Female Founders Panel with Material
We hosted a female founders panel with Material (a new venture studio based in New York focused on co-founding and building companies alongside outstanding entrepreneurial talent) last week, and our goal was to inspire entrepreneurial risk-taking, especially during times of uncertainty.
Our all-star panel included:
Jenny Fleiss // Co-Founder, Rent the Runway & Jetblack
Annabel Liu // Co-Founder and VP of Engineering, Curated
Shan-Lyn Ma // CEO and Co-Founder, Zola
Lisa Skeete Tatum // Founder and CEO, Landit
Throughout our conversation, it became clear that these leaders have all had different career journeys filled with major victories and defeats, but they all shared the perseverance necessary to reach their current level of success. Some additional themes and tenets emerged:
Trust your gut
Shan encouraged would-be entrepreneurs to ask themselves if they are honestly ready to make the commitment that it takes to start a new venture. It can be all consuming and you have to be all in, something that she realized before she even began working on Zola.
Annabel described a moment when she was asked to explain her dream job while she was working in a highly corporate setting. Today she is living out that dream in her role as VP of Engineering and Founder of Curated.
Jenny had a professor at HBS who gave her the confidence she needed to pursue the idea for Rent the Runway and she followed her instinct to heed the advice.
Lisa has consistently followed her “true north” and she believes this has led her to make some very important hires who have contributed greatly to her success at Landit.
Strike a balance
Lisa encouraged all entrepreneurs to remember when to ask for help and to make sure that ask is intentional. She described the process of prioritizing different areas of her life and using that as a framework to be sure that nothing gets left behind.
Annabel explained that she could only find real success in her own company when she began to delegate in different areas of her life, especially when it came to child care.
Jenny includes her children in conversations about her work so that they understand that it’s more than just a job, it’s a major part of every parent’s life (especially if they’re running a billion dollar company!).
Shan admitted that she’s not always able to fit everything in, she was even caught exercising at midnight last week!
Be frank about finances
Jenny suggested that founders do a deep dive on how much money they might need to raise before turning to venture capital for funding. Some startups don’t require this extra push!
Shan explained how important it was to her to have a financial safety net when she was first getting started. She went in depth on her cost of living and moved into a less expensive apartment so that she felt more comfortable taking the risk.
Annabel realized she was able risk leaving her comfortable corporate job because she had worked her way to a high level and was in the financial position to make that type of decision.
We are so grateful for the wisdom that was shared during this panel and hope that it was an inspiring event for all those who joined us. I’ll close with a quote from Lisa who shared a favorite saying: “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
