Zuhairah W.

An incredible deep dive from Nathan M. into the cultural and structural issues that are plaguing Boeing and how they got to where they are today. This article should be turned into a business school case study it's that good. And many of these issues aren't unique to Boeing. The focus on financial engineering over actual engineering is an issue at play in many scaled aerospace and defense companies. A definite must-read! https://lnkd.in/gkdpF2tM

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In 2013, Lori Torres felt an undeniable spark when she conceived the idea for Parcel Pending, a smart locker solution designed to tackle the package crisis in apartment buildings. Despite being the primary breadwinner in her family with a thriving real estate career, she took a monumental risk. She left her secure job, sold the family’s cherished home, and even persuaded her mother to risk her property for a loan. Within a year of these sacrifices, Lori had developed her first smart lockers. Her innovation soon caught on, with her lockers becoming a key solution for property management companies and residents. By the end of 2014, Lori’s commitment had not only secured her first major order but also attracted investors, setting the stage for tremendous growth. Within six years, Parcel Pending was sold for $100 million, turning her mother’s loan into a $1 million return and ensuring her family's future. Lori’s story highlights a key lesson for anyone seeking investors: truly committing to your vision can make a world of difference. By investing your own resources and security, you show investors just how dedicated you are to your idea. When you put everything on the line, it not only proves your commitment but also makes a strong case to potential backers. If you’re all in, it’s far easier to convince others to believe in your dream, and it could be the turning point in making it a reality. Are you prepared to go all in on your entrepreneurial dreams? Grab a copy of my book, “Thinking Bigger”, at the link below to read my personal experience chasing my dream and the advice I would share to anyone starting today. https://lnkd.in/dZpQYX6D #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #Startups #Investment #ThinkBigger

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At Costanoa Ventures, we pride ourselves on identifying and supporting exceptional founders poised to create impactful, lasting change. Hona is a shining example, driven by a trio of extremely talented founders: Manny Griffiths, Joshua Christensen, and Matt McClellan. They each bring unique, differentiated expertise to the table, and Amy Cheetham and I are extremely excited to partner with them. There are approximately 450,000 law firms in the United States, with half of those firms being B2C - think personal injury, mass tort, or immigration law as opposed to BigLaw. One of the reasons we love how Hona is tackling this market is their focus on B2C law firms and product excellence - B2B firms are historically difficult to sell brand new software products into, but B2C firms are completely different buyers. Oftentimes there's just a handful of lawyers and paralegals in a partnership, and any piece of technology they can use to give them an edge would be valuable. 44% of negative Google reviews on law firms directly reference poor communication as the reason for a negative experience, and the number 1 reason for Attorney Bar complaints in the U.S. is "lack of communication". On the lawyer's side, attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants spend an average of 7.4 hours per week on unnecessary updates, redundant communication, and activities that aren't directly contributing towards getting a client's case solved. Manny and the team at Hona are working to change all of that. Hona delivers a tightly-integrated communications platform to help facilitate better communication between law firms and their clients. During legal proceedings, client communications tend to be a large resource-stressor for law firms. Clients will frequently call firms for case updates, legal explanations, or general administrative questions that tend to eat away at firm resources without providing any additional progress toward case resolution. Hona exists to ease that burden - it’s a platform that allows law firms to efficiently communicate with their clients over text, easily build customizable web pages and embed videos, and share information on case status and basic legal process education. This crucial communication processes allow attorneys to focus on their job – moving cases forward, while keeping their clients informed and educated. If you're a lawyer dealing with these problems - don't hesitate to reach out to us or the Hona team! It's a privilege to work with Hona on this journey. The company has been growing at a rapid pace, and they're delivering meaningful technology to help people get through legal proceedings in a much more fluid, transparent, and easy process. Manny, Joshua, and Matt are exceptional founders whose combined skills and dedication to continuous learning position them perfectly to lead Hona to success. They're just getting started, and we can't wait to see what they'll achieve.

