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.

Your goals as an entrepreneur are not always clear. They may be centered on making a profit, which means a lot of decisions need to be made on prioritization. But your goals as an entrepreneur should also be centered on building a brand that can deviate from a script, and consider alternatives. 

“Real estate is a relationship business and at a time when most of our relationships exist through screens, it is more important than ever to have a tool that can enhance those interactions.” - @foundersnetwork
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Julie Leonhardt, co-founder and CEO of Vuse, believes that her understanding of the real estate industry, combined with her listening to the pain points of the agents with whom she speaks on a daily basis, has allowed her to create the perfect tool for the agents’ toolkit. Vuse is a mobile platform that enables real estate professionals to create and share captivating, pro-quality videos on the go. Her former life as the COO of Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. and the SVP of Affiliate Services and Head of Operations, EMERIA region, for Christie’s International Real Estate, and her partnership with award-winning filmmaker, Leanna Creel, creates the perfect team to build a product that the real estate market really needs right now.  

“Launching in March 2020 was definitely a risk,” Leonhardt explains. “However, once everyone realized that COVID was not going to be a minor blip on our year, my phone and email were blowing up with agents begging for Vuse. Vuse combines my real estate background with my co-founder, Leanna’s, amazing filmmaking acumen to create a product that is uniquely designed for agents. Real estate is a relationship business and at a time when most of our relationships exist through screens, it is more important than ever to have a tool that can enhance those interactions. ”

“Are you able to pivot where the industry is pushing you? That is so key to product nimbleness. You may not be able to find full market fit right away. Some companies may have to do a few degrees shift as the market changes so they…
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Vamshi Gunukula, COO of DirectShifts, didn’t have to search hard to find the opportunity in the global pandemic. His team found itself in the middle of the moment. DirectShifts is a tech-enabled staffing platform that matches clinicians with employers. As the need for qualified medical professionals grew, his team pivoted toward helping hospitals and clinicians source from a variety of locations. They also focused on sourcing more specialties.

“We diversified because we saw the market needed it,” Gunukula said. “We always create our product with a vision to serve certain aspects of the industry. But the industry will push you laterally. Are you able to pivot where the industry is pushing you? That is so key to product nimbleness. You may not be able to find full market fit right away. Some companies may have to do a few degrees shift as the market changes so they find their sweet spot.”

“This was an extension of my passion, but also very much trying to solve a problem. And as it turns out, it was a problem that basically every single traveler in the world has experienced or will experience some time in the future…
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Zephyr Seat is geared toward the air traveler who in this new normal seeks more private space, among other benefits. The Zephyr Seat would allow airlines to provide double-decker. lie-flat seating in a 2-4-2 configuration. CEO Jeffrey O’Neill, a frequent traveler and designer, came up with the idea after seeking a way to get some good sleep on a very long flight from at the economy price point.

“This was an extension of my passion, but also very much trying to solve a problem,” O’Neill shared with allplane.tv. “And as it turns out, it was a problem that basically every single traveler in the world has experienced or will experience some time in the future when they travel again.”

While O’Neill’s idea was born well before the pandemic in 2017, it arrives at the right time,  just travelers would appreciate isolation and social distancing. It’s poised to be a significant disrupter in the travel industry, should airlines adopt it. At this stage, the Zephyr Seat team is still hunting for the first taker. 

Hear more about how these founders are moving their products forward by joining our Product Panel on August 24. Sign up to join us in this FREE event and find out if you qualify for full membership and get insights on:

• How to pivot where the industry is pushing you with product nimbleness
• Why you should sell your meaning, not just your product
• How to extend passion to propose a solution
• Attract the attention of customers through experiences 
• It’s not about products, it’s about unmet needs

Below are some highlights of what you’ll learn from the panelists.

