The Startup Garage had the opportunity to be a partner of the Hera Venture Summit for the 2nd year in a row. This annual event, hosted by Hera Hub, Hera Labs, and Hera Fund, brings together experts from both sides of the investment table to share best practices, provide learning opportunities and foster networking. The theme of this year’s event was “Building Bridges” – with the intent to focus on building bridges between female founders and funders in the greater CaliBaja region.
This year’s opening keynote was given by Vicki Saunders (https://www.vickisaunders.com), Founder of SheEO. SheEO is a leader in global innovation in the female entrepreneur marketplace whose model serves to finance, support and celebrate female entrepreneurs. SheEO operates in cohorts where women pool funds together, which are then loaned out at low interest to 5 women-led Ventures selected by Activators. Activators range from corporate executives, successful entrepreneurs, women leaders, students, mothers, daughters, etc. ranging in age from 14-92 making for quite a unique community (https://sheeo.world).
Other Keynote speakers included:
- Andrea Guendelman, CEO BeVisible LatinX — Creating a Collaborative Community for LatinX
- Elissa Freiha, Co-Founder, WOMENA (female angel group in UAE) — A Womentum in Mena
- Lisa Odenweller, Founder Beaming — Be your BEAMING Self
The summit also included an expo hall with many wonderful businesses and refreshments, several panel discussions and an interactive Fast Pitch, Fast Due Diligence & Fast Funding session.
As part of the event programming, TSG provided the following Top 8 Success Tips for Entrepreneurs:
Startups take time. Create a plan that avoids too much false or unnecessary urgency.
Having a false sense of urgency can keep us from putting our energy into the right things at the right time. It’s true – success doesn’t just happen – it requires careful, detailed planning and action. Be sure to enlist the help of business plans, checklists and project management platforms, to prioritize and stick with daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals.
Don’t focus too much on the product/service. Balance your focus.
All too often entrepreneurs become so excited over their product or service that they get lost in their own enthusiasm. The core of the business might be the problem the product solves; but it’s imperative to give equal weight to other key comments of the business like, the team, the marketing strategy, and the business model and customer feedback.
There is plenty of investor money out there for companies who reach the milestones investors care about. Know what investors care about and focus on that.
Remember as an entrepreneur your perspective and mindset, often times differs from that of an investor. There are a few key things that you will need to show and/or achieve in order to get them to sign over the check.
– Business Plan
– Personal Investment
– Capital and Milestone Timeline
– Market Validation
– Prior Success
Founders are the biggest problem for most startups. Get out of your own way.
We call this “the founder’s dilemma”, and it’s a big one. Founders don’t let go easily. Surrendering control, delegating tasks, and learning to be a leader rather than a micro-manager can take time. Recognize the dilemma and start delegating tasks early on (even if it feels uncomfortable).
A healthy founder leads to a healthy startup.
Founders are the core of the business. Inspiration, motivation and success start with you and then ripple out to the organization at large. Your business is your responsibility – treat it with care by caring for your health and wellbeing. To be efficient and firing at a high caliber it’s essential to embrace a healthy physical routine and check in with your mental state. Moderation is key — working non-stop leads to startup burnout.
Know your exit strategy.
Knowing your end game makes every decision easier. Having clarity on your exit plan — whether it’s not exiting, Merger & Acquisition, or IPO — affects how you run your business day to day.
Planning is critical.
The lifecycle of you startup depends upon planning, documenting, and communicating even the most mundane tasks.
Take on the student role and always be learning.
The smartest founders are the ones that don’t know all of the answers. Being a lifetime learner evokes greater innovation and creativity. Knowledge is power and will help increase awareness of the world around you.
