.

CAREER 🧑‍💻

Once you hit the 2-year mark in your career or role, you might start asking yourself “what now?” ❓❓❓

This concept is also known as the “2-year itch.” No, you don’t actually have commitment issues! 😌 This is more common than you think. As you near the 2 year mark, you are probably feeling a lot more comfortable, confident, and settled in to your role. After all, 2 years is a LONG time. You’ve got a really good understanding of the venture ecosystem, your firm, and where you fit in.

Have you been thinking about your long-term career in venture capital? Wherever you are at, you’ll eventually start thinking about what’s next. What are your options?

Here are some common paths after working in VC for a few years:

• Become a founder, or work at a startup

• Pivot to private equity or consulting

• Join corporate venture or innovation

• Pursue an MBA

• Join an accelerator, or work in platform

• Fully commit to pursuing the partner track

As you navigate this “itch,” remember that your journey in VC is uniquely yours. There is no correct path. Whether you're feeling the itch to explore new options or double down on your current path, the choices you make now will shape your future in exciting ways. Embrace the uncertainty, stay curious, and keep building on the strong foundation you've established 🚀

Hit us up if you are at this point in your career, or let us know if you want to see more content about this topic!

CAPITAL 💸

The fundraising environment is super brutal right now. 🥊

Global VC fundraising is on track for its worst year since 2015, with emerging managers (those who have launched fewer than four funds) are facing their toughest environment in a decade.

According to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, in the first half of this year, VCs closed 632 funds and raised $80.5 billion, putting this year on pace for fewer than 1,300 new funds, a significant drop from the peak of 4,000 in 2021. 😵‍💫

From Our Feed to Yours

Tweets, Memes, and other things from our feed that gave us a laugh.

Thanks for supporting Soapbox!!! Have something you want us to talk about, or want to connect? Drop us a note at [email protected] 

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