Invisible Ink: Recent Episodes
Shubha Chakravarthy
The podcast for ambitious under-resourced women entrepreneurs, hosted by Shubha Chakravarthy, founder of Achiiv.
Listen to women entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey about the challenges, the highs, the lows and what they’ve learned along the way.
Also hear from experts who’ll share valuable tips on how to succeed the smart way.
Find show notes and more at https://achiiv.co/podcast/
In this episode, John Harbison, veteran angel investor and longtime member of Tech Coast Angels, joins Shubha K. Chakravarthy to deliver a masterclass on how investors actually think about risk, founders, and funding decisions. Drawing on decades of experience as a founder, board member, and investor, John breaks down why every startup carries multiple dimensions of risk—and why the winners are those who score, prioritize, and actively mitigate them rather than deny them.
Check out his hard-won insights on:
1. The 30-minute scoring exercise that quietly predicts which startups won’t survive
2. Why a company with “balanced” risk can be more dangerous than one with obvious red flags
3. The founder response that instantly shifts an investor from skeptical to interested
4. The one signal that collapses multiple risk categories at once
5. Why “we have no competitors” is worse than you think
6. The subtle way founders lose credibility during competitive analysis
7. The coachability test founders don’t realize they’re taking in every meeting
8. The board dynamic that multiplies outcomes — and the one that destroys them
9. The winning company that only worked because they abandoned their original pitch early
10. The difference between pivoting wisely and panicking after one data point
11. The personality trait that saved six doomed companies — and killed six others
12. The financing contingency one experienced CEO refused to build — and what happened next
13. Why you don’t need most of the room to believe in you (and why that changes how you should pitch)
and much more!
In this episode, Benjamin David Novak, Partner at Morgan Lewis and veteran angel investor with Delaware Crossing Investor Group pulls back the curtain on how startup financing actually works behind closed doors. Wearing both hats as a venture attorney and an active investor, Ben delivers a candid masterclass on deal structure, term sheets, SAFEs, cap table traps, and the strategic thinking founders must adopt long before they ever sign their first check.
Check out his engaging views on:
1. Why the default early fundraising path founders copy can accidentally shut them out of whole investor groups
2. The one SAFE detail founders almost never model, then discover the hard way at the first priced round
3. Why “simple” fundraising paperwork can create the most painful misunderstandings later
4. The difference between raising what you can get vs raising what actually gets you to the next value jump
5. The most common term sheet mistake founders make because they are relieved to finally have one
6. Two questions that tell you if your round is a real bridge or just buying time
7. What angels mean when they say “we don’t do SAFEs” and why founders misread it
8. Why trying to get “creative” on terms usually backfires even when you think you are being smart
9. The reputation mistakes founders make during a raise without realizing it
10. The cap table problem that looks fine on paper until a Series A lead starts doing the math
11. What it actually means to “run a process” as a founder without acting like an investment banker
12. The investor diligence step founders skip, then regret once the board dynamic kicks in
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to cut through startup hype with real data from 60,000 startups and 3,000 venture funds. Peter is one of the most sought after data experts in the world of startups, and his posts and reports on the latest startup data are widely anticipated and read.
In this episode, Peter shares his thoughtful, data-driven take on:
1. Why venture capital became the default path for founders and why the data says that assumption is quietly breaking down
2. The single cap table decision made at incorporation that can make a company effectively unfundable years later
3. Why academic and deep tech founders systematically misjudge equity tradeoffs and the early signal investors notice immediately
4. The uncomfortable truth about advisor equity and how well intentioned generosity quietly hollows out founder ownership
5. What Carta’s data reveals about how much equity actually matters and where founders obsess over the wrong numbers
6. Why SAFEs feel founder friendly early and how they quietly reshape ownership when it is too late to undo
7. The cap table red flags investors rarely say out loud but almost always notice
8. Why most startup employees never make money on their equity even when the company does well
9. The counterintuitive metric that matters more than revenue in the earliest days and how it aligns an entire company
10. Why fundraising treated as a long slow conversation almost always fails and what disciplined founders do instead
11. The myth of founders being pushed out by VCs and what actually determines who stays in control
12. The hardest mindset shift founders must make to survive the journey long before outcomes exits or valuations are known
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, Krista Bragg, Founder and CEO of KB Kinetics joins Shubha Chakravarthy to unpack what it really takes for startups to sell into the U.S. healthcare system. Krista offers a ground-truth view of healthcare from the inside—at a moment when hospitals face historic financial pressure, workforce shortages, and shrinking margins.
The conversation explores where real opportunities exist for founders, how health systems actually make buying decisions, why pilots often fail, and what healthcare leaders expect from AI-enabled solutions.
Krista shares practical, experience-based insights on:
1. The hidden financial crisis inside U.S. healthcare systems—and how it radically changes what gets bought (and what doesn’t)
2. Why most hospital leaders don’t care about “AI” and what they actually want solved when startups walk through the door
3. The biggest near-term opportunities for healthcare founders, and how to leverage them
4. The single fastest way to get rejected by a health system and how smart founders plan around it
5. Why clinicians must stay in the loop—and how ignoring one stakeholder can kill an otherwise great product
6. How to avoid pitching the wrong customer and missing the real decision-maker
7. The common pilot mistakes that leave startups stuck in “zombie mode” with no path to revenue
8. What healthcare leaders actually mean by “value”—and the metrics that move C-suite decisions today
9. Why payer, provider, and employer incentives often conflict—and how founders can choose the right go-to-market lane
10. The overlooked risk in converting pilots to contracts and how to protect deals when it happens
11. Why flexibility in pricing, contracts, and even branding can make or break early healthcare deals
12. The one rule every healthcare founder should remember
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, veteran operator Dr. Ron Weissman joins Shubha Chakravarthy to challenge some of the most entrenched myths in early-stage fundraising. Drawing on decades as a VC, angel investor, board member, and former NeXT executive who worked closely with Steve Jobs, Ron explains why startups fail.
Key takeaways from the episode include:
1. Why some founders immediately feel investable—even before the deck comes up
2. The question investors are really trying to answer in the first few minutes
3. What years of looking at deals teaches investors that pitch contests never do
4. Why getting a fast yes from an investor can be more dangerous than a slow no
5. The part of diligence most founders don’t realize they’re being evaluated on
6. What investors listen for when founders describe their market—not their product
7. How investors tell the difference between a strong pitch and a strong business
8. When a funding path helps you—and when it starts working against you
9. The moment investors decide whether they want to work with you long-term
10. What a founder’s roadmap reveals that no slide ever says out loud
11. How deal structure shapes the relationship long before anything goes wrong
12. The shift in thinking investors expect from founders aiming to build category leaders
and much more!
This episode of Invisible Ink features a dynamic conversation between host Shubha K. Chakravarthy and guests Elizabeth MacBride, a long-time financial journalist, and Seth Levine, a seasoned venture capitalist and co-founder of Foundry.
In this episode, Elizabeth and Seth discuss the shift in the American economy toward dynamic capitalism and offer strategic advice to founders navigating this new landscape.
Check out this wide-ranging conversation for their key insights on:
1. Why this moment in fundraising feels broken and why it is actually something else entirely
2. The subtle signal investors are responding to now that most founders are not even naming
3. How capital concentration quietly reshapes who gets funded and who never gets a second look
4. Why ownership has become more than a compensation issue and what it reveals about long-term company strength
5. What happens when founders keep playing by yesterday’s rules and why the game has already shifted
6. The structural split inside venture capital that explains so many confusing investor reactions
7. Why location has re-entered the funding conversation and how geography changes access in ways founders underestimate
8. The real bottleneck facing AI and deep tech companies and why it has nothing to do with ideas
9. Where truly patient capital is starting to show up and why most founders are still looking in the wrong places
10. Why waiting for policy clarity is a losing strategy and what consistently outpaces regulation
11. The overlooked way strong founders reduce risk before they ever raise a dollar
12. Why persistence alone is not enough and when refusing to pivot becomes the real failure
13. What credibility actually looks like in an AI-saturated world and why it cannot be automated
14. The one mental shift that determines whether founders navigate this transition or get stuck in it
and much more!
In this episode, Naseem Sayani, Director, Innovator's Circle, WHAM and VC investor & ecosystem builder, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to expose the structural gaps female founders face and how to overcome them with strategy, confidence, and financial clarity. Naseem breaks down why women often lead with pain instead of profit, why this undermines fundraising, and how shifting storytelling toward economic opportunity can transform investor outcomes. Drawing from deep experience in consulting, venture building, and women’s health innovation, she outlines the real reasons women negotiate less, accept predatory terms, and hesitate to take salaries—even when the business demands it.
Check out Naseem's sharp insights on:
1. Why most female founders lose investor interest early and the simple narrative shift that instantly changes the fundraising conversation
2. The hidden bias in “leading with pain” and how reframing your pitch around market size and money unlocks investor confidence
3. Why founders routinely miscalculate market size and how to paint a compelling future vision that pulls investors toward your company
4. The red flags investors look for in early teams and the specific “superpowers” founders must assemble from day one
5. The most overlooked post-funding mistake women make and how to protect your equity and runway as you scale
6. Why many founders underestimate predatory term sheet risks and how to build the small advisory circle that keeps you safe
7. The difference between a true product and a feature and the unforgiving test that reveals whether your idea is actually fundable
8. Why financial fluency matters more than financial perfection and how to speak to your model in ways that earn investor trust
9. The real reason founders stumble in regulated markets and how early clinical, payer, or regulatory expertise changes your trajectory
10. Why leadership development determines whether you keep the CEO role and how coaching, community, and thought leadership help you scale with your company
and much more!
In this episode, Rob Snyder, Fellow, Harvard Innovation Labs, startup sales expert, and co-founder of Restack.dev, breaks down what truly drives product–market fit and why most founders chase the wrong signals. Rob introduces his Pull Framework—a practical, evidence-based approach to finding and validating real customer demand. Tune in for his sharp and practical insights on:
* Why “pain points” are useless—and the single test that instantly reveals whether a customer will actually buy
* How deep tech founders can find real demand before a product exists—and why this collapses 24-month sales cycles into weeks
* The brutal danger of lukewarm interest—and how founders confuse polite enthusiasm with real pull
* How to turn a lab breakthrough into a must-do project on a buyer’s to-do list (and why this is the real precursor to PMF)
* The simple conversation structure that exposes true demand—and the words that tell you it’s all talk
* Why founders must build a repeatable case study before they build a product—and how this becomes the foundation for PMF
* The subtle difference between “that’s interesting” and “I need this now”—and how to engineer the moment of truth
* How to describe your value in one sentence using the buyer’s own failed alternatives—no persuasion needed
* Why most founders hire sales too early—and how to know the exact moment your process becomes repeatable
* The mindset shift that makes selling feel natural, not gross—especially for technical founders who hate sales
and much more!
Dan Gray, Head of Insights of Equidam, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to demystify one of the most misunderstood topics in early-stage fundraising—startup valuation. With over two decades in early-stage ventures, Dan reframes valuation not as a number but as a story that links a founder’s vision, strategy, and financial logic.
Check out Dan's practical guidance for deep tech and non-consensus founders, and the systemic issues in venture capital that create hurdles for deep tech founders, and a smarter, story-driven approach to raising capital.
Highlights include:
1. Why founders must treat valuation as a story, not a number, and how the story drives belief and funding outcomes
2. How “SaaS bias” skews investor expectations and hurts deep tech founders raising their first round
3. The single biggest fundraising mistake deep tech founders make,and how to fix it before it costs you equity
4. How to define milestones that de-risk your company and drive valuation up round after round
5. The hidden logic behind dilution, and how to keep ownership while staying fundable
6. What VCs really mean when they say “we don’t invest in hardware” (and how to turn that into an advantage)
7. Why valuation models fail for science-based startups,and how to build credible DCF-driven stories investors believe
8. The investor’s portfolio math: how fund size, timing, and follow-on strategy affect your odds of getting funded
9. How to spot “consensus capital” versus “non-consensus capital”, and why the difference could decide your future
10. The truth about VC markups, management fees, and why exits don’t always drive investor behavior
11. The “economic energy” test: how to articulate the total value your breakthrough can unlock for the world
12. The one framing shift that turns founders from fund-seekers into informed customers of capital
13. How to translate a visionary story into a credible financial model investors trust
14. Why financial literacy, not hype, is the real superpower for deep tech founders
Tony Shipley, chair of the nationally-recognized angel group Queen City Angels (QCA), joins Shubha Chakravarthy to demystify the rigorous process of due diligence from an investor's perspective.
