Launching a Utility Club for Founders in Crisis Support

Thought I would share as its for a good cause. ---- I know at least 4 people that have almost no money. The LinkedIn world is great at celebrating wins but we can do more to help others. I recently read a story about a 15-year-old girl named Emma. Her mom was at the kitchen table crying over a $340 electric bill. Out of a job and broke with payday was a week away. “Mom, what’s wrong?” Emma’s mom was honest and Emma just walked to her room, and came back and handed Mom $160 from her babysitting money. “I’ve been saving for homecoming. But we need lights more.” Mom broke down crying. The next day, Mom heard that Emma told her friends what happened. “My mom works two jobs and we still can’t keep the lights on. System’s broken.” By end of day, many of Emma’s friends had Venmo’d and Zelle’d $5, $10, $20 with messages like “My Dad went through this” and “We know how this feels” Mom’s pride wanted to refuse it, but Emma said, “Mom, they WANT to help. Let them.” The electric bill got paid. The lights stayed on. Emma taught us that asking for help isn’t weakness. It’s human. This evolved into the “The Utility Club” - teens with part-time jobs donated $5 or $10 a month into a pool and when someone’s family hit a crisis the pool gave them the money. No questions, no shame. Anonymous. Apparently this has grown and helped dozens of families in need. Bad things happen to good people all the time and its nothing to be ashamed of. This got me thinking about the B2B community - founders, sales reps, GTM professionals For all the excitement and $, it’s tough as hell out there. - Founders often bootstrap and barely survive. - AEs / BDRs lose their jobs often and its hard as hell to get news ones. - CROs and CMOs job tenure is short. Your LinkedIn feed is full of “Open to Work” banners. If you don’t know the feeling of not knowing where your next $ is going to come from, you are one of the few. Count your blessings. Sometimes the best of us need a hand up during a time of crisis. Hunter and I and our PORCH 💚 Foundation (Not For Profit) have decided to do something to help. PORCH 💚 Foundation Not For Profit is going to do the same thing for the Founder and B2B community - founders, sales reps, GTM professionals We are launching a Utility Club for the Founder/B2B Community It’s very simple. Every month (starting at the end of January) Randomly. From the list of applicants. We will pick a name. We will hand them the money collected. We hope this can help some folks. We have donated $500 to kick it off. 𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 🙏𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽: You can go here and send $1, $5, $20, $50 whatever you want https://donate.stripe.com/eVq6oH1467B55KU5WD97G0r If you are a Founder/B2B pro currently facing a utility shut off/crisis and need a helping hand up... Apply below. No shame. No judgement. Nobody (but me and Hunter) will see your name. https://porch.fillout.com/utilityclub If you want to get involved and help - DM Me This is me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilweitzman/