It’s hard enough to stay afloat as a new business without having to worry about issues like employee fraud and cyber attacks. When it comes to helping founders protect their businesses, serial entrepreneur Ivy Walker is an expert.

She launched Helios Digital Learning, which uses storytelling to teach ethics to business professionals and students, and AskCoda, a risk management and compliance solution for small and medium-sized businesses. Her book Twelve-Minute Risk Management: Strategies and Tools Small Business Owners Need Right Now to Navigate Today’s Business World was published this spring.  

On Feb. 2, 2023, Walker hosted a webinar for Founders Network  where she provided her insights from working in corporate risk management.

To learn more about navigating security risks, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from February 2.

Here’s a sneak peek at her advice for startup founders as they navigate the security risks that come with launching a business.

Detecting Insider Fraud

You might be surprised to learn how many founders have caught their trusted employees skimming off the top, especially in the early stages of company formation when one person is handling all of the financial processes. 

While it’s fairly common, founders aren’t hearing about insider fraud, because there’s an incentive to keep this kind of behavior hidden, particularly from investors. 

“There are reasons a founder might not raise the red flag,” says Walker. “They might not want to look back in the eyes of investors and say, ‘We had an employee take cash or equipment.’ That looks really bad to investors.”

Avoiding the “Fraud Tax”

Insider fraud isn’t just embarrassing; it’s expensive. It’s estimated that insider fraud can claim up to 5% of revenue. 

“That may not be enough for you to notice, but it’s your money,” says Walker. 

Luckily, founders can bake corporate risk management into company culture. That requires establishing processes that promote accountability. 

“First and foremost, they have to set up a process that they follow no matter how busy it gets. You have to have a process of checks and balances in place that you stick to … When you’re asking questions on a regular basis about what’s going on, it makes it less likely that someone will do something that they shouldn’t be doing. When you’re not paying attention, that’s when people get comfortable,” Walker says.

In addition to codifying policies and procedures, segregating duties is another corporate risk management strategy. It’s harder to get away with fraud when financial responsibilities fall upon multiple people. 

In her work, Walker uses a chart to exemplify how startups of any size can accomplish this. 

How to Manage Conflict.. Before it Happens 

When Walker launched her first business, she was taking on 100% percent of the financial risk. Her business partner had a full-time job that took precedence. They had a verbal agreement that Walker’s partner would come on full time a year into the venture. 

But the partnership went south quickly, in part, because the pair had never codified expectations around the division of labor within the company. But, she didn’t make that mistake again. 

“We hadn’t agreed how we would handle conflict,” Walker says. “At the end of the day, it would have been easier if we had documented what we were saying in the beginning. I clawed back a big chunk of equity. It was very contentious.”

That’s why she stresses the importance of putting things into writing. 

As one of Walker’s mentors said: “Contracts are for the times when we don’t like each other.”

Contracts provide answers to questions like: how will we handle a dispute? What is the cool-down process?

With her current startup, which is pre-revenue, Walker has three people working with her. They started the venture with established expectations for what happens when those people come over full time. 

Walker’s webinar covered:

• Fraud-proofing your business
• Protecting against cyberattacks
• Preparing for conflict between founders
  

To learn more about navigating security risks, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from February 2.

During her time as a media executive, Hauser built a rich network of founders and VCs alike. She also discovered a pain point. There were so many women ready to launch new businesses, but very few women investors to not only fund those companies, but also to mentor and advise. With two young children, Hauser was looking for more flexibility in her career and began investing on the side. Realizing how much she loved it, it soon became a full-time pursuit.

“I want to see that a founder is adaptable, that they're open to different ideas, and that they have a curiosity mindset.” - @fran_hauser
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In the eight years since she began investing, Hauser has built a portfolio of 30 companies, 28 of which are led by female founders. For female founders struggling to land that first check, she emphasizes the importance of network building. While it is critical to have a great pitch deck, she explains that it’s getting the pitch in front of the right people that counts. This means developing an inner circle, and tapping them for who they know. Perhaps you don’t have direct relationships with VCs, but can you build an advisory board of people who can create those intros?  

There are a few common mistakes which Hauser sees founders are making. One is that they sometimes get too stuck in their vision for the product, and don’t process feedback well. “I want to see that a founder is adaptable, that they’re open to different ideas, and that they have a curiosity mindset.” It’s important that founders engage in active listening with investors. Being open to new ideas and capable of adapting is critical. “When you’re starting a new business, a big part of it is being able to adapt, and being able to adjust because stuff happens.”

“When you're starting a new business, a big part of it is being able to adapt, and being able to adjust because stuff happens.” - @fran_hauser
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Another mistake is focusing too much on the product and not talking enough about the other aspects. “At the end of the day, you’re investing in the founder, because the product might change. It’s really about whether this person has what it takes to launch a successful business . . . being really clear and confident about why you’re the right person to be tackling this opportunity is really important.” Too often, Hauser sees a dynamic founder present an entire pitch deck, and not really begin to introduce themselves until the final slide. Additionally, Hauser likes to see context to go along with the product. What is the pain point the product solves or what market trend is it responding to? Painting a broader picture around your company’s purpose can go a long way.

“At the end of the day, you're investing in the founder, because the product might change. It's really about whether this person has what it takes to launch a successful business.” - @fran_hauser
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What Hauser does like to see in a potential investment is market opportunity. Being able to clearly articulate the consumer value proposition is so important, as is knowing one’s own weaknesses. No founder is perfect at everything, so how do they fill in the gaps when it comes to their own shortcomings. If they are the visionary, is there someone on the team that is great with day-to-day operations? Another thing Hauser loves to see in future investments is traction. Knowing there is already a lead investor who has done their due diligence goes a long way in convincing her. But traction comes in many different forms. For a company that has not launched, 10 clients that have given verbal agreements is a big mitigation of risk, as is a few hundred people who have filled out surveys for a direct-to-consumer product.

Healthcare is a fast-growing market, but entrepreneurs looking to enter the fray should be aware that there is more to it than supply meeting demand, says Midori Uehara, VP and Head of Business Development at Cedar, a healthcare fintech platform.

“Healthcare is not a typical good or service. Unlike in most businesses, the buyers are different from the decision makers, who are different from the people who are benefiting. Market forces are often distorted or not applicable at all,” she says. 

Uehara, who will be delivering a Founders Network global keynote on November 17,  co-founded OODA Health, which was recently acquired by Cedar for $425M. She provided insights on how entrepreneurs can succeed in the healthcare market. 

To learn more about insights on how entrepreneurs can succeed in the healthcare market, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from November 17.

Long passionate about the topic, Uehara studied public health policy and human biology at Stanford and then ran strategic implementations at Castlight Health, following a few years in management consulting at Bain & Co. After earning an MBA and MPP from Harvard University, she co-founded OODA, which brings cutting-edge fintech to the healthcare industry.  While she’s a staunch believer that adequate medical care is a human right, she is also a realist, who is aware that change often follows financial incentive.

“Healthcare is not a typical good or service. The buyers are different from the decision makers, who are different from the people who are benefiting. Market forces are often distorted or not applicable at all.” - @CedarNY
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Follow the money and mind the product-market fit

“If you want to have an impact in healthcare, you have to follow the money. This means identifying where money is being spent (or wasted), and recognizing solutions must deliver financial value to get traction – you can’t appeal just to the goodwill of an organization,” she explains. Uehara says that although they are often nonprofits, healthcare players are incentivized to maximize their bottom lines, so tech solutions must deliver financial value if they are to be widely adopted.

For example, OODA’s digital patient payment platform focused on tackling the disconnect between “payers,” usually insurance companies, and the “providers” who bill for services, ranging from hospitals to physician offices to labs processing samples. These two groups often battle over administrative and billing issues, leaving the patient caught in the middle. OODA’s solution pioneered a ground-breaking business model and novel technology to bring the two sides together on behalf of the patient, partnering with multiple large payers and providers across the country.

As OODA grew, however, it became clear that the new business model as designed wouldn’t scale in the absence of broader policy or regulatory change. “While OODA had achieved significant traction and strong relationships with innovative enterprise partners, our initial solution was too reliant on bringing payers and providers together at the same time,” Uehara explains. “We needed a foundation of a scalable product with strong product-market fit as a springboard for the systems innovation we had demonstrated was possible.”

“If you want to have an impact in healthcare, you have to follow the money. This means identifying where money is being spent (or wasted), and recognizing solutions must deliver financial value to get traction.” - @CedarNY
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Enter Cedar, a later-stage startup that was already successfully addressing pain points in the patient financial experience for the provider market. When it acquired OODA, Cedar gained the ability to bring payer data and engagement into the patient billing process, as well as expand into addressing administrative pain points in the payer market – a win for both companies. 

Uehara’s own journey as a co-founder influences her advice to other entrepreneurs: “When you’re trying to get to initial product-market fit, start narrow. Don’t try to do too much. Don’t spread yourself too thin across too many stakeholders in the enterprise healthcare ecosystem.”

Raise enough money to withstand long sales cycles

She adds that providers and payers are infamous for being hard to sell to, so entrepreneurs should raise enough money to withstand long sales cycles. That means getting plenty of investment in your company and a strong team in place, even before you have any customers. 

“You need a bench that’s deep enough to support you when organizations are pushing on your capabilities and technical sophistication,” she says.

“When you're trying to get to the initial product-market fit, start narrow. Don't try to do too much. Don't spread yourself too thin across too many stakeholders in the enterprise healthcare ecosystem.” - @CedarNY
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Learn the policies that dictate healthcare tech 

Even with adequate investment and a tight product-market fit, many well-meaning technologists fail when it comes to introducing new tech tools for the industry. According to Uehara, that’s because they don’t understand the underlying system incentives and policies that dictate the use of seemingly outdated tools.

“Pure tech people come in and say some variation of: ‘Wow, fax machines! It’s obvious, all we need is an email system for healthcare. Why don’t we have that?’ But that fails to consider that the fax machine may be the optimal solution given the existing system,” she says, adding that the “graveyard” of tech solutions rejected by the industry include those created by Microsoft and Google. More viable solutions come from those who understand the underlying incentives of the industry and the policies that drive them.

Uehara has devoted her career to this kind of in-depth knowledge, something she speaks about with noticeable passion. “There’s nothing more important than your health and the health of your loved ones. And when you don’t have it, nothing else really matters. I’m continuously struck by the significance of healthcare in our lives,” she says. 

To learn more about insights on how entrepreneurs can succeed in the healthcare market, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from November 17.

Bondi attributes her ability to quickly learn different technologies and envision their potential value in the marketplace to a sense of curiosity born from early work as a reporter. She considers asking good follow-up questions and her obsession with details key components of her big-picture analysis. “I think curiosity about how other companies work, of the learnings they’ve had, is really important for a founder. As a leader, I don’t just think of our company, but of how we fit into the ecosystem,” she says.

Her prior experience as a CMO who was brought in repeatedly to get companies to acquisition, the next round of funding, or IPO, has also endowed her with special expertise in GTM (go-to-market) strategy, a topic she’ll be discussing at fnSummit. 

“You can’t design your go-to-market strategy in a silo. You don’t want to just go forward and then, at some point, the product person turns around and says: Why are you doing this?” - @kbondi
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Use thorough analysis to know your customer 

Before creating any B2B go-to-marketing plan, Bondi says companies should determine to whom they are selling their product or service. She cautions that this sounds simpler than it is since thorough analysis is required to determine who makes the purchasing decisions within a company and who and what are influencing them.

She tells of a company that offered a freemium model for a dev tool and assumed sales would follow. She notes this is often an assumption with freemium models, but more is needed than simply making a product available with a free tier. To this point, when Bondi analyzed the company’s highest-value customers, it became clear that the users were not the buyers. While the tool was used mostly by developers, those who made the decision were focused on an architecture shift. Their title didn’t matter as much as what the buyer cared about most. While the developers liked the tool, they didn’t make large purchasing decisions. As a result of this finding, Bondi changed the GTM strategy to focus on adoption at the user level, while emphasizing architectural benefits to address the needs of prospective buyers. 

She explains: “If my product can help save time, but that isn’t one of the buyer’s top concerns, it’s a nice to have, but not a must have. Without the urgency of addressing a perceived immediate need, this misalignment leads to a sale being put off to a later date.” 

“One of the challenges is that VCs often have a certain idea of how go-to-market should work. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. As you grow, the market may change, and your strategy may need to change too.” - @kbondi
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Align your GTM strategy with all parts of the company 

Although the right sales pitch is crucial, Bondi believes an effective GTM strategy goes beyond sales and marketing, touching many areas including company vision, product design, and finance. For example, before creating a strategy, there must be communication between the product managers and marketing teams.

“You can’t design your go-to-market strategy in a silo. You don’t want to just go forward and then, at some point, the product person turns around and says: ‘Why are you doing this?’” Bondi recommends transparency, so that all departments are aligned and working toward the company’s larger vision.

Neura: Successful GTM strategy in action

When Bondi was brought in as marketing CMO at Neura, an Israel-based AI company, it had less than 5,000 active users. Because implementing Neura began with an SDK, the company initially thought targeting small organizations through hackathons would be a faster path to implementation. However, once implemented, they saw usage fall off and projects abandoned as there was little need behind them. 

“I think curiosity about how other companies work is really important for a founder. As a leader, I don’t just think of our company, but of how we fit into the ecosystem.” - @kbondi
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Bondi took a different approach, which included integrating third-party data showing the number of downloads apps had per month. She then set a minimum of 50,000 downloads a month as a baseline criteria for beginning sales talks with a potential customer. Within nine months, this approach led Neura to have over a million active users. Four months after that, they added an additional 500,000. 

“We succeeded because I changed the go-to-market to match what we needed, instead of staying with what seemed easy and not really thinking about the motivation on the user side,” she explains.

Don’t be afraid of change

Bondi has found that to get GTM right, ongoing measurement and change is often necessary. “One of the challenges is that VCs have a certain idea of how go-to-market should work. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. As you grow, the market may change, and your strategy may need to change too.” 

So how does she get others on board to implement change? “It’s not such a challenge when you can back up what you are suggesting with facts. You bring people into the process, rather than dictating to them,” she says.

fnSummit, taking place from October 13-15, 2021, is an annual event where founders, investors and partners come together to explore the theme of growth. Located in a beautiful resort in California’s Carmel Valley, the event will offer participants a chance to network, share ideas and enjoy a variety of recreational and team-building activities. 

Originally brought up in India, Vinita Rathi later moved to London and began working at Goldman Sachs. For five years – with initially, no financial knowledge – she worked her way up in the fast paced environment, eventually becoming VP of the interest rate product teams. When her time with Goldman Sachs came to an end, she then started her own company Systango, an end-to-end IT service provider called Systango, which now has 300+ employees and works with names such as Grindr, Dialpad, ResearchNow, Deloitte, Oracle and Porsche. 

Not only does Rathi have 5.5 years in a tier 1 investment bank specializing in trading technology and 14+ years as a CEO of Systango, she is also the founder of Studio Fintech, a company that specializes in dealing with Fintech and blockchain ventures with a focus on blockchain-centric projects. Studio Fintech is arm of Systango focussing specifically on Fintech and blockchain. 

Additionally, Rathi is the founder of WomenHackForNonProfits currently made up of 1200 women in tech who are building open source projects for non-profits and individuals with a cause. She is also the founding director of Women Who Code (London Chapter), aimed to inspire women to excel in technology careers. To top it all off she is a Google Women Techmakers Lead, focusing on helping bolster the cause of feminism in Tech.

All of the above when put together indicate she has been playing this game for a long time.

“You start looking for analytics when you are solving a specific user behaviour problem. Thinking about it as part of product build enables you to solve the initial teething problems faster, quicker and efficiently.” - @VinitaKRathi
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During the early years, Rathi’s experiences at Goldman Sachs and now, working with a wide range of entrepreneurs under Systango and more, have given her some valuable insights about the role data science plays in building product strategy and how startups and scaleups can leverage it not only for increasing the efficiency of their businesses but also deciding the future course. Here are just a few of the takeaways Vinita will be speaking about.

• Planning your Data Strategy
• Data Mining
• Data Visualization
• Leveraging Visualization Techniques
• Other aspects of Data Engineering
  

“Often data during product build is an after thought. You start looking for analytics when you are solving a specific user behaviour problem. Thinking about it as part of product build enables you to solve the initial teething problems faster, quicker and efficiently.” Rathi says.

“Having right data strategy and appropriate tools in place early on enables you to learn more about your product and its usage than you can imagine.” - @VinitaKRathi
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This can be integrated into building your team early. Systango approaches its client’s problems with a human-centered and data-focussed methodology. They believe that there are no silver bullets in their space, and that the best solutions come from involving the right people in every step of the process, establishing KPIs for your teams and then tracking them with data you collect. 

Vinita says “When you are a CEO, you need to be able to see Sales, marketing, logistics, product analytics all in one place and be able to connect the dots.” Different departments/teams end up using their own tools, they end up collecting huge set of data but miss out on the holistic view. This has an impact on ability to see trends and spot patterns. You have to make sure that not only you define and collect but also aggregate and analyse the data points to optimise the effort/ROI across each channel. 

“When you are a CEO, you need to be able to see Sales, marketing, logistics, product analytics all in one place and be able to connect the dots.” - @VinitaKRathi
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Data science is slowly becoming essential for a lot of businesses, startups and enterprises alike. It helps organizations with crucial decision-making and helps companies gain a competitive edge in the market by leveraging any insight to increase efficiency and productivity by making the right decisions. It is important to ensure that you have an infrastructure in place that will allow you to monitor and analyze the data you collect.

To learn more about leveraging product strategy, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from August 9.

The first thing to do is to define the data collection of which is going to be helpful to the business. Then collect and aggregate this data in one place.  Data mining (the practice of analyzing large databases in order to generate new information) aids you in learning how to improve your product or service and how to create a better marketing and sales strategy, while predictive models help to monitor customer behavior. In order to keep up with the competition and trends, you must know the activity of the customers. Setting up data strategy right from start allows you to monitor your business KPIs and build on them. 