• Ataer Arguder, co-founder at Aura, will be the moderator of the panel.
• Tom Geary, founder and creative director of School of Thought, will talk about marketing and communication fails.
• Jen Portland, founder and “spreadsheeter” at Excel Rain Man, will give tips on scrappy sales techniques.
• Jefferson Nunn, managing director of Code Warriors, will cover how to start and maintain a successful SaaS company.

Geary sees many founders’ communication fails originate from “being inside the bubble.” If you’re inside your own company and invested in its success, of course you’re interested in it. But you aren’t the target audience for your pitch. Assuming your audience cares as much as you do creates many communication fails. From a marketing standpoint, it’s deadly.

The solution to this problem is overlooked by 90% of companies: Nothing matters in business if you don’t first get your audience’s attention. The new latency rate: doesn’t matter. The position in the Magic Quadrant: doesn’t matter. The series D funding: doesn’t matter. Get your target’s attention first or you are wasting your energy and opportunity.

Portland offers a couple savvy marketing tips: keep in touch with prospects in a genuine and simple way, and respond to correspondence quickly. Let people know that you are noticing their accomplishments with a genuine note, not a ‘like’ or canned ‘Congrats on your Work Anniversary.” You don’t even need to mention your business; the recipient will likely check out your profile anyways.

Responding to correspondence quickly, even just to let people know you will be back to them soon, shows professionalism. Portland customers have told her that her company’s speedy responsiveness make them easier to communicate with than their own employees. Be responsive not only to clients, but to everyone.

Nunn cautions that SaaS founders can run into many problems when starting a new software business. Contract mistakes with software developers cost time and money. Cloud hardware issues destroy consumer confidence. Lack of insight into consumer preferences can stop your business before it even starts. There are a lot of things that can happen, which is why it’s important to do things correctly from the outset.

Register now to learn more about these insights and others at the upcoming growth panel on August 10 at 9:30am PST. Join us at Founders Network or request an invite to see if you qualify for membership.

More about our speakers:

Ataer Arguder

Ata Arguder is a serial entrepreneur and consultant, based in London, UK. After working for 15 years in the entertainment sector in various companies including Sennheiser, he started a digital ticketing company in Istanbul where he generated 7x growth over two years and . After selling that company, he moved to London in 2017 and started Aura – Museum Genius with investment from credible investors, building a global platform for museums and their visitors. He is currently a co-founder in two London-based tech startups (Aura – Museum Genius and Breath Hub) and he is also representing Founders Network in the UK as their Regional Manager for the UK.

Tom Geary

Tom is a writer, creative director and the founder of School of Thought. Tom has worked at some of the world’s top agencies, including Goodby, Ogilvy NY, Butler Shine & Stern and AKQA, on more than 100 brands. Geary was the lead creative behind MsDewey.com, arguably Microsoft’s most successful viral project ever, with over 50 million organic hits. For three months, site traffic outpacedGoogle.com.  He has created highly-lauded campaigns for divisions of Microsoft, HP, Cisco and Adobe. His work has been featured in Communication Arts, Adweek, Creativity, and won dozens of awards. He’s also lectured at conferences and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.  Lest you think he’s beyond missteps, he turned down a job offer to be the CCO at some company named Salesforce.

Jen Portland

Jen Portland is the Founder and CEO of Excel Rain Man, a spreadsheet and data analysis firm with a focus on automation via Visual Basic.  They serve a range of clients from rising start-ups to the Fortune 500, including major retailers, financial institutions, hotels, hospitality groups, real estate portfolios, contractors and others. Most recently, they are winning government contracts as Jen pounds the (now virtual) pavement in New York City and New York State showing demos of their work, including Diversity Dashboards of how NYC interacts with MWBE vendors (Excel Rain Man is a WBE-certified business).  Since starting the company in 2008 as a 1-woman side project, Jen has grown Excel Rain Man into a thriving business with a staff of 12, comprised of top experts from around the globe with backgrounds in engineering, computer programming, mathematics, and finance. Jen’s perseverance and hard work grew Excel Rain Man while fully employed for the first six years.  This involved not only recruiting talent and growing a customer base, but also educating others that this type of spreadsheet help and outsourcing exists… thereby allowing others to focus on the more important aspects of their work and not to get bogged down in a spreadsheet. Jen graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program in conjunction with the Tory Burch Foundation in 2013. Jen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with a B.S. in Systems Engineering and a minor in mathematics.

