10 days ago I had the pleasure of attending Game 7 of the WNBA Finals: Golden State Valkyries vs. Atlanta Dream.
It was unbelievable! As a lifelong basketball fan, I absolutely loved the display of sportswomanship on the court, the relentless spirit (and costumes) of the crowd, the second-half Valkyries comeback, and Gabby Williams' bananas performance.
But more than anything, I walked away from the game feeling the power and optimism of what women can achieve when we're invested in as equals.
The principal owners of the Golden State Valkyries are men, and Joe Lacob, in particular, has been a stalwart supporter of women's sports since the late 1990s. He had been advocating to bring the WNBA to the Bay Area for years, and once he got the opportunity, he did what all allies should do:
He hired a stellar leadership team of women—Jess Smith (President) and Ohemaa Nyanin (GM)—and a kick-ass Head Coach in Natalie Nakase.
He set clear expectations: a championship in the first 5 years.
He delivered the investment...
... and then he got out of their way.
In just 2 years the Valkyries leadership, along with the largely women-led coaching staff, players, and fanbase have collectively built the Valkyries into a $1B brand generating $100M in revenue, now with a national championship under their belts. A first in the WNBA's thirty year history.
They've sold out all 48 of their regular season home games at Chase Center in San Francisco, which holds a whopping 18,064 screaming fans. The sense of community that's been built at Ballhalla (the nickname for Chase Center) is truly a work of art, and the Bay Area has now become a place where you smile and chat with strangers when you notice they're wearing Valkyries Violet. 💜
This is what happens when we invest in women. This is what happens when someone says "I believe in you," and then lets them get to work. We get passion. We get community. And we get m'fing results.
A few other highlights for this month:
💰 Open grants - tons of 'em! Heather and I are blown away at the number of open grants this month. Get it in before the holidays hit!
📺 Funded & Fearless replays are here! The recordings from London, Austin, and Dublin are now available on the LWL YouTube channel. Such incredible insights were shared, so check them out and share!
📚 AI agents that don't run on vibes?! The linked article from Business Insider explains how to set up a successful playbook that keeps the robots on task, and in check.
🩵 Meet Whitney: A personal mission to help relieve stress for a dental patient with autism led Whitney Oknin to an entirely new career path, and a community of more than 50K+ chill customers. Read about her incredible journey down below! (Spoiler alert: We have a collab launching with Whitney next month!)
Rooting for you!
Caty & the Ladies Who Launch team
💰 GRANT DEADLINES
For any questions about the below grants, including eligibility, please reach out to the granting organization directly.
[$5K] Trusted Creator Fellowship. A virtual training program and $5K stipend for information-focused creators. Fellows learn fact-checking, sourcing, interviewing, and research skills so they can serve the communities they care deeply about. Deadline: November 13, 2026
[$2K] Tory Burch Fellows. A number of our LWL Launch Program Grantees have been accepted into the Tory Burch Foundation fellowship! Could you be next? Deadline: November 17, 2026
[$5K] Evolve Grant Sweepstakes. Our friends at Entreprenista give away $5K per quarter to a US-based, woman-owned or woman-led business. Deadline: November 30, 2026
[$5K] IFW Startup Accelerator Grant. A $5,000 grant awarded to an entrepreneur whose business has high potential for impact, either commercially or within their community. $5 application fee. Deadline: November 30, 2026
[$5K] Creative VISIONARY Grant. For Black artists and makers, this grant is designed toward actualizing all phases of a creative project: from research to fabrication to presentation. Two grants available. Deadline: November 30, 2026
[$15K] Three Monthly Amber Grants. Women'sNet quietly increased their grant size by 50%! November's business category grant is for those businesses in the STEM space. Deadline: November 30, 2026
[$10K] Hey Helen Grant. The Hey Helen Grant is a privately funded initiative by Visionaries that invests in women entrepreneurs building impact-driven, for-profit businesses in the U.S. Deadline: November 30, 2026
💥 POWER PICKS
Your monthly shortcut to better decisions. Handpicked listens, curated reads, and expert events that will level up your thinking and skills.