“Only when you have KPI for your business and teams, you will be able to measure them.” - @VinitaKRathi
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Data visualization gives you the ability to interpret, convert, and eventually summarize data to a comprehensive language that you can also present to stakeholders. 

To learn more about leveraging product strategy, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from August 9.

According to experts, about 90% of startups end in failure. In many cases, entrepreneurs simply run out of money and are forced to quit. However, according to consultant and coach Holly Woods, there is a deeper reason for insolvency: Founders lack clarity about what matters to them and what they want to achieve. For several decades, Woods has been helping them find their purpose, which, in turn, leads to profit and success. “When you are focused on why you got into a product or niche, you can make decisions that result in more optimized strategies,” says Woods.

Having spent 35 years in human and organizational development as well as 30 years building and scaling businesses, Holly Woods, Phd is well poised to help clients discern their business intentions. She is the founder of The Emergence Institute, which guides visionaries, innovators and changemakers to get deep clarity about purpose and build products and business rooted in it. An Integral Master Coach, Purpose Guide, Professional Mediator and Facilitator, Master Energy Practitioner, and a Stages of Consciousness developmental practitioner, she is also the author of The Golden Thread: Where to Find Purpose in the Stages of Your Life (2020).

“When you are focused on why you got into a product or niche, you can make decisions that result in more optimized strategies.” - @hollykwoods
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At an upcoming Founders Network event, Woods will demonstrate how more precise clarity about purpose helps you create products that represent the true talents you bring to the world, enables you to stay inspired for the long-haul and more easily course correct, all while guiding your next steps toward profit.

To learn more about persevering through challenges, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from August 12.

Register at Founders Network and check if you qualify for full membership to: 

• Explore the Golden Thread that led you to your product/ innovation and business
• Become newly inspired about the WHY behind your product/ innovation
• Gain clarity, focus and flow to guide your next steps
• Reap the benefits of your precise purpose for yourself, your business and the world

For those doubting their ability to make a success of their current projects, Woods initiates a process of rediscovery. “Once founders reclaim their purpose and get reenergized, they can truly commit to their startup and persevere through any challenges that come up,” she explains. 

“Once founders reclaim their purpose and get reenergized, they can truly commit to their startup and persevere through any challenges that come up.” - @hollykwoods
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Using your Origin Story to Explore the Golden Thread of Purpose

Many of us live unintentional lives and are unaware that our impulses and the things that excite us are rooted in our origin stories. Woods helps people “unpack who they are” and look through their personal history to find the common themes and motivations. “The golden thread is really the thread of purpose as it weaves itself through your life and helps create clarity and focus about what would be your next best step.” Many people set out on a path because it seems like the most viable alternative for them, but don’t know why. Woods believes that becoming conscious about one’s deeper intentions will help refine efforts. For entrepreneurs, this knowledge helps them to best market their product or service and to become aware of the next step to take for the company’s growth.

Staying in Positive Motion with the Purpose Flywheel

Coined in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, the term ‘flywheel effect’ refers to the concept that successful enterprises are characterized by a process that resembles pushing a flywheel, a mechanism once used in large machinery to keep them going. Companies operate successfully by creating systems that enhance stability, resilience and momentum, even in volatile growth phases.

“The golden thread is really the thread of purpose as it weaves itself through your life and helps create clarity and focus about what would be your next best step.” - @hollykwoods
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According to Woods, the “perpetual motion” mechanism suggested by a flywheel also mimics the notion of the evolutionary impulse to improve as a means of filling the ever-expanding universe. That requires iteration, which requires feedback. In our own lives, we must continuously experiment, fail and receive feedback from the system in order to learn – a process that Woods knows well from working with clients.

Inspired by her experiences setting up “virtuous cycles” for her clients, she created the Purpose Flywheel, “a continuous series of learning loops” that enable startup founders and others to find clarity about their direction and keep experimenting toward success.   

Taking the Next Big Step Amid Doubt

When you have created something successful, the next step can feel daunting. Woods recalls working with a serial entrepreneur who had successfully built a $500M environmental cleanup company. He was about to exit and had no idea what to do next. During his work with Woods, he became aware of his next desired direction, an area in which he had been volunteering his services, but he had a crisis of confidence about his right to turn a passion project into a business. After working through those doubts and getting precise clarity about his purpose, he immediately started building his new venture, this time in an arena that reflected his purpose. 

