Connecting FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS With Right Investors For Their Business

From my professional experience, I would say that resilience is the key to successful leadership because you can never predict how things will pan out in the future. For example, you can compare resilience to a phoenix because even though you may fall down along the way, you have to find the strength within you to rise from the ashes and get yourself back up to keep going. That way you will come back even stronger and more resilient. In life there are always going to be difficult moments to overcome personally and professionally but you can’t let yourself get put down or overwhelmed by them. Try to see these moments as a learning curve.

In addition to resilience, leadership is also about having the intelligence and wisdom to know when to carry on and persevere or when to stop completely. It is important to know your limitations. In my opinion, leaders need to have an open, flexible and positive mindset in order to adapt when necessary and see change and new opportunities in a positive light. Leaders must be open-minded towards new trends and movements in the market because we are currently undergoing a technological revolution so therefore it is essential to be flexible and up to speed with the latest information in these modern times. You have to be ready and willing to make changes if need be. There are bound to be mistakes particularly at the beginning, but as a team you can make things happen if everyone is professional and competent.

Leaders need to be quick-thinking and they play a key role in the decision-making process of a company. Leadership is about determining the business strategy and working out ways to implement it in order to ensure the success of a project. It is important to set clear short term and long term objectives in order to be aware of the trajectory of the company. Above all, successful leaders have to be aligned with their team and those supporting their mission and projects. This ensures that everyone is working in the same direction. Success of a company depends on a team of people rather than single individuals. Leaders also need to recognise that it is impossible to know everything and you need to work well together as a team. Everyone needs to contribute. In this way, all the small projects finally come together to make one overarching project which is indicative of the team’s success as a whole.

In terms of my leadership skills, I would say that I am a good business developer. I know how to reach out to contacts who are the right fit for the company and how to select the best add values. This is an important quality as it allows our business to grow and scale to a high level. I always need to demonstrate strong organisational skills due to the daily problems and solutions we face in the workplace. Everyone needs to be as disciplined as possible in order to meet milestones and deadlines, and reach all of our goals and maximum profit.

When I was working in Venture Capital, I became aware of the difficulties that many female business leaders face when it comes to accessing investment, in comparison to their male counterparts. I witnessed how females behaved differently and had contrasting experiences with investors to male leaders. This is why I decided to co-found Impulse4Women in 2017, an NPO startup investing and matchmaking platform for female-led tech startups and social impact projects. We connect female tech founders and social impact entrepreneurs (both male and female) with the right investors at the right time. We provide them with access to the tools, skills, knowledge and financial resources that they need to grow and scale their businesses.

Although everyone faces difficulty, it is clear that women have more barriers and challenges to overcome, and there is also societal pressure that has to be overpowered. If I were to give advice to emerging female leaders, I would say that courageousness, resilience and a reliable, supportive team are crucial. Apart from a difference in the need to fundraise, females will face the same problems as their male counterparts. It is also important to seek out good mentors to be able to avoid mistakes that could result in huge setbacks and take a long time to act on and resolve. Above all, you need to have self-belief, take risks, seize new opportunities and persevere, even when things get tough. I want ambitious female leaders to understand that there is a place for them in society and that they have a positive value to add. They have the power to create meaningful, impactful, long-lasting and sustainable change in the world. As a female founder myself, I am encouraging every female entrepreneur out there with a project that solves a real need in the market to take the plunge and pursue it. Having a fighting spirit is vital. It helps you to persevere and seek out new possibilities in order to grow.