Jefferson Nunn

Jefferson Nunn is a Chief Editor of Liquid Health News, also the Director of Biotoxin Foundation. Since 1999, he has been a consultant to high-net-worth individuals. Always an innovator, his ideas have generated millions for clients including Ronco and GoWireless. Jefferson has been involved in the cryptocurrency industry since mining my first Bitcoin in 2010, now he is Podcaster for BTC Manager. Since then, he’s met with many of the early pioneers in the cryptocurrency space including the founders of Ethereum and the founders of Crypto Capital in Panama, SALT, EasyBit and more.

“This is the moment for founders to take action. There is real opportunity for those founders that are informed and ready to act,” explains Doug Lessing, Founder of Phin, a For-Profit/For-Impact social enterprise. Lessing will be moderating a panel while providing an overview of existing employment trends. Regardless of where you are in the employment journey of your company, there is opportunity for all founders, from those who want to grow their team to those who need to be investing in value-driven culture. And for those with a team they love? It’s time for them to listen.

“This is the moment for founders to take action. There is real opportunity for those founders that are informed and ready to act.” - @DougLessing
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For panelist Laura Sage, Founder of Chill and Chill Anywhere, listening to employees is the key to creating a strong community. And that is critical to creating a strong company: “A culture defines the company’s ‘vibe’. That might sound trite, but it’s significant. If the business has a good vibe people will want to work for and with it. That cannot be underestimated. Your team members are your best ambassadors.” This also means establishing a more diverse workforce, which is “good for innovation, culture and the bottom line.”

“If the business has a good vibe people will want to work for and with it. That cannot be underestimated.” - @laurahopesage
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Panelist Susie Burke, Chief Impact Officer at Phin, was struck by Daniel Pink’s referring to the pandemic as the ‘Great Unmasking.’ People have had time to reflect on whether the lives they live line up with their values. The future of employment has become values driven. “Companies that understand this and work to create a genuine culture of purpose and fun will not only keep their employees but engage them as well. Connecting people through purpose and fun can create empathy and allow more diverse teams to thrive.”

“Connecting people through purpose and fun can create empathy and allow more diverse teams to thrive.” - @susibtweets
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Moving forward employee retention is going to be key to a company’s future success. But critical to that success requires more than balancing numbers. To succeed in a world with such a competitive hiring market requires a true commitment to diversity, investment in company culture, and the ability to create fun and a ‘good vibe.’ People are making decisions based on their values more than ever before, and for companies to keep up at this critical juncture, they must heed this trend.

Learn how you can be a winner of talent by building purpose and strong culture into the DNA of your startup. Join Doug Lessing, Laura Sage, Susi Burke and Max Shapiro for this dynamic panel where takeaways will include:

• The key importance of diversity in the workforce
• Why now is the time for founders to take action in strengthening their workforce
• What roles must values play in shaping today’s workforce
• The importance of fun and ‘vibes’ in shaping your team and company

Register now or request an invite to see if you qualify for membership.

“One of the challenges a lot of founders have is understanding the process they are embarking on and being realistic about what they need along the way.” At Tanooki Labs, Renz has created a company that helps startups achieve all of their technology goals. The company operates as a sort of technology co-founder, utilizing a ‘podular approach,’ to effectively offer Design, Development, Product and CTO services.

“One of the challenges a lot of founders have is understanding the process they are embarking on and being realistic about what they need along the way.” - @drenz
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Process, Renz explains, is critical for a business to be able to scale, and at some point, as a business matures, it must firm things up. Renz believes that when people are talking about scaling, in large part what they are discussing is process. It is process which turns a new idea into something which can be structured. “One thing a startup can gain from that is sanity. When things get more process, it creates a more well-understood work environment which is better for everybody.”

