Welcome to pitch like a goddess. Um How precede founders with a vision for humanity can defy the stats of magnetized millions. So, are you let me know, are you a founder? Um you know, in the chat? And if so, you know, what stage are you at?Um Have you fund raised or are you thinking of fundraising, Erica, not a founder, but I'd like to learn more about it. Thank you. And as you all respond, I'll just keep going. So I'm the founder of the female founders lab, um which is a venture accelerator for ideas that can transform systems. Um So I'm gonna tell you a little bit of a story of my experience. I've been in the start up ecosystem for more than 15 years in the social impact space globally. So I've worked across multiple continents with founders from every industry at the very early stages where um you know, maybe you have an idea or you have some traction. Um but it's really the unknown territory where there is no road map um except for your guiding vision and hopefully there's people in your corner who have gone through the journey uh previously and can guide you Selina, not a founder but want to learn more. Great. So why story starts with me on the stage of the Bombay Stock Exchange in August 2016. And this is a dress rehearsal for one of the really elite, uh, tech accelerators in India, um, where I've been chosen as one of the top 10 ventures in the country.

And, um, it's the dress rehearsal for our demo day. So for the previous six weeks, it's been daily, like, you know, just like dozens of mentors pitch deck, um and mentorship and just getting ready to pitch to investors on the demo day, which is happening the next day. And I'm actually, um and, and in the demo day, there's gonna be, you know, investors playing in from all over the world and companies like Google and Vodafone and the government of India. And so it's this high stakes moment and I'm personally exhausted at this point in time because I have been spending so much time and energy preparing myself for this big event and I'm desperate for funding if it, I've gotten to the point if I don't raise a round of funding. Um I may have to close my company. Um So I actually, you know, I grew up in Michigan, but I actually landed in India in 2011. And soon after there was a highly publicized event that happened in New Delhi, um which was a rape case that happened um which was very, very, you know, publicized that um and it became kind of like one of these watershed moments that we have sometimes in the world where you just see all these protests happening and people trying to come up with solutions.

Um And in the start up space, you see a lot of people coming up with like safety apps and stuff like that. But I was like, I, I'm very much a systems thinker, like, how do we create systems change? So this isn't a problem for the next generation. So at the time I was working on it, I was actually running my own early stage um seed accelerator for social innovators. And I left my job and I decided to start a sex education company. And so I created this whole curriculum around sex ed and gender education um which could transform kids behaviors in the age of puberty. So sexual violence wouldn't exist in another generation. And so this is a picture of me in um in a low income school in uh India. And um I just realized this is not on full screen share. Is this better for you guys actually? Um So I, this is a pilot that I did with uh teach for India. And this is like one of those schools where when you go in, um it's like such a tiny classroom that it's that I you the teacher goes in first, then all the kids come in and crowd, crowd onto the benches and they were having so much misbehavior in this classroom and like sexual commenting and, and harassment that the teachers couldn't even teach the class.

And so they called us in to run our course and at the end of the course, um I got, we were, I got this testimonial from this little boy and he came up to me and he's like, thank you so much for running this course. I used to think that we should try to get the girl at any cost. And after you taught us about consent, my mind changed completely. Now, if a girl says, no, I'll not force her, I'll accept it and move on. And I was shocked, I was like, this is the level of attitudinal behavioral change that I started this venture for. And I was seeing in the girls just this willingness to be so much more comfortable with their bodies and confidence and speaking up in class and this, this like just respect and empathy that was inculcated into this classroom. And even when we went into the classroom, six months later, all the teachers stood up and gave us a standing ovation and they were like, you've, you've transformed this classroom and they're now the most empathetic kids in the whole school. And can you please replicate this at the other grade levels? And so at that moment, I was like, wow, I've built this product and it's creating transformation in, in the classroom. This is something that could really change the whole country and I need to get this out.

Like I felt this responsibility as a founder, like this needs to get out to thousands and thousands of kids. Um But how do I do this? Because I'm almost out of cash, right? And so that's why I was standing on stage at the Bobby Stock Exchange um trying to raise my seed round. And so this is the dress rehearsal. I poured my heart and soul into this. I do the whole pitch and to the mentors of the Accelerator and I finished my pitch and um I'm just like exhausted. I'm like, try, I just want the feedback that's gonna help me raise this money and there's silence and looking at the the audience like all the mentors, the director of the program, like, what's your feedback? This one of the mentors just like, looks at me, she just like raises her hand and she's like, what's that font you're using? And like there's no animations between the slides. I don't think you spent any time on this. Honestly, my 10 year old son could have done a better job on this pitch deck. Like, I don't even know, like you really need to work on your design skills.