Drawing from his background as an engineer and a founder of QCA, Tony unpacks the structured, process-oriented framework that has enabled his group to achieve a "remarkably different" and lower failure rate in its investment funds.
Check out Tony's thoughtful, time tested views on:
1. Why rigorous due diligence is the single biggest driver of investor success
2. The key attributes every investor evaluates before writing a check
3. How founders can turn diligence into a powerful discovery and learning process
4. The real reason uncoachable founders rarely get funded
5. How to make “greed overcome fear” when pitching investors
6. What every deep tech and life sciences founder must prove before investors say yes
7. The two make-or-break deliverables that define fundable milestones
8. What investors really look for in your market sizing (and why your TAM might be irrelevant)
9. The hidden art of building investor confidence through your sales strategy
10. How to build a moat that actually matters—across SaaS, life sciences, and advanced materials
11. Why founders underestimate the due-diligence deep dive into team dynamics
12. Common red flags on your cap table that kill deals before they start
13. The investor’s inside view on SAFE agreements—and why most angels won’t touch them
14. The one preparation habit that makes founders 10x more likely to get funded
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, molecular biologist and biotech entrepreneur Daisy Robinton, founder of Oviva Therapeutics, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to share her journey from academia to leading a women’s health startup.
Daisy turned a personal encounter with gaps in female physiology knowledge—despite holding a PhD— into her mission to address ovarian function as a key driver of women’s healthspan, all the way to a successful exit in a tough funding and M&A environment.
Check out this episode for her thoughtful and pragmatic insights on:
1. How to transition successfully from a scientist to founder
2. How to tell if your biotech asset is ready for commercialization
3. How to balance science and business as a scientist-founder
4. The challenges of fundraising in biotech and how to set yourself up for success
5. The art of making science-business tradeoffs, and how to do it well
6. How to convince skeptical male investors of the market opportunity in women's health
7. Tested tips from the trenches for first time CEO's
8. Why storytelling is a game changer, and how to do it well for any audience
9. Thinking ahead: exit and post-exit realities
10. Tips to leverage your scientific training to translate into any domain
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, pricing strategist Joanne Smith, formerly an executive at DuPont and now a leading expert in value-based pricing, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to unpack the science and art of pricing for early-stage deep tech startups.
Check out Joanne's real-world, battle-tested advice and smart, practical strategies, as well as her sharp insights on:
1. The single biggest pricing pitfall tripping up technical founders, and how to overcome it
2. How to build courage and confidence in your pricing
3. The essence of value-based pricing
4. How to identify true value in a large customer organization
5. How to quantify your product's value and ROI
6. How to identify value when your product has multiple use cases and applications
7. The one type of buyer you should avoid, and how to spot them in the wild
8. Smart ways to handle price pushback from important customers
9. How to split value between you and your customer
10. Practical and effective tips to overcome price objections
11. How to design effective pilots for risky technologies without sacrificing future pricing upside
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, Dr. Maria Blehker—founder of Serendipity Capital and expert in behavioral science—joins Shubha Chakravarthy for a deep dive into how startups, particularly in deep tech and mental health, can succeed by blending scientific rigor with human insight and strategic funding.
Check out this episode to hear her practical tips on how you can leverage research-driven insights from behavioral science to jumpstart progress with your startup as Maria shares her views on:
1. Serendipity Impact VC's thesis and the market opportunity in mental health
2. The emerging founder trends driving new healthcare startups
3. Why behavioral science is your secret superpower to accelerate your startup's success
4. How to accelerate customer acceptance of your new product
5. Simple steps to improve your sales success in selling an unproven product to a resistant market
6. Then one small reframe that can turn prospects from apathetic to enthusiastic
7. How to find critical flaws in your product without getting your soul crushed
8. Small but powerful ways to overcome stereotype bias that anyone can use
9. Secrets to building strong investor relationships long before you need them
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, Sharon Tal, co-creator of the Where to Play framework and co-author of the book by the same name, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to walk through how startups—especially in STEM and deep tech—can systematically discover and prioritize their best market opportunities.
Sharon draws on over two decades of experience mentoring founders and academic research to explain why many startups fail due to poor market choices, not product issues. She presents the Market Opportunity Navigator as a structured, three-step tool to help founders avoid costly mistakes, identify high-potential opportunities, and maintain strategic agility.
Tune in to hear Sharon's thoughtful and research-backed perspectives on:
1. Why choosing the right market can make or break your startup.
2. Big founder blind spots that can derail your startup before you even start
3. A powerful new way to unlock unsuspected new market opportunities
4. How not to get blinded by your founder bias
5. How to evaluate market opportunities, even for products that don't yet exist
6. Why chasing the first customer who knocks might steer you off course — and what to do instead.
7. The myth of "focus from day one" — and why exploration first leads to smarter decisions.
8. How to prioritize markets without giving up your options
9. How to pick the right market when there are no easy answers
10. How to build agility into your startups - and signal flexibility to investors without losing focus
11. How to be prepared to capitalize on the best opportunities regardless of where you start
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, Eileen Tanghal, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Black Opal Ventures, joins Shubha Chakravarthy for a deep dive into how founders can better understand venture capital beyond just fundraising and what truly drives VC decision-making.
Eileen reveals what founders often miss: that VCs are entrepreneurs too, managing their own businesses with investor expectations and partnership dynamics. She outlines how founders should think more like CEOs—understanding venture returns, fund dynamics, and how their startup fits into the investor’s portfolio strategy.
Tune in for Eileen's insights on:
1. How VC fundable opportunities are born
2. How to get on the same page with a VC instantly
3. The three layers of VC decision making most founders don't know
4. What drives the decision: inescapable VC math it pays for you to know
5. How VCs really evaluate your financial model
6. Inside tips on what makes your roadmaps credible to a VC
7. How TAM, SAM SOM play into a VC's funding decision
8. What VC's look for when assessing your milestones
9. The real test of whether you have a great team, as a VC sees it
10. How to demonstrate credibility even if you've never built a startup or raised funding before
11. Three top takeaways you can implement tomorrow
and much more!
In this episode, Hanna Wu, co-founder and CEO of Amplify, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to share her journey building a customer-centric, digital life insurance platform focused on wealth accumulation.
Tune in to listen to the inspiring journey that took Hanna from running her own financial planning firm to founding the company that has been dubbed a future unicorn by TRAC. Check out Hanna's insights on:
* What it takes to disrupt a legacy industry
* How to take the simple but powerful steps to validate your market and demand
* How to craft a killer value proposition in a competitive field
* How to find the right customer segments to break into a tough business
* How to adapt product offers with changing demand
* The secret formula to tackle market changes in any industry, and the one capability that you can't do without
* How to prepare for unexpected changes in the fundraising market, and the surprising impacts you must be prepared to face
* What it really means to hire an A-team, and how to ensure you're getting the best people on board for the long haul
* The one type of investor you really can't do without, and why they matter
* Road-tested tips to prepare yourself for the long-haul, especially if you want to have a life outside your startup.
and much more!
In this episode, Ingrid Bonde Åkerlind joins Shubha Chakravarthy to unravel the complexities of pricing for early-stage startups, especially in the world of SaaS and “XaaS” business models.
Tune in to hear Ingrid's reflections on her unexpected journey into pricing, starting from scratch in a C2C marketplace to making investment decisions with a venture capital firm. Ingrid shares powerful insights about price inertia, customer psychology, and how anchoring and framing play critical roles in both B2B and B2C contexts.
Don't miss her practical and actionable insights on:
* Why pricing is often the orphan function in early-stage startups—and why it shouldn't be.
* The psychological biases that impact pricing—across both B2C and B2B markets.
* Why SaaS and XaaS pricing models are harder than they look.
* Key differences in pricing strategy for early-stage versus mature startups.
* How to use customer interviews for pricing research—even without hard data.
* Why pricing isn't just about the number, but about picking the right value metric.
* Best practices for testing different pricing models with early customers.
* Practical tips for reviewing and iterating on your pricing regularly.
and much more!
In this episode, Elise Strobach, co-founder and CEO of AeroShield, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to share her journey from lab discovery to clean tech startup founder. Drawing on her experience as a mechanical engineering PhD at MIT, Elise discusses how a breakthrough in transparent silica aerogels evolved into a venture-backed company tackling one of the world’s biggest energy inefficiencies—heat loss through windows.
Tune in to listen to Elise's thoughtful and actionable takes on:
1. How the path to commercialization happens in the real world
2. The big, unsuspected factor that can make your breakthrough marketable
3. Key pivot points that drive commercialization impact in the research phase, and how to capitalize on them
4. How to do customer interviews the right way
5. The surprising secret to making your innovation attractive in the commercial market
6. What big adverse events can teach you, and how to turn them to your advantage
7. A killer strategy to optimize your grant outcomes
8. How to use grant applications to also build customer traction
9. How to build your execution roadmap when dealing with uncertain funding outcomes
10. A secret to overcome imposter syndrome
and much more!
In this episode, Maja Voje, go-to-market strategist, author, and growth expert, joins Shubha Chakravarthy to unpack the real essence of go-to-market (GTM) strategy—far beyond the buzzword.
Drawing from her extensive experience advising startups and corporates alike, Maja reveals her tested GTM framework, rooted in experimentation, structured thinking, and real market insights. She breaks down the six mission-critical elements of GTM: understanding the market and competition, defining your early customer profile (ECP), building value-aligned products, crafting sharp positioning and messaging, pricing based on perceived value and evidence, and finally, setting up scalable growth and sales channels.
Check out her information-packed, tested and foolproof views on:
* How to define and validate your go-to-market strategy early on
* Why “launch” is not the same as go-to-market, and why that matters
* How to pick your beachhead market and early customer profile (ECP)
* How to think about your product in a way that improves the odds of product market fit
* What product-market fit actually looks like in the real world
* Why pricing isn’t just about numbers and what to focus on in setting price
* How to position your product to stand out (without overthinking it)
* How to choose and sequence your growth channels
* The top 3 actions for founders rethinking their GTM strategy
and much more!
What if the way we think about building a business is fundamentally flawed? In this epsiode, Heidi Neck, a leading voice in entrepreneurship education, shares actionable insights from her extensive research and experience, emphasizing that "organizations are not entrepreneurial, people are".
Whether you're navigating a high-growth startup or seeking to instill innovation within an established company, you'll gain practical tools. Learn to apply the Entrepreneurial Thought & Action (ET&A) methodology, master the art of "affordable loss," and understand why a "quilting" approach can be more effective than following a rigid "puzzle". This conversation is a masterclass in cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset, led by an educator who is shaping the future of the field.
Tune in to listen to Heidi's views on:
1. Why business plans don't work, and how to do better
2. The real inner game of entrepreneurship, and how to cultivate it.
3. The make-or-break differences most founders overlook.
4. The powerful ET&A method
5. Finding your sweet spot in the face of uncertainty.
6. How to launch and grow, even without funding.
7. The "affordable loss" concept: A risk-reducing mindset shift for smarter decisions.
8. Why negative feedback is your secret weapon.
9. The counterintuitive habit that fuels rapid progress.
10. Embracing the "direction over plan" philosophy for greater agility.
11. Using puzzles and quilts to build your entrepreneurial superpowers
12. The 3 investor questions you MUST answer to unlock capital.
and much more!
In this captivating episode, we sit down with Maria L. Maccecchini, a force of nature in the world of biotech, to explore her inspiring journey from a Ph.D. scientist to a successful entrepreneur. Maria shares her passion for developing innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and the realities of navigating the complex terrain of funding, clinical trials, and FDA approvals.