Renz will take a look at how technology can become a core component of developing effective processes from the very earliest stages. From running things through for potential investors, better understanding customer behavior, or just seeking to try ideas out for yourself, there are now all kinds of tools that lead to validation perfect for creating a lean startup. Renz will take a look at some of these tools, as well as what it is possible to test with them.

“When things get more process, it creates a more well-understood work environment which is better for everybody.” - @drenz
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Register for Dave Renz’s technology talk at Founders Network to find out if you qualify for a full membership and gain actionable takeaways, including:

• The tools and techniques for validating ideas
• What you need to know before starting development
• Options for building your product (a look at hiring vs. no-code vs. outsourcing)
• What to Expect from a good development process
• What happens after launch

When it comes to beginning development, Renz has seen projects fail because of unreasonable expectations. “To give a coder a one-sheeter and expect to have something that works in three months” is setting yourself up for failure. Yet, too often, product owners don’t know how to communicate their goals. Renz will walk through what specifications are truly necessary when going into development, from design to feature sets.

A major decision every company needs to make about their product is whether to hire the team that builds it,  use a no-code/low-code option, like Bubble.io or find a middle ground through outsourcing. Renz takes a look at these options, what the trade-offs are and how to find the right fit for your company.

“Startups are part of our DNA, it’s who we work with, and it keeps us really excited.” - @drenz
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Critical to finding success with a product launch is having a good development experience. Renz will define what that looks like, and how to prevent the common pitfalls. Most often this comes down to not setting the right expectations and not keeping everyone up-to-date on processes. This can lead to months of time where effectively nothing gets accomplished. To combat this, Tanooki Labs has a “Tanooki Pledge,” which not only outlines what they promise the client, but what they expect of the client as well. This is based on ensuring smooth communication between stakeholders and the team working on the project, making sure that expectations are understood and met on time.

Renz concludes his talk by taking a look at what happens after the launch, when it’s time to find new development work as well as new goals. In the time of hiring and growth, what does the technology still need from the ongoing project and from the team?

Tanooki Labs is no longer a startup themselves, but they continue to function with the heart and mind of a startup. While helping clients to integrate technology and build products, they help startups to grow. “Startups are part of our DNA, it’s who we work with. It’s the phase of company life that we’re really focused on and it keeps us really excited.”

Jeff Walsh, Chief Revenue Officer at GoCoach, knows the value of coaching firsthand.

“I worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprise for 10 to 15 years, and had a lot of opportunities to be mentored,” he recalled. “When I decided to start NoMo FOMO four years ago, which was my first startup, I didn’t have anybody to guide me. I had a lot of people who ended up being mentors in the short-term. What I realized was that there are a lot of people who call themselves mentors, or call themselves coaches, and it’s hard to figure out who you need in a way.” 

“A coach helps you think about how to become better: Dealing with change management, or focusing on a certain soft or hard skill, and helping you unlock that.” - @JeffSWalsh
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Founders are likely used to pulling in advisors or mentors for guidance in making certain tactical decisions. But when it comes to developing leadership skills that will carry you through a career, founders should consider making an early investment in a dedicated coach to help cultivate skills and unlock potential. 

“A coach helps you think about how to become better: Dealing with change management, or focusing on a certain soft or hard skill, and helping you unlock that,” said Walsh. 

At a Founders Network curriculum, Jeff Walsh and Rebecca Taylor, co-founder and COO of GoCoach, explain how a coach fills the gaps that other advisors miss, helping founders tackle change management, effective communication, building culture and other key ingredients in long-term success.

Register at Founders Network for an invite, or find out if you qualify for full membership here.

