What do venture capitalists ACTUALLY look for in the founders they take on?

For Nisha Dua, co-founder of BBG Ventures, it’s all about great storytelling. What problem are you trying to solve? Why is your team best positioned to solve it? Also: why now?

BBG Ventures’ superpower is in supporting “overlooked” founders, particularly women and diverse groups who are targeting untapped markets. In this episode, Nisha sheds light on how demographic shifts post-COVID are presenting new opportunities for innovation and investment.

Nisha has a fascinating story, too: she’s the daughter of immigrants and grew up in a small Australian town. She worked in corporate law, consulting, and even lead strategy at AOL before co-founding BBG Ventures, launching their first institutional fund of $50 million in 2019!

Today, she shares deep insights into the venture capital world and reveals the evolving priorities within venture capital, the key considerations for investments, and how to create the perfect VC pitch, no matter what stage you’re in.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Nisha Dua's journey from corporate law, to consulting at Bain, managing strategy at AOL, and co-founding BBG Ventures
• The value of storytelling and 3 key questions founders should ask themselves in a VC pitch: Why now? Why this product? Why this team?
• Why non-linear career paths are OK (and sometimes better!) – allowing for serendipity and surprise
• VC pitching advice for pre-seed and seed founders, including common mistakes and red flags
• Drawing in overlooked founders and the importance of understanding the shifting identities, values, and behaviors of the American people

LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED

Learn more about BBG Ventures including their investments in the Polycultural Future of America.

Sarina is a consultant who works with startup leaders and entrepreneurs. Connect with her on her website, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn, and check out more episodes of the Career Memos podcast.

Gabby Slome’s founder journey is one of passion, resilience, and an unyielding belief in herself.

First, she experienced massive success with direct-to-consumer dog food subscription service Ollie and wasn’t afraid to put in the hustle to get the word out.  We cover the gritty grassroots marketing tactics she tried around Manhattan, the impact of direct-to-consumer models, and the surprising results that came with asking for help (including how she ended up talking to the Head of Food Safety at Burger King!) 

After stepping down from Ollie, Gabby launched her next venture, Cooper Parenting, a virtual lifeline for parents, featuring expert-led group workshops on everything from sleep, self-regulation, picky eating, and parental loneliness.

As a Mom of 3, Gabby gets raw, real, and honest about the juggle of motherhood, parenting, and running a successful business.

How does she stay present with her kids when an important email comes in? What self-care tactics does she make non-negotiable?

Gabby shares her secrets to “ruthless prioritization” and how becoming a parent made her a more empathic leader and manager.

One of my takeaways? You can almost always figure ANYTHING out if you access the right people. I can't wait for you to hear Gabby's wisdom, resilience, and storytelling!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Gabby’s background as a first-generation American, the child of two entrepreneurs, and a professional equestrian
• Starting Ollie, which involved grassroots marketing strategies (like distributing samples at dog parks and cold-calling customers for feedback)
• How Gabby honed her prioritization skills and became a more empathetic leader
• The moment Gabby knew to step down from Ollie to focus on Cooper Parenting – plus, her advice for fellow entrepreneurs who are running businesses while raising kids
• Gabby’s #1 tip for founders: the importance of passion and why not every passion project deserves to be a business

LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED

Check out Gabby Slome’s company, Cooper Parenting.

Sarina is a consultant who works with startup leaders and entrepreneurs. Connect with her on her website, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn, and check out more episodes of the Career Memos podcast.

Emma Bates had the idea for Diem while seeking answers on the internet about her health – and unable to find the kind of advice she wanted right then.

The company she started with her co-founder Divia Singh, Diem, aims to make conversations about women’s health more discoverable through a female-centric search engine akin to ChatGPT and Reddit. 

As it turns out, Emma wasn’t the only woman struggling to find what she needed on the internet. Before the company even went public, Diem amassed a wait list of 20,000 and raised $3 million dollars!

In this episode, Emma shares the secrets behind their success and incredible growth trajectory, from TechStars and a viral marketing campaign to their fundraising and extensive beta testing.

What’s helped her most is stepping into confidence and surrounding herself with supportive peers and mentors, which has been more beneficial than ANY professional experience she’s ever had.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• How Diem is like ChatGPT meets Reddit, focused on female-centric experiences that she says are like the kinds of information you’ll get in the girl’s bathroom at 1 a.m.
• Emma’s background studying war studies at King College, starting her blog, her work and how Diem was inspired by the morning after pill
• The confidence-building techniques Emma used (including power posing!) to secure funding and get Diem off the ground
• Diem’s trajectory from newsletter to platform, and why looking at market and user data is more important than consumer feedback
• Leaning into community, including the magic of working with an experienced mentor

LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED

Learn about Emma’s company, Diem and follow them on Instagram.

Sarina is a consultant who works with startup leaders and entrepreneurs. Connect with her on her website, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn, and check out more episodes of the Career Memos podcast.

Lee Rotenberg has exited not one, but TWO companies.

Want to know the secret to her genius? Quick decision-making. If you’ve got an idea, get it out there, perfection be damned. Pivot and edit until you have that perfect market fit.

In this episode, Lee shares her experience of starting and selling two businesses with her partner, Alex Schinasi: Ivy (business management software for interior design firms) and Clay (early childhood AI-powered learning).

You’ll hear a behind-the-scenes look at both ventures from beginning to end, along with great advice about co-founder relationships, productivity, and the importance of just taking the leap and being fluid with what comes next.

If you take anything away from today’s conversation, don’t “kill the idea” by limiting yourself to launching ventures about only what you know.

