Linkedin Jedi
CONTACT

Tag: leadership skills

Categories
Startup Story

How to Vet a Cofounder

Business at first phone call. That’s how I describe meeting my cofounder, Vimal Vachhani. Our skill sets complemented each other perfectly. Not only that, we wanted to solve the same problem based on our own unique experiences. Then, we found that we truly enjoy working together. Our personalities couldn’t be more in alignment. However, Vimal isn’t the only cofounder that I’ve had, and it hasn’t been smooth sailing for me in the cofounder department. In this post, I’ll share a few tips on how to vet a cofounder.

1) Do a short project together.

If you’ve never worked with your prospective cofounder before, I highly recommend doing so before you agree to grow a business together. Cofounding a startup ties you financially together. You wouldn’t get married without dating the other person for  a while, right? Think of this project as your opportunity to “date” and see if you’re a good fit for each other.

When Vimal and I first met, he was ready to start a data integration and analytics business. His background was not in data visualization though, so he reached out to our mutual friend, Christine. Christine specialized in analytics for real estate but had recently transitioned to banking. While she wasn’t interested in building reports, she thought that I would be.

After Vimal and I met, we knew that we wanted to work together long-term but we opted to set up our initial work together as a trial run consulting project. This allowed us to 1) confirm that our work personalities were compatible, 2) confirm that we were both technically capable, and 3) have an out if we decided that we didn’t want to start a business together.

2) Talk about your lives beyond work.

Starting a business means giving up most of the separation between work and your personal life. However, you must maintain a life outside of work if you want to keep your sanity and your existing relationships. You need to discuss what’s important in your life outside of work so that you can help each other make time for that. 

When Vimal and I met, we’d both been through a lot personally. We were restarting our lives, in a way. Vimal had even moved cities and was finding a new group of friends in NYC. We both wanted to make time for self-care while making new friends and spending time with old. By having these conversations up front (and ongoing), we made that happen.

Your cofounder is your support system. If you can’t rely on them to help you prioritize what’s important in your life, then you shouldn’t trust them to run a business with you either.

3) Ask for references.

This is the most critical step in how to vet a cofounder. I’m going to stand on my soapbox for a minute. Asking for references is an absolute MUST for female founders. Let me share my story to explain why.

Tldr: I had a bad experience with a cofounder who was more interested in sleeping with me than he was working on the business together. I learned the hard way that references from other women who have worked directly with your cofounder are critical. 

Before I quit working at the private equity real estate firm, I knew that I wanted to leave to start a business. I didn’t know what yet. Fortunately, I had a few confidantes that I trusted and could bounce ideas around with. One in particular loved the idea of me starting a business. I remember the phone call vividly. Let’s say my confidante’s name is Jesse.

Jen: Hi Jesse! How are you? What’s new?

Jesse: Oh not much. It’s been crazy since the pandemic hit, but we’re all hanging in there!

Jen: I believe it. It’s been crazy around here too! We’ve finally gotten back to a sense of normalcy. 

Jesse: Oh yeah? What were y’all doing that was keeping you so busy?

Jen: It’s our investors. Ever since we started reporting more detailed information to them, they want and expect more. Our executive team too. Which I totally get and am happy to do, but honestly it feels like the same drill over and over again. I wish we had the ability to automate it more. Confidentially, I’m ready for something new.

Jesse: That makes sense. What are you thinking?

Jen: Honestly, I’ve always dreamed of starting my own company. I was –   

Jesse: If you have a single entrepreneurial bone in your body do it. 

Jen: You think so?

Jesse: Yes. If you don’t, you’ll spend the rest of your life regretting it and wondering “what if.” I’m so glad that I started my own company, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. If you have any desire to start something, you should do it now. [This was very good advice that I second!]

Jen: Huh. Good point.

Jesse: What kind of business are you thinking?

Jen: Well, what I know best is analytics for commercial real estate. Maybe something in that space? I had so many people talk to me after that PREA conference that it seems like there’s a need for it.