• What Coaches Do that Mentors Can’t
• How to Discover What’s Holding You Back
• Unlocking Soft and Hard Skills for Long-Term Returns
• Getting the Best From Your Employees

“Coaching as a practice is about forming the path forward, and basing it on what your journey needs to be for what you're trying to accomplish.” - @JeffSWalsh
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“When you’re starting a company and you’re building something new, ideally you’re building something that’s never been seen before,” added Taylor, who founded GoCoach after serving as an HR and talent leader at several startups. “There’s a lot of opportunity in that, but there’s also risk that you make the wrong decisions or go the wrong way.”

Coaches serve as an agnostic, unbiased force in a founder’s career development, helping founders understand what’s holding them back and where they need to improve to become a better leader going forward. Unlike therapists, they’re specifically tuned to the demands of startup life and what emerging business leaders need and they’re there to hold founders accountable as well. 

“Coaching as a practice is about forming the path forward, and basing it on what your journey needs to be for what you’re trying to accomplish,” Taylor said. “It instills leadership behaviors in the founder, which is what a company needs.”

“You miss out on really innovative input from people because you’re not coached to pull that out of them.” - @JeffSWalsh
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Having a coach also creates positive downstream effects for your whole company. Better culture, communication and leadership lead to better outcomes, as well as the ability to retain and develop talent, helping employees do their best work and ensuring they’re happy. 

That’s no small benefit, given that founders regularly cite recruiting and people management as some of the most difficult tasks they face over the life of a company. Likewise, communication with employees, and among co-founders, can make or break a startup. Yet it’s one aspect to running a company that, too often, doesn’t get the attention it deserves until a problem arises. 

“You miss out on really innovative input from people because you’re not coached to pull that out of them,” Taylor added. “When someone is coached, they also become better coaches for the people who they hire.”

Founded by Brett Banchek, Overnight Flowers makes the timeless gift of flowers — for holidays or year-round — speedy, fresh and more personal than your average flower delivery service. Each bouquet is made-to-order by talented artisans, sourced from sustainable estate farms, and shipped with personalized gift wrap, hydration packs and food to ensure they stay fresher longer. Through the holidays, order your holiday flowers early at a great price: Save 25%, plus free personalized gift wrap and delivery using the code JOLLY25 at checkout.

For the young coder in your life, Littlecodr is an insanely fun card game that introduces code to kids ages 4 and up. Created by founder Alexandra Greenhill, MD, and crowdfunded on Kickstarter, this game introduces coding at home and at school. 

Here is how it works: First, let the kid(s) lay out a series of cards to represent a path for you to follow as if you were a robot that they can control. Next, watch as they revel in the joy of seeing you execute their every command! Once your kids have mastered the basic cards, introduce even more fun with Mission and Lab cards that let you explore coding concepts even further.

Have an educator in your life? Check out Kikori, created by Kendra Bostick. Kikori is an app that provides experiential learning activities to help educators teach social emotional skills and academics. 

As an educator on Kikori, you can search for the exact activity you need to help youth learn empathy and self-awareness and the ability to see the world through others’ eyes. All of Kikori’s activities are aligned with Social Emotional Learning standards, 21st Century Skills and UN Sustainable Development Goals, so they can be easily incorporated to meet learners’ unique needs whether you’re in a classroom, at home, in a community center or in a virtual space.  

What if you could work from home — and ‘Sit While You Get Fit’?  Give the gift of better health for you, your parents or grandparents with the motorized miniTREAD®. It’s 90% smaller than a standing treadmill, and easily fits under your desk or in front of your favorite chair.  Whether you’re in front of your computer or watching TV, it’s used to walk while seated and you can burn ~180 calories an hour, boost circulation, build strength and increase focus.  

Give the gift of food freedom with Foodom, created by Reneta Jenik. For less than the price of takeout, a personal chef can come to your kitchen and cook tasty, healthy and customized meals for the whole week. It’s like flying first class for the price of coach.

