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- DREAMORE, GROW MORE: Celebrating Women
Welcome to our online community garden!
A place for founders/investors/creators/leaders to inspire, learn, and grow.
Dreamore is a woman-owned business, so we decided to take this week to highlight feminine energy, stories, and successes!
What have these women built? Besides this newsletter…1000s of startups, ranking high on Forbes’ America’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms, AND our proprietary FounderSuccess tool. If you need hiring support or strategic startup advice contact us! |  Davina, Annemarie and Lydia |
What’s on today’s docket…
📚 Learn More
What Are Women Good For? A timeless answer from Nellie Bly in the late 1800’s
Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Cochrane was living in Pittsburgh when the local newspaper published an article titled “What Girls are Good For” (having babies and keeping house was the answer, according to the article). |  Never be afraid to speak up! |
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This Week's Founder Spotlight: Elizabeth Landau, Founder & COO of GreenPortfolio.com
 | “Remember, perfection is the enemy of progress. As an entrepreneur, but in life in general, focus on the 80/20 rule and prioritize what delivers the most impact.” Elizabeth Landau |
Ten words to describe your business? GreenPortfolio is the climate fintech company that helps you bank and invest sustainably.
What's your why? Why are you passionate about what you do? When we founded GreenPortfolio, it became evident that the climate industry faced a significant communications gap. As a chemical engineer with a passion for storytelling, I understand the technical intricacies of climate science but recognize that speaking in scientific terms alone doesn't inspire action. My strength lies in translating complex concepts into relatable and empowering insights, making climate finance an ideal focus.
Why’d you launch your startup? I consider climate change to be a critical crisis that needs to be addressed by my generation, and believe that how we bank and invest is a powerful change agent. Unfortunately, finding trustworthy information about your finances and their environmental impact felt impossible for our early users. Between misleading marketing and a lack of clear resources, making informed decisions about investments felt overwhelming. GreenPortfolio was launched to fill the void and simplify the research around climate-aligned investing. We aim to deliver your climate baseline by assessing your portfolio with our proprietary climate ratings of publicly traded stocks and funds, and then resources to continue your research on your own or match you with a financial advisor if you’d prefer to partner with an expert.
What’s a pivotal point that’s defined you? Entrepreneurship and motherhood during the early pandemic was a whirlwind. Both are massive life changes on their own, so I quickly learned to adapt. It’s important to sift through the noise to find the essential KPIs for both my baby and business, ignoring the distractions. This dual role made me sharper, more adaptable, and excited to witness the growth of my child and company.
What's your challenge? One of our biggest opportunities right now is increasing awareness about GreenPortfolio's new service. We're excited to offer a unique solution for individuals seeking financial advisors who prioritize climate change. Just like how you would outsource designing your dream home to an architect, we help you find your partner in building your sustainable investing strategy.
What do you do for fun? These days, my life revolves around my three kids: two boys and my business. Family fun usually means food, local adventures, and outdoor activities. My four-year-old has become quite the little chef with his ‘toddler power tools’— a blender and KitchenAid mixer. So, cooking is a different experience now, but we’ve gained an extra culinary assistant.
💫 Succeed More
We’re past due to talk about FounderSuccess. So let’s do this!
Humanity has been studying personality for over 100 years. It’s interesting but usually not scientific. Also VERY prone to bias (sorry not sorry to all you ENTJs out there).
FounderSuccess, our newest product/service offering is a cumulation of 14 years of scientifically validated research targeted SOLELY on startups, applying AI that didn’t even exist a few years ago.
Yay, real science!
So what does this mean for women and other diverse groups? How can this highly accurate depth of information reduce - or in a perfect world, eliminate - bias in startup investing or hiring?
As a true Aquarian (is that science? lol), I will answer this question with another question.
How often has a trait exhibited by males been considered negative when presented by females?
"Attention-Seeking" behavior traits are often celebrated in male founders like Elon Musk and Richard Branson, but criticized in women. While male founders are expected to seek attention, female founders displaying the same trait—whether through assertiveness or appearance—are often unfairly judged.
FounderSuccess challenges these biases by using science to provide a more accurate, less judgmental understanding of core personality traits.
By shifting perspectives, we can foster acceptance, which leads to motivation and, ultimately, success.
Taking the bias out of founder assessment
We’re on a mission to help as many founders and startup teams improve their odds of success, reduce bias, and make better decisions around people.
Check out FounderSuccess and let us know how we can help.
💁🏽♀️ Recruit More
Some of you might wonder, “Aren’t y’all a recruiting firm? Why don’t you mention jobs?”
Our recent hiring experience in the startup world mirrors the trends shown in the chart below. Remember when SVB collapsed, and we thought that was the bottom? Or how the pandemic seemed over, only for people to keep getting sick?
Normally, hiring slows in August and picks up after Labor Day, with Q4 being the busiest for recruiting. But this year, with an election looming, things might not follow the usual pattern.
Despite the uncertainty, we remain confident in our abilities as ethical, diverse recruiters. We value our authentic relationships—they’re the true currency.
How are you doing? Seriously, talk to us.
A startling chart but how it’s felt these last few years
😂 Giggle More
"#Girl boss" culture told women to embrace entrepreneurship and say things like, "I’m not bossy, I’m the boss!"—then slapped a “Girl Power” sticker on a stack of overdue bills and called it feminism.
Sure, crushing goals in a male-dominated world is great, but this trend became more about climbing the corporate ladder in stilettos than smashing it to bits. It’s all about individual success while ignoring the big, ugly issues like gender inequality and pay disparity.
Let’s be real—juggling 27 side hustles while looking effortlessly fabulous is a hard way to “win” at life. Maybe we should focus on making the world a little less ridiculous for everyone. 💅
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Save the date for our September 15 themed ALOHA! 🌺
Come honor the culture of our newest hire Davina, celebrate the election of Hawaii’s FIRST trans-female lawmaker, and pay respects as we pass the year milestone of the Maui fires.
Other Local Events; is your event missing? Shoot us a message!
Limitless Flow Breathwork - zoom or IRL every Saturday
Meta Mondays - Santa Monica, 8/26
Web 3 is a Joke - Virtual or Santa Monica, 8/29
From Day Jobs to Startups hosted by Founders in LA, 8/28
Cyber Security Happy Hour Santa Monica, 8/27
Product & Design Happy Hour at Sorry Not Sorry, 8/29
Gone with the Gunk: a free event for women at NeueHouse, 8/29
Light Dao Town Hall - Virtual, 9/4
FORBES POWER WOMEN’ SUMMIT - 9/11, Santa Monica
Growth Hacking Insider Conference hosted by Expert Dojo, 10/8
🏡 Build More
Construction and real estate have traditionally been male-dominated, but Team Dreamore is nicely gender balanced: Shelley Coulson expediter, Margot Mandel project manager, Julie Friedrichsen landscape architect, and ME the owner. Everything I know about sustainable gardening was from a tall Kiwi woman. She was STRONG but more importantly clever. She inspired me to create all these gardens - Thank you Liz! Now that we’ve cleared coastal, we are ready to entertain investors. Click Build More to access a detailed presentation. |  Dreamore 2019 - not a single flower planted yet  Dona Lola 2023, where it all began |
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Dreamore is always excited to promote other like-minded founders and companies on this platform!
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Your Dream Team,
Annemarie, Lydia and Davina
dreamore.io