“It is difficult to move forward in things that matter most, to reveal ourselves to the world, so we choose something that feels easier.” - @hollykwoods
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According to Woods, “It is difficult to move forward in things that matter most, to reveal ourselves to the world, so we choose something that feels easier.”  But, she adds, it is only when we are in alignment with our purpose that true innovation can happen.

In that spirit, she has created the Purpose LaunchLab Incubator for innovators and founders who want to get more clarity about their purpose and product.  By approaching new initiatives this way, many entrepreneurs are finding they can improve efficiency and profit, leading to more startup success stories.

To learn more about persevering through challenges, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from August 12.

Among them is Beth Devin, a strategic advisor at HearstLab, an innovation unit of Hearst whose mission is to close the gap in VC funding for women by helping founders build healthy, sustainable and highly scalable businesses. A longtime executive in media and finance, with prior roles CTO, CIO and managing director roles at Citi, Silicon Valley Bank, Charles Schwab and Turner Broadcasting, Devin is known as a “tech whisperer” for  her ability to build and lead technology teams while keeping the business strategy and goals at the forefront. 

In her role as a startup scout, Beth Devin evaluates early-stage startups using a rubric developed by the global design company IDEO. It boils down to six questions that measure “desirability, feasibility and viability,” she said. Those are the key ingredients to growth or scale. 

“There are startups we work with who have had to do a couple of pivots before they really get traction,” Devin added. In a Founders Network session, Devin shares the six key questions startups should answer before achieving scale.

Register at Founders Network’s webinar for a complimentary pass, or find out if you qualify for full membership here and get advice on:

• Sizing up the pain point you’re solving for
• Ensuring your solution is intuitive and understandable
• Assessing the technology and talent needed to execute
• Evaluating your growth plan in a specific marketplace
• Testing the market constantly to pivot when needed

The first question is: Are you filling a genuine need? 

“If people don't understand what you do. It's really hard for them to get on board.” - @bdevintracy
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“You may think you have this great idea, but there may not be a big enough pain point or enough motivation for people to want to adopt a great idea,” Devin explained. “It might be more like a nice to have, or as I’ve  sometimes called it, like taking vitamins.”

“That points to how large your prospective customer base is, whether they be consumers of enterprises. And figuring out how to validate and address those genuine pain points can be a tough nut to crack for some startups,” she added. Another component of desirability whether or not your solution is intuitive — in other words, easy to describe and to understand:

“If people don’t understand what you do. It’s really hard for them to get on board,” Devin said. 

“It’s not a one-and-done exercise. Be self-reflective and honest: Get out other people's opinions, test the market, and make sure you know the whole plan and path you're moving forward on.” - @bdevintracy
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Feasibility is an indicator of your ability to execute the idea. That ties both into the available technology — is your solution going to be reliable when built at scale?  — as well as your team’s track record as well as your ability to fill key roles needed to grow. 

“The technology is critical, as well as the right team to execute your plan for building this company,” Devin said. “We have a lot of startups, for example, that have a small team and may have their original strategist or idea person, and maybe a CTO on board. But they may not have a sales team, or a marketing team — and all of those things are so important for scale.”  

Finally, viability points to your startup’s ability to gain traction, grow and retain your customer base, and compete in a specific marketplace over a longer period of time: “Have you really done your homework, and made sure there’s a addressable market out there that is that’s big enough to sustain this growth you’re aspiring to?” said Devin. 

“Some people feel like a pivot is viewed as a negative. I don't see it that way at all: The ability to flex and change is actually a sign of strength.” - @bdevintracy
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While desirability, feasibility and viability may be particularly critical for startups preparing for a growth period, it’s a good idea for startup founders to revisit these questions regularly. 

“It’s not a one-and-done exercise. Be self-reflective and honest: Get out other people’s opinions, test the market, and make sure you know the whole plan and path you’re moving forward on,” Devin added. “Some people feel like a pivot is viewed as a negative. And I don’t see it that way at all: The ability to flex and change is actually a sign of strength. Sometimes, original founders don’t see that.”

That company, a woman-led, health-focused firm in West Virginia, eventually grew to hundreds of employees and gave Lewis a glimpse into how entrepreneurship could change communities. Today, as a partner at Rogue investing in early-stage companies, that experience still informs her focus. 

“That was an eye-opening experience for me to realize that if you invest in people who then grow companies, and grow jobs, you can fundamentally change the communities in which you live. That is what I hold fast and true,” Lewis said. 

Portland-based Rogue invests in undercapitalized founders spanning SaaS, enterprise tech and consumer health tech, and generally looks at companies with between $500,000 and $1 million in revenue. At a Founders Network session, Lewis — who also runs the Rogue’s women’s fund, called Rogue Women — shares her advice for young companies looking for funding.

