Lips Equity Crowdfund is LIVE đ Help Us Spread the Word!
And you - yes, you - can even invest in Lips.
Hey friends!
I am sooooo excited to announce the *public* launch of the Lips Equity Crowdfund Campaign! đ€©đđ€©đ We have already raised $30K from the community - over halfway to our goal of $50K!!
Thank you to everyone reading who has already reached out in support, shared the link with friends / on social media, or even invested yourselves in Lips - almost 20 of you!!! Congrats, you can now add âAngel Investorâ to your resumĂ©, Twitter bio, Clubhouse profile (LOL - anyone still on there?) and seem really, really cool.. and richđ€đ #Zaddy.
Speaking of Zaddy, WE DID IT JOE.
For those of you who may have missed my last newsletter, briefly.. v.1.1 of the Lips app (lips.social) launched on December 31, 2020 and gained over 10K users in the first month. We were featured in Mashable, The Daily Beast, French Slate, & a major Brazilian publication. From this, it became clear just how many people around the world felt a strong need for Lips, and so our team had a lightbulb moment: to launch an equity crowd-fundraise on Wefunder.
What is an equity crowd-fundraise?
An equity crowd-fundraise is an alternative source of fundraising for early stage companies (instead of VC). Here, ANYONE can invest - you donât have to be wealthy, nor âaccreditedâ in any way. You just have to care about and believe in what weâre building with Lips. (Disclaimer: donât invest more than youâre willing to lose).
Why are we doing this?
Trust me - even though less than 3% of VC money goes to female founders - we probably couldâve gone that route, but the odds of our co-owners aligning with our values as a company / community wouldâve been much lower. If we know anything about mainstream tech companies at scale - they seem stuck in a constant tug-of-war between the financial interests of investors vs. the wellbeing of users.
Nowww, thanks to Wefunder, these two groups are no longer on opposing teams - they are one and the same, pulling together to achieve both outcomes. Besides, social media platforms should be owned by the people who bring them their value.. and thatâs almost always women, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC creators.
Another huge reason to equity crowdfund is to redistribute wealth to marginalized communities. While the Lips platform itself is built to serve the millions of under-served businesses run by women, LGBTQIA+, & BIPOC folks, we can double down on our impact by also expanding ownership of the technology itself to the community so that if - my friend Dana would tell me to say WHEN - it becomes highly valuable - pls pls universe one dayđđŒ - they will be the ones to reap those financial benefits as well. If we know anything else about mainstream tech companies at scale - they have made a certain subset of individuals very, very wealthy (cis het white men, you knew it was coming).
How can - WILL - Lips make me rich? Hereâs the pitch.
Lips is much more than a social media platform - itâs a bundle of advanced (AI and blockchain-enabled) technologies that will make the internet more secure, inclusive, ethical, & valuable for everyone.
For example,
our [patented] privacy features that are designed to protect survivors of domestic or sexual harassment are surely equipped to better protect everyone from abuse to security breaches.
our [patented] algorithm that can accurately distinguish sexual expression from sexual exploitation can help larger internet companies stop incorrectly censoring 73% of LGBTQIA+ content AND finally put an end to child trafficking on their sites.
On top of these advanced technologies, the Lips app itself aims to become a thriving ecosystem of sellers and buyers, creators and fans, teachers and students, etc. who can peacefully exist without fear of account deletion, shadow-banning, unsolicited dick picks, spam, & other BS enabled by current mainstream apps.
Not yet sold? TAM = 350M+ social media users.
Still nothing? Thatâs okay.
Investing is scary, I get it. But the data shows that women invest 40% less than men yet are BETTER AT IT - consistently earning higher returns than men. This article I read yesterday by Lindsey Taylor Wood (CEO of The Helm, a women-focused VC) discusses how investing can help women in the fight for economic & gender equality.
She writes, âThe most important thing is to start today.â
So, she said it not me :) Hereâs that link again.
Other ways you can support Lips
Share the link (http://wefunder.com/lips) - directly to friends, family, anyone who might be excited about Lips and/or loves to invest in cool startups.
Post about our raise on social media - a simple tweet or LinkedIn share like this one from Matt Schaar, one of our incredible investors, helps SO MUCH.
Participate in our #bannedonthegram campaign on Instagram - if you or anyone you know has experienced censorship or harassment on Instagram, DM us - Iâll make you a graphic like the one below! We invite you to share your story to a supportive community & help us push towards a real solution.
Thank you to all the people who have shared their stories already - I know how hard it can be trying to exist on platforms that donât understand let alone VALUE who you are and what you bring to the world.
Listen to me pitch on Crowdhouse (on Clubhouse) on May 27th 8-9:30pm - Iâm soooo excited for this opportunity to pitch in front of some pretty big time investors. Come cheer me on!đ±đŹ
Thank you for being here.
I appreciate you all so much. Thanks for reading this, and, as always, Iâd love to hear from you. Once this fundraise is over, I look forward to producing more (non-promotional) content for this newsletter. The random deep-dives, collabs with cool people, & introspective pieces are some of my favorite things to write / aspects of my âjob.â
But for now, one last time, press the magic button below for a confetti explosion and my unconditional love & appreciation.
ly
Val