And I went home and I was like, this was the most superficial feedback that someone could have given me and it's coming just like you know, a day before I have to pitch, it has nothing to do with my product, my business model, my financials, my vision, my team not just has to do with the font and I really felt like if people can't see me or understand what I'm trying to do, um, why am I here?

So I gave myself six months and I'm like, I'm gonna give this my best and, um, you know, and, and then like, and just see, and if not, I'm just gonna move back to California because what's the point and raise your hand as like a founder? If you've ever felt this right? Like you've ever felt like, why am I doing this? I've like sacrificed. I know some of you aren't founders. But if you've ever felt in any of your endeavors where you've poured so much into something and it feels like people really can't, you know, see you or they can't receive what you're trying to do and you're trying so hard to get validation from others. Have you ever felt this? Mhm So, what I ended up doing was I moved back to the States and, um, and when I left India, I think I left behind my venture, my brand. But I really, I also left behind my identity that I had built as a founder and the expectations that I had placed upon myself and that the industry had placed on me. And so a few months later, I'm sitting with my laptop open at the kitchen table in my parents' kitchen in like northern California. It's like quiet. The birds are chirping and I got this email and it's from Tata, which is the largest corporation slash conglomerate in India.

And they say, you know what the work that you're doing is truly revolutionary. And we would like to license your program out through our platform to reach 600,000 students across the country in every single city and town um across the whole country. And we will physically go in and train the facilitators in the schools on how to run this program. And at that moment, it was like this sigh went through my body and I was like for all the struggle for all the times that I felt not seen or received, I was right all along. And I achieved the scale that I wanted to achieve with a team of three people, handful of friends and family capital, no connections in a foreign country and also no precedent of someone trying to do sex education at scale in this country. It's something that has this of transformative sex education hasn't happened from governments or from corporations or from the NGO sector. So how did a few girls, you know, with a little bit of money impact half a million years across the country? And that was my inquiry after I came back from India. My inquiry was like, what just happened here. And so I'm checking the chat box real quick. Oh, Nelly said, how did they find you? I've been in conversation with them for some time.

Uh It took a while for them to come back and buy the content though. Yeah. And so what I realized is that I had been following a feminine leadership paradigm inside a masculine ecosystem and this is what I call goddess leadership. So number one, my vision chose me and I was a channel for my vision to come through me. So there's sort of people who will tactically think of 12 different business ideas and just test all of them and choose the most profitable one. And that's one way to start a business. But the way that I started my business was based on something deeper. It was the anger that I felt and then injustice and the idea that I could do something to combat this. And so I felt like my vision chose me and I was stewarding my vision to come through me, given that this is the way that it happened to me anchoring first in my vision and my unique ability to carry it out was fundamental. So I'll get into this a little bit more later. Um But for example, going through accelerators, when I received feedback that I should go B to C and create a software product and do this and do that. And there's so many opinions and ideas in the start up ecosystem. It was fundamental that I go back to my ethos, which is like no, there has to be a group program for the transformation to take place. Therefore, it must happen in schools.

Therefore, I'm creating a product to be licensed out through ad tech companies. And every time I came back to my vision of how I thought my business model should be done while remaining open to feedback. Number two, I created a container for others to join me in my vision. So a container, you know, this could be your product, your service, your fundraise, but it's basically you setting the boundaries of what you want. Um So it's like I'm raising money or, you know, I'm selling this product at this price point. Um So the key here is that after you anchor into your vision, uh you know, I had to hold my container firmly and let others join me in it. So it's like not going out and trying to seek validation from others who maybe don't see it or understand it or even want it, but it's to hold my container of what it is and invite values line stakeholders in. And number three, I let myself be seen and heard fully and I became, so that's how I became a magnet for values line people. So I'm gonna take this off full screen and play a little game with you guys. Very empowering. Thanks Samantha. Um So I'm gonna put up a few words and I'm gonna say them out loud and I want you all to tell me how you feel when I say these words pitching because whatever feelings or words come to mind when I say this selling, pushing it out or going hard convincing a customer converting a customer telling someone what he wants to hear.

