Unlocking Success: 5 Key Insights from My Venture Builder Accelerator Journey - VB7 @Zinc

Over the past couple of weeks, I got contacted by founders going through the application process to join the Venture Builder Cohort 8 (VB8) Zinc . I thought it would be a perfect timing to reflect on my experience and share my learnings and insights on my venture builder accelerator journey.?

This has been a transformative experience and life changing: the growth opportunities that came out of it, the new network & fantastic relationships I have developed as well as the acquired expertise and competencies. I have no regret doing it and if I was talking to my old self a year ago knowing my journey and what I know now, I'd advise to go for this journey without hesitation.

The next venture building cohort dedicated to building businesses that tackle a critical challenge facing the health people or the planet, kicks off in June - and applications will close on Wednesday 15th May. Apply here: https://www.zinc.vc/?

TOP 5 Insights from my venture builder journey that led to funding

1. Lean into your strength

That’s what Hawo Hussein advised me in the process and I kept this close with me throughout my experience. As you go along the recruitment and then the program, remember why you are here. They picked you because of your strength.?I am a hustler: this led to a significant amount of interviews (the ground work) and potential partners in place in a short amount of time. In my life, I climbed the social ladder with my work ethics and built amazing relationships along the way. A 'delayed for months' health hospital appointment before the start of the program, led to many intros down the line including to who became our partner 6 months later.

2. Know yourself & your values?

Before the start of the program, I wrote a newsletter on cofounder break-ups. I had many valuable tips from Tatseng Chiam but also from Trudie Fell , especially on values. With hindsight, what I would have done differently in the program is to explore what these values mean in practice.?

My coach, Nicola Butcher (CPsychol, ACC) , shared wonderful questions to think about when exploring a partnership including this one which I thought was really helpful: ‘What are the acceptable and unacceptable behavioural norms for our partnership? What could this look like in everyday terms? How could we recognise or address these in the future?’.?

If anything, the Zinc program strengthened my values around authenticity, growth mindset, giving back, transparency and integrity. It also highlighted the importance of not only setting boundaries but also reinforcing them if needed and most importantly to trust yourself and your instinct.?(which I failed to do on many occasions!)

3. Get a support network: Founders and Mentors

Zinc set up a support network - your support circle. I had incredible members in mine Tara Mahboub Guy Naor Veronika Bridgman Joss Rogers - all different and inspiring founders. I am grateful for the support throughout the journey and look forward to keeping in touch. Fellows from the Zinc network or outside Mentors have been critical in my experience during this journey. In particular, a big shoutout to an experienced founder & executive Rob Gabel who mentored me. When I was at my lowest, he picked up the phone and made what seemed like a big problem that was suffocating me into something easy to solve, bringing clarity to my thought process. Hearing about Silicon Valley stories and his perspective really helped me move forward.?

4. Interest vs Passion

I did not want to work on something just interesting. I wanted to have some personal connection to it and be passionate about it. One of my favourite TEDX Talk is Why you will fail to have a great career by Larry Smith. He tells it all. From air pollution and my ongoing chronic respiratory issues, to breast cancer and seeing this through my loved ones, I picked topics that I would be angry about (poke Kelly Moir ???? reflecting on our convo!). I cried too, especially after user interviews. Working with passion made it harder to transition to something else, but I have no regret. Oh and also - Pick a big problem with a big TAM!

5. Focus

I did not join the after bootcamp drinks, the eating out and many social moments with my cohort. I was on a budget (thanks Huel for the ride - feel free to sponsor me now that I am unemployed), and each day during bootcamp, I was dropping off my dog Mozart to doggy care so he does not stay alone all day, rushing back to collect him after bootcamp. I did not do any Peer 2 Peer (P2P) presentation, I could have done something on community building and social media - but I wanted to keep my energy to get to know everyone (during my time in office) and to learn about different industries. This means when I was in office, I was fully present and focused. I did not ask many questions at the beginning, I observed, learned and listened. I was a sponge. All of this did not prevent me from getting investment.

This Newsletter and what’s next

You've subscribed and now what? It's over? No. Stay around if you’d like to learn more about under-represented founders in health, climate and economic empowerment. I want to keep this newsletter going, and highlight the founders' journey like I highlighted mine when I started this newsletter. I wish LinkedIn would offer ‘Chapters’ for newsletters like YouTube have ‘Playlists’ for content curation purposes.?

If you have been following since day 1, My Newsletter covers:

• Pre Zinc Venture Builder Program - monthly frequency
• During Zinc Venture Builder Program - weekly frequency
• Post Zinc Venture Builder Program - hoping monthly to bimonthly

NB: Please do me a favour, it’s currently at 666 subscribers - get someone else subscribe to it!

How you can help

The Social Capital Post Venture Builder

I am taking the time to figure out my next step. Ellie ( Eleanor Ford ) highlighted the social capital that I have developed in the last couple of months.?

This projected me back to my Uni years in Aix en Provence, where I studied sociology. During these years, I dug deeper on Bourdieu and the social, cultural and economic capital.

Bourdieu's theory asserts that individuals accumulate social, economic, and cultural capital through their social interactions and upbringing, influencing their opportunities and status in society. These forms of capital intersect and shape power dynamics, perpetuating social inequality. (Chat GPT summarised this for me, but if interested to learn more [Reference: (Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241-258). Greenwood Press.)]?

I am grateful for the amount of support I have received since I shared in my last newsletter, my departure from my venture post VC investment. Ellie suggested a fun idea around 50 coffee chats. I have been having a lot of chats since, catching up with friends, old colleagues, fellows and mentors. So here we are!?

The 50 Coffee chats Challenge post venture builder program.?

Virtual or InPerson.. If you’ve been following my journey and want to catch up whether you know me or not - Book time here as I am figuring out my next step!?Help me complete 50 chats post Zinc program.

Looking forward to catching up with some of you!

Want to read other’s founder’s story?

• Donna Egan here?
• Guy Naor here with his co-founder Gopal J. working on Bygones Building transformative, modular solutions for carbon-reductive energy and materials.
• Lisa Rickers here with her co-founders Asam Rafi and Phil Wakefield Wakefield working on Ultra BiOmics , Your co-pilot for metabolic health
• Louise Thomas William Hicks working on Air Aware Labs, Empowering every individual with access to clean air?
• Pavandeep Rai here working with Dr Karim Sandid stayce cavanaugh on Kuma Health , Building the future of autoimmune diseases care.
• Veronika Bridgman here?
• Natalia here

Thank you for reading my newsletter, don’t hesitate to share any comments, questions, suggestions of resources to help me in my journey or even experts to follow on LinkedIn!Don’t forget to subscribe