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Although female founders are typically in the minority compared to male founders, we do our best to include them for MELT in NY! Allow me to introduce some remarkable and innovative female founders 🙋‍♀️ ☞ Co-Founder & CEO @ Blanka Stage: Seed Blanka is a platform that automates the process of launching a branded beauty line. With high-quality products manufactured in North America and with no minimums or upfront costs, our technology unifies the process of launching a brand - from product selection through order fulfillment. ☞ Founder & CEO @ FemiSpace Co. Stage: Pre-seed AI doctors for women’s health. ☞ CEO / Founder @ Parrot Finance Stage: Seed Copy trading platform. ☞ Founder and CEO @ InstantReplay Stage: Pre-seed The in-store “cookies” for retail. ☞ Founding Product Manager @ Stealth Stage: Seed Payment management with AI. ☞ Founder @ Copy trading consumer investing platform Stage: Seed Copy trading consumer investing platform. ☞ CEO/Founder @ Bonde Stage: Seed Member-only platform to support the advancement of professional women. ☞ Co-founder @ usebeams com Stage: Seed The next-gen productivity and automation platform for meaningful insights and seamless workflows. ☞ CEO/Founder @ LinSha Techworks Stage: Pre-seed We are improving the speed and safety of flanged pipeline maintenance by bolting/unbolting flanges autonomously. ☞ Co-founder @ Poldit Stage: Pre-seed Poldit is a community for sharing knowledge through interactive livestreams and Q&A, aimed at fostering human connections and reducing misinformation. ☞ CEO @ NaviGuide Stage: Pre-seed Equitable AI guidance counselor. ☞ CEO & Founder @ Transformers Academy Stage: Pre-seed AI-Driven LMS that transforms BORING manuals into ready-to-study employee or client courses in minutes. ☞ Co-founder @ Index Network Stage: Pre-seed Index allows you to create truly personalized and autonomous discovery experiences across the web. ☞ Founder and CEO @ TAMMIRA, INC. Stage: Pre-seed An evidence-based livestreamed health, wellness & beauty programming for kids & young women. ☞ Founder and CEO @ Bridgit Health Stage: Pre-seed Centralized AI-enabled social worker platform for hospitals to reduce delay of discharge. ☞ Chief of Staff (Founding Team) @ Mattermore Stage: Pre-seed Mattermore empowers managers with AI, automating 1:1 call data to boost performance, save time, and reduce stress, productivity loss, and turnover. 【💎 VIP Sponsored by】 ​Bradley Kam ​・Founded 2 companies Unstoppable Domains & Talkable ・Raised over $70M ・Unstoppable Domains recently raised $65M in a Series A round led by Pantera Capital, reaching a $1B valuation. Aquibur Rahman ​Founder of Mailmodo, has received funding from Sequoia and is an alum of Y Combinator S21 ​Nathan Stevenson ​CEO and Founder of ForwardLane Inc. has been featured by Forbes, the World Economic Forum, and American Banker Event link 👉 https://lu.ma/ldbfgkez

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Some midweek wisdom from Y Combinator founder, Paul Graham, on why startups shouldn't stress over competitors. According to Graham, based on Y Combinator's extensive data set, few of their startups are actually killed by competitors. He compares the protection a startup has against competitors to the vastness of space, emphasising that the market is large enough for multiple players to thrive. Graham's analogy likens encountering a competitor to suddenly finding another runner in your race lane - the best course of action? “It’s sort of like if you’re running the hundred meters and suddenly a lane appears with another runner in it. What should you do? Run as fast as you can, just like you presumably were.” #Startups #Competition #Entrepreneurship #wearehiring

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Wonderful article about Emily Knight and the whole The Engine Accelerator team on the amazing work their doing changing the world with #ToughTech!

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Wonderful to see your expertise in media and advocacy in this interview, Beth Haggerty!

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Some more insight into what we are building at Aerodome 📈🚀

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We just released June's Workforce Wrap Up! Take a read if you’re interested in learning more about 👇 📉 The latest data on employment and layoffs 💸 Changes in consumer spending and how major retailers and businesses are responding 📊 The CBO’s new economic outlook through 2034 🌍 What the “new normal” for global economies are expected to look like and what we can do to adjust 👷‍♀️ Trends for union certification 👀 And which frontline job saw the slowest wage gains in the last few years?