Check out her fascinating journey across two continents founding a successful startup, her journey to wealth, and her subsequent decision to plunge back into the world of entrepreneurship. Check out her fascinating insights on:
1. How innovation works in pharma and why it matters to life sciences entrepreneurs
2. How success and wealth play out in life sciences and what it means to founders
3. The unexpected lessons from repeat entrepreneurship in life sciences
4. Why VC funding is challenging to raise in life sciences startups
5. How unexpected shocks from bad actors in the system can derail your startup, and how to tackle them
6. The nuts of bolts of getting FDA approval, and the factors that make it challenging
7. Why life sciences entrepreneurs decide to IPO
8. The challenges of being a public life sciences company CEO, and tips on handling the job
9. Personal lessons from a lifetime of curiosity and play that anyone can follow.
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, we talk with deep tech expert Dr. Tanya Ramond, an expert in taking deep tech startups to market. check out Tanya's insightful and actionable insights on:
1. Why commercializing deep tech is challenging
2. The one mindset shift technical founders must make to succeed
3. How to leverage the biggest element of your technical education to drive your startup's success
4. A simple approach to mastering new skills
5. How to overcome the lone wolf mentality and activate progress
6. The secret to finding the best market for your innovation
7. How to bridge the gap from lab to market
8. Insider tips to successfully cross the "Valley of Death"
9. How to design successful pilots for funding and traction
10. The trick to engaging with the right industry accelerators
11. How to build the right team for your deep tech startup
12. How to demonstrate traction to investors with your deep tech startup
and much more!
In this episode, Patricia Liu, an MIT-educated computer scientist turned angel investor and Stanford lecturer, shares her diverse career journey—from consulting at Accenture to working in Michelin-starred kitchens and now teaching pitch decks to startup founders.
Patricia shared her takes on the common threads across her careers, the core elements that stay constat regatdless of what endeavor you're engaged in. Check out her thoughtful and unique views on:
1. How to set up your pitch so investors pay attention from the first slide
2. The one thing that makes your pitch unforgettable to investors
3. What the best pitches have in common, even when they describe complex technologies
4. The one underrated activity that can make or break your funding chances
5. How to build trust and keep investors hooked with this simple hack
6. How to really demonstrate a big and credible competitive edge
7. The one thing that can kill your pitch—and how to avoid it
8. Simple tools that can turn complex ideas into instant investor buy-in
9. The simple activity anyone can do to expose the weak spots you never noticed
10. How to make your deck stand out in a sea of forgettable pitches
and much more!
In this episode of Invisible Ink, Eva Doss, president and CEO of The LaunchPlace, discusses her work in venture development, managing a portfolio of 27 startups, and supporting early-stage companies through every part of their startup journey.
Listen to Eva's experiences as she shares her journey in building The LaunchPlace, including her insights on:
1. Why your cap table is the linchpin in your fundraising story
2. How to stay on top of your cap table as an early stage founder
3. How to use cap tables strategically to manage financing, ownership, and regulatory compliance.
4. How startup valuation approaches differ by type of investor
5. How to support your valuation estimate when you don't yet have a track record
6. Why a high valuation isn't always a good thing
7. The lowdown on SAFEs - what are they, really?
8. Cap table implications of SAFEs and convertible notes
9. The practical tradeoffs of raising ona a SAFE
10. The soft factors that impact your fundraising vehicle
11. Practical insights on how to build positive investor relationships
and much more!
In this episode, Liz Sigety, chair of Fox Rothschild's Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice, shares her expertise in working with startups, her role as a co-founder of the Delaware Crossing Investor Group, and her extensive experience as an angel investor.
Tune in to hear Liz's thoughts on funding mechanisms for early-stage companies, how to pick the right funding vehicle, the differences between SAFEs and convertible notes, and what founderss should think about in selecting the right one for their raise.
Get a deep dive on the Angel Capital Association's new Model Convertible Note straight from the source! Liz headed the team at the ACA that worked to develop and publish this comprehensive new template!
Hear Liz's thoughts on:
1. The critical factors that drive your choice of funding vehicle
2. Primary differences between SAFEs and convertible notes
3. How legal fees impact your choice of funding vehicle, and what ti keep in mind
4. The little known tax issue that can make or break your deal for investors
5. Why tax matters for you as a founder, and how ti minimize your tax risk
6. How the ACA's new model convertible note changes the game for founders and investors
7. The make or break features of your convertible note: discounts, valuation caps and maturity
8. The "iceberg" factors of convertible notes: early sale, board representation, information rights and more
9. How to put together a foolproof term sheet as a first time founder
10. Insider tips for women founders in STEM from an experienced angel and attorney
and much more.
Only on Invisible Ink!
In this conversation, Vicki Knott, CEO of Crux OCM, shares her entrepreneurial journey from oil and gas to starting her own company. Vicki describes her background and how she met her co-founder, Roger Shirt, and how they developed the idea for Crux OCM.
Tune in to listen to her facscinating journey as she shares her thoughts on:
1. The power of cross-pollinating ideas - origin story of an innovative startup
2. The difference between working and selling in the same industry - powerful founder lessons
3. First steps - why accelerators matter in your startup journey
4. How to select the right accelerator program for your deep-tech startup
5. Why location matters - and how to make a smart location decision
6. The surprising power of financial acumen - from fundraising to selling
7. How to build financial acumen one day, one step at a time
8. How to navigate the challenges of selling complex software solutions to large, traditional industries.
9. Valuable do's and don'ts in the journey to financial fluency
10. How to build confidence and overcome imposter syndrome as a female founder in a male-dominated field.
and much more!
Join us for a fascinating conversation with Kameale C. Terry, Co-founder and CEO of ChargerHelp! In this conversation, Kameale shares her entrepreneurial journey in the electric vehicle (EV) charging sector, detailing her transition from supporting EV drivers to founding her own company focused on enhancing charging reliability. Tune in to find out:
1. How to transform life circumstances into entrepreneurial opportunity
2. The single biggest secret to sustainable startup success
3. How to leverage problem mastery to gain investor credibility
4. How to play the fundraising game like a chess pro
5. The oath to financial fluency, why it matters, and how to get it
6. The ins and outs of raising a priced round
7. How to find great legal counsel before you have funding
8. What Henry Ford can teach you about go-to-market success
9. How to make smart bets when the stakes are high
10. The last word: how to stay in the game for the long haul
and much more!
In this episode, Tasneem Dohadwala, a venture capitalist in early-stage medical device investment, shares her insights on navigating the venture capital landscape and the unique challenges within the medical devices space.
Check out this information-packed conversation to learn more about:
1. The categories of med-tech ventures, and how they differ
2. Why large markets have outsize importance in med-tech relative to other verticals
3. What factors drive fundability in med-tech, and why it's so challenging to build successful ventures in med-tech
4. Not all med-tech is made equal - categories within med-tech
5. How AI will change the game in therapeutics
6. How to tell if your med-tech startup has what it takes to be funded
7. How the regulatory and reimbursement pathways make or break your startup's success
8. How to be a CEO investors want to bet on
9. What to watch for as a woman founder in med-tech
and much more!
In this episode, Brianna McDonald, an experienced early-stage investor, shares key insights from her two-decade journey in the startup world, emphasizing the significance of a well-crafted capitalization strategy for founders. Brianna discusses the importance of not falling in love with the product alone, instead focusing on the executive team's execution and the market potential.
She highlights the misconceptions around fundraising, urging founders to view it as selling pieces of their companies, and stresses the necessity of understanding cap table management from day one.
She also covers the current challenges in the investing landscape, the impact of economic shifts on startup funding, and the critical need for thorough market research and relationship building with potential investors.
Key takeaways from the episode include:
* Why capitalization strategy matters for founders more than ever in the post Silicon Valley Bank era
* How to use market research to create credible go-to-market strategies and believable financial projections
* How to cultivate genuine relationships with investors for successful fundraising and support
* Why managing and understanding the cap table from day one is key to minimizing dilution and maintaining control
* What to watch out for before raising on "cheap" vehicles like SAFE notes
* How to target the right investors based on your company’s growth trajectory.
* Why the math matters - on your cap table, your valuation and your deal, and how it can make or break your company
* How to build a solid plan for your startup so your company, your investors and you come out ahead
Named one of Inc. Magazines Top 100 Female Founders of 2020, Colette Courtion is a distinguished and award-winning consumer marketer, inventor (24 issued patents), and business leader steeped in brand building, marketing, strategic planning, and finance with leading consumer product, retail, and medical device companies.
She is the founder of Joylux, the leading menopausal intimate health company with Halle Berry, the acclaimed actress and menopause advocate, as an investor, brand ambassador and co-developer of products.Prior to founding Joylux, she founded and lead two other VC-backed aesthetic companies. She was also a marketing executive with Starbucks responsible for launching and growing the Starbucks Card and Customer loyalty program into a multi-billion-dollar business.
In this episode, Colette shares the good, the bad and the shocking on her founder journey. Tune in to hear more about:
1. The origin story of a pathbreaking startup
2. How to validate the market opportunity when it's never existed before
3. How to break old barriers and blaze new trails - the founder's way
4. The quick primer on FDA approvals, and the role of luck and ingenuity
5. When life hands you a pandemic, turn it into profits
6. How to think strategically about your IP strategy
7. How to sell your startup to investors when they don't want to hear about the problem, and still win!
8. How to keep investors happy without losing your mind
9. How to hitch your wagon to a star
and much more!
Welcome to the Best of Season 6! In this special episode, we've put together the very best clips from all of our incredible guests for your listening pleasure. Check out the time stamps below to find your favorite clips or do yourself a favor and listen to the whole roll!
00:00:00 - Welcome & Introduction
00:00:09 - Gender Bias in Negotiation Techniques | Angela Lee
00:00:32 - Handling Perceptions of Aggressiveness | Angela Lee
00:01:52 - Balancing Strength and Warmth | Angela Lee
00:02:42 - Building Economic Case for Women Founders | Angela Lee
00:03:04 - Valuation Tips for Women Founders
00:05:13 - Importance of Conviction in Investor Pitches | Marcia Dawood
00:07:05 - Value of Customer Discovery | Marcia Dawood
00:08:05 - Navigating Co-Founder Challenges | Marcia Dawood
00:12:21 - From Technical Expert to Business Lead | Jen Baird
00:16:17 - Strengthening the Financial Model | Jen Baird
00:17:44 - Advice for First-Time Fundraisers | Jen Baird
00:19:14 - Differences Between Angels & VCs | Elaine Bolle
00:23:08 - Strategies for Valuation & Fundraising | Elaine Bolle
00:27:00 - Common Business Model Pitfalls | Gwen Edwards
00:29:30 - Scaling & Growth Essentials | Gwen Edwards
00:32:38 - Managing Cap Tables Effectively | Gwen Edwards
00:41:40 - Financial Education for Founders | Kerry Rupp
00:42:45 - Understanding Investor Timelines | Kerry Rupp
00:43:24 - Building Toward Acquisition Goals | Kerry Rupp
00:45:11 - Importance of Legal Structures in Startups | Madhu Singh
00:47:22 - Equity Vesting & Founder Commitment | Madhu Singh
00:48:39 - Setting up an Option Pool & Incentives | Madhu Singh
01:00:47 - Raising Capital Efficiently | Charu Ramanathan
01:02:43 - Overcoming Gender Bias and Seeking Help | Charu Ramanathan
01:04:12 - Mentorship & Resilience for Female Founders | Charu Ramanathan
01:04:25 - Lessons from the Entrepreneurial Journey | Vinita Gupta
01:04:51 - Embracing the Owner’s Mindset | Vinita Gupta
01:05:42 - Balancing Risks and Rewards | Vinita Gupta
01:12:35 - Navigating Career Choices with Intuition | Lynda Weinman
01:13:43 - Evolution of an Internet-Based Business | Lynda Weinman
In this episode, Madhu Singh, a seasoned legal expert, shares her insights on the importance of preparing for an exit when building a startup. Tune in to find out why founders need to prioritize legal structure, the ins and outs of devising a smart equity compensation structure, how to ace due diligence to avoid common pitfalls, and much more.