How does it feel? Vulnerability, anxious money selling out? OK. There's no right or wrong here. But often when I do this session with women, I do get um anxious, stressful and authentic. Uh like you said, selling out, this is something that that's happening. Uh You know that just it's just your immediate gut reaction to these words, right? So I want you to, I want to give you another set of words, being yourself, letting yourself be seen and heard, letting customers come to you where there is a natural fit, letting investors find you where there is respect, letting investors stay far away where there isn't authentic.

I see value easy, natural, authentic, maybe also relaxed, counted easy. So this is the difference between pushing and receiving. So I'm gonna talk a little bit about masculine and feminine energy. So every single human being, male, female, non binary um has both masculine or yang and feminine yang in our bodies um fully and we're always playing between one and the other. So what is masculine energy? It's the right side of your brain. I mean So the left brain, so very logical or the right side of your body and very competitive, assertive, practical, logical and more than anything, it's driven by ego or status. And I don't necessarily mean ego in a bad way, but it's externally driven, it takes all the data and then it assesses based on the external world, it's externally validated. So it's out to it feminine energy. On the other hand, correlates to the left side of your body or right brain, which is collaborative, imaginative receiving, you know, as the yoni receives uh dreaming intuitive heart driven or purpose driven. So basically, this is where your vision comes from, it comes from in to out it's internally sourced from your body, from your heart. And so this is basically the difference between being externally validated versus being internally sourced.

So uh let me know what you feel in the comments, but we are doing both of these all the time. We're getting external validation, but we're also constantly internally sourced from our, from our vision and decision making. So the problem balance. Thank you, Samantha. The problem is that there's an excess of masculine energy in all of our industries, it was built on masculine energy. Women didn't even come into the workforce until like a generation ago, right? And even then we've had to conform into the energy. But what happens is when we consciously embody our feminine side first is when we can really, really become magnets. So the insight here is I let myself be seen and heard fully and become a magnet for values aligned people. If you want, if you want to become a magnet, it's not the passive thing like OK, I'm just gonna receive like we all know as people in the world, that's not the way it works, but it is about allowing yourself to be seen and heard fully in every connection and relationship and conversation that you have.

And that's when the people buy in, that's when they connect to and they buy in very quickly. So the insight here, instead of pushing harder and spending 14 hour days, let yourself be seen and heard in every connection you make and you will achieve quantum results. So an example of this is I was uh I was chosen for a reality show in India where I was basically, it was like an entire season about social entrepreneurs. I was chosen as one of the top 12 social entrepreneurs in India. And we, we filmed this season of us, like talking about our ventures and like doing all the like, you know, games and stuff. Um But I was pitching live to 10 million viewers across the country. And so that's quantum visibility, right? So I could have sat behind my desk and just stayed in my head and just been like trying for years or I could have bravely stepped on the stage and said, I'm gonna let my message be heard and let people buy into it. And that's quantum results. It's quantum visibility two different ways to do it. And this goes whether you're speaking on a stage or if you're just letting yourself be seen by the person in front of you. So those are the three goddess leadership principles. My vision shows me, I create a container for others to join me in my vision. And I let myself be seen and heard fully and become a magnet for values like people let me know in the chat box, how many of you are actually fundraising right now?

Are you fundraising right now soon? Ok. Yes. Ok. That's good to know. So I'm gonna try to, I have a bunch more content. I'm gonna try to give you a few of my tips for your precede pitch deck based on these principles and then we can do a little bit more dialogue. Does that sound good? Ok. Awesome. Thanks. Cool. Ok. Awesome, cool. So what does this have to do with my pitch deck? So I've seen, you know, hundreds of pitch decks over the years. It's something I see across the board. Um So number one, my vision shows me, I'm a channel for my vision. So something I see across the board um in the first few slides of your deck when you're talking about the plot problem and opportunity and uh maybe even highlighting a user story there, most of the times you will not be embracing the fullness of your big vision and purpose and you probably will not be fully amplifying your uniqueness.

Why you are the person to carry this out at scale. And so this is like this is basically like, say you're looking at, say you're creating a platform in education, for example, and a specific marketplace specific, well, like a very specific niche that you're trying to sell. But the reason that you, you're starting this marketplace is indicative of a much bigger trend and shift that's happening in the education industry. A shift that's going to create value for so many different stakeholders from teachers, to parents, to students and transform and disrupt the way that education happens in the world. So what I would like you to do is explain to me this shift that's happening and how does your marketplace actually? Is it like one of the biggest lovers um that is creating the shift because that's what creates a billion dollar venture is that you're not just you're solving this, you know, you're solving whatever it is in the corner of your universe, but it's related to a much bigger multi layered value creation that's happening and that's always happening most of the time.