Jesse: Tell you what. Why don’t you build this using my properties? And I’ll fund you?

Jen: Seriously?

Jesse: Yes. Give me your pitch when you’re ready. Take your time.

Jen: Okay, great! Will do.

I quit my job and we started working together. We were building integrations and analytics for a completely new property type to me, and I was learning a ton. Eventually, we scheduled a trip to connect in person to discuss details. During that trip, my then cofounder made several passes at me. I didn’t know what to do, so at first, I just played it off. When it became clear to me that starting this business together was predicated on us having a relationship, I got out. Maybe I should have seen the signs earlier? Or perhaps I was inadvertently leading him on? Who knows. What’s important is what I learned: make sure your cofounder will treat you with respect and sincerely wants to start the business with you.

Let’s go back to when I first met Vimal for a proper example of how to vet a cofounder. Our mutual friend, Christine, knew the details of what happened to me. She called several other former female coworkers of theirs (and a male one or two, if I recall) on my behalf. She asked them what their experience was like working with Vimal, testing for any potential red flags. Because Vimal is a wonderful human, there were none.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate Christine looking out for me. This is what women supporting women looks like. Get your references, ladies. And guys, you should do this too if for no other reason than to ensure your new cofounder won’t screw you over on something down the road. Keep in mind that you’re interviewing each other for the job of cofounder. References are a normal part of hiring.

Recap: How to Vet a Cofounder

To recap how to vet a cofounder, make sure that you do a project together first, talk about your lives beyond work, and review each other’s references. If after all of that, you still want to work together… well then, you just might make something beautiful. I can’t wait to hear what you start!

Want more? Subscribe below.

MY COMMITMENT | Never sell or share your data | Provide useful and impactful stories

Categories
Startup Story

How to Become an Entrepreneur

Have you always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur? I did. And I made it happen. In this post, I will tell you how to become an entrepreneur based on my own personal experience.

Let me tell you a story. There was once a girl who decided to get her masters in accounting. She did so well in her accounting undergraduate coursework that the professors let her skip some classes in favor of other MBA coursework. Now, this girl always dreamed of being an entrepreneur. She was only getting her masters in accounting because it was supposed to be a good background for running a business. As soon as the fall course schedule arrived and she saw the “Intro to Entrepreneurship” MBA class, she signed up immediately. She was practically giddy with excitement! 

Finally, the first day of school came. She barely restrained herself from skipping into the “Intro to Entrepreneurship” classroom… but only barely. It never occurred to her that as the youngest in the class, she ought to be self-conscious. As the professor shushed the room and approached the podium, she sat up straighter, eager to learn. 

“Why do you want to be an entrepreneur?” the professor asked.

Her hand raced to the ceiling. 

“Yes?” the professor asked as every head turned towards her.

“I want to build something bigger than me. To create something that’s meaningful and changes lives.”

A pause. 

The first laugh was big, the kind of belly laugh you hear after an unexpectedly good joke. And then another jolt of laughter, and another, and another… until finally the professor yelled at the room, “QUIET!”

“What a dumb answer,” one of the MBA students said.

“Oh? And why do you want to start a business?” the professor asked.

“To make money, of course,” replied the MBA student.

“Ah. Money will only motivate you for so long. She” – as the professor pointed to the girl – “has the right idea. It won’t be easy being an entrepreneur, and if money is your only motivation, then you will surely fail.”

In case you haven’t guessed, that girl was me. That was the first time I expressed my desire to be an entrepreneur to a large group of people, and I was literally laughed out of the room. What I’d like to say to that room full of MBAs is: who’s laughing now? I did start a business, and we built it on the premise that we’re automating boring tasks that make people’s lives better. And in the process, we’re gathering even more data that improves (and will eventually automate more) decisions. 