Pamper your self and your loved ones with a 20% discount on gift cards throughout December, using code FN2020. Currently available in the Bay Area and the greater Sacramento area, expanding to new areas next year.

Never lose your expensive Apple AirPods again! With Lang Mei’s silicon rubber AirPods case, you’ll never leave your AirPods behind unintentionally. It also protects AirPods’ charging case from scratches and damage. 

Finally,  so many heartfelt and kind words go unsaid. Created by Brandon Na, WheniLeave.com allows everyone to write, edit and store the best part of you, no matter what the realities of life may throw at us.  Its mission is to make sure these precious memories and thoughts are shared no matter what. Safeguard life’s most treasured moments with WheniLeave.com.

After a productive career in the C-suite at various pharmaceutical firms, including Advaxis, Unigene Laboratories and ImClone Systems, Greg Mayes saw a need for effective and convenient treatments for epilepsy  — which affects about 3.4 million people in the United States — and got to work, eventually selling the company for $270 million to the Belgian giant UCB. 

Greg got to know epilepsy firsthand after his son, Conner, was diagnosed with the condition as a child. Although a number of daily medications exist to treat seizures, roughly one-third of epilepsy patients still have difficulty in managing seizures. Through an advocacy group connected to New York University, where his son was receiving treatment, Greg got connected with Jackie French, a researcher with an idea for inhaler-based seizure treatments, and in short order he committed to the idea on a full-time basis. 

Register for Greg’s presentation on founding and selling a pharma startup in two years, and find out if you qualify for full membership to Founders Network and get insights on. 

• Seeing an Unmet Need
• Securing Great Partners
• Focusing on the Mission
• Getting the Timing Right
• Staying Personally Involved

“I quit my job, as a COO of a publicly traded immuno-oncology company, and started it up,” he says. “I spent the first nine months with no paycheck for the first time since college, which was scary, but a lot of entrepreneurs have to do that. You have to believe in it, and in this case there was a huge unmet medical need.” 

“You have to believe in it, and in this case there was a huge unmet medical need.” - @gtmayes
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Greg hit the road for several months, crisscrossing the country to conferences and meetings to drum up interest in the idea. The inhaler concept showed initial promise as a fast-acting seizure suppressant, but had only been tested on five people and needed funding in order to run more intensive trials.

In less than a year, Engage Therapeutics was able to raise $23 million in Series A funding. The success of the idea, Greg says, is a combination of several factors coming together: For one, there was a significant unmet need, and opportunity, for an on-demand seizure treatment. Jackie, Engage Therapeutics’ research lead, also lended a great deal of credibility in the space, providing an exceptionally strong science and technology backbone to the project. Greg also credits his investors for their support of the project.

“Those were the three pillars of what made us successful,” he said. 

With the Series A funding, Engage Therapeutics was able to conduct a phase two trial with 116 patients, which recorded successful results in stopping seizures. And that was a good sign, particularly for those epilepsy patients who can sense a seizure coming on but could benefit from a rapid-response treatment. 

“It's easy to get distracted and want to chase a new shiny penny, but staying focused and staying true to why you started the company is important.” - @gtmayes
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The inhaler treatment, called Staccato alprazolam, caught the attention of the Belgian pharmaceutical giant UCB. UCB agreed to buy Engage Therapeutics for $125 million plus an addition of $145 million in milestone payments, calling it an excellent strategic fit given the high need for fast-acting epilepsy treatments. The inhaler delivery may eventually be applied to other use cases, such as for panic attacks.

Engage Therapeutics’ story shows that — even if you’ve never founded a company before — success is possible if the right combination of passion, determination and execution come together at the right time.

“Don’t get too high on the high, or too low on the lows,” Greg says. “You’re going to have days where you think it’s not going to happen.” 

It’s also critical to keep your eye on the ball, no matter what‘s thrown in your path: “It’s easy to get distracted and want to chase a new shiny penny, but staying focused and staying true to why you started the company is important,” he adds.