Register at Founders Network for a complimentary pass, or find out if you qualify for full membership here and get Caroline’s insights and feedback on: 

• Knowing your numbers and the assumptions behind them
• Understanding your competition and market positioning
• Recognizing Your Investor’s Motives
• Conveying the Right Team Dynamics
• Avoiding too Much Dilution Early On

“We like to pride ourselves on being that first-round or second-round institutional partner that comes in and really helps at the stage when you have maybe five people, and a year later you have 30 people,” she said. 

“Know your numbers: Surprisingly, sometimes CEOs don't. I care less about your exact financial projections than the assumptions going into them.” - @carolinejlewis
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That need is particularly acute for women founders, who are disproportionately undercapitalized. The majority of venture capitalists are men, as are the majority of venture capital recipients. An estimated 97% of all venture capital dollars go to male founders, despite evidence that women-led companies deliver superior returns and operating results over the long term.

Whether a woman-led startup or not, the standard traits that investors look for are passion, resolve and a unique solution to a problem that doesn’t yet exist in the marketplace. It’s okay to have competitors, Lewis says: What matters is that you have a pathway to growth in a very large market. Founders should also have a good understanding of how venture capital works; namely, that those investors are accountable to their limited partners and must deliver certain returns. 

“It shouldn't be about how much you raise -- it's how well your company is performing.” - @carolinejlewis
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“Know your numbers: Surprisingly, sometimes CEOs don’t. I care less about your exact financial projections than the assumptions going into them,” she added. “I appreciate when founders say: Here is my competition. Here’s where we’re similar, here’s why we’re different, and here’s how we think we can beat them.”

For founders making a pitch with a co-founder or teammates, consider in advance what dynamics you convey. Investors want to see a team that is well-balanced, and that works well together with complementary skills and strengths. Your pitch should reflect that, and communicate that your partnership can go the distance. 

There are other potential pitfalls when pitching to venture capitalists as well. 

“I don't care if you've raised a billion dollars, or if your company is valued at a billion dollars. I care about whether you have good, fundamental operating principles that warrant the value it has.” - @carolinejlewis
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“For early stage founders, a common early mistake — whether through over-stacking convertible notes or by teaming up with the wrong investors — is giving away too much equity in the interest of getting money in the door quickly. There’s value in having deals be relatively simple and straightforward,” said Lewis. 

Another is getting overly caught up in your valuation, or how much you raise in a particular round. Neither are indicative of your startup’s potential for long-term success. 

“It shouldn’t be about how much you raise — it’s how well your company is performing,” Lewis added. “I don’t care if you’ve raised a billion dollars, or if your company is ‘valued’ at a billion dollars. I care about whether you have good, fundamental operating principles that warrant the value it has.”

Diversity and inclusion may be an outcome that every startup aspires to, but they also aren’t easy topics to tackle. Discussions of diversity and inclusions can trigger difficult emotions, particularly in the workplace, and necessitate a methodical approach to ensure everyone is heard, respected and valued. 

“For the people that are feeling underrepresented and marginalized, it’s a super triggering topic,” explains Janine Yancey, founder and CEO of the workplace culture platform Emtrain and a former employment attorney. “But then on the opposite side, It’s triggering for the folks that are well-represented, because they often feel that they’re getting blamed. So net-net, it’s a maelstrom.” 

The key is to create a safe space for discussing D&I, says Yancey, alongside a framework for identifying, measuring and reporting the social indicators that contribute to an inclusive culture — or lack thereof. At a Founders Network leadership curriculum, Yancey shares the indicators that drive inclusion, and how to take action at your startup.

Register at Founders Network for a complimentary pass, and check if you qualify for full membership.

• A breakdown of specific social indicators that drive inclusion
• Ways to measure, report and improve upon workplace social indicators
• How to incorporate inclusion and allyship into your startup culture

“You can map inclusion back to specific organizational behaviors. If you figure out what the behaviors are, you can start to measure them.” - @JYancey
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“You can map inclusion back to specific organizational behaviors. If you figure out what the behaviors are, you can start to measure them,” she explains. “Just like any other business function, like marketing, sales, or product, there are KPIs to getting to the outcome.”

On the organizational level, the markers of an inclusive culture are valuing differences, allyship and decision-making that reflects those things. On an individual basis, inclusivity can be tied back to demographic experiences — do individuals come from a diversity of backgrounds? — as well as curiosity, empathy and authenticity. 