I shared this story for two reasons: 

  1. If you’re starting a business solely for the money, stop now and go back to climbing the corporate ladder.
  2. The critical first step in any entrepreneur’s journey is the toughest: identify a problem to solve and by solving it, create value.

Identify a Problem to Solve and Create Value by Solving that Problem

Here’s how I identified a problem to solve. From the few conversations that I’ve had with prospective investors, I’m told it’s the ideal founder story. Take that for what it’s worth (which is hopefully a LOT of money someday).

  • I started my career in public accounting, as planned. I gained invaluable experience about the financial aspects of running a company.
  • After I essentially aced the CPA exam and won a national award for doing so, I leveraged that to land a job in real estate. I’d heard that it was a good, stable industry to be in. Now, to be fully transparent, I completely lucked into working at a private equity real estate firm. I had no idea that most people have to slave away for years in investment banking first! The PE firm’s hiring committee were mostly ex-CPAs and impressed by my CPA exam scores. Luck + skill for the win.
  • Once I started at the PE real estate firm, I immediately realized how spoiled I’d been with the technology at PwC. My first task was to manage a team of interns typing up PDF documents into massive Excel spreadsheets. I then combined those spreadsheets into more spreadsheets. It was painful. Like I physically hurt to think about it now. We had to do this because of the firm’s setup. We were what’s called an allocator. We partnered with operators via joint ventures, and those operators managed the day-to-day of the real estate that we jointly purchased. This meant that all of our data lived on other firm’s systems. And those systems didn’t have a standard way to send us our data.
  • Fortunately, I knew a thing or two about programming. My older brother is a software architect, my younger brother is a data engineer, and my romantic partner at the time was a front-end developer. I was surrounded by people who knew how to automate these things. So I polled the audience. Asked what tech I should use to make this better. Then I bought books, read blogs, and tested code until I automated as much as I could. Identify a problem to solve: check!
  • With the executive team’s permission, I began seeking public speaking opportunities. I was a tour guide in college, and I love having a captive audience for my “Dad” jokes. Plus, it seemed like my colleagues who spoke at conferences were getting promoted faster. From what I could tell, the data we gathered and were visualizing was unusual in the industry and seemed like a good thing to talk about. And oh boy, it was! Eventually, our firm had the opportunity to present at PREA, which is one of the largest real estate conferences in the U.S. I was chosen to speak. Afterwards, I was inundated with emails, LinkedIn messages, and calendar invites. This was the first time I realized that having better data would create value for other real estate firms. Check and check!

Kayo Women in Real Estate (my first panel). What a powerhouse group of women!

Figure Out How to Solve that Problem Better Than the Competition

What I didn’t have was a better way of solving my PE real estate firm’s problem. I’m the first to admit that I’m a self-taught developer. While we had grown the data team to an awesome group of people, we were limited in that none of us had ever worked as a data architect, or even better, a data architect in real estate. We were doing the best that we could with the skills that we had. Our processes worked well for a single firm. However, they weren’t scalable. 

Let’s make some noooiiiiiiiiseee! Shine those bright lights on over to my cofounder, Vimal Vachhani!

A mutual friend introduced Vimal and me. More on this story later. Meeting Vimal, well, that was business at first phone call. Our skills perfectly matched. He was a seasoned data architect with 17 years total work experience and 10 in real estate specifically. Vimal knew exactly how to write code that pulls data out of archaic real estate software and make it into a usable data model. He wanted to start a business because he felt like he wrote the same code over and over again, meaning that it could be a SaaS solution. My dream come true! Plus, I knew the metrics that real estate firms wanted to monitor as well as generally how these firms work. We were the perfect fit.

At the PE real estate firm, I managed the tech budget and interviewed vendors. This meant that 1) I knew how much real estate firms were willing to pay for our software 2) I’d seen and/or tried most of our competition. With our powers combined, I knew we could build a better, more affordable solution.

How to Become an Entrepreneur

Investors like our story because we both had direct experience with the problem that we’re solving, and we know firsthand how it creates value for our customers. 