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As a lover of "Think:Act Magazine" and longtime admirer of Roland Berger (shout out to Neelima Mahajan! Rita McGrath!), you can't imagine how cool it felt to get to share some insights from Ideaflow. For folks who haven't dug into the book, this exceptional piece is a great introduction. I welcome your feedback. Hats off to the team for crafting the piece. *** "Breakthrough innovation is the lifeblood of progress, the driving force behind some of the world's most transformative technologies and companies. But how does one come up with the next big thing? How does one come up with the first kernel of an idea? How does one break out of the creativity rut? A mistake a lot of us make is assuming that for breakthrough innovation, we need to find that one good idea. But if Jeremy Utley is to be believed, more ideas lead to better outcomes. Utley, Director of Executive Education at the Stanford d.school and co-author with Perry Klebahn of Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters, challenges the common perception that one good idea is the key to success. He explains why. RB: You define the idea as a “connection”. Why? JU: My study of the underlying neuroscience has led me to realize that an idea is a bridge between two things already in your mind. The conventional view of ideas as coming from nowhere or being built from nothing lacks practicality and is not helpful. When you hold onto such thinking, you're essentially searching for something to materialize from nothing – this is not beneficial in terms of operating... RB: How can we successfully manage the inputs we receive from outside to maximize the impact we achieve? Inputs are important. Many people who aspire to lead a creative life or fail to recognize the value of that tend to focus solely on problem-solving. When you think about that, you're often concerned with the output. But what's the answer? The brain's just like anything else. When we consider the outputs of our thinking, we realize that they depend on the inputs we receive. Therefore, we call this kind of thoughtfulness about a deliberate pursuit of input inspiration. Unlike those of us from corporate environments, that is a design word that means something. To me, it is necessary to create space for looking even when you don't know what you're looking for..." Much more at the link below.

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Thoughtful Monday read from Kellogg Insight -- We're all familiar with the concept of the gender pay gap at this point since the 1990s. However, new research from Nicola Bianci, assistant professor of strategy at Kellogg suggests that the relationship between men's and women's average #wages did indeed change in past four decades. The average man in the U.S. used to make 80% more than the average woman in 1976, and past over four decades, that gap has fallen to a 33%. Interestingly, there was no stark drop but rather a steady decline that has remained active for the long-term. So what's going on here? Some theorize that #older workers are retiring and newer workers are taking their place, relinquishing some higher paid positions. The reason why the 33% remains stagnant though, is because there's still a disproportionate amount of women in more "traditionally feminine" job positions rather than "male" careers. What do you think about this? Do you have any personal theories about the way the pay gap minimized and then #stagnated?

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Who wants some data? 📉 The venture capital (VC) industry exhibits significant disparities in funding for female and underrepresented founders, reflecting broader issues of gender and racial inequality in entrepreneurship and tech. Here are the key aspects of this disparity:   1. Funding Gap: - In 2022, companies founded solely by women received only 2% of all VC investment[1]. - All-women teams received just 1.9% ($4.5 billion) of the $283.3 billion available VC funding in 2022[4]. - Women of color received an even smaller share, at just 0.39% of VC funding[4].   2. Representation in VC Firms: - Only about 15% of all VC 'cheque-writers' are women[1]. - Nearly 81% of venture capital firms have never hired a female employee[3].   3. Entrepreneurship Rates: - Women own only 36% of U.S. firms[3]. - The female participation entry rate into entrepreneurship has increased from 7.16% in the early 1990s to just under 11% after 2010[3].   4. Industry-Specific Disparities: - Women make up only 6% of information technology entrepreneurs, which is the industry most backed by venture capital[3]. - Female entrepreneurs typically receive capital for traditionally "feminine" areas, such as fashion or children's products[3].   5. Racial Disparities: - Black entrepreneurs saw a 45% decrease in funding at the end of 2022[4]. - Between 2010 and 2015, 87% of VC-backed founders were white, and 83% of founding teams were all-white[5].   6. Funding Success Rates: - In 2013, only 15% of minority-owned firms successfully translated a pitch into investment, compared to 22% of all businesses[5].   7. Alternative Funding Sources: - Approximately 80% of female tech startup leaders reported using personal savings as their primary source of funding[3].   Factors contributing to these disparities include:   1. Limited Access to Networks: Women and minorities often lack access to the social and intellectual capital networks crucial for securing VC funding[5].   2. Unconscious Bias: Investors may unconsciously favor entrepreneurs who fit certain stereotypes, such as being white and male[4].   3. Lack of Representation: The limited number of women and minorities in VC firms perpetuates a narrow perspective in investment decisions[4].   4. Educational and Career Path Differences: Women are underrepresented in fields typically targeted by VC firms for hires, such as engineering, technology, and finance[3].   Citations in the comments. NonBinary Solutions #ItsNotBinary™️🪩 #startup #tech #socialimpact #neurodiversity #bcba #appliedbehavioranalysis #abatherapy #decisionsupport #TechForGood #queerfounders #womenfounders #lgbtq #dei #blackfounders #founders #vc #neurodivergent #SaaS #HealthTech #invitedspeaker #speaker #thoughtleadership #nonbinary #thinking

