What's Your Ask? with Stephanie Sims

Andrea Heuston is the founder and CEO of Artitudes Design who has been in the tech industry for 30 years.

Her company, Artitudes Design, is a full-service creative services and experiential design firm that specializes in providing high level speaking and design support to top executives.

Andrea is a respected business leader and entrepreneur who is sought after as a board member, a keynote speaker, a prolific voice on women's and leadership topics in the workforce as well as a LinkedIn Social network influencer.

In 2018, her article, "Lead Like a Woman" became the 3rd most viewed article on LinkedIn.

Andrea is passionate about helping close the gender gap for women in business and hosts the Lead Like a Woman podcast where she interviews top women leaders as they share their stories on life and leadership.

Andrea shares how she finds the first step in getting started is mindset - know you belong at the table with an enterprise company at the C-Suite level. They may be high-powered but they do not have your product or your knowledge. You have a lot to give. You provide value.

Reach out to people you have a previous connection with as they are more likely to be open to the conversation rather than a new connection. People are receptive to helping others. And, surprisingly, the people who are farther away from your day-to-day work are more likely to help. Adam Grant says there is power in that connection. Those close to you are part of the story, not as likely to help grow the story.

Learn more about making confident asks in this episode of the What's Your Ask show with Stephanie Sims as she hosts Andrea Heuston, founder and CEO of Artitudes Design. Andrea discuss with Stephanie how to spend your time on what you're good at and passionate about.

• Andrea Heuston on LinkedIn
• Lead Like a Woman
• Artitudes Design
• Adam Grant Give and Take
• Melinda Gates The Moment of Lift
• Finance-Ability
• Stephanie Sims
• Stephanie Sims LinkedIn

Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.

Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.

Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there's anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.

Stephanie Sims is a Capital Strategist and the Founder of Finance-Ability, a boutique consulting firm focused on helping entrepreneurs get the funding they need to grow their business.

Stephanie founded Finance-Ability after more than 20 years of working on both Wall Street and Main Street. Now she teaches entrepreneurs to paint a picture with numbers that helps them make confident decisions and captivate people with money to say yes.

Taking an idea to build it into a business is a leap of faith. Having supporters before you are even ready for the ask makes it that much easier to get going.

Crafting a product and business based on a need and lessons learned from family, Emeline created a business worth supporting. And, then speaking about the opportunity even before it was truly an opportunity allowed Caitlyn to ask to join. By seizing that moment, together, they have created a business that is now ready to go out and ask for more investors.

The support of family and friends allowed them to create a value-based company that could craft their product prior to needed the ask. But, now that it's time, they are preparing to make the ask. By surrounding themselves with those who have already accomplished those asks, it provides motivation and the mindset to be prepared.

P.S. Here's their takeaway for you: find balance between the inspiring lack of fear in reaching for the lofty goals by finding partners who can put legs to your ideas.

Stephanie Sims is a Capital Strategist and the Founder of Finance-Ability, a boutique consulting firm focused on helping entrepreneurs get the funding they need to grow their business.

Stephanie founded Finance-Ability after more than 20 years of working on both Wall Street and Main Street. Now she teaches entrepreneurs to paint a picture with numbers that helps them make confident decisions and captivate people with money to say yes.

One critical mistake that startup companies make is failing to captivate potential investors—and ultimately losing out on the funding you need. Because the founders aren't ready or prepared to seal the deal, this same mistake ends up making startup accelerator programs look bad on Demo Day. Are you doing this? If you are, Stephanie Sims is here to help you in this episode of the What's Your Ask show.

According to Stephanie Sims, founders make a (huge!) mistake when they don't know their numbers since they're unable to show investors why investing in their company is a potentially profitable investment. So, how do you rectify this? Which numbers are critical for founders to know and how can you get it right? Listen to this episode of the What's Your Ask show with Stephanie Sims as she breaks down the details of knowing your numbers, why it is crucial for your success on Demo Day, and how to go about learning your numbers.

Sonny Patel is the Founder and CEO of Insurmi, an AI-based engagement platform for insurance carriers. He started the company just three years ago at the age of 21 while working as a Sales Director and Financial Advisor for a top life insurance company. During that time, he realized the process of buying and selling insurance was unnecessarily cumbersome and outdated.

Determined to change the process, Sonny worked to develop a solution that would simplify the task and take the guesswork out of insurance buying. That solution would eventually become Insurmi. Now, Insurmi is being used by top tier global insurance carriers to generate new business online, streamline customer claims, and deliver excellent customer service through conversational AI.