If you're a purpose driven founder, it's just a matter of framing it uh based on your highest vision. And secondly, it's like what is your uniqueness? And there is a reason your vision chose you if you vibe with this ethos and it's really owning um not just the professional experience, but also the personal experience that led you to birth this venture. And the fact that if you experience this pain point, uh or your users, whoever you have so far experience this pain point, there's millions of people like that out there in the world. So create a bridge for me to empathize with, with this problem if I'm not a potential user of your platform. Yeah, thanks, Kelly. Number two, I create a container for others to join me in my vision. So when fundraising, the major ways that you can mess this up, cha changing your fundraising amount based on fluctuations and responses. OK? Like raise your hand if you've done this, everybody does this. It's like, yeah, I need 800 K. You get like a couple of nos in a row. You know what I could do with 1 51 50 is good. So we don't wanna do that right?

You wanna have a firm support system around you where you're deciding the timeline and the amount and you're aggressively going out there. Again, this is your masculine. The container setting is your masculine. So this is where you're just hitting it, hitting it, hitting it, hitting it with the decision that that money is going to come in for you. Um And same with your pitch deck. So with your pitch deck, it's like you're gonna get a ton of feedback. And so what I say is like, get all your feedback in one round and then very objectively look at it, decide what aligns with your values and your vision and put it in and if it doesn't leave it out and then that's it, that's your pitch deck. Because if you're gonna tweak it every single time someone like pushes you on one metric or like one thing, it's gonna be like an unstable foundation for you in your storytelling. And so that's why I say codify the next level version of your venture slash deck once and then hold that hole it, hold it for dear life. Um So asking for 20 but can survive on 15. Nice. Um Yeah, so you wanna hold that, hold it. Um You know, hold masculine, right? And um but really grounded in your values of, of what you're trying to create. Let me see if there's anything else I wanted to say for this one. Oh Yeah.

The other thing I wanted to say is like when people push you on metrics, they're just pushing you on the metric, they're just seeing how lovely or stable you are. It doesn't mean you, it's wrong. It's a game, right? And so just because someone's pushing you on a metric doesn't mean you have to change your metrics and change all the stuff and like, oh my God, I need more numbers in here. Just know how you're gonna respond and keep pulling the person back to the central numbers that you are really stable in. When you ask, if they ask you for other numbers that maybe you don't have yet, you can confidently tell them, we don't have them yet, but we do have this, you know. Yeah, Samantha. Sometimes they do that to see if you can stand your ground. Exactly. Ok. And then three, let myself be seen and heard fully. Some of the major ways I see this played out is this idea that there aren't people in your network who can give you money. Right. Well, I don't have the network or people just don't get what I'm building. It's just so complex. People don't get it. So, and with compassion, I'm challenging you on both of these as an underrepresented founder, as someone who's built something that people can't see or receive is that um there's a way to build these bridges.

And also like I've had black founders, unrepresented founders, all sorts of people from all over the country raise their precede round because at precede, it's a whole bunch of people that comprise like the 500 K and sometimes maybe it's not your immediate network, but it's like second or third degree connections, right?

But there's always a way to find people who will invest and you don't have to be in San Francisco. So here's what I say. Just uh shut off your mind, take action consistently and then let the right people buy into you in the right timing. And another way to stay in the right mindset is to celebrate every dollar that comes in. So creation over outcomes like you'll hit that final number eventually celebrate every dollar that comes in. So real quick interjecting in here that if this stuff is resonating, I I'm offering um a complimentary 45 minute call this week for those of you who if you have a pitch deck and you want me to look at it and you're interested in exploring coaching for me. Um Please do book a call with me for the next few days. Um And I have like coaching like at many price points, like I used to only have a ticket like, you know, most coaches, but now I have like a lot cheaper, like smaller packages too. Um and like it's in service to you and you know, whatever you need. What? That's amazing. Thanks Nicole. Yeah. And so this is, uh if you're precede, you know it or see you trying to raise funding, you can use this uh call um or if you're earlier, like, I know many of you are where you're in this kind of idea stage and you're just like, how do I crystallize this and launch my first offering?

