Media start-up business models, female health-tech and an interview with June Angelides MBE
Your weekly guide to start-ups and venturing
Welcome to Heroa, a weekly newsletter for women in start-ups and ventures. If you enjoy what you read, please do share this newsletter with friends and like it above!
Hello and welcome back to Heroa.
I often wonder if I’ve made the right decision to make this a “female-focused” newsletter. It’s something I come back to again and again. There is a broad awareness that venture and tech have a diversity problem, and in my view, it is networks, role-models and education that will solve this. Heroa is my personal small attempt to create an inclusive (and not female-only) community that shines a light on diverse role-models and creates a network of people interested in venturing and start-ups.
I am as bullish as ever on newsletter and media startups. If you look at media companies with adverts, there is clearly an opportunity to reinvent monetisation strategies. I also think that targeted content will beat advert based business models and clickbait, so here’s to growing Heroa and creating a stronger, more diverse ecosystem.
This week we’ve included content on:
Media start-up business models
Female health-tech
And at the end of the newsletter an interview with June Angelides, Investment Manager at Samos Ventures
Round-up of the news this week
Exits: Anne Wojcicki announces genetics testing company 23&Me will go public via a SPAC (at a value of $3.5BN). After being valued at reportedly $1.6BN in March 2020, WeWork rival Knotel files for bankruptcy.
Fundraising: Arlan Hamilton opened Backstage Capital to investors via a crowdfunding platform and raised $750k in a day. Twitter alum Elizabeth Weil’s VC firm debuts with $42m to bring back ‘old venture’ collaboration.
People: Atomico launches its third angel program. Atomico was the trailblazer in the scout, and angel space launching its first program in 2018 and the angels have successfully reached more diverse networks and start-ups (as you can see in Deepali Nangia’s article on her Atomico angel portfolio below)
From the investors
“Great startups can come from anywhere, but the decision of where you should set up is still an important one for every early-stage founder.” Anna Ottosson of Trellis Road
Where to start your Foodtech Startup by Anna Ottosson of Trellis Road takes a deeper look at Foodtech hubs and regions. Although Anna focuses on Foodtech, her advice is valid for startups in all verticals
Six Ways New Social Companies Will Monetize by Anne Lee Skates of Andreessen Horowitz. See above for my comment about the power of media start-up business models
The Female Founders in my Atomico Angel 2020 Portfolio by Deepali Nangia, Venture Partner, Speedinvest and Atomico Angel
Closing the female health gap by Clara Ricard of Balderton. Female health has been underinvested in for years, but tech startups are increasingly entering this opportunity space
Monetising your API users by Grace Isford at Canvas Ventures. Grace has also set up an API-First Directory, a growing record of API-first companies across enterprise and consumer industries.
From the operators
“Play Offense, Not Defense: When it comes to mental health and well-being, we often wait until things are untenable to invest or make a change.” Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot
Take care of you by Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot. There are some great insights to ensure you are thriving in a venturing environment in this piece.
Why two co-founders turned a sustainability-based podcast into a VC backed business by Natasha Mascarenhas in conversation with Laura Wittig and Liza Moiseeva
The Clubhouse business model by Luce Magauzyan, Founder of Oores
Lessons from building a venture capital-backed business in 12 weeks by Charlotte Fountaine co-founder of Kalda. There are many interesting insights on what it’s like to join the Antler Accelerator in this piece.
Events
Foundervine is hosting a masterclass on How to Build your Personal Brand on LinkedIn on February the 8th
Africa 3.0 Insure & FinTech Conference on February the 9th -11th
Enterprise Nation presents Amazon Bootcamp for Black-owned businesses on Tuesday, 16 February 2021
Startup Grind global conference will take place 22-25 February
Job opportunities
The Intrapreneurs Club is hiring for a Head of Accelerator in London
Cavalry Ventures is looking for a German and English speaking Associate
Eka Ventures is looking for a Research and Data Associate in London
Angel Investing School has 10 spots left for its April Cohort. I personally couldn’t recommend AIS more!