The fundraising ask requires you to prepare yourself on how to present and position the opportunity in a way that excites your investors. And to do that, Sonny Patel, CEO of Insurmi, says you have to approach it like a sales process. That involves qualifying investors to reach out to, being confident about what you're doing, and knowing how to convert undecided investors, just to name a few.

Listen to this episode of What's Your Ask with Stephanie Sims as she interviews Sonny Patel, the CEO of Insurmi, about his experience of raising a million dollars in seed funding. Together, they talk about fundraising as a sales process, how to convert undecided investors, carrying out due diligence, and more.

Keith Ippel is an ecosystem builder, keynote speaker, and advisor to incubators, accelerators, donors, and governments. With over 20 years of experience as a leader in technology and impact businesses, Keith has helped accelerate the growth of small and large companies alike and has raised over 30 million in angel investment and venture capital. Moreover, his background has given him an unparalleled ability to collaborate with entrepreneurs, employees, and investors to grow businesses and change the world.

Keith now leads Spring, a global incubator and accelerator that empowers entrepreneurs and entrepreneur ecosystem organizations to build better businesses and change the world. To date, Spring has supported entrepreneurs in over 30 cities across five continents, while its impact programs have helped over 750 entrepreneurs launch more than 350 businesses and raised over 24 million in early-stage capital.

The single biggest mistake that entrepreneurs make when raising funds is to treat investors like a bank account that they need to access. According to Keith Ippel, this creates an unbalanced power dynamic which leaves the entrepreneur feeling vulnerable. As a result, entrepreneurs try and regain this balance by keeping investors at an arm's length the moment they get the check. Keith says that this is far from ideal because the reality is, the relationship between the entrepreneur and the investor being equal is a choice that they make from day one.

Find out more about balancing the entrepreneur-investor power dynamic in this episode of the What's Your Ask with Stephanie Sims, as she discusses with Keith Ippel of Spring. They'll be talking about how entrepreneurs are mismanaging relationships with investors, best tips on how to better understand how investors think, and more. Stay tuned.

Leslie Goldman is the General Partner and Co-Founder of The Artemis Fund, a female-founded, female-focused venture capital fund that invests in tech-enabled seed and series A companies.

Leslie is also an active Angel Investor, Board Member of The Houston Angel Network, Investment Committee Member of Blue Ivy Ventures, and Strategic Advisor for Rebel Fund among other advisory and board positions.

Leslie is also a frequent speaker on venture capital, diversity in startups, unconscious bias, and angel investing. Before founding Artemis, Leslie practiced law and worked to recruit legal and board-level talent.

Venture capitalists are looking for the right company to triple their investment within the shortest time possible. To get the funding you need from VCs, you will have to show the cold, hard numbers on how your business can help them achieve their goals. To accomplish this, Leslie Goldman says you would have to get as comfortable with your financials as your CFO. A big part of knowing your financials is showing your investors where the exit or the potential exit is located. In this episode of What's Your Ask with host Stephanie Sims, you'll hear from Leslie Goldman, General Partner and Co-Founder of The Artemis Fund, about powering your investment asks through your financials. They also talk about how founders should research VCs before asking and why founders should know just as much about their financials as their CFO. Keep listening.

Eric Smith has over ten years of experience in Technology Commercialization and a passion for entrepreneurship. Eric came to the University of Arizona Center for Innovation after serving as the Commercialization Network Manager for Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the University of Arizona's office responsible for moving UA research and technological innovation into the marketplace.

While Eric was at TLA, he focused on building and leveraging a network of domain experts and business leaders who consult on university technologies to help reveal their commercial relevance. He also managed the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps grant program, or NSF-I-Corps, which teaches inventing teams about Lean Startup methodology and customer discovery.

An entrepreneur in his own right, Eric started, developed, and sold his first company to embark on a career in various technology startups. He holds a BS, BA in Business Management, B.S. in Entrepreneurship, and an MBA from the University of Arizona.

First-time founders are always eager to pitch even before figuring out who their customers are and what they want. According to Eric Smith, Executive Director at the UA Center for Innovation, these founders often have one thing in common: they fail to carry out useful customer discovery. The result is an ask that does not inspire confidence in the customer or a potential investor.

How, then, do you carry out useful customer discovery? Eric says ultimately, you need to have a clear understanding of what exactly you're asking for and why you're asking for it. Armed with that information, you should ask your prospects questions that'll help you discover their pain points and identify who's giving you the money.

