The community decade, ecosystems and the Honest Company
A weekly newsletter that profiles women in venture and technology
Welcome to Heroa, a weekly newsletter that aims to raise women's profile in venture. If you enjoy what you read, please do share this newsletter with friends - Alexandra.
We’re back after Easter Monday! This week’s newsletter focuses on communities. One of my favourite innovation stories is the story of the invention of the lightbulb. The story that we all know today is of Thomas Edison having a lightbulb moment and coming up with the idea by himself. In reality, Thomas built on and improved previous iterations of the lightbulb to make it practical and affordable. The earliest “lightbulb” actually dated back 74 years earlier. Edison also relied on a huge community to make his lightbulbs mainstream. This ecosystem included researchers, financial backers and corporates. Innovation needs a community to succeed, and that’s why I’m so excited about this week’s newsletter.
Round-up of the news this week
The Honest Company, a natural consumer goods brand founded by Jessica Alba, filed for IPO this week. The Honest Company has pursued a different strategy than many other digital-native brands, which typically only sell directly to customers. Instead, the Honest company pursued partnerships with retailers like Amazon and Target, and their products are now available in around 32,000 stores. Also, this week, On Deck, the Silicon Valley community and upskilling program have raised $20m.
In Nairobi, Female Coders Are Flipping the Silicon Valley Trope on Its Head. In the popular history of Kenya’s technology industry, women are at the centre. Advocacy through organizations like the Lawyers Hub, a leading digital law group, is driven by women. The most prominent tech training platforms in the country, like AkiraChix and Akili Dada, were founded and are run by women.
A study was circulated this week in the media, showing that most founders believe they don’t benefit from the expected VC value-add.
From the investors
“Really making a community feel like an emotional home for several different people is not only hard, it’s non-standard and not especially scaleable.” Daisy Onubogu of Backed
Business communities will never be real communities. Daisy Onubogu of Backed suggests communities built in making money are not the same as the communities our social brains crave. I’d add to this that you can get business communities that act as real communities. Look at Cabdury’s and the Bournville village that they built for their workers. Bournville was not only a place to live, but it was also full of activities (and sadly alcohol-free). I’d also argue that WeWork did foster a sense of community not only for its employees but also its member, although, of course, it was not ultimately successful.
Why taking a chance on EdTech will pay off in 2021 and beyond… Nikita Andersson of Hummingbird Ventures presents a sensible segmentation of EdTech companies alongside a pragmatic study of the sector and its growth opportunities. Below is her high-level segmentation of the EdTech sector.
Employee Equity in a Changing Venture Landscape by Georgia Forbes of Balderton Capital. Georgia has also just published part II of her series about Employee Equity compensation and why it’s harder in Europe. What’s particularly interesting is how start-up employees in the US earn roughly double the European counterparts' amount. Also, that employee equity compensation has more regulatory complexity in Europe - perhaps this is something that European governments need to address.
From the operators
“Community’s a funny old word. I spent most of the 2010s hiring people for roles with the word “community” in the title and used to ask, at every interview, how candidates would define it. At best estimate, I’ve done over two hundred interviews and never heard the same definition twice.” Sarah Drinkwater of Omidyar Network
Why you need to hire a Chief Community Officer (and why community and scale are often opposite) by Sarah Drinkwater of Omidyar Network, there’s a tension between scale and what most, if not all, communities need. Simply put, the strength of a community is usually (if not always) weakened as the number of people in it grows.
