If you can be anything, be an imposter

Dear Founders,

This month’s edition includes a longer, heartfelt letter from the POV of our founder and CEO, Kristin Slink. We hope the vulnerability and authenticity inside uplifts and inspires you.

Happy reading!

Kristin, Ashley, and Alyssa

If You Can Be Anything, Be An Imposter: A Letter from our CEO & Founder, Kristin Slink

Hello to Founders at all stages.

My name is Kristin Slink, I'm a 4x founder, I've raised $55M in funding, had 2 of my companies acquired, I've been featured as a speaker, judge and panelist...

And you may be surprised to learn that last month I gave my first keynote speech.

To be honest, I was feeling a bit of imposter syndrome as I was preparing. As I am sure many of you can relate, doing something new for the first time is scary, uncertain, and mostly uncomfortable. This is the epitome of “imposter syndrome” - and mostly because we are just that.

We're all imposters.

And bear with me on this. By the end, you'll understand why this is actually a good thing.

Ten years ago, I had drained my 401K, had $5 in my bank account, and my wildly expensive San Diego rent was due in 5 days.

From the outside, no one else would have known the panic we were facing. BUT, my co-founder and I had found angel investors who were interested. As anyone who has sat across the table from an investor knows, you are asked a LOT of questions to "poke holes" in your business model, leadership team, numbers, and strategy.

I let these questions grind away at my self confidence. I let them make me feel like I didn't belong.

I had let imposter syndrome settle in, but all along I had exactly what every founder needs to be successful at the beginning of their journey:

1. A deep understanding of my target market- their problem, needs, and motivations that would turn them into loyal customers

2. Empathy, and the ability to ask great questions and actually LISTEN. By listening to customer feedback, I could prioritize the features they wanted, design a product that felt intuitive to them, and, in the end, pioneer an entirely new market.

3. A WHY that was bigger than me or any obstacle. There was literally nothing that was going to stop me, for better or for worse. I would put up with sexism, toxic leadership, glass ceilings, and worse. I leaned on that WHY, and it gave me what I needed to be here now.

The investors could smell our desperation, so they gave us terms that benefited them and took away all our power.

We jumped at the chance.

I was about to learn that getting funded may solve some problems, but it can introduce a whole new set of challenges- especially as a woman founder.

Read More

Prepare for Conversations with Developers:

We begin with Visionary AF on June 26

It’s not enough to have a great tech idea.

Not even validating your idea with customers will get it on the market. (Although we STRONGLY urge you to avoid skipping this step!)

One must learn the skills and confidence to be able to effectively communicate those ideas to their tech teams.

You will do this (and more!) in Level II of the Tech AF Founder Academy.

As former software engineer, current product designer, and Tech AF Founder Academy graduate Namrata Kannan will tell you about how the curriculum prepared her for developer conversations:

“The data room that I had for developers, the entire act of presenting it, going through the checklist and seeing, ‘Am I prepared?’ helped me feel like I was ready to have those external conversations, because I had had this conversation multiple times over.”

The best part? These were discussions Namrata was already having at the time of this interview! Watch more about how her Tech AF experience prepared her:

Join Namrata on our list of confident graduates and walk away with these benefits:

Visionary AF Deliverables:

• Product User Hierarchy
• Transform Product Features into User Stories
• User Journeys and Flows
• Product Feedback Presentation
• Initial Feature Prioritization

Tech AF Deliverables:

• Low Fidelity Wireframes
• Low Fidelity Clickable Prototype
• Complete Data Room

The Tech AF Difference

Most of us don’t have the time to lead ourselves through the process of building a business and just want to skip to the meat of it all. For Tech AF graduates, having "super structured” coursework meant being able to concentrate on the pieces that helped move their businesses forward. Compared to other courses, Tech AF is different in the way it combines:

? A schedule and Founder Pod to hold you accountable

? Step by step video instruction

? Detailed templates & examples

? A community to talk it out with

? Live feedback sessions with startup pros who CARE

The cost for developers to complete these deliverables on your behalf can range anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. (And they may not complete them the way you envision.)

We’re offering you our Level II Courses as a bundle at $1600 or individually at $796 for Visionary AF and $1188 for Tech AF.

Next Steps

Schedule a call with our founders to see if we’re a great fit for each other! If you’re ready to take your skills to the next level, we’re starting Visionary AF on June 26th and Tech AF on August 14.

For the full schedule and deliverables, please review our course plans below.