Learn more about making confident asks in this episode of the What's Your Ask show with Stephanie Sims as she hosts Eric Smith, Executive Director of the UA Center for Innovation. Stephanie and Eric discuss what to do before you ask, how to conduct better customer discovery, common mistakes made when preparing a pitch, and more.

Jackie Roberts is the Executive Director for SparkLabs Frontier-ASU. For over ten years, Jackie has helped organizations expand in the valley during hyper-growth times and in various leadership roles. She joined SparkLabs Group in 2019 to lead the SparkLabs Frontier-ASU accelerator program in partnership with ASU entrepreneurship and innovation.

Jackie has been responsible for several brand market and office launches within the startup space, with the most notable being Booker Software and DoubleDutch.

With a passion for supporting local entrepreneurship, Jackie is committed to building more local Phoenix startup success stories.

Entrepreneurs trying to raise funds are often unsure when it comes to the best source of capital to prioritize. Should you spend your time pursuing grants, angel investments, venture capital, or all three? Jackie Roberts says that whichever route you choose, you need to have an effective plan that makes the outcome of going to investors predictable. That involves setting your priorities straight and deciding on the funding your business qualifies for, before going after it.

Find out more about preparing to face investors and predicting the outcome of asks in this episode of the What's Your Ask Podcast as Stephanie Sims interviews Jackie Roberts, the Executive Director of SparkLabs Frontier-ASU. Listen along as they discuss how entrepreneurs are navigating Big Scary Asks, how to prepare for investors, how to decide the type of funding to go after, and more.

Leart Zogjani is a talented graphic designer, teacher, and serial entrepreneur. He's worked in design since the age of 14 and first had his work published worldwide when he was only 17. Leart's first startup was an open-world game for iOS, which won second place out of 118 companies at Techstars Global Startup Battle.

He then founded Skins Agency, a brand strategy and development agency that specializes in global brands and successful investment pitches. Leart's latest venture, Symbolt, is a creative design space for marketing teams that struggle with lengthy document revisions, allowing graphic designers and marketers to collaborate on a project without interrupting each other's work. Symbolt is part of the StartupYard Accelerator program and is gearing up for a funding round.

Leart has spoken at International Motion Festival in Cyprus, has exhibited at Ars Electronica festival in Austria, and has had his work published in several scientific and design books. These days, he splits his time between Prague and Kosovo, where he still teaches graphic design at two colleges.

Asking is hard. As entrepreneurs, we want to figure things out on our own, so we feel uncomfortable reaching out for help. And when we do get out of our own way, we don't want to come off as too demanding, desperate, or like we're demanding a favor. Could there be a better way to ask? What if instead of seeking favors, you could present opportunities to people who need them?

For Leart Zogjani, the best way to do this is by finding a fit before making an ask. And that entails empathizing with the person, understanding the value they are looking for, and framing your offer in terms of mutual benefit. Listen to this episode of What's Your Ask with Stephanie Sims, and Leart Zogjani of Symbolt.io, to learn more.

Geralyn Breig is the Founder and CEO of AnytownUSA.com, the first eCommerce marketplace for American-made goods which she launched in 2018. She's also the host of the American Made Marketplace podcast.

Before founding AnytownUSA, Geralyn ran operations for Fortune 500 companies, specializing in leading consumer products and specialty retail brands. She also previously served as President of Clarks Americas, a $1 billion division of the global footwear company.

Geralyn has a leadership style that has helped many iconic brands to excel, having previously been the President of Avon North America, President of Godiva Chocolatier International, and VP of Marketing for Pepperidge Farm. Today, she serves on the boards of 1800flowers.com and Hanesbrands Inc.

As an entrepreneur, you often feel pressured to figure things out by yourself. This can prevent you from asking for help, even if it's about your much-needed funding. Then, when you overcome those constraints and try to raise funding, you're usually unsure about what to expect. Geralyn Breig has gone through this process, having raised seed funding from family and friends to institutional funding for her startup AnytownUSA. She shares insight on what you can expect throughout the process.

Listen to this episode of the What's Your Ask Podcast with Stephanie Sims and hear from Geralyn Breig, Founder and CEO of AnytownUSA. She talks about how she overcomes the fear of asking and will touch on raising seed capital from family, friends, and institutions. Geralyn also shares her insight on how to manage your expectations and better handle the "no's" until you get your "yes".