📺 All 2026 Funded & Fearless recordings are here! Fascinating insights from London, Austin, and Dublin are available on our YouTube channel. Check them out for real world advice and experience on fundraising (includes debt, equity, and non-dilutive!), building with AI, the impact of personal branding, building for social good, and more.
📚 Alison Roman's Sauce Brand Just Scaled to 30 States Without Any Venture Capital. How many times have we heard LWL speakers say that VC isn't for everyone?! Alison Roman is proving out that theory. Get it girl! 👏👏👏
📱A Masterclass in PR Pitching. You can tell someone how great your business is, or you can put them in the position to discover it themselves. Sophia Amoruso explains how she did it at Nasty Gal, but it's a trick that can work for businesses of all sizes.
📱The No A**hole Rule. Because I can't get enough of the Golden State Valkryies this week, please enjoy this quick Instagram Reel of Natalie Nakase explaining her secret to building team culture.
📚 I run an 8-person startup that uses AI agents. We don't let our agents run on vibes. Playbooks are the guardrails that keep the little robots in check. And they're a lot more simple than you'd think to create and enforce.
🩵 LAUNCHER SPOTLIGHT
In celebration of all women who build. Be sure to give your fellow Launcher some love online... It's easy, free, and means the world!
Meet Whitney Oknin
Whitney Oknin’s first Chill Pill Charm had one job: help a teenage patient with autism focus on a tiny airplane. Her next collab? The Ladies Who Launch community. 🥰
After more than a decade in dentistry, Whitney knew just how overwhelming a dental appointment could feel for her patient: bright lights, unfamiliar sounds, new sensations... the whole sensory parade.
She had an idea to make him a toy to help with his focus in the chair, and knew that he loved airplanes. So she gathered her materials, and let her inner crafter loose with the task.
The result? A small, clear capsule with a microscopic airplane inside, hidden by glitter and other tiny objects. She envisioned he would focus on looking for the plane during appointments instead of on the dental work.
It worked like a charm! (No pun intended. 😂) The tiny treasure hunt gave his attention somewhere else to land while Whitney and her team took care of his teeth. His monthly braces appointments became more successful for him and the entire dental team.
Whitney’s original charm idea was simple: a pill-shaped capsule with glitter and one hidden object. She wanted the fun of a classic iSpy book without the “well, I’ve found everything, now what?” problem. The glitter-filled capsule solves it: shake it up, the treasure moves, and your search starts again.
Somewhere along the way, she realized these puzzles weren’t just helpful for patients with sensory needs. They were something people of all ages could enjoy interacting with. So she opened up a Shopify store and started selling Chill Pills to customers all over the world.
As her sales grew, a customer in the UK told her she’d used a Chill Pill to focus through a bus ride after being unable to ride public transport for more than 15 years. She bought two of each design so she’d never be without a favorite. Reading that message had Whitney in tears. She knew she had stumbled upon something truly special.
Then came the career plot twist. Whitney had spent years expecting to become a dentist, but after she was let go from her dental sales job, she decided to pursue the creative work that lit her up instead.
She chose to scale her store to social media, and her videos began taking off online--including one that reached 40 million views! But 40 million views did not bring her 40 million customers. What mattered was building a community that wanted to come back again and again for the next drop.
That community is now following along as Whitney figures out the next chapter: growing production, exploring retail, brand collaborations and custom PR boxes, and generally building a business around the product without losing its creativity or quality. The messy in-between is real. But so is her ambition.
Speaking of ambition, Whitney was thrilled when a well-known brand reached out to her for a potential collaboration earlier this year. Excited by the prospect, she ordered 10,000 custom white capsules, but then the partner simply disappeared leaving her on the hook with all the inventory.
Determined to turn lemons into lemonade, she's working on a limited edition charm: the FoundHER Chill Pill, complete with a tiny golden key to remind women everywhere that they hold the key to their own success. A portion of sales for this limited edition charm will support a grant for a woman entrepreneur in the 2027 Ladies Who Launch Launch Program. 🩵
Whitney spent years preparing for a career in dentistry before giving herself permission to follow a different path, one built around creativity, curiosity and tiny treasure hunts. Her advice to other founders is simple: “You just have to start!” She reminds herself that “progress over perfection” counts, too. An idea doesn’t have to look conventional to take you somewhere wonderful.
Photos from @chillpillcharms