With Ivy, Lee and Alex infiltrated the interior design market even though they didn’t know anything about interior design! 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The importance of speed in the early stage of start-ups, particularly when it comes to pivoting and finding the perfect market fit
• Building to sell vs. building for the sake of building a great company (which Lee says is kind of similar to finding a life partner!)
• A perfect co-founder recipe: respect, trust, equity, and the ability to think creativity and move fluidly
• The process of creating, pivoting, and eventually selling both Ivy and Clay, and the lessons Lee and Alex are taking with them on their next venture
• “If you’re waiting for something to be perfect, you’re killing the idea” – and other thoughts from Lee about the power of action in building a business

LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Sarina is a consultant who works with startup leaders and entrepreneurs. Connect with her on her website, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn, and check out more episodes of the Career Memos podcast.

Have you ever been intrigued about angel investing, but unsure where to begin?

The path to getting started can feel incredibly daunting. How much money do you need? How can you “break in”?

Jaclyn Johnson is an inspirational trailblazer in the world of entrepreneurship and angel investing, and she’s here to demystify it all, while giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the process.

With a portfolio that includes 25 companies (!), Jaclyn is also the founder of Cherub, a platform that uses dating app mechanics to connect angel investors with entrepreneurs. 

The investing world can be fragmented, but Jaclyn breaks it all down with beginner tips from the average check size, to safe notes, what special purpose vehicles are, and how to get started.

You’ll also hear about angel investing from her perspective: what captures her attention as an investor, and the power of having a unique marketplace advantage, plus a truly compelling story – one that speaks to the heart of why your amazing product needs to exist in the world.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Jaclyn’s inspiring founder journey, and why she launched Cherub to bridge the gap between angel investors and entrepreneurs
• What angel investing is: who does it, what it looks like, and the benefits of angel investing as opposed to venture capital
• What to look for if you’re an angel investor, including founder credibility, unique marketplace advantages, and the potential for long-term returns
• Jaclyn’s experience with angel investing: why she does it (and it’s not just to make money!) and how her approach has evolved
• Tips for entrepreneurs funding through angel investing (be wary of taking little checks from lots of people!) and how to find investors who provide strategic value beyond just financial support

LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Check out Cherub and sign up for their newsletter. Also, be sure to take Jaclyn’s fundraising masterclass if you’re a founder raising capital.

Sarina is a consultant who works with startup leaders and entrepreneurs. Connect with her on her website, on Instagram, and on LinkedIn, and check out more episodes of the Career Memos podcast.

Welcome to another episode of Career Memos! I am thrilled to welcome Allison Messner, the Co-Founder and CEO of Yardzen, an online landscape design platform. Allison’s career journey has taken her from PR to a budding tech startup, where she witnessed their growth from 10 to 200 employees.

In partnership with her husband Adam, Allison’s mission at Yardzen is to make landscape design beautiful and affordable for the everyday homeowner. She shares the wild way she came up with the idea, and what it was like to build her startup from the ground up. Hint: it was a lot of bootstrapping at first! Her advice and wisdom about raising capital and working with VCs is absolute gold, and there are so many takeaways in this conversation. Enjoy!

Did you enjoy today’s episode? Leave us a rating and review!

Learn more about Sarina here: https://withsarina.com/about

Yardzen

Careers at Yardzen

TechCrunch Disrupt

OpenDNS

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Chandra Caridi is the VP of Human Resources at Oatly, the delicious, go-to oat milk brand. Chandra shares about her career journey, how to build a strong workplace culture, and how she ended up at a fast-growing, trending company like Oatly by embracing failure and curiosity and welcoming the unknown.

Today, Oatly has over 165 employees and is widely known for having an incredible workplace culture. I’m thrilled to bring this conversation to you.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? Leave us a rating and review!

Learn more about Sarina here: https://withsarina.com/about

Oatly

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Claire Knebl is the VP of Brand at Ritual, a fan favorite company supporting women's health. Kicking off her multifaceted career as an Online Editorial Assistant at Teen Vogue and even working for Glossier in the early days, Claire’s career journey is so fascinating and she offers all of her insights of what it’s like to work for a fast-growing startup, plus many gems of career advice you won’t want to miss.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? Leave us a rating and review!

Learn more about Sarina here: https://withsarina.com/about

Claire would love to offer Career Memos listeners 20% off your first month of Ritual using the code CAREER20.

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If you’ve ever heard of the Enneagram and the Myers Briggs personality assessments, or just love learning and discovering new things about yourself, this episode is for you. Molly Owen’s career path went from a self-proclaimed aimless circle to becoming CEO and founder of one of the most scientifically-sound personality test companies, Truity. 

With a passion for people, psychology, and problem-solving, Molly’s mission is to make personality tests that are reliable, affordable, and accurate. In this episode, you’ll learn how these fascinating assessments can offer you unique insights for your career path.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? Leave us a rating and review!

Learn more about Sarina here: https://withsarina.com/about

Truity

Career Personality Profiler

TypeFinder Assessment

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The Holland Code Test Is a Key Tool for New Job Seekers (and is free to take through June 2021 at this link)

My Guest Post on Truity’s Blog: How To Overcome Your Blind Spots by Enneagram Type

Today I’m sitting down with Amanda Rosenberg, the Brand Director for Allergan Aesthetics, a leading pharmaceutical company that creates cutting-edge products in the area of medical aesthetics, such as Botox and cool sculpting. Amanda’s career has had elements of glamour that skyrocketed her from London to New York working at many different companies all grounded in beauty and fashion, and it’s also been dotted with multiple leaps, jumps, pivots, and risks, too.

Amanda has truly done it all, from PR, to communications, marketing, and brand and in this conversation you’ll learn how she navigated burnout, what the work culture is really like in New York, and how relationships and having many advocates in her corner helped build her career.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? Leave us a rating and review!

Learn more about Sarina here: https://withsarina.com/about

Allergan Aesthetics

Amanda’s LinkedIn Profile

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