Forward PartnersVenture-Ready Startups Programme is open for applications
YSYS are hiring for a COO
Interview with June Angelides MBE, Investment Manager at Samos Ventures
June is an absolute powerhouse. I first met June through a recommendation when one of our mutual friends, Andy Ayim, said I should go to one of her events. She’s been an inspiration to me ever since. And now over to June…!
Can you tell us about your career to date?
I had a fairly zig-zaggy career. I started on the venture team at Silicon Valley Bank. It was my first introduction into the world of tech and entrepreneurship and actually venture capital. It was a great experience. I got to do the due diligence and portfolio management, and it gave me a real opportunity to start to build relationships with founders and investors. I then took my first mat leave, and when I came back, I joined the early-stage banking team. I remember going to meetings with founders and just being so excited and thinking, oh my goodness, why didn't I think about that? On my second mat leave, I decided to try and learn to code, and I did a coding course at Code Academy. It didn't really work out because I learn better with people in an environment where I can ask questions. I tried to find a class I could attend, but I didn't find anything I could go to with a baby.
So, I set up the first coding school for Mums in the UK, Mums in Tech. I did that for three years and met many fantastic female founders who weren't getting the investment they deserved. It was really frustrating to me that investors didn't see the potential the way I saw it. I wanted to turn this into a positive. I wanted to see if I could get a seat at the table, and that began my journey, to see what it would be like to, to get into VC. And I think I was shocked at first when I went onto VC websites and couldn’t see a jobs page.
So, I asked people, can you put me in touch with any VCs? Just so I could ask you the question, how did you get your job? I spoke to a few VC’s and realized that actually, it’s who you know. It's a very closed network.
Then I was lucky enough to be introduced, to Check Warner, who was starting Diversity VC. She told me that she had started building a job board for Diversity VC for roles in venture capital. Samos VC was hiring, and she sent me the job spec, and instantly I was like, okay, I want to hear more. I looked at their website, and I saw familiar companies. One of them was Koru Kids, and I knew Rachel from my Mums in Tech days. I reached out to her, and she spoke so highly of Samos and her fundraising experience. For me, that was really important, firstly, because she was a female founder and also because she was pregnant at the time of fundraising. It was so important for me to join a firm with solid values and who would-be allies in my pursuit of getting more investment to women. I've been here for just over two years. It's gone quick.
The next question is, who or what do you turn to for inspiration?
Oh, it varies. The first person I talk to is my mum. My mum is probably my biggest cheerleader. I remember the days when I was setting up Mums in Tech, filled with doubts as to if I was making the right call. I had a great job, and I was going out into the unknown, she was there cheering me on the entire time, and I am so grateful for her and her words of wisdom. But then again, she's an entrepreneur herself. She’s very used to risk-taking. I think that's definitely where I get it from, and I’ve seen her make huge leaps of faith every day back home in Nigeria. Seeing that she's done all that and she believes in me, definitely inspires me to do the things that scare me, and realise that I'm fully capable of anything if I set my mind to it.
The next question is, what advice would you have for people looking to get into the startup and venturing world?
The first thing I would say is don't be put off by the numbers. We need you, and we need more women at the table. There are so many amazing female founders doing great things and raising investments, but we want to see more. So I would say don't be put off by the process. Prepare, definitely prepare, but be calm and confident and ready to own the room, come in, believing that you absolutely deserve a seat at the table because you do. The network out there is strong so utilise it. Start to grow your network, start to build your personal brand, but more importantly, believe in yourself.
I love that. It makes me want to go and start my own company now. The last question is what's next for you?
Well, this year, I'm going to be focusing on thinking about how I continue to develop myself as a leader and how I continue to help founders tangibly. I think there is this heightened awareness that female founders are over mentored but underfunded and I want to help change this. So that's really where I'm spending a lot of my time. I also want to continue to be visible. So people realise that other people look like them sitting at the table.
SEE YOU NEXT MONDAY!
If you have any comments, questions, or want to chat about start-ups and venturing, then do drop me a comment.
Written by Alexandra Wyatt, based in London but a global traveller. You can also reach me on Twitter and Instagram.