A podcast for entrepreneurial women: founders, builders, changemakers shaping the world we live in.

Female founders, investors and startup ecosystem enablers share their stories, knowledge, fears and failures, moments of growth and pieces of advice.
With these conversations, we want to inspire more women to build their own businesses.

#33: Gender investment gap: Its origin, impact and ways to bridge it - Lucy Chow, Vera Futorjanski, Medea Nocentini, Katie Wachsberger
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#33: Gender investment gap: Its origin, impact and ways to bridge it - Lucy Chow, Vera Futorjanski, Medea Nocentini, Katie Wachsberger

All-women startup teams receive less than 3% of the venture capital globally whilst male-led startups collect 89% of it. And as if this statistic wasn’t depressing enough, the trend is negative. It’s getting worse every year.

Venture capital investors share their views on the reasons behind such disparity. What are its consequences? What are we as a society missing out if this gap perpetuates? And how can we possibly bridge it?

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#28: Build an ideal team of investors and treat this as an alliance - Sonia Weymuller
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#28: Build an ideal team of investors and treat this as an alliance - Sonia Weymuller

Can FOMO (fear of missing out) be a market opportunity? Sonia Weymuller realised many people were seeking ways to invest into tech startups and be a part of the startup buzz. Yet, there was no platform in the MENA region to do so.

Sonia Weymuller is a Co-Founder and General Partner of VentureSouq (VSQ), a MENA-based venture capital firm, and Partner Lead for the VSQ Conscious Collective, its global impact-focused investment and educational platform.

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#25: How technology helps investors in search of startups - Penny Schiffer
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#25: How technology helps investors in search of startups - Penny Schiffer

Imagine you are invited to give a talk at Stanford about your work as an investor. Excited, you board a plane to cross the Atlantic. And this 11-hour flight changes your whole life trajectory. You are now adamant about building your own business.

That’s exactly what happened to Penny Schiffer, CEO & Co-Founder of Raized.ai. After 10 years in venture capital, Penny decided to launch a startup to make this industry more intelligent. A psychology major, she had to ‘go back to the roots’ and re-discover her technical background.

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#19: Building a launchpad for women of colour founders - Stephanie von Behr
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#19: Building a launchpad for women of colour founders - Stephanie von Behr

Less than 0.5% of venture capital goes to women of colour founders. Is it a pipeline problem rooted in a lack of such founders? Perhaps, women of colour simply do not dare to build high-growth businesses?

Stephanie von Behr, Managing Director of Founderland, debunks these myths. She is focused on increasing visibility, creating community and getting more women of colour founders funded.

We talk about what allyship truly means and why it matters, how disadvantages can become opportunities and what it takes to create a robust and flourishing community. Stephanie tells the story of building Founderland with simple tools like surveys and match-making keeping founders’ needs at the heart of every step and decision.

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#18: What founders can learn from an outsider-turned-investor - Maria Dramalioti-Taylor
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#18: What founders can learn from an outsider-turned-investor - Maria Dramalioti-Taylor

Founders and investors alike should be excellent signal processors. But what if you are navigating an environment that your ‘sensors’ are not attuned to? And what if this environment is not welcoming? You can adjust those sensors and blaze a trail. You can transform your drawbacks into unfair competitive advantages.

A woman, a foreigner, and an engineer, Maria Dramalioti-Taylor, will share her story of breaking into the venture capital industry. Maria is the founding partner of Beacon Capital, a London venture capital firm.

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#17: Who should or should not raise venture capital? And how? - Gesa Miczaika
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#17: Who should or should not raise venture capital? And how? - Gesa Miczaika

Despite the glamorous image of venture capital, it's not a funding source that fits all. Who should and who absolutely should not raise venture capital to finance their business? How can you make the fundraising process less painful? And finally, is there a way for an outsider to break into the VC industry? Dr. Gesa Miczaika offers straightforward and deep answers to these questions.

Gesa is the founding partner at Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, a venture capital firm co-investing in startups with at least one female founder in Europe.

This episode has many practical tips for women founders!

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#13: Investing in African women, detrimental copy-and-paste approach, curl classification - Lelemba Phiri
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#13: Investing in African women, detrimental copy-and-paste approach, curl classification - Lelemba Phiri

The backbone of the African economy, African women are the most entrepreneurial in the world. It’s statistically proven! In this episode, I am speaking with Lelemba Phiri, gender-lens angel investor and operating partner for Enygma Ventures Fund, based in Cape Town, South Africa. Lelemba shares her unconventional path to the venture capital world as well as her thoughts on how best to fuel the potential of African women.

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#12: Equity, portfolio careers, quotas for VCs - Naïma Camara
Darya Kamkalova Darya Kamkalova

#12: Equity, portfolio careers, quotas for VCs - Naïma Camara

Equity is often part and parcel of employees’ compensation packages. Particularly for start-ups, that cannot afford to offer new hires exorbitant salaries. In this episode we sat down with Naïma Camara, CEO & Founder of Ownership to discuss the evolving role of equity. She tells us why we need to view equity as more than merely an incentive.

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