“You have to be prepared to get out on the road, roll up your sleeves and get the work done.” - @gtmayes
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In the case of Staccato alprazolam, the treatment originated with a similar inhaler-based test for acute panic attacks, which have a larger addressable market. But trying to expand the focus at that stage could have knocked the development off course.

There’s no substitute for execution, as well: Especially once you have money in the door for your idea, it’s time to hunker down and get building.

“Get very personally involved,” Greg says. “You have to be prepared to get out on the road, roll up your sleeves and get the work done.”

This year has placed a national spotlight on the Black experience, and it’s more important than ever for successful Black founders to share their insight and advice. Oppti founder Khiry Kemp is joined by Tiffany Dufu, CEO of The Cru and author of Drop the Ball, to discuss overcoming adversity, facing your respective challenges, and what founders and investors alike should know about Black entrepreneurship.

The past few months have placed a national spotlight on the Black experience, and it’s more important than ever for successful Black founders to share their insight, and advice.

There are lessons for founders and investors alike, according to Khiry Kemp, chair of the Black Founders Initiative at Founders Network and founder of Oppti, a fast-growing job recruitment platform for high school students. In a fireside chat, Khiry joins Tiffany Dufu, CEO of The Cru, bestselling author of Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less and board member of Girls Who Code, to discuss overcoming adversity, facing internal and external challenges, and what people should know about Black entrepreneurship. 

Join Khiry and Tiffany in their full webinar and see if you qualify for membership to Founders Network and get unique insights on:

• Leveraging peer support 
• Early growth mentorship
• Connecting with successful founders
• Raising awareness 
• Focusing on your mission

“When you look at the numbers, you see the underrepresentation right away,” says Khiry. 

Only 1% of venture capital-backed startup founders are Black, according to data compiled by Transparent Collective. Representation on the investor side is similarly unequal: An estimated 70% of venture capitalists are white, while only 3% are Black, according to a survey by the investor Richard Kerby. 

“That reality contributes to a host of unique obstacles for Black founders. And rather than blatant racism, the challenges and biases that Black founders face are more often implicit, ranging from subtle cues in meetings to double standards in how investors size up your business,” Khiry explains. 

“It’s less blatant most of the time, which can make it hard to pinpoint,” he says. “It may be that the burden of proof is higher for Black founders, or to get buy-in.”

On top of that, “there isn’t necessarily a deep support group,” says Khiry. All of the benefits that peer networks bring — sharing experiences, advice and resources — are all the more scarce for underrepresented founders. 

“We’re in an unprecedented time, and there’s a lot of curiosity from people who just want to better understand what’s going on.” - @GetOppti
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Communities like Founders Network have a role to play in connecting successful Black founders with those eager to learn and to overcome similar challenges in building their businesses. Those networks can cultivate mentor relationships, as well as partnerships and other valuable business development opportunities for underrepresented founders. 

“It’s also a unique point in time for raising awareness among non-Black founders as well as  investors,” says Khiry. Among investors in particular, elevating awareness of Black experiences in entrepreneurship could help investors better understand their biases, call themselves out, and evaluate founders on their merits instead of narrowly defined stereotypes of what successful founders look like. 

“We’re in an unprecedented time, and there’s a lot of curiosity from people who just want to better understand what’s going on,” Khiry adds. “For those on the investor side, it’s also understanding that there are a lot of good black businesses, and maybe some of them cater to markets that you don’t necessarily understand yet. Be open-minded.” 

“You can’t psych yourself out and let the numbers discourage you...you have to give it your all and overcome as many critical challenges as possible.” - @GetOppti
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For Black founders, there are internal hurdles that can arise from believing that the statistics are stacked against you in entrepreneurship. Khiry emphasizes, “If you don’t believe that you can succeed, how is anyone else supposed to believe in you?”

“You can’t psych yourself out and let the numbers discourage you,” Khiry explains. “Even if you do have to try harder from an individual perspective, you have to give it your all and overcome as many critical challenges as possible.”