I also can help you in that stage as well or, or if you're like later, like serious, but it sounds like most people are either precede or earlier. Um So yeah, so little bit about uh yeah, we have like good like seven minutes left. We're going good on time. So let me tell you some really fun and inspiring stories of my clients. Um Am I on linkedin? Yeah. Yeah, of course. Of course, Catherine, I'm on linkedin. You can look me up Milia. Aw, I think you have my name. Yeah. Um and my email address I'll also shoot in the chat box before I go into the V OK. Here you go. OK. So um I had, so there is a um so Morgan Hewitt, um who basically, she's, she was working at Facebook when I met her and then she went through one of my programs and like created a basic pitch tag, got advisors together, but she had this vision for a mental health medication platform.

Um Thanks, sir. Yeah, shooting that in there for a mental health medication platform where uh people could search for the medication that would not give them side effects. And um as you can imagine, this requires purchasing a lot of data that's currently locked up in the pharmaceutical industries and democratizing that data for the masses. And so she had gotten to the point where she actually didn't even have her algorithm and her product yet because she needed capital to buy the data. And so she had like a gotten a few people on her team and her board and she had like a like a visual prototype of what it would look like. But beyond that, she just had a story and she came into my um accelerator and um in the first session with her half day session, I helped her reframe her entire deck and like story and pitch deck and her confidence sh shot up so much that she just started, you know, talking about it to everyone she knew and suddenly she had $400,000 in, in precede investment in four weeks.

And what's more she applied to tears and she got in while again, like in the, in like the month or six weeks that I started working with her. Um And what's so cool is that six months later, she raised a million plus seed round and she actually became, um, one of the, I think fif 49 women, a black women in the world to raise a million dollar seed drown in 2021 which is like an abysmal number and she was one of them.

Um And it's amazing to me, right? Because so many of you are stuck at precede stage. And the fundraising, the thing is, is like sometimes we undervalue the, the power of resources, we can be stuck in that pilot stage for so long. And all we need, all we need is like half a million dollars and it just goes and then you go and go and go and it stops, right. But it requires an identity shift from just like being in the weeds and being the creator to being like, oh, I'm a steward of funds. Like my job is to steward funds. And so the grounding and the storytelling that's needed to make that identity shift is what creates these quantum results. Um And then another really cool story is um a founder, Stacey Edgar. So she was had this, basically she wanted to reimagine health insurance for freelancers and entrepreneurs.

And this is crazy because like, she's just like deep in the compliance and the health insurance and the regulation and it's such a complex space and she want, she was, she's building a product from the ground up that will redefine health insurance for people who are not employed.

Uh But again, she, when she had started working with her, she had 30 users and like a basic pilot going. And um I think like two weeks later, she had secured partnerships with covered California, which is basically like the medical Medicare for California. Um And Kai was a Permanente which is a big hospital chains, like brand name partnerships based on her storytelling and her ability to pitch. And so then from that, she was able to raise the 550 K PC round and she also got into tech stars um through, you know, the pitch I created with her and then she um she's now raising a 2 million seed round. So um yeah, so it's all possible. It feels like sometimes it feels like really big numbers. But if, if it's possible for, you know, it's, it's possible for all of us, it just requires us to step into a new identity. Ok. Now, um if you can dream it, you can do it. Exactly. And so if you're interested in diving deeper and seeing how this identity shift can be applied to your venture, I'm super happy to get on a call with any of you this week. Um And explore that, just gonna shoot this back in the chat box for you. Ok. So can we take a collective breath? Um This is a lot of information. I know it hits everyone in different ways.

So just take a nice deep breath into the nose and out through the mouth. So I hope this is valuable for you. Um Let me know if did you like it? What, what part of this um resonated for you? Your work will create a ripple in this world. Thank you so much. Receiving all of this. Remember, ladies and gentlemen to receive. Yeah. Receiving rather than pushing for it really resonated. Yes. Great. Awesome. Any last comments? Yeah, I hope you take this into the rest of your networking uh and sessions this week. I'm also looking forward to meeting a lot of people on here. Um And so yeah, and if there's any friends of yours, thank you for holding the session. Yeah, thanks. Uh Shagufta. Um, if there's any, any friends of yours where you feel like, wow. I wish they had heard this message and we're here. Um, you can feel free to share the, the link with them as well and like happy to chat with them and, and take a look at their, their venture. Um Great. Awesome. So, uh, have a great rest of your day and I'll talk to you soon.