The road to entrepreneurship- Week 3

Hi! My name is Pavandeep, I am a Research Scientist turned Strategy Consultant, looking to make a difference in the world of healthcare. Join me as I chart my journey into the world of Venture Building at ZINC a mission driven venture builder that brings together 70 individuals from diverse backgrounds to innovate and build companies in areas of high global need. Cohort seven's mission: the effect of climate change on health.

Week 3: Dear Co Founder...

Our week started with an early morning rendezvous at St Pancras station where all 70 of us were whisked off to spend three intense days getting to know one another in the Peak District. There is nothing quite like the cold, wet and remote out doors to teach you who you can found a company with! Throughout the residential, we tackled a variety of activities including abseiling, rock climbing, zip lining and the odd (if VERY competitive) game of archery tag thrown in. We came back each evening exhausted but content, having learned something new about each other and ready to explore and talk further over a pint or glass of wine, long into the autumnal evenings.

Spending time away from the office meant that once we arrived back at Zinc HQ we felt instantly more at ease and many of those professional "walls" we had raised previously had been eroded somewhat. This week we also pitched ourselves to the rest of the cohort, making a case for ourselves, our skills and what we were looking for in our Co Founders.

Ella Goldner (Levy) and Paul Kirby rounded of the week by providing some words of advice on our next steps and left us with these thoughts. A Co Founder relationship must be additive and mutually beneficial. In other words, does 1+1 equal 11 rather than just 2? The best way to test this will be to work with one another, our goal for next week.

The activities and interactions on the search for a Co Founder have taken on a different. Here are my reflections.

Can we go to the trenches together?

There is nothing like the great outdoors to expose the true nature of a person. While at Zinc HQ, it was evident that many individuals, including myself where in "work mode", a mask we put on without evening realising. The residential was a great way for us to see each other with a different context . Who is competitive? Who is collaborative? Who helped me when I needed it and how did each person interact with the rest of the cohort? For me, this was a great indicator of individuals that I wanted to get to know further and helped me to explore relationships with some people who I may not have ordinarily gravitated towards.

Trust your gut

Trust plays a huge part in developing a strong Co-Founder relationship. Ultimately, you will end up spending most of your time with this person so you need to understand from the get go that you can build a strong relationship with them. The residential provided ample opportunity for us to put ourselves in vulnerable positions with one another For many this looked like the top of a vertical obstacle frame we had climbed together or at the end of a long, self navigated hike. Ultimately it helped us realise that even though, we might be very different individuals, our values and approach to tackling problems must align. For this, we must be able to trust each other implicitly and most importantly, feel like we have each others backs in the toughest of situations.

Advocate for yourself

The ability to show up for yourself and sing your own praises is an important and often overlooked skill in the UK. To attract the right kind of Co Founder, one must be able to demonstrate the skills, expertise and value that you will bring to the relationship. During this process, I have had to become more and more comfortable speaking up about myself but have founded it overall rewarding! There are areas of my very varied background that I had overlooked or taken for granted but that others see great benefit in. It has been a great lesson in understanding that the aspect of yourself that you find most mundane could be your biggest asset.

Know what you want in a Co Founder

In a similar vein, understanding the kind of individual you want to go into business with can be a useful tool to help narrow down your search for a Co Founder. This may be something very specific if you have an idea in mind and you need support to make it a reality (for example, someone with a technical, marketing or commercial background). For others, this might mean something more intangible such as similar working styles, good conversation or shared vision. The decision ultimately is very personal but it is useful to have an idea in mind so you can be clear on where to consider and rule out a Co Founder before getting too overwhelmed.

Thanks for reading! I am still playing with the format of this blog so please let me know your thoughts, I would love to know if there is anything I can include what would be of interest to the community.

Many of my wonderful cohort are accounting their journeys and perspectives. To learn about them, you can click on the links below.

• Donna Egan
• Josh Piddock
• Veronika Bridgman
• Marjo Palanee
• A final thank you needs to go to Francisco Morejón for hosting a fantastic webinar from Mustafa Suleyman from Inflection AI and former Google DeepMind . His new book 'The Coming Wave' is currently making my long commute much more bearable.

If you would like to learn more about the process, mission and my journey, or your would like to help, please reach out, Follow me or subscribe to this Newsletter.