Highlights include:
* Why entity structure matters, and what to do if you didn't form a Delaware C Corp
* How corporate structure can impact hiring your team and fundraising
* How to grant equity to your team the smart way
* Why dead equity can come back to haunt you, and how to fix it
* How to prepare for due diligence
* Simple tips to stay on top of your entity and legal obligations
and much more!
Our guest for today is Lynda Weinman. Lynda is a pioneering entrepreneur, educator, and co-founder of lynda.com, a trailblazing online learning platform. Lynda launched her namesake platform in 1995 with her husband, Bruce.
Her leadership and vision led lynda.com to tremendous growth for years before raising its first venture capital funding in 2013. In 2015, she sold the platform to LinkedIn for $1.5 billion for cash and stock, marking one of the most successful exits of a woman-founded startup.
In this fascinating conversation, Lynda provides an insider’s view of what it’s like to bootstrap a company from scratch, all the way through the challenges of high growth and selling the company.
Tune in to hear her rich and thoughtful take on:
* What led her to start her company, and what guided her growth decisions through her journey
* The real decision you make when you decide to take on outside investors
* What it feels like to lose control even when you're the "majority" shareholder
* The bittersweet experience of going through a life-changing exit
and much more!
A can't miss conversation every first-time founder MUST listen to!
In this episode, Marcia Dawood, angel investor, Chair Emerita of the Angel Capital Association, and author of the recent bestselling book, "Do Good While Doing Well", discusses her journey into the world of angel investing and the critical lessons she’s learned along the way.
Tune in to listen to her accessible and friendly perspectives on:
* How to tell if your business is scalable
* How to develop a credible market size estimate that investors will buy
* Pros and cons of going it alone versus finding a team
* How to pitch even a highly technical idea so investors get excited
* How to ensure you're building a product that has real buyers
* How to handle financial projections and models, especially if you're a nonfinancial founder
* How to tell if crowdfunding is the right path for your startup
* How to find, connect with and evaluate potential investors for your startup
* How to say no to investors who aren't a good fit for you or your startup
* Actionable tips for effective investor outreach you can implement tomorrow
and much more!
In this insightful episode, Dr. Charu Ramchandran, a pioneering entrepreneur in the life sciences sector, shares her journey from a PhD student to a successful startup founder. Starting with the creation of CardioInsight, a company that developed a groundbreaking noninvasive cardiac diagnostic tool, she recounts the challenges of transitioning from researcher to entrepreneur, including the struggle to secure funding and navigate complex licensing issues.
Despite setbacks, including losing a co-founder and facing the 2008 financial crisis, she persevered, leading to the eventual acquisition of her company by Medtronic for nearly $100 million. Now a serial entrepreneur, she discusses her current venture, VitalXchange, which focuses on supporting parents of neurodiverse children.
Tune in for her insights on:
1. How to move from scientific invention to commercializable product
2. How to give yourself a crash course in business fundamentals
3. How to make the most of good and bad surprises and pivots to strengthen your startup
4. How to be a smart negotiator in fundraising, especially when you lack confidence and experience
5. How to tackle the valuation challenge with confidence
6. Inside insights on managing investors relationships post funding
7. The realities of founder control and compensation for first time founders
8. How exits happen in real life and how they play out in founders' lives
and much more!
Kerry Rupp is a General Partner at True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund investing in women-led businesses that improve human and/or environmental health. She is a board director for True Wealth Ventures’ portfolio companies Flourish, Partum Health, reHarvest Provisions, Rosy, and VidaFuel and a board observer for BrainCheck and Atlantic Sea Farms.
Tune in to this insightfgul, value-packed conversation to get Kerry's takes on:
* How to identify the ideal startup for investment, considering factors beyond just financial metrics.
* Why valuations have shifted since 2022 and how these changes impact fundraising for early-stage companies.
* How to navigate crucial deal terms like liquidation preferences and participation to secure favorable investments.
* Why seed-stage investing is unique and how to showcase your startup's potential even with limited data.
* How to transition successfully from Seed to Series A funding, understanding the key criteria investors seek.
* Why impact investing is gaining traction and how to align your startup's mission with financial success.
* How to decode the complexities of healthcare reimbursement and secure funding in this sector.
* How to build a strong foundation for your startup by assembling the right team and advisors.
* Why women founders face unique challenges and how to overcome them in the fundraising process.
* How to position your startup for future success by understanding emerging trends in impact investing and healthcare.
and much more!
In this episode, Elaine Bolle, an accomplished entrepreneur, corporate leader, and angel investor, shares key insights into achieving early-stage success for founders.
Tune in to listen to her takes on curiosity and innovative problem-solving, how to select the right angel groups, the differences between angel investors and venture capitalists, strategic fundraising, and much more.
Women founders - look no further for practical guidance on navigating investor groups and leveraging your unique strengths. Want to build credibility, make investing in your startup easy and grease the path to getting funded? Elaine has the answers for you!
Dive in for an entertaining conversation from a sharp, empathetic and experienced entrepreneur-turned-angel investor.
In this riveting episode, Vinita Gupta, the first Indian American woman to start a company and take it public in the United States, shares hard-won lessons from her entrepreneurial journey. From the motivation to start her tech company to the challenges of running and exiting it, she provides a candid look at the highs and lows of her career. She discusses the importance of purpose, the role of learning, and the value of integrity in business. Whether you're a first-time founder or a startup veteran, her story offers valuable lessons on resilience and staying true to oneself. Intriguing takeaways from the episode include:* The significance of motivation and purpose in starting a company * Strategies for navigating partnership dynamics and leadership transitions * The complexities of fundraising and interacting with venture capitalists * The challenges and rewards of transitioning from a private to a public company and back * The importance of continuous learning and personal growth in the entrepreneurial journey
and much more!
In this riveting episode, Jen Baird, a seasoned entrepreneur with seven startups under her belt, shares hard-won lessons from her 20-year journey.
From evaluating ideas to crafting a compelling pitch, Jen breaks down the essence of what investors look for and the common pitfalls that derail founders. She reveals the surprising truth about how much time fundraising really takes and the critical importance of financial acumen.
Jen also tackles tough topics like team building, knowing when to pivot, and what it really means to be "fundable." Whether you're a first-time founder or a startup veteran, Jen's insights will help you navigate the challenges of building a high-potential venture.
Intriguing takeaways from the episode include:* The secrets behind effective team dynamics and leadership * The balance between technical expertise and business savvy * The mysteries of creating a compelling financial model for investors * The art of validating market needs through insightful customer discovery
In this thought-provoking episode, Gwen Edwards, angel investor, and Managing Director at Golden Seeds, and an accomplished innovator and entrepreneur herself, address the critical issues founders struggles with and provides crystal-clear, actiomable and encouraging advice including:
* selecting the right idea for your startup
* market validation
* getting your business model right
* preparing for investor scrutiny
* the strategic approach to raising capital
and so much more.
In this insightful conversation, Angela Lee, founder of 37 Angels and an experienced angel investor, shares her profound wisdom on funding challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.
From deconstructing early-stage funding trends to unveiling the secrets of leveraging networks and negotiating fair valuations, Angela offers a treasure trove of actionable advice.
Prepare to be enlightened as she dispels myths, challenges conventional wisdom, and empowers women founders to navigate the VC landscape with confidence and strategy.
How do you mine the kernel of a startup idea from scientific research?
How do you bridge the knowledge gap in learning hundreds of new startup and business concepts, while progressing your idea and getting funding all at the same time?
How do you piece together every part of a complex business model when you don't know what one is to begin with?
In this episode, Dr. Christy Sheehy, co-founder of C. Light Technologies inventor of Retitrack™, talks about how she started her career as a hard-core scientist, and learned literally every step of the startup process from scratch, through trial and error, all while trying to raise her first funding right when Covid put the brakes on the whole world.
Listen to her priceless insights on how to move quickly and thoughtfully from research to commercial application, how to get smart about startup building when you're starting from ground zero, how to make lemon from lemonade and still advance your idea even when the whole world comes to a grinding halt, and much more!
Episode Highlights
1. How to blend science and mission to spark a high potential startup
2. How to move from conducting good research to exploring commercialization for your research
3. How to explore multi-party markets in healthcare
4. How to leverage university resources for your startup
5. How to decide on which startup programs to enter
6. How to optimize your time to find and apply for the right government grants for your startup
7. How to know when it's the right time to approach outside investors
8. How to plan your fundraising approach using a numbers-based approach
9. The real scoop on how to build a great pitch deck
10. How to nail presenting the financials in your pitch deck
11. How to handle the stress of fundraising as a first time woman founder
12. How to succeed as an early stage first time woman founder in STEM
What's the danger in following online startup advice as a new founder?
How can you break the dilemma of not having the cash to hire the good lawyers you need so you can raise cash?
If you’re a first time founder, how can you find and leverage the sharpest legal minds you can find to help you nail your raise and beyond?
In this episode, Elke Trilla, venture capital transaction and corporate governance attorney talks about the hidden perils facing you as a first time founder, the boring but game-changing details that can make or break your raise, smart ways to leverage your lawyer, and much more.
Note: The contents of this conversation are meant for informational purposes only and are not intended as legal advice. Please consult a licensed legal professional to obtain tailored advice specific to your situation.
Episode Highlights
1. How vc funding is affecting women founders in the post SVB world
2. How to face the sharp drop in funding effectively as a woman founder
3. The unique advantage scrappy founders have in a tough fundraising environment and how to maximize that edge
4. The danger in hiring Google to be your startup legal advisor and how to avoid the pitfalls
5. How to help your legal advisor help your startup even if you've messed up
6. Why your legal entity structure matters and how to get it right
7. How to prep your legal team to support your fundraising
8. A bird's eye view of early stage funding rounds and structures
9. What priced rounds are and why they matter
10. A note on valuation and the legal terms you should watch for
11. How to engage a great lawyer when you don't have the money to pay them
12. Payment structures for startup legal advisors and how to pick the right structure for your situation
13. How to select a great lawyer who'll deliver more value to you as a woman founder
14. Pro tips to women founders from a legal mind
Summary:
What important aspect of your startup has an outsize impact on your fundraising outcomes?
Why is it so hard to change vc investment patterns in women-founded startups?
What do founders often miss about the investor side of startup funding?
In this episode, Julie Castro Abrams, managing partner at How Women Invest, started an ambitious project that addressed the triple whammy of low corporate board representation, lopsided investor participation, and of course, abysmal VC funding to women founders.
Listen to her sharp insights on:* Why product focused startups find it harder to get funded than software or tech startups * What happens when women start making the investment decisions * What critical aspects women founders must nail prior to fundraising
and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How entrepreneurship activates personal power for women 2. Challenges of pitching women-focused startups to male investors 3. Why legal mandates are critical to advancing women's economic enablement 4. The myth that holds investors back from investing in women-founded startups 5. The hidden risk women founders face when raising capital 6. The hidden economic power women already have, and how they can use it to drive change 7. What founders must master about the VC funding model 8. What makes startups attractive to investors 9. What makes you a fundable founder, according to VC's 10. What funders want founders to know about exits 11. What founders should look for in their VC firm
Summary:
What does a cutting edge cybersecurity company have in common with the medieval Dutch church?
What's the most critical ingredient for ANY company to fulfill a meaningful social purpose?
What important aspect of the venture capital model do most founders fail to understand?