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"Companies that treat the U.S. as their home market from day one build category leaders." Augustin Sayer is spot on with his Medium article Here are five key takeaways: 🚀 Early U.S. Entry is Critical Success in global technology markets often hinges on treating the U.S. as a home market from day one. Delaying entry not only forfeits early advantages but positions companies as acquisition targets rather than market leaders. 🚀 Market Velocity Drives Success The U.S. software market is not only larger but grows faster, with shorter sales cycles, larger contracts, and immediate feedback loops that help refine product-market fit. These factors create a compounding advantage over European markets. 🚀 Capital Superiority in the U.S. U.S. venture funding is substantially larger and offers better valuations and exit opportunities. The capital gap translates into structural advantages, such as higher Series A funding amounts and stronger investor networks. 🚀 Optimal Talent Strategy: Split Operations Companies succeed by leveraging European R&D talent for its cost-effectiveness and depth while establishing U.S.-based commercial operations early. This approach combines technical innovation with proximity to the largest market. 🚀 Timeliness is Non-Negotiable Delaying U.S. expansion risks losing ground to faster competitors. Time spent debating or preparing for U.S. entry is time competitors use to secure market share, funding, and talent, making the lead increasingly insurmountable. Read the full article https://lnkd.in/gfAzRKPf

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I just wrapped up a panel with the Marketing Leadership affinity group within the How Women Invest community with my hero Auntie Nancy Hayes, aka the Yoda of board membership, angel investing, and general badassery. We talked about different ways to serve on boards, a role in which experienced Marketers seem to be often underrepresented. Why? If I had to guess, I'd say: 1 - Most heads of marketing are women 2 - marketing is undervalued, especially under sales/revenue experience 3—Compound the first two with the messages you tell yourself about your own worthiness, and suddenly, you're a great marketer for everyone else but yourself. ___________ For those who are interested in getting closer or into the board room, there are so many ways to start/get experience: 1—Board Observer (one of my current board roles)—you represent the investor but have no votes. It is unpaid, but/and hugely essential to act as a bridge of visibility and communication between the fund you've invested with and the company in which the fund has invested. My role brings value to both sides with much less bias than the other VC board seats. 2—Corporate board director—There is much governance but not much influence on the product, as the company usually has big enough teams for that. There is a lot of hiring/firing CEOs (read: drama), which can still be fun, especially for those fresh-popcorn-in-my-bag swag kinda folks (both grossly generalizing and way understating this role's fiduciary importance, but you get the idea). 3—Independent board director—this is another of my favorite places to sit. It is much like the Board observer role but with voting rights and equity (although not always, as these terms are negotiated and influenced by the shareholding board seats). You are NOT representing a VC fund (typically), but you might have subject matter expertise in the product or are a generalist boss gal like myself and bring a sense of neutrality and balance to the board. 4—Advisor. Advisors are similar to IBD in terms of influence and type of advice but are not part of the board or its meetings. This role is usually paid in some combination of equity and cash. It's another of my faves. (Are you seeing the trend here?) We have not even touched non-profit boards (where I got my start and am currently sitting on my sixth), but we will save it for next time as it's a whole 'nother Oprah. If you want to learn more, How Women Lead is hosting its 5th annual #getonboard week, starting October 21. Hybrid virtual and in-person. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/diizwv8j #womeninleadership #boardofdirectors #howwomenlead #governance #boarddiversity #corporategovernance #boardservice #businessleadership #leadership Julie Candelon Susan Greenwood Schroeder Mikayla Ludwig