My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is this. Go work in the industry that you’re most interested in. Take an entry level job doing menial work. Figure out how to automate it. Or, identify problems that cause issues in meaningful processes. Then, figure out how to eliminate those problems and issues. It’s not glamorous, but it does work.  

A Note on Passion

As an aside, you must be passionate about the industry or the problem. That will make the tough days easier. I’m passionate about automating data gathering jobs in real estate because those jobs are primarily held by women. I believe that if we automate these tasks, these women will have to be given other, better opportunities. Given the focus on diversity, firms need to keep women and minorities employed. After automation, women will have the opportunity to demonstrate their value. This is based on my personal experience. I created opportunities for myself at my former PE real estate firm, and I plan on creating them at as many other real estate firms as possible.

What Are You Waiting For?

Go start that dream business! Or as a first step towards your dream, get that menial job in an industry you love! 

As Hipolito said, “We pass the time of day to forget how time passes.” Don’t pass the time aimlessly. Build your purpose. Work every day towards your startup goals. I believe in you. Believe in yourself, too.

Want more? Subscribe below.

MY COMMITMENT | Never sell or share your data | Provide useful and impactful stories

Categories
Startup Story

How to Start a Startup (As a Woman)

It’s hard to start a business. Full stop. 

It’s even harder if you’re a woman. 

That’s why I’m writing this blog. I will share all of the nitty-gritty details of how to start a startup as a woman. Whether you’re an aspiring female founder, a female executive facing similar challenges, or an ally who wants to understand and support your colleagues, this blog is for you.

Together, we’ll explore the many challenges that all founders experience. We’ll also focus on the less-talked about challenges faced by many female founders. Throughout each post, I’ll share my strategies for overcoming these obstacles. While it’s never easy to start a startup, my goal is to let you learn from my experiences with the hope that you’ll have an easier path than me.

These are the challenges that I have faced in the nearly two years since we started CREx. As a precursor to the stories that will follow, let’s briefly talk about each of the female-specific ones. I promise to share how I overcame them later.

Getting Shafted on Funding

You may have read that women receive less than 2% of all venture funding. Many of my male founder colleagues receive millions of dollars in funding before they even have a viable product. Instead, most women need traction and some product-market fit before we could dream of raising that amount of capital (without giving up half the business). And even if we have that, many investors focus on ancillary things, like “You need a better name for the company” or “I think your brand colors are too bright.” Alas, our problems extend far beyond raising capital.

Cofounder or Investor Tries to Sleep with You

In my case, this was the same individual. Some women, such as Whitney Wolfe Herd, may have a relationship with their cofounder that falls apart. Then, discrimination ensues. 

*My current cofounder, Vimal Vachhani, is an incredible human and ally. I had this experience while starting a previous company.

Former Employer Tries to Claim They Own Your IP

Many of my male founder friends have former bosses who so strongly supported their business idea, they invested. That didn’t happen to me. And once again, it didn’t happen to Whitney Wolfe Herd either.

Dressing Appropriately

You may be thinking, “Why is this on the list?” Well, I put it on here because I guarantee that none of my male founders have ever had to second-guess their outfits like I have. Should I wear a blazer and slacks or jeans and a jacket? Sneakers or heels? Can I wear fitted pants or will I be sexualized? And oh boy, did I learn the hard way NOT to wear a dress on a conference panel. Keep those legs crossed, Jen!

Prospective Customers Only Want to Speak with the “Boss”, Your Male Cofounder

For some reason, I thought that the letters “CEO” on my title would magically grant me respect. They don’t.

Now, if you are an aspiring female founder, please – don’t let this list scare you away. Instead, let it motivate you. The only way that we even the playing field is by normalizing our existence as successful founders. Let’s do this. Together.

Keep reading to learn more pro tips on how to start a startup as a woman. You’ve got this!

Want more? Subscribe below.

MY COMMITMENT | Never sell or share your data | Provide useful and impactful stories