In this episode, Dr. Melanie Rieback, CEO and Co-founder of Radically Open Security and startup incubator Nonprofit Ventures, talks about the inspiration behind the unique organizational structure for her startup, implications of VC funding that few founders realize, attractive alternatives to vc funding, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
1. What a medieval Dutch church taught this founder about startup structure
2. What Radically Open Security has in common with the iconic Patagonia brand, and what it doesn't
3. What makes capital "leak" and why it matters to founders and startups
4. How governance structure influences mission, and how this plays out in real life
5. An introduction to "golden shares" and why they might be worth considering
6. How to make your mission-focused startup a reality - a practical guide
7. The smart way to assess market demand for your startup idea
8. Hidden traps technical founders fall into, and how to avoid them
9. The unseen dangers of the hyper-growth that venture capital funding demands
10. The real truth behind how the venture capital model works
11. How to bypass the venture funding model and still build a great startup
12. An introduction to the steward ownership model and how it impacts startup economics
13. Practical action steps for founders who want to build scalable, mission-driven ventures
Who are the some of the smartest experts in the innovation ecosystem most entrepreneurs don't even know exist?
Why is it fatal to your startup to talk about your big scientific breakthrough too soon?
How can you as a founder get the best of both worlds in bringing your discovery or invention to market for great outcomes?
In this episode, Laleh Shayesteh, Director of Intellectual Property and Administration in the Office of Technology Licensing at UC Berkeley, talks about how how university-based science and technology entrepreneurs can proactively protect their valuable research, successfully bring their discoveries to market, maximize the return on their work while still leveraging deep resource networks, and much more.
Episode Highlights
1. What is tech transfer?
2. How tech transfer works for different types of intellectual property
3. The one thing research-driven founders must do before publishing their work
4. How university tech transfer offices(TTO's) are structured and why that matters to founders
5. How your university TTO measures the success of IP
6. A quick overview of the US patent framework
7. Is your IP yours? Or your university's? How to find out.
8. How to leverage your university's TTO in your startup
9. The many ways you can commercialize IP
10. What to know about licensing and royalty agreements and why that matters
11. Staying compliant with your licensing agreement - the essentials
12. How university TTO's differ from VC's and why it matters to founders
13. The real value and significance of filing for patents
14. Tips for non-university affiliated tech founders on protecting your IP
How does the Inflation Reduction Act impact funding for climate tech and clean tech startups?
What’s different for climate tech startups compared to startups in other sectors?
How can a climate focused startup improve their funding prospects and accelerate their path to revenue?
In this episode, Kristin Wegner Guilfoyle, climate tech and policy specialist, talks about the sectors that stand to benefit most from the inflation Reduction Act, the unique challenges and opportunities facing climate tech startups compared to non-impact driven startups, the surprising avenues of funding and growth for climate tech startups, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. Clean tech? Climate tech? What's the difference? 2. Inflation Reduction Act and government platforms for clean tech startups 3. Two promising avenues to identify opportunities in clean tech and climate tech 4. How climate tech and clean tech startups differ from other startups 5. Top trends driving the climate sector - 2023 version 6. What makes for a successful clean tech / climate tech startup 7. A primer on grants for climate tech and clean tech startups 8. What makes a climate tech / clean tech startup investment-ready 9. What dude diligence looks like for a climate tech / clean tech startup 10. Hidden pockets of opportunity for climate and clean tech founders, and how to access them 11. Resources, tools and information for climate enthusiasts - where to go to get started 12. Balancing financial returns and impact in the clean tech sector - how to get it right
What do you do if your very identity effectively shuts the door on many types of capital as an entrepreneur?
How do you get capital for your venture if even the nearest ATM is an hour away?
And what can one determined entrepreneur accomplish when all other options simply don’t exist for her, or even her entire community?
In this episode, Vanessa Roanhorse, capital innovator, and founder of Roanhorse Consulting, shares eye-opening challenges that Native American women entrepreneurs face in getting capital, the invisible walls that keep Native American women from getting traditional credit financing, her own story of driving breakthrough capital innovations, and much more.
Episode Highlights:1. Why the traditional financial system doesn't work for women entrepreneurs 2. The hidden problems with the "5C's" framework of assessing credit risk 3. The unique issues Native American women entrepreneurs face in raising capital, and why it matters 4. Why "lending deserts" exist despite the prevalence of small business lending programs from traditional banking institutions 5. How to develop a realistic risk assessment framework that's equitable to all entrepreneurs 6. The "5R" risk assessment framework and why it works 7. An inspiring case study of grassroots capital innovation 8. How mainstream finance can participate fruitfully in capital innovation for disadvantaged entrepreneurs 9. Why capital and ecosystem have to align to work 10. A working model to scale capital access and innovation for underfunded women entrepreneurs
Summary
What are investors looking for during fundraising due diligence?
What one critical fact do most founders miss when thinking about what drives their investors’ funding decision?
What is the single biggest mental pivot you need to make as a founder to successfully fundraise?
In this episode, Lisa Frusztajer, Investor in Residence at the Capital Network, talks about what founders should prepare for pre-investment, what factors external to your startup could play an outsize role in the funding decision, the one fundraising skill non-financial founders MUST master, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How investors vet startups doing fundraising 2. How investor-side issues can impact your startup's funding chances 3. What investors look for in your financial model and how to nail the process 4. How institutional investors differ from angel investors and why that matters to founders 5. How to make your startup instantly more attractive to investors, with one simple change 6. How to get up the financial learning curve quickly as a non-financial founder 7. Common mistakes founders make during fundraising and how to avoid them 8. Two ways your financial model can go wrong and how you can tackle them, even in the face of uncertainty 9. How to level the power balance with your investors 10. The sure-fire way to increase your self-confidence on the hard things 11. How to design the right capital stack for your startup 12. How to balance gives and takes when negotiating a funding deal 13. How one funder achieved a response rate over 90% with a fundraising cold email 14. How to build strong investor relationships for the long term
What does the vc investment process really look like?
Why should women founders be wary of VC funds that are earmarked only for women?
When fundraising, what hidden risk might scare an investor away that you as a founder may see as a big win?
In this episode, Kim Banham, general partner at Connetic Ventures, talks about how the vc process can be moulded to remove bias against women founders, the big disservice that women-focused vc funds do to women founders, the founder blind spot that is a red flag for potential investors, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How to get venture capital to startups across ALL of America, not just Silicon Valley 2. How kids' chores led to the founding of Connetic Ventures 3. The role of AI in streamlining the investment process 4. How and why the team impacts the startup investment decision 5. The positive ripple effects of AI-assisted decision making for women and minority founders 6. Why women-focused funds do women founders a big disservice 7. Surprising stories about the impact of founder gender on fundraising success 8. The exact ways in which team composition makes or breaks a startup, and how you can leverage this insight to succeed 9. After the money is wired - how to manage the investor relationship for long term success 10. Factors impacting follow on funding and future startup success 11. The one question every venture capitalist cares about before deciding to invest in a founder 12. Turning lemons into lemonade - how women founders outperform male founders 13. Inside tips from a VC on doing great reverse due diligence on investors - for your sanity and your startup's success
How do you marry a burning desire to help women advance, with the need for economic viability?
How do you take something that works very well at the individual level, and carefully rebuild it so it works for thousands of people reliably and effectively?
And how do you balance the needs of individuals with those of large companies and make both of the happy?
In this episode, D Sangeeta, founder and CEO of Gotara, talks about the career-long frustrations that prompted her to found her startup, her patient journey to scaling the solution the right way, her laser focus on data and financial discipline, and much more
Episode Highlights
1. How and why timing matters for your startup
2. How to transform your life and career experience into a great startup idea
3. Ho to select the right idea from many, for your startup
4. How to design your startup to leverage your unique background, skills and strengths
5. How to craft your startup's focus to maximize impact AND viability
6. How to buck popular pressure if your startup is in a "hot" field but you're doing something different
7. How to price your offering for long term viability
8. How to achieve traction as a B2B startup
9. The dangerous trap facing ambitious founders and how to avoid it
10. How to make tough decisions simpler with one rule
11. How to balance mission and money when you're very ambitious on both
12. How to be an inspiring leader and still maintain authenticity
13. Smart tips on dealing with the investment community as a first time founder
Are you the founder of a STEM startup suddenly dealing with the vc pipeline closing up?
Are you intrigued by the influx of government funding especially into climate related fields, but even other sectors more broadly?
Have you ever tried diving into the wide world of government grants but quickly realized you’re out of your depth?
In this episode, Christine E.B. Howard, seasoned grant professional and founder of E.B. Howard Consulting talks about the how’s and what’s of government grant funding for for-profit startups, what you need to know and do to prepare your startup for grants, what startup founders miss about the must-have factors to qualify for government grants, especially for STEM startups, and much more.
Episode Highlights:1. An overview of sources of government funding, and how federal grants differ from state grants 2. How to begin your search for "right fit" grant sources 3. An introduction to SBIR & STTR grants, and baseline eligibility requirements 4. Pros and cons of SBIR grants 5. Factors driving the success rate of grant funding, and how to assess your application's chances intelligently 6. The grant application process - a high level overview 7. A simple checklist to assess your startup's eligibility for science and technology grants 8. Common mistakes and pitfalls that trip up entrepreneurs in the grant funding process 9. A practical roadmap to evaluate and apply for right-fit government grants 10. How to be a diligent grantee once you've won the grant 11. Surprising benefits of applying for government grants even if you get rejected 12. A quick overview of other sources of government funding support for women entrepreneurs
How do you find a big market opportunity in a deeply technical, even boring field like chemistry?
How do you overcome years of training as a scientist and learn entirely new and uncomfortable skills as a founder?
And when you know you're new, how do you develop the insight to know which "expert" advice to take and which to leave alone?
In this episode, scientist and founder Lieza Marie Danan talks about her long journey in the field of mass spectrometry, how she learned to identify a growing market need from large pharma companies, how she patiently honed her skills and built an enviable network of other scientists, how she transitioned into a founder mastering pitching, financial skills and much more
Episode Highlights:1. What mass sprectrometry has to do with your Vitamin D levels, or why hard science startups matter 2. How to build an advanced product platform one module at a time 3. The difference between a tech startup and a tech enabled startup and why that matters for your startup 4. How to overcome the pitfalls of building a startup as a technical founder 5. How to find the right business model for your startup when it flies against Silicon Valley wisdom 6. How to find and nail the make-or-break factors in designing your deep-science product 7. How to slim down your funding needs so your startup has the best shot at success 8. The go-to-market advantages of starting as a deep-science founder, and how to maximize that advantage 9. How to build a powerful personal brand in a "dry" technical field and why you should 10. A founder's guide to finding and pitching the right investors for your startup 11. The big change for fundraising post SVB and how founders should prepare 12. How to survive the bruising fundraising process with your confidence intact 13. Why resilience matters, and how to build it no matter what you get handed in your life
What’s the one negotiating lever women overlook in almost any negotiating situation?
What’s more important in a critical negotiation - looking for fairness or looking out for your best interests?
Why does even a top notch attorney work with ANOTHER attorney when engaging in a negotiation for herself?
In this episode, Jennifer Justice, entrepreneur and women’s advocate extraordinaire, talks about what it means to claim your space, how to use relationship building for long-term wins, the importance of having an objective champion, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. Why negotiating is a lot like acting 2. The invisible, strong link between valuing self and being a good negotiator 3. How to claim space for yourself 4. How to handle fairness and getting great outcomes for yourself in a negotiation 5. The simple secret to instantly improving your negotiating effectiveness 6. The powerful but intangible benefits of working with top notch professionals 7. Ho to ensure that others treat you well and fairly 8. How to spot and heed early warnings and red flags in a negotiation 9. Why it's harder for women to raise money from other women in institutional settings 10. How to know if your negotiation has been successful
What are the three non-negotiable factors EVERY investor looks for, and every founder MUST demonstrate to get funded?
How can you create an intelligent yet simple startup roadmap no matter where you're starting and what resources you have access to?
What steps do you need to take as an early stage founder to get investors excited even when the market isn't hot?