“A lot of employee conflict stems from people in authority not understanding the implications of their decisions; they forget the people subordinate to them may process their words in a way they may not intend.” - @JYancey
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Although those characteristics might seem subjective at face value, having an anonymized system in place for measuring and reporting social indicators, such as power dynamics, social intelligence and unconscious bias, makes it possible for founders and CEOs to get a handle on what can otherwise feel like a minefield. 

“A lot of employee conflict and friction stems from people in authority not understanding the implications of their decisions; they forget the people subordinate to them may process their words in a way they may not intend,” says Yancey. “You see it a lot in harassment issues; it’s often completely unintentional, but it’s a miss in terms of message given versus message received.”

“Think about these indicators as culture KPIs. Once you have visibility and it's transparent, then you can start to press on the levers.” - @JYancey
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In recent years, many organizations have launching D&I initiatives as a reaction, either to external events, such as the #Metoo movement, or to a cultural problem internally. Part of the advantage of a measurement system like Emtrain’s is that it provides leading, rather than trailing, indicators. Founders and CEOs can see where they stack up versus peer companies, and make adjustments before social cues — in the most extreme scenarios — boil over into a harassment problem, a public relations issue or worse. 

“When all you’re dealing with are trailing indicators, you don’t ever have an opportunity to sit back, blue sky something, and figure out how to get proactive and manage it,” Yancey adds. “Think about these indicators as culture KPIs. Once you have visibility and it’s transparent, then you can start to press on the levers.” 

Successful founders tend to share some characteristics in common. Those traits boil down to having a “growth mindset,” and while they may come more naturally to some than others, there are ways to cultivate that frame of mind in yourself and others.

“A growth mindset is a way of looking at the world that’s highly optimistic and learning-centered, and it’s fundamental for entrepreneurs,” says Anne Sandberg, an organizational development expert and Chief Learning Officer at Center for Growth Leadership. Using scientific assessments, the Center for Growth Leadership works with leaders to optimize people and process, spanning everything from hiring and talent development to management.

“A growth mindset is essential for entrepreneurs,” says Anne, and gives your startup a competitive advantage. In a Founders Network session, she walks founders through a mindset assessment and gives advice on how to identify and nurture growth-focused thinking.

Register to Anne’s full webinar and see if you qualify for full membership here at Founders Network and get insights on:

• Assessing and Measuring Growth Traits
• Breaking Bad Habits and Building New Ones
• Seeking Opposing Views to Promote Collaboration
• Focusing on Upside to Reframe Behaviors
• Identifying Growth Traits in Candidates

“A growth mindset is a way of looking at the world that's highly optimistic and learning-centered, and it’s fundamental for entrepreneurs.” - @ReadyToManage
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“The growth mindset serves as a “frame of reference,” and encourages growth in several areas of launching and running a startup,” Anne adds. “Key traits include open-mindedness, a knack for self-improvement, good analytical skills, and some appetite for risk.”

“Self-improvement is key: To what extent are you motivated to learn, grow, study, and incorporate new perspectives?” she says. “Seeing the future as positive, and looking for upside, is another trait that underpins the growth mindset.”

With the right mindset, startup founders — who can make dozens of consequential decisions over the course of a week — can make well-rounded choices with a high degree of confidence. What’s more, they can bring others into the process, getting team members on board with their decision-making through a focus on collaboration.

“Self-improvement is key: To what extent are you motivated to learn, grow, study, and incorporate new perspectives?” - @ReadyToManage
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“If you can see the upside in any situation, you can reframe the way you tend to behave and practice specific behaviors that bring you closer to a growth mindset,” Anne explains. “Behaviors are just like any habit: Breaking a habit or making new ones is hard, but it’s possible.”

For founders undertaking what could be a years-long project, taking an assessment can lay the groundwork for a growth mindset. One can find out where they rank across key traits, and make a plan for adjusting behaviors and ways of thinking where needed.

“If you ask the right questions, people will start to see you as truly interested in their opinion,” she adds.

“Behaviors are just like any habit: Breaking a habit or making new ones is hard, but it's possible.” - @ReadyToManage
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Those interactions can carry major implications for your startup, the culture you build, and how well you retain talent. Hiring and talent retention is consistently cited by managers as the top issue facing their companies, and the stakes are high: McKinsey estimates that top talent are up to 400% more productive than their peers.

Just like measuring your own growth mindset, there are techniques to suss it out in new hires. Asking strategic questions, in an effort to learn the presence of productive traits and behaviors, is critical.

“Ask candidates for specific examples of when they’ve solicited viewpoints, or gotten into brainstorms, with people who have an opposing view,” Anne says. “You might decide to hire the person anyway, and now you understand where they’ll be ready to go, and where you need to coach them.”