25 JUL 2023 · 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 - How to blend science and mission to spark a high potential startup - How to move from conducting good research to exploring commercialization for your research - How to explore multi-party markets in healthcare - How to leverage university resources for your startup - How to decide on which startup programs to enter - How to optimize your time to find and apply for the right government grants for your startup - How to know when it's the right time to approach outside investors - How to plan your fundraising approach using a numbers-based approach - The real scoop on how to build a great pitch deck - How to nail presenting the financials in your pitch deck - How to handle the stress of fundraising as a first time woman founder - How to succeed as an early stage first time woman founder in STEM

18 JUL 2023 · 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 - How vc funding is affecting women founders in the post SVB world - How to face the sharp drop in funding effectively as a woman founder - The unique advantage scrappy founders have in a tough fundraising environment and how to maximize that edge - The danger in hiring Google to be your startup legal advisor and how to avoid the pitfalls - How to help your legal advisor help your startup even if you've messed up - Why your legal entity structure matters and how to get it right - How to prep your legal team to support your fundraising - A bird's eye view of early stage funding rounds and structures - What priced rounds are and why they matter - A note on valuation and the legal terms you should watch for - How to engage a great lawyer when you don't have the money to pay them - Payment structures for startup legal advisors and how to pick the right structure for your situation - How to select a great lawyer who'll deliver more value to you as a woman founder - Pro tips to women founders from a legal mind

11 JUL 2023 · 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 Highlights - How entrepreneurship activates personal power for women - Challenges of pitching women-focused startups to male investors - Why legal mandates are critical to advancing women's economic enablement - The myth that holds investors back from investing in women-founded startups - The hidden risk women founders face when raising capital - The hidden economic power women already have, and how they can use it to drive change - What founders must master about the VC funding model - What makes startups attractive to investors - What makes you a fundable founder, according to VC's - What funders want founders to know about exits - What founders should look for in their VC firm

4 JUL 2023 · 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: - What a medieval Dutch church taught this founder about startup structure - What Radically Open Security has in common with the iconic Patagonia brand, and what it doesn't - What makes capital "leak" and why it matters to founders and startups - How governance structure influences mission, and how this plays out in real life - An introduction to "golden shares" and why they might be worth considering - How to make your mission-focused startup a reality - a practical guide - The smart way to assess market demand for your startup idea - Hidden traps technical founders fall into, and how to avoid them - The unseen dangers of the hyper-growth that venture capital funding demands - The real truth behind how the venture capital model works - How to bypass the venture funding model and still build a great startup - An introduction to the steward ownership model and how it impacts startup economics - Practical action steps for founders who want to build scalable, mission-driven ventures

27 JUN 2023 · 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 - What is tech transfer? - How tech transfer works for different types of intellectual property - The one thing research-driven founders must do before publishing their work - How university tech transfer offices(TTO's) are structured and why that matters to founders - How your university TTO measures the success of IP - A quick overview of the US patent framework - Is your IP yours? Or your university's? How to find out. - How to leverage your university's TTO in your startup - The many ways you can commercialize IP - What to know about licensing and royalty agreements and why that matters - Staying compliant with your licensing agreement - the essentials - How university TTO's differ from VC's and why it matters to founders - The real value and significance of filing for patents - Tips for non-university affiliated tech founders on protecting your IP

20 JUN 2023 · 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 Highlights - Clean tech? Climate tech? What's the difference? - Inflation Reduction Act and government platforms for clean tech startups - Two promising avenues to identify opportunities in clean tech and climate tech - How climate tech and clean tech startups differ from other startups - Top trends driving the climate sector - 2023 version - What makes for a successful clean tech / climate tech startup - A primer on grants for climate tech and clean tech startups - What makes a climate tech / clean tech startup investment-ready - What dude diligence looks like for a climate tech / clean tech startup - Hidden pockets of opportunity for climate and clean tech founders, and how to access them - Resources, tools and information for climate enthusiasts - where to go to get started - Balancing financial returns and impact in the clean tech sector - how to get it right

13 JUN 2023 · 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: - Why the traditional financial system doesn't work for women entrepreneurs - The hidden problems with the "5C's" framework of assessing credit risk - The unique issues Native American women entrepreneurs face in raising capital, and why it matters - Why "lending deserts" exist despite the prevalence of small business lending programs from traditional banking institutions - How to develop a realistic risk assessment framework that's equitable to all entrepreneurs - The "5R" risk assessment framework and why it works - An inspiring case study of grassroots capital innovation - How mainstream finance can participate fruitfully in capital innovation for disadvantaged entrepreneurs - Why capital and ecosystem have to align to work - A working model to scale capital access and innovation for underfunded women entrepreneurs

6 JUN 2023 · 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 Highlights - How investors vet startups doing fundraising - How investor-side issues can impact your startup's funding chances - What investors look for in your financial model and how to nail the process - How institutional investors differ from angel investors and why that matters to founders - How to make your startup instantly more attractive to investors, with one simple change - How to get up the financial learning curve quickly as a non-financial founder - Common mistakes founders make during fundraising and how to avoid them - Two ways your financial model can go wrong and how you can tackle them, even in the face of uncertainty - How to level the power balance with your investors - The sure-fire way to increase your self-confidence on the hard things - How to design the right capital stack for your startup - How to balance gives and takes when negotiating a funding deal - How one funder achieved a response rate over 90% with a fundraising cold email - How to build strong investor relationships for the long term

30 MAY 2023 · 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 Highlights - How to get venture capital to startups across ALL of America, not just Silicon Valley - How kids' chores led to the founding of Connetic Ventures - The role of AI in streamlining the investment process - How and why the team impacts the startup investment decision - The positive ripple effects of AI-assisted decision making for women and minority founders - Why women-focused funds do women founders a big disservice - Surprising stories about the impact of founder gender on fundraising success - The exact ways in which team composition makes or breaks a startup, and how you can leverage this insight to succeed - After the money is wired - how to manage the investor relationship for long term success - Factors impacting follow on funding and future startup success - The one question every venture capitalist cares about before deciding to invest in a founder - Turning lemons into lemonade - how women founders outperform male founders - Inside tips from a VC on doing great reverse due diligence on investors - for your sanity and your startup's success

23 MAY 2023 · 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 - How and why timing matters for your startup - How to transform your life and career experience into a great startup idea - Ho to select the right idea from many, for your startup - How to design your startup to leverage your unique background, skills and strengths - How to craft your startup's focus to maximize impact AND viability - How to buck popular pressure if your startup is in a "hot" field but you're doing something different - How to price your offering for long term viability - How to achieve traction as a B2B startup - The dangerous trap facing ambitious founders and how to avoid it - How to make tough decisions simpler with one rule - How to balance mission and money when you're very ambitious on both - How to be an inspiring leader and still maintain authenticity - Smart tips on dealing with the investment community as a first time founder