In this episode, Pat Hedley, veteran private equity investor, advisor and author, talks about how to nail the trifecta of market, traction and returns, the sure-fire method of proving your concept, how to use every aspect of who you are and what you do to amplify your investment story, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. What every entrepreneur should know about private equity, and yes, that includes venture capital 2. The three things every investor must love about your startup, no matter what your stage 3. The hardest thing to change about your startup and how to make that work in your favor 4. How to find creative ways to fund your early days 5. The fatal flaw that trips up startups and how to avoid it 6. What you can learn from Shark Tank even if you never plan to raise money for your startup 7. What founders must understand about how and why the markets impact their fundraising efforts more than they know 8. Why founders can never ignore understanding the investor's mindset if they want to get funded 9. How to leverage your nontraditional background as a founder to increase your chance of getting funded 10. The R-rating (risk) that makes or breaks your startup and how to tackle it effectively 11. Simple communication tips you must follow in every investor interaction 12. Networking secrets for the rest of us - especially if you plan to raise
Why is it important for women to understand the “view from the balcony”, and not just stay on the dance floor?
What’s the surprising barrier to entrepreneurship you never heard about?
Why do you need to be extra vigilant as a woman with entrepreneurial ambitions?
In this episode, Dr. Sameeksha Desai, Associate Professor, and Director, Manufacturing Policy Initiative at Indiana University, talks about the “iceberg” problem of entrepreneurship, why the step before the first step is so critical, and so overlooked for women, how women can push the odds in their own favor despite a challenging system, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How entrepreneurship can be the ticket to opportunity and success, no matter where you come from 2. Why society is missing out the biggest crop of potential entrepreneurs 3. How to spot invisible entrepreneurs, and why they matter 4. The hidden pipeline of women entrepreneurs and how to open the spigot 5. Why women abandon their dreams of entrepreneurship and how to stem the damage 6. How the entrepreneur stereotype hurts women and how we can fix it 7. Why representation in the financial world matters to women entrepreneurs and what will move the needle 8. Why the "whole person" approach is critical to advancing women entrepreneurs' success far more than for men 9. How the entrepreneurial ecosystem can better support women entrepreneurs 10. Why it's critical for everyone to learn entrepreneurship skills
What’s the single surprising thing you must get right as a founder before setting compensation for your team?
How can you avoid the typical pitfalls of early stage founders on HR issues so they don’t come back to bite you later?
What do you need to know about stock option plans and incentives so you’re setting up the best possible environment for your team AND your startup to succeed?
In this episode, startup advisor, HR expert and former Chief People Officer Susan Lovegren, talks about what founders need to know about the strategic and tactical issues of managing HR, how to avoid the typical mistakes early stage founders make, the bird’s eye view of setting up solid stock option and incentive plans, and much more.
Please note that the information shared in this episode does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a licensed attorney to discuss specific advice relative to your startup situation.Episode
Highlights1. How great founders leverage HR to build better startups 2. How HR needs evolve over the life of your startup, and how you can manage them at every step 3. Critical HR mistakes founders make, and how to avoid them 4. Key HR milestones in your startup journey, and what to look for at each 5. How to stay on top of hot button HR issues as a founder 6. The surprising danger of unintended consequences you must watch for with your HR strategy 7. How philosophy and values play out when setting your compensation strategy 8. How to set effective performance metrics for your startup 9. Key tips to know in designing your Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) 10. How to balance dilution and employee motivation in designing your ESOP 11. How to use analytics effectively to stay ahead of your people issues 12. The big trends in people and talent, and expert tips on how to manage them as a founder
What's the one startup lesson that never changes no matter what your specific startup situation is?
How do you flesh out and test a B2B idea before spending a single dollar on building it?
What’s the surprising test to tell if you’ve priced your offering not too high, not too low, but just right?
In this episode, Vanessa Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of Sugarwork, talks about the biggest lessons she learned building and helping startups from the Netherlands to the United States, the one thing that’s critical for every startup to do, her go-to techniques to test every aspect of her product, how to get pricing right, and much more.
Episode Highlights:1. A simple recipe for more successful startups 2. How to increase your odds in picking a great startup idea 3. How to move quickly from idea to real world testing 4. The biggest pricing mistake b2b startups make and how to avoid it 5. How to understand value 6. The art of customer acquisition in b2b startups 7. Product development dilemmas in b2b and how to tackle them skillfully 8. How to select and support your team pre-revenue 9. "Are we there yet?" - Key milestones in the fundraising journey of your startup 10. Why product market fit matters and the single biggest marker of product market fit 11. How to pick the right investors as a first time founder 12. How to surround yourself with the right kinds of support for your situation
What could a career on Wall Steet possibly teach you about creativity, innovation and ownership?
How can you translate the moves of high finance into eminently practical lessons for your entrepreneurial venture?
What's the single surprising thing that is at the heart of all the financial forces you'll have to contend with in your business? (Hint: it has nothing to do with spreadsheets)
In this episode, Lois Scott, former Wall Street banker, corporate director, investor and entrepreneur, talks about her fascinating journey from Wall Street and helping at-risk youth rebuild their lives, all the way to reinventing film-making so independent women directors get the funding they need and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How finance can do good in the world 2. What a Wall Street career can teach you about entrepreneurship 3. The single biggest secret to greater self confidence 4. How to use every career experience to build an unbeatable skill portfolio 5. How being entrepreneurial can multiply your network access 6. How to use career challenges to discover new skills and opportunities 7. How to take smart personal risks to improve your chances of success 8. The surprising secret of finance no one tells you, and how it matters to your venture 9. The secret to building power networks in business 10. The five languages of finance every entrepreneur must master 11. Why personal brand building is a must for entrepreneurial success 12. How to wow investors in fundraising 13. The five big must-haves for entrepreneurs to succeed
What do you do when your cherished startup idea vaporizes right before launch, the world shuts down....and you've just had a baby?
How do you deal with the hand you've been dealt, and still make it work as a business?
What do you need to know, and how do you adapt in the midst of a maelstrom of change and uncertainty?
In this episode, Disha Gulati, cofounder and CEO of Here Here Market, talks about how she turned her entire startup on a dime when the pandemic destroyed their original business model, how she learned to find an attractive new market by turning disaster into opportunity, how she uses data to constantly find her way, and increase the value of her offerings to her customers, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How a new venture is born - right alongside a new baby 2. How to survive when your business model vaporizes overnight 3. How to find opportunities to serve your market in the midst of calamity 4. How to iterate your way to sustainable revenue streams 5. How to leverage customers' micro-behaviors to nail your value proposition 6. How to tap into market behaviors to find new revenue opportunities 7. How to use the industry leader's strategy to develop your competitive strategy and advantage 8. How to use non-scalable processes to build scale 9. How to build a two-sided marketplace 10. How to find the core metrics that are crucial for your revenue growth 11. How to find, test and roll out new value propositions 12. How to use data to stay one step ahead of consumer needs and actions 13. How to optimize your service model to simplify operations 14. How to blend art, science and instinct for effective fundraising
What if you want to be your own boss but the whole founder thing isn’t your cup of tea? What does it take to hit the ground running and take an already good business and make it great? How do you find the money, the resources and the network to find and buy the right business for you?
In this episode, Allegra Stennett, cofounder of New Majority Capital, tells you everything you need to know about the “Buy Then Build” model of entrepreneurship.
Listen to her great insights on why the purchase path is attractive to many new majority entrepreneurs, how you can build your chops to become an entrepreneur through acquisition, what it takes to find and buy a high-potential business, and much more.
Episode Highlights:1. NMC's unique model and why it's right, right now for underrepresented entrepreneurs 2. How the ETA model multiplies success for women and underrepresented entrepreneurs versus the vc model 3. What makes a successful ETA entrepreneur 4. How to get NMC funding when buying a business 5. How to build your business chops prior to your business acquisition 6. How to increase your odds of finding the best business for you to buy 7. Insider tips and secrets in your business acquisition search 8. The one thing you must master so you don't overpay for your purchase 9. How to improve your negotiating skills - in two steps 10. How to use both head and heart for long-term negotiating success 11. How to earn your way to full business ownership in the NMC model 12. The one metric that signals success for entrepreneurship through acquisition 13. How to make smart work/life choices when buying a business 14. How to get the support and resources you need to succeed as an entrepreneur through acquisition
How do you go from being an insurance actuary to a speech therapist to a health tech startup as a nontechnical founder?
How do you recognize the right time and place to bring your idea to the world?
How do you walk the tightrope between what inspires and drives you and what the market is telling you about the opportunity?
In this episode, founder and CEO of SMARTCharts, Corinne Vargas, talks about what prompted her to change careers from numbers to words to ideas, how her unique background and experiences led to her startup idea, how she stays motivated and true to mission while still being pragmatic, and much more.
Episode Highlights:1. How to let our current realities guide you to the future 2. How to use big, shared problems to create entrepreneurial opportunities 3. How to validate good ideas early and cheaply 4. How to recognize key inflection points in the development of your idea 5. How to transition from a paying career to entrepreneurship the financially smart way 6. How to clarify and test your "it" with the least risk 7. How to minimize funding needs when developing your product 8. How to evolve with agility when big, worldwide events hit 9. How to learn critical entrepreneurial skills quickly and effectively 10. How to effectively build a tech startup as a nontechnical founder 11. How to balance vision and economic reality effectively 12. How to create and expand long-term strategic growth options
What’s even more important than an MBA when you’re a founder on the lookout for funding?
What’s one obvious mistake many founders don’t even realize they’re making when fundraising?
What simple exercise will help you find the best sources of capital for where YOUR startup is right now?
In this episode, Marie Meslin, former president and Executive Director of The Capital Network, talks about the one critical factor founders must focus on, easy-to-avoid mistakes founders make, tips to sharpen your fundraising strategy, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. The one secret you MUST understand as a founder, even more than having an MBA 2. How to improve your fundraising effectiveness with one mindset change 3. Two critical components of leadership in fundraising 4. The one blindingly obvious thing founders miss when pitching, and how to avoid it 5. How to instantly increase your confidence AND your odds when fundraising 6. The core element every investor is looking for about how your startup solves the problem 7. How to get better at the uncomfortable conversations around money 8. What one element to n ever ignore when getting funding 9. How to apply the investment mindset in your network building and pitching 10. The one rule you must never forget when taking advice, even from investors
How do you start from where you are, and do what you can with what you have, especially if you feel like they don’t add up to much?
What is the right path to the right business for YOUR combination of skills, resources, and aptitudes?And how do you stretch your entrepreneurial gas as far as possible so you can get to positive cash flow and far beyond?
In this episode, two-time author on small business and entrepreneurship, Elaine Pofeldt, talks about the surprising paths successful entrepreneurs have taken to build their million dollar businesses, hacks you can use to make the most of your slim resources, the importance of keeping you and your priorities straight when external investment is involved, and much more.
Episode Highlights:1. Special challenges women face starting up 2. How to improve your odds of building a million dollar business 3. How to pick your sector 4. Smart ways to tackle the extra burdens you face as a woman starting up 5. The two funding strategies that give women entrepreneurs an edge 6. How to know whether and when to scale your business 7. How to be realistic about your entrepreneurial timeline 8. Smart ways to stretch your cash when starting up 9. How to develop products on a shoestring budget 10. How to speed up cash generation on the revenue side 11. How to spend money to help you make more money 12. How to transition to entrepreneurship for the first time
- How can you evaluate and find the right support for YOUR startup - one that fits your industry, your stage and what you need most right now?
- What preparatory steps can you take early on to protect your interests before ever stepping into an accelerator program?
- How can you get the most bang for your accelerator buck and continue to build your business once you enter an accelerator?
In this episode, Charla Triplett, Managing Director of Suncoast Ventures gives you the low down on everything you always wanted to know about accelerators but were afraid to ask!
Episode Highlights1. An overview of the accelerator landscape 2. How an incubator differs from an accelerator 3. How to research an accelerator 4. How to intelligently evaluate the terms of an accelerator program 5. How to get the most value from your accelerator participation 6. How to vet the fundraising support promised by accelerators 7. Pitfalls facing women founders when negotiating terms, and how to avoid them 8. How to improve your VC search as a founder 9. How to tell the difference between real interest and a polite "no" from VC's 10. How to assess true fit when evaluating VC's 11. What to expect from a VC funding process 12. Keys to maximizing your fundability as a founder
What are the hidden dangers that lurk in the unsexy foundations of your business that can trip you up?How can you make smart and strategic decisions about the most basic steps, like how and where you register and incorporate your business?