To learn more about black founder hurdles, see if you qualify for membership and check out the webinar from October 29.

Join Founders Network to learn how to generate FOMO and close deals quickly, including:  

• Establishing Ground Rules
• Drafting a Composition
• Crafting Your Narrative
• Building an Initial Funnel
• Initiating Fundraising Mode
• Pitching and Closing

Raising money is one of the most important functions of a founder. But it’s often time-consuming — and doesn’t always yield results. 

There are ways to minimize the sunk cost and increase your chances of success in fundraising, and Mike Wilner wrote the book on it. Wilner, member of the startup business development team at Amazon’s AWS and co-author of Oversubscribed: A Founder’s Guide to Seed Fundraising, breaks down the rules of efficient fundraising in a Founders Network workshop. Sign up here.

“The truth is that people who have been around the block a couple of times can raise seed rounds in about a month. What does it actually look like under the hood when that happens?” - @mwil20
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“It’s important to me personally that founders have an understanding of what fundraising looks like at the highest level,” he says. “The truth is that people who have been around the block a couple of times can raise seed rounds in about a month, or even as quickly as two weeks. So what does it actually look like under the hood when that happens?”

When fundraising is run well, deals can happen quickly. And the key is to generate competition and a sense of FOMO among participating investors, says Wilner. Conceptualize your fundraising goal not in dollar terms, but in terms of allocating available spots in your round. 

“As soon as you go from ‘I’ve got to raise $2 million’ to ‘I’ve got one spot available for this type of VC, two spots available for that type of VC, or this type of angel investor’, all of a sudden you have scarcity,” he adds. 

Planning and Closing Round

A few simple steps can help guide the process along, from planning to — if all goes well — closing your round. Remember that time kills all deals, so set some ground rules first.

• For instance, fundraise in parallel, rather than as a sequence, and establish an optimal ratio for generating scarcity. Wilner recommends having three investors in final diligence for every one fundraising spot available.
• From there, draft up the composition of your round. Be sure the differences between venture capitalists, seed investors, and angels — what their goals and motivations are — before making contact.
• Then hone your narrative, prioritizing clarity, brevity, a compelling vision and the ability of your team to execute. And when the time comes to make your pitch, don’t be afraid to discuss the potential pitfalls your startup is facing — and what you need to minimize them. 

“Tell the investor what the biggest risks are, because if you don’t do that, investors are going to come to their own conclusions.” - @mwil20
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“Tell the investor what the biggest risks are, because if you don’t do that, investors are going to come to their own conclusions,” Wilner says. “That’s where a lot of first-time founders, my former self included, fail — they try to defend everything, and make everything bulletproof.”

When building out your funnel, work backwards from the ultimate goal of having three investors in final due diligence for every spot. For a typical $2 million round, it’s reasonable to target 20 investors total in your initial funnel — and naturally, get to know their individual interests, roles and areas of focus. Invest time in building relationships with potential prospects: Genuinely seeking advice, and reciprocating by showing the positive results of that advice, is one of the best ways to build warm relationships with a potential investor base.

“It’s really a reframing thing: Rather than an asking-for-money practice, reframe it as a recruiting exercise.” - @mwil20
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“It’s really a reframing thing: Rather than an asking-for-money practice, reframe it as a recruiting exercise,” Wilner adds. 

Once fully prepared to start the fundraising process, founders can begin stacking meetings and filling the funnel with prospects. Ideally, close one investor before diving full bore into fundraising mode — decks, financial models and equity in hand. 

Although no amount of careful engineering can guarantee fundraising success –after all, that depends on a great number of external factors — optimizing for efficiency in mind can help founders minimize self-doubt and save time. 

“It’s more about having more confidence about the fundraise process,” Wilner says. “You may be thinking about fundraising, and you can make it less of this nebulous thing that you’re dreading if you know precisely what goes into it.”