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Worth reading: The Cost of Anticompetitive Pricing Algorithms in Rental Housing What is interesting here is the shift toward coordination at scale, which Teddy Roosevelt (Republican) referenced in his new nationalism speech in Osawatomie, Kansas - on August 31, 1910. The absence of effective state, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which it is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise. We grudge no man a fortune which represents his own power and sagacity, when exercised with entire regard to the welfare of his fellows. . . . We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community. This, I know, implies a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary. No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar’s worth of service rendered—not gambling in stocks, but service rendered. The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more easily collected and far more effective—a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion, and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate. Link: https://lnkd.in/gPrYK_ni --- "Pricing algorithms may help landlords and building managers set prices that are more responsive to market conditions, which could increase market efficiency in a competitive market. But the algorithms can also facilitate price coordination, which decreases market efficiency by harming competition. Small yet coordinated landlords can act as if they are a single dominant landlord, and use their collective market power to increase profits by setting higher prices." https://lnkd.in/gVzcZbzW

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My biggest challenge in the second week of Climate Drift Accelerator is limiting myself to just one challenge to work on. Skander Garroum and Marco Morawec have created a robust roadmap. There are so many interesting problems and ways to approach them. As I reviewed the topics from my substack (https://lnkd.in/gimxrMd4) (see below), I asked myself if there was a recurrent theme. - I want to see residential buildings become self-contained biospheres reusing water, energy and waste to minimize impact to resources - I am converting my garden to native plants to use less city water to plant - I looked at how my carbon footprint varied from living in Hawaii to living in Texas - The lower carbon impact of working remotely - I checked in with myself on this journey to climate change I have been on - My affinity for trees and how unique they are to addressing carbon capture I had an epiphany this week that it might be the circular economy so I am digging in here to start my journey. #ClimateDrift #Climate #NetZeroBuildings #CarbonEmissions #Afforestation #WaterSustainability

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I’m so excited to announce the new name of the vetted community for startup founders I'm building: Village Lane Village Lane connects ambitious early-stage startup founders, both in-person and online, who have at least $100k in ARR or $250k in funding. The name Village Lane is deeply personal to me... It's the street I lived on after business school, in an apartment with my friend Andrew - the kindest, most welcoming, supportive person I’ve ever met, who sadly passed away suddenly a few weeks ago at only 31 years old. It’s also the place where I went full-time on Just Go Grind for the first time when it was a daily podcast and then joined VITALIZE Venture Capital. It was a special time and place and where I took a giant leap in my career. I envision Village Lane (the community) being similar - a special place filled with kind, supportive members looking to take a giant step forward with their businesses. Several experiences have led to the creation of Village Lane: - A transformative MBA experience at USC - Working at VITALIZE Venture Capital for 2.5 years - Growing my social media audience to 40,000+ followers - Building this newsletter to 21,000+ subscribers - Hosting 400+ podcast interviews with founders & investors - Creating an angel investing community with hundreds of members Now I'm focused on helping founders connect, build their personal brand, and create more successful businesses. Village Lane's in-person events will include things like: - Co-working - Social activities - AMAs - Retreats The online component of Village Lane will include: - A member directory - Slack group - Vendor suggestions - Tech stacks - An investor database - Media exposure and amplification - Personal branding assistance We'll also phase in monthly digital peer groups as membership grows. This will all be built around our members and their needs. I’ll share more details as this evolves. Interested in joining? Learn more and apply below.

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First Starbucks, now Nike. Large retailers are struggling as consumer behavior changes. Caught in between different eras, these companies struggle with how to proceed. However, a new wave of companies is coming. These companies are able to master both physical and digital commerce. Like Madison Reed (founded by University of Connecticut Alum Amy Errett - Go Huskies!), partnering with UConn Basketball stars to promote Madison Reed's omnichannel Hair Color product. Like Shopify, which is focusing on the full commerce stack by expanding into wholesale. Like Blue Onion, which helps companies reconcile where the payments in their bank account came from. All of this breakdown, and more, in this week's edition of "Retail Is Not Dead?". What future of commerce companies are you excited about? https://lnkd.in/gE5p4Pku

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