What do you need to do before you take the first outside dollar to protect both yourself and your company so you don’t get blindsided down the road?What simple steps can every founder take to make potential investors happy, and your own life much easier?
In this episode, Heidi Abdul, co-founder and COO of Afissio, LLC, provides an easy-to-understand and actionable guided tour of the basic legal and corporate infrastructure you need, to be successful as a founder and fundraiser.
Important note: The views and opinions expressed during this episode are those of the presenter and do not represent legal advice. The podcast episode is based solely on the professional opinions and experience of the interviewee and is made available for information and experience sharing purposes only.
Episode Highlights1. An overview of the most important corporate topics every founder needs to know 2. How to select the right organization structure for your business, and why it matters 3. Common mistakes most entrepreneurs make in the early days, and how to avoid them 4. What you should know about organization structure if you plan to take outside investment, or even if you don't 5. Why it's important to engage a tax professional early, and why their input matters 6. Why jurisdiction matters, and how to select the right jurisdiction for your business 7. The big mistake many entrepreneurs make with capital, and ways to avoid it 8. Why you should be careful after getting the first check, and why many entrepreneurs fail because they don't pay heed 9. How to improve your odds of getting a favorable valuation 10. What you need to know about structuring equity, and how it can hurt you if you don't 11. A primer on the single biggest tool for fundraising, the cap table, and how to use it to strategically improve your funding outcomes 12. External risks that can tank your fundraising, and how to prepare yourself and your startup for rainy days 13. A primer on the commonly used funding instruments in early stage ventures, and what to know about each 14. How to make due diligence and fundraising easy on yourself from day one 15. The simple secret to getting the best funding terms you can, that anyone can learn, and how it pays off
How do you take a runaway viral movement and transform it into an effective and sustainable organization on a global scale? How do you create a culture and work environment that protects and safeguards your highest values as an organization? And how do you do all of this with the slimmest of budgets, all powered by unpaid volunteers spread across the world?
In this episode, Isvari Maranwe, ex physicist and cyber securities lawyer, and CEO of Dweebs Global and DG Sentinel, talks about how an early pandemic experiment to help others turned into a global movement, the challenges and rewards of building an enduring organization by taking yourself entirely out of the picture while still working full time on it, recruiting and motivating a global volunteer force, and much more.
Episode Highlights1. How a pandemic experiment accidentally became a globally recognized nonprofit 2. How to use non-scalable activities to create sustainable processes 3. How to recognize and leverage attractive adjacencies in your business model 4. Why addressing organizational and legal issues early on is the secret to sustainability 5. How to build high-performing teams even on a purely volunteer model 6. Why backstop positions matter in nonprofits, and hoe to design them for maximum effectiveness 7. How to create an ethical and mission-appropriate fundraising strategy for your nonprofit 8. How to design nonprofit marketing that pays for itself 9. Fundraising challenges to be aware of as a diverse founder 10. A perspective on balancing money and meaning when designing a fulfilling career 11. The secret to building your organization's brand so it lasts way longer than you 12. How to find great volunteer professionals for your nonprofit 13. How to manage global operations without burning out 14. How to find meaning and stay the course when running a nonprofit
- What invisible traps lurk in the shadows that could trip you up as a new entrepreneur?
- How can you stay grounded in reality and uncover all the predictable but hidden reasons that might cause your startup to fail?
- What’s the one thing you MUST do to ensure you stay in business long enough to start making money?
In this episode, seasoned entrepreneurial educator and mentor Donna Rockin taps into her experiences with countless entrepreneurs to discuss the make-or-break factors that many entrepreneurs miss in building their startups, the surprising, non-obvious ways to give your startup its best shot at success, sources of startup cash that most entrepreneurs never learn about, and much more
Episode Highlights:1. Thttps://achiiv.co/ep-24-cracking-the-cash-code/he top 3 mistakes entrepreneurs make when starting up a business 2. Why entrepreneurs significantly underestimate cash needs starting up, and how to avoid this error 3. The critical outside factors that determines if your startup will be successful 4. How to estimate your market size for free 5. Common sense methods many entrepreneurs miss to assess if the business is viable 6. The simple tool that significantly increases the odds of your startup's survival 7. Revenue enhancement levers many entrepreneurs miss 8. How to rent space the smart way - things your relator never tells you 9. How the production cycle can drain your cash, and one tool that can help you retain cash 10. The secret to finding and maximizing free grant money 11. Sources of cash-saving services most entrepreneurs don't know about 12. How to reduce revenue risk 13. How to hire and fire talent 14. Inside tips on working with vc's and investors 15. The one document you should never do without when starting up
How do you create a viable business by scratching your own itch? Can you really build a tech business as a nontechnical founder? And in a world made noisy with “disruptive unicorns” how do you buck the trend and manage your business for profitability and longevity rather than explosive short-term growth?
In this episode, repeat founder and tech entrepreneur Melissa Kwan talks about how she capitalized on her long-standing frustration to start e-webinar, how she orchestrated its development with smart resourcing and an eye on revenue and cash flow from day one, and how she used her authentic definition of success to shape every aspect of her business.
Episode Highlights:
- How to find great startup ideas right where you are
- How to validate your market opportunity without spending a fortune
- How to startup your company without a huge bank balance
- How to prepare yourself for the early years of your startup
- The real secret to finding your earliest customers
- How to avoid the danger of scope creep and feature bloat in your product
- The surprising traps that can trip up your product - and how to fix and find them before they cause damage
- The fail-proof way to become great at selling
- How to price your product to suit your business vision and align with the market
- How to find financing that's a good fit for your business model
- How to find and manage the right technical talent at the right price
- How to ensure that your funding is a right fit for your business AND your personality
- The risks and rewards of a revenue and profit-led startup
How do you banish the fear and dread you feel when you’re pitching investors? What’s the one mental switch you can make to instantly gain power and confidence when pitching? How can you use your knowledge of the human brain and the investor mindset to make your pitch much more compelling?
In this episode, entrepreneur and founder Allison Byers talks about the key mindset shifts you need to increase your odds of getting funding, how to equalize the power balance when you’re seeking capital, how to avoid the hidden pitfalls that lurk unseen in every investor conversation, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- How gender impacts you when you're pitching
- How and why Allison started Scroobious
- How to approach investors from a place of power when fundraising
- Why it's difficult to get honest feedback on your pitch, and how to address it
- The three things that matter most for early stage founder pitches, and why
- How to use human psychology to make your pitch more compelling and memorable
- Why it's not smart to present financials too early in the process
- What to watch for when presenting financials, and why
- The hidden question in every section of your pitch deck, and how to answer it powerfully
- Why investors are challenged to invest in diverse founders
- The invisible hurdles women entrepreneurs face when pitching, and how to overcome them
- How to choose the right investors to pursue when fundraising, and why that's critical not only to your funding, but also to the success of your startup
How do you bring a radically new idea down to earth and make it real? How do you validate the market for a product that doesn’t even exist? And how do you do this with a view to getting a very specific kind of incubation and growth support, as well as capital, in a narrow, niche industry?
In this episode, insurance technology entrepreneur Soton Rosanwo talks about her incredibly thoughtful and systematic approach to getting, capturing and selecting ideas, how she balances head and heart in navigating her startup path, her step-by-step approach to validating her market with a small budget, getting the exact right accelerator for her niche startup, and much more.
Episode highlights:
- How to never lose a potential startup idea again
- How to figure out if an idea is a good fit for you
- How to evaluate the merits of an idea you like
- How to zoom in on the vital few factors that will make or break your idea's success
- How to collect reliable data even a VC will accept, without breaking the bank
- How to collect market data when you don't have a research budget, even a small one
- How to develop your idea systematically through stages so you don't waste time or money
- How to select the right accelerator for YOUR business
- How to find, hire and compensate your earliest employees
- The one warning sign to watch for when hiring new employees
- How to find the right investors for your startup
- How get better negotiating outcomes, even if you hate to negotiate
- The one thing to never lose sight of during your entire entrepreneurial journey
How do you transform a deeply personal, even traumatic experience into a transformational moment for thousands of other people?
How do you scale personal change and impact so it manifests in behavior and attitudinal change that affects the bottomline?
How do you package all of this into a real, economically healthy and scalable business that does well, makes money AND promotes greater economic and social benefits for all?
In this episode, academic turned entrepreneur Nassim Abdi, founder of Storybolt, talks about how she started with an idea that wouldn’t let go, and built an impactful and successful business step by step, how she learned everything about business from the ground up, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- How passion translates to a viable startup idea - the real life version
- How to build a great business model around an idea
- Don't start fundraising without this - the one must-have factor you must nail down
- Inside tips for successful selling - organizational solutions for B2B startups
- How to choose the right business vehicle for your startup, and what pitfalls to avoid
- Is your idea worth the sacrifice - the foolproof test for entrepreneurs who are moms that always gives you the right answer
- How to start where you are - even when you have no money, knowledge or experience
- The savvy entrepreneur's guide to finding right-fit investors, without burning up a lot of time
- How to overcome implicit bias as a "minority" founder
- How to find the right co-founder and build a great team
- How hats can help with good decision-making
- The one attribute above all attributes that no founder can do without
How do you go from zero to sixty in mastering the angel fundraising game? What hidden indicators signal to investors that you’re a pro and not a rookie entrepreneur when it comes to your startup?
What’s the one thing angel investors look for in a pitch that most entrepreneurs miss? What small action will get you off to a great start with any angel investor?
In this episode, veteran angel investor and author Susan Preston talks about how she started the first group of women angels, the ABC’s of angel investing that you’ve always wondered about, how to decode investor responses to your pitch, get off to a great start, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- The steps you must have in place before seeking angel investment
- How to tell when your product is customer ready
- When to approach angel investors
- How to find the right angel investors for your stage and industry
- How to avoid wasting time with "tire kickers"
- Hidden sources of angel investor referrals
- How to estimate your funding needs realistically
- Angel investor must-haves: realistic projections, competitor awareness, bench strength, traction
- What angel investor due diligence looks like
- The many disguises of an angel investor's "no" and how to move on quickly to your first "yes"
- The basics of angel investing: SAFE's and convertible notes
- How to manage the post-investment relationship with angel investors
- Notes on valuation and how to go the extra mile
- Then one thing women entrepreneurs can do to become more successful
How do you start with a revolutionary technological product, no educational credentials, and $600 in your pocket and sign up a huge name in your market?
How do you stretch your time and money so far that one small order from one surprise customer opens up an entire market for you?
How do you get over self-doubt, blatant reverse ageism and sexism to create a product that literally saves lives for less than the cost of filling gas in your car?
In this episode, entrepreneur and vc analyst Tayyaba Ali talks about how she strategically used pitch competitions to win a neat pot of startup cash, how she reverse-engineered exiting products to build a completely innovative new product on a shoestring budget, how she learned to overcome thinking small, doubting herself and negotiation pitfalls to bootstrap an industry-changing social impact venture, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- How to find inspiration for innovation from your lived experience
- How to supercharge impact via product design innovation
- The hidden pitfall social ventures and nonprofits succumb to, and how to avoid it
- How to right-size your product scope
- Shortcuts to bringing product to market without breaking the bank
- How to raise funding without diluting your stake and wasting your time
- How to find high-impact customers without risking your brand
- How to create a perfect-fit advisory board when you have no money and no network
- How not to sabotage your startup with bad pricing decisions, especially if you're a woman
- How to get over crippling diffidence as a woman founder and maximize confidence
- Secret funding sources nobody knows about, and how to pick the right ones for your business
- The risks of fundraising as a woman, and how to stay the course
- The high cost of social impact entrepreneurship, and the massive rewards that make the struggle worthwhile
Summary
How do you take an important but noisy subject like workplace equity and move it into the realm of data, discipline and impactful action?
How do you stay true to mission while staying solvent AND relevant to your paying clients?
How can you find the right markets to serve so you can deliver impact AND grow at the same time?