?? Bundle Level II and save $384:

Tech AF Founder Academy - LEVEL TWO

Visionary AF & Tech AF give you the skills to lead conversations with your tech teams & create your clickable prototype!

Buy $1,600.00 USD

Or, start with Visionary AF, and have the option to continue through Tech AF.

Visionary AF

Visionary AF gives you the language and visuals to be able to lead the conversations with your tech teams.

Buy $796.00 USD

These programs can only be accessed if you are a free member of our Founder Community. To become a member, you must be a female or nonbinary founder. Follow either of the above registrations to be granted access to the community.

Dissect the Data Room of an Academy Graduate- With EZ Innovation

Join our upcoming (free!) event and take a peek at the deliverables students will be creating in our Level II course by joining Tech AF Graduate, Keita Wangari, and her new tech team at EZInnovation. In this event, we'll walk through the deliverables that Keita created through Tech AF. These deliverables turned her idea into a reality- one that she is building with EZ Innovation RIGHT NOW.

In this workshop you will be shown:

?? Thorough examples of a data room

?? Why each of the documents inside help technical experts like EZ Innovation understand your business and vision.

?? How a quote is structured from these documents.

?? Next steps.

Don't take our word for how powerful these deliverables are; come see for yourself.

Friday, June 21 at 12:00 PM EDT

Data Room Dissection- with EZ Innovation

In this workshop made specifically for the Tech AF Founder Community with?EZ Innovation, you will be shown: ?? Thorough examples of a data room* ?? Why each of the documents inside help technical experts like?EZ Innovation?understand your business and vision.? ?? How a quote is structured from these documents. ?? Next steps.? *Provided by one of...

RSVP

Can't make it? No worries! Check back in the community's Resource Library for the recording.

Crombie Joins Tech AF By Sponsoring Women & Nonbinary Founders

We are thrilled to announce that Crombie is adding resources to the Tech AF Founder Community through sponsorship!

Crombie stands as a beacon of Empathy-Driven Innovation Company, skillfully blending software engineering with business strategy. With 19 years of experience, Crombie is committed to building lasting partnerships and turning visionary ideas into tangible realities—all delivered with a human touch. ;-)

More than just driving growth and innovation, Crombie is committed to creating a more sustainable future. “We believe that technology is a tool, not an end in itself. At Crombie, we transform services to truly connect with people and businesses, to drive mutual progress. Our passion for understanding human needs helps us turn indifference into meaningful difference, strengthening our collective ability to move forward.”

Keep an eye out for a future educational event with Crombie. In the meantime, they have already shared this free ebook for you, available to women and nonbinary founders in our Founder Community Resource Library!

As one of our sponsors, Crombie helps us even the playing field by lowering barriers to high-quality education, resources, and networks.

Every month, Tech AF reaches 100+ women and nonbinary tech founders through our online community PLUS another 4k in our various communications channels– including this newsletter!

Thank you to all our sponsors who help make the magic happen!

Sponsor Women Founders

Graduate Spotlight

THIS ACADEMY GRAD HELPS OTHERS MAKE "THE SWITCH" IN THEIR TECH CAREERS

NAMRATA KANNAN (Xoogler, currently at Meta) has close to a decade’s experience in tech. Software engineer-turned-product designer, she now wants to empower folks who desire to transition into new roles and domains, and hence founded Switch.

Switching to a new role is lonely and non-linear. The goal at Switch is to empower ambitious self-starters in their career transition journeys, by connecting them to the right people and resources. How does Namrata and her team plan to do this? By providing users with an upskilling curriculum tailored to their past experience, community, and 1:1 guidance to help them land their next roles in tech.

Know anyone who is looking to switch into a new tech role? Ask them to join the Switch community. Are you- or someone you know -a UXD or Product Manager who wants to give back? Share this link to join the community. Maybe you're a career coach who is interested in sharing expertise/finding new clients. You are also welcome to join.

When asked what she values about the Tech AF Founder Academy and Community, Namrata said:

Are you a woman or nonbinary tech founder looking for a supportive startup community?

?? Join our FREE community community.iamtechaf.com

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Tech AF brings together women tech founders in a safe and supportive community to create money-making businesses and products customers love so that we can live life on our own terms.

Make a Difference

Tech AF is a movement. Our mission is to diversify the tech landscape by getting funding into the hands of women and non-binary founders. Here’s how you can help:

• Give Women Your Money
• Wear our Merch
• Book an Investor Breakfast
• Become a Member

Wishing you all the best on your Founder Journey. ??

Sincerely,