Shadiah Sigala is the Founder and CEO of Kinside, a platform to provide modern childcare benefits for today’s working parent. Childcare issues cost the United States’ economy an estimated $4.4 billion in lost productivity each year and also impact employee retention rates. Kinside serves hundreds of employers by connecting their employees to tens of thousands of reserved spots at top rated daycares and preschools nationwide. Kinside’s intuitive app brings much-needed relief for new parents transitioning back into the workplace, and aids employers in their retention efforts with parents at all stages. Kinside has raised over $4M from investors including Initialized Capital, Haystack, Precursor Ventures, January Ventures, Y Combinator and Kairos.

Shadiah is a serial tech entrepreneur, previously co-founding HoneyBook, a SaaS tech company that powers over 50,000 freelancers in managing their business and clients. Shadiah broke ground in her first generation Mexican-American immigrant family by receiving degrees from Harvard (Master's in Public Policy) and Pomona College (BA in Latin American Studies. She has authored groundbreaking studies regarding the gender pay gap and sexual harassment in the freelance economy, published on Fortune, Forbes, and Huffington Post, among others.

In this episode, we will cover:

How Shadiah’s love of novelty and challenge led her to the world of startups

Why Shadiah thinks it’s a mistake to keep a new idea under wraps

The role of co-founders and how to find them

Why it’s important for founders taking care of themselves – and to take a pay check from day one

Raising the first round of capital, showcasing confidence, and equalizing the dynamic between investors and founders

The case for selling ahead of building and landing your first customer with a PowerPoint pitch

Kinside’s critical role in addressing the childcare crisis caused by the pandemic