In this episode, Aparna Rae, entrepreneur and founder of Moving Beyond, talks about how to bring substance to organizational change initiatives, how to develop and effectively sell an impactful, science-based offering, non-obvious factors to consider in crafting your funding strategy, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- How to tap opportunity when the time is right
- How to bring discipline and data to a "fluffy" field
- How to find the power levers to make data impactful to an organization
- How to create a compelling service offering that can demonstrate immediate impact
- The secret to finding and pitching the right B2B customers for your business service offering
- How to leverage your service business to build a scalable product without outside funding
- How to select the right source of funding for your business
- The challenges of getting angel investment
- How to make the tough decisions when mission conflicts with economics
- How to build and nurture investor networks and relationships for long-term success
How do you take your skills from a traditional career and transform them into the core of a monetizable business? How do you mine the experience, contacts and the tacit knowledge you’ve built up over years into value-adding assets Day One?
And how do you find creative and enterprising ways to take care of important parts of the business, but that you really hate or aren’t good at?
In this episode, journalist, author and media business founder Elizabeth MacBride, talks about how she leveraged her prior career, raised founder-fit funding, resourcefully navigated tough challenges and negotiations, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- How to use your previous career to jumpstart your entrepreneurial venture
- Things to consider before establishing a business path.
- How to set up the basic financial infrastructure you need for your business
- The importance of protecting your intellectual property
- How to find the right trusted professionals for legal and financial well-being of your venture
- Why not to pursue venture funding especially for women over 30
- The simple and "safe" funding path to secure friends and family funding for small, fledgling ventures
- What makes a media business unique and challenging to run
- The only thing that matters for getting pricing right
- Ways to break into power networks for budding entrepreneurs.
- Intuition or planning? The correct way to lead a business, financially.
- The hidden risks of being too open with your business plans
If you’re a woman in STEM trying to establish yourself, it can feel almost impossible to get your foot in the door. Double that if you’re also a person of color. And once you’re in the door, you’re only starting - you still have to deliver, get paid, get new business, find and keep great people, and have the means to pay them.
Feels like an impossible task, that is, unless you’re Kimberly Moore, founder of KDM Engineering
In this episode, Kimberly talks about how she crafted a path successfully as one of the very few African American woman managing electrical engineering design for very large utilities, how she cracked the problem of finding and keeping qualified people, and still manages to give back to the community in very deep and meaningful ways.
Here’s Kimberly, with her story of inspiration, hard-headed business acumen and a big heart for giving back
Episode highlights:
1. How to uncover your hidden genius when you don't even know it exists
2. What they don't tech you about starting out on your own, and how to get up to speed quickly
3. How to leverage your personal brand to build business credibility quickly
4. How to hire top talent when you can't afford to pay top dollar
5. How to do business development in industries with really long sales cycles
6. The one asset you should always keep building
7. How to get smart about finances when you have no one to turn to
8. How to finance your growth when financing isn't available
9. How to manage inflation when your costs rise but prices don't
10. How to use financial transparency with employees to gain competitive advantage
11. How to give back by leveraging the core strengths of your business
12. The surprising rewards from treating people right
How do you go from a pure social services background to founding a financial services company? How do you run that while staying true to mission?
What is a certified B Corp and why would you choose that route? How do you learn everything you need to learn while bootstrapping your business from scratch ?
In this episode, SpringFour founder Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey talks about her journey from grassroots social work to founding an award-wining financial services firm that’s also a certified B corp.
Hear Rochelle’s take on why a nonprofit background is the idea training ground for entrepreneurship, hacks to get smart on finances quickly, and much more
Episode highlights
1. The smart way to move from nonprofit work to social entrepreneurship
2. The hidden fundraising advantage of working in a nonprofit
3. The key to selling large profit-driven ventures on a social impact offering
4. The value of passion in driving early success, especially if you're small
5. The tradeoffs between funding strategy and venture growth, and how to make the right call for you
6. The costs and benefits of getting certified as a B Corporation
7. How to hire financial professionals in smart, low-cost ways
8. A mission-driven approach to growing strategically, or how not to be a slave to numbers-driven growth
9. Smart tips on negotiating for people who hate to negotiate
10. Real-life tips on how to build and tap into your network, even if you're an introvert
11. How to stay motivated in a social impact venture
You’ve seen the numbers - the minuscule amount of funding that goes to women-founded businesses, the uphill battles, the struggle.
What if you could turn the whole conventional model on its head and making fundraising less like the hunger games and more like getting an unexpected banquet?
In this episode, Vicki Saunders, activator and founder of She-EO, now Coralus, talks about the inspiration behind SheEO’s unique model for funding, her vision of helping women entrepreneurs tackle the world’s “to do” list, how getting access to the right community can supercharge your venture, and much more...
Episode highlights
- The seeds of SheEO's unique funding and entrepreneur support model
- The unique advantages of a "grassroots" startup investing model versus the traditional "top-down" vc funding model
- How the SheEO crowdfunding model adds value above just capital for founders
- Surprise learnings - how going against the grain makes founders more successful
- How to make interactions between funders and founders productive
- Why the cookie-cutter approach to mentoring is flawed, and how to improve it
- The surprising ways in which being in a community brings out your true potential
- How to get past self-limiting attitudes, particularly those related to money, earning money, and pricing setting.
- The secret to tackling sexism and prejudices in the world of finance
- Encouraging advice for second career entrepreneurs.
- A strategy for creating a network that supports your industry
- The foot-in-the-door strategy for entrepreneurs who aren't affiliated with SheEO.
Have you ever been frustrated by how much money we spend on healthcare and yet how bureaucratic and inefficient the system is? Or wondered why nobody’s fixing it?
The good news is somebody already is! And it’s an amazing woman, no less, who’s also an accomplished doctor
In this episode, radiologist and tech entrepreneur Dr. Aneesa Majid talks about how her frustrations with an antiquated healthcare system that still sends billions of faxes prompted her to found Zip Data.
Listen to Aneesa’s hard-won insights on how she manages a tech startup as CEO, what she recommends women and minority founders do to improve their funding prospects, where she gets high-value advice on game-changing money matters with her startup, and much more.
Episode highlights
- Capitalism at loggerheads with efficiency and progress?
- How to run a startup with a full-time career
- The challenges of b2b tech for fundraising and profitability
- How to play well with multiple cofounders
- How to use your category to maximize your economics
- How using an end-to-end view improves your pricing effectiveness
- How to develop a good sales strategy
- Surprising ways a network helps improve your fundraising
- The one expense a founder should never skimp on if fundraising externally
- How to maximize your chance of success as an under-represented woman founder
How do you translate a burning social purpose into a functioning real-life organization? How do you make the biggest dent you can with the limited resources you have? How do you do all this while knowing nothing about your subject or the business when you start out?
In this episode, neuroscientist turned social entrepreneur Tina Tang describes how she founded Debtless and canceled crushing debt totaling tens of millions of dollars starting with just two thousand dollars, how she learned to fundraise, the nitty gritty of starting a nonprofit, how she stays true to mission, and much more. Let’s get Debtless
What do you do when you’re forced to shut down a business you’ve poured everything into? How do you break past the isolation of fighting your entrepreneurial battles alone?
How is fundraising different for you as a woman than it is for your male peers? And what does it mean for your venture?
Should you go it alone? Or get a cofounder? What are the two things women founders must do to do better at raising money?
Lauren Washington, cofounder of Fundr and the Black Women Talk tech conference, answered all these questions and more in inaugural session of the Liftoff by Achiiv.
Now available on Invisible Ink
You became an entrepreneur because of an idea that grabbed you and wouldn’t let you rest. But with the thrill of that pursuit came some hard stuff you’d rather not deal with, but that you can’t neglect either. Like insurance
Dealing with these matters doesn’t have to feel like getting a root canal. And you don’t have to shove it under the rug only to have it come back and bite you later.
In today’s episode, startup mentor and business insurance expert Anna Maria Viti Welch gives you the scenic tour of insurance, and shares smart and simple ways for you to hedge your risks without losing your shirt OR your sleep.
How do you make it in a new country when you don’t know the first thing about surviving, let alone thriving, when your peers are already miles ahead of you. How do you reverse-engineer problems so you can break through brick walls to accomplish what you want? And how do you do all this in a completely homogenous , male dominated field?
In today’s episode, entrepreneur and B2B venture capitalist Shruti Van Dyke Gandhi talks about finding your place in a tough ecosystem, succeeding as an invisible minority, staying motivated and laser focused regardless of setbacks, the secrets to founding a venture backable firm and more.
Do you believe in any of these? That building a bankable brand is all about smart marketing? That legalese is for later, when you’re bigger and making lots of money? That once you snag the domain name of your choice, your brand is safe? If you do, you just might be setting your business for a lot of pain later.
In today’s episode, Shireen Smith, author of Brand Tuned, and IP and branding expert , reveals common myths about branding and law that trips up may new and small business entrepreneurs and provides immediately actionable tips on how to create, build and protect a high-value brand for your business for the long haul.
Imagine you’re now in a high-stakes situation in your business. It’s that moment when you KNOW you need more than just your hard work and expertise to tackle. Can you rise to the occasion? Can you build your risk-taking muscle so you prevail?
How do you overcome fear, emotion and the inner voice that’s harshly negative so you make the right move and not the easy move more often?
In this episode, pro poker player Melanie Weisner shares the secrets only the pros know on what it takes to harness luck, how to master emotion , and how to take smart risks to achieve the success that’s only accessible to the disciplined few
Melanie shows you how you can too!
What do you do when your dream career slips out of grasp? And a global pandemic hits just as you’re trying to change course? How do you take a boring, male-dominated business by the horns as a young, untested entrepreneur through guts, discipline and tenacity? How do you stay true to your inner calling while still being financially viable?
In this episode, entrepreneur Juliana Scheidhauer talks about finishing college at 18, her love of the Marine Corps, bootstrapping a business from her parents’ garage, and more. Here’s Juliana.
What is intellectual property? Why should you care, especially as an entrepreneur just starting out? How can you protect your hard work and investment in your business from undue risk? What can you do right now to get a head start? How should you select a good IP attorney?
In this episode, business attorney Lisanne Butterfield discusses her views on all these questions and more. Please note that the information and content in this episode are not intended as legal advice for any specific person or entity. Please seek legal counsel before taking any action.
How can you tell if YOUR burning problem is a good candidate for a startup? How do you know when it’s time to quit your job and jump in full time? What do you do when you’ve poured years into your startup and there’s still no traction? How do you get angel investors to open their checkbooks for a category-defying business?
In today’s episode, engineer-turned-entrepreneur Reetu Gupta answers all these and more as she describes her journey to make CirkledIn the LinkedIn for the next generation.
Are you switching to entrepreneurship from a corporate career? Feeling isolated and alone? Confused about startup financing and unsure what to do next?
In this episode, Renata Merino, LatinX serial entrepreneur, 20 yr operator, Chicago Booth merit scholar and former investment banker turned investor, talks about her accidental entry into entrepreneurship, succeeding as a single mom, secrets to smart fundraising, how to get advisors for your startup, and more.
Feyi Ayodele is the CoFounder and CEO of CancerIQ, a startup that uses genetic information to predict, preempt and prevent cancer. Feyi started her career in finance but switched to healthcare to fulfill her desire to build a company that made a tangible difference in people’s lives.
Feyi Ayodele started off her career as a promising star in finance, but soon realized she wanted to do something more fulfilling. But as a female Black founder with no prior healthcare experience, it wasn't easy to get funding, customer orders from big, bureaucratic health systems and traction in building her business.
In this episode, Feyi talks about how she overcame all the strikes against her and still succeeded in getting funded, the secrets to getting to product-market fit quickly, how not to short-change yourself when pricing your products, how to reframe obstacles that will inevitably arise, and the business benefits of being a diverse woman founder in a heavily male dominated industry.
What’s different when you’re an underrepresented entrepreneur? Why create a new podcast? In this inaugural episode, advertising executive Susie Steinberg interviews podcast host Shubha Chakravarthy about becoming an entrepreneur. Learn about the 2 AM test, growing up Indian, fear, risk, the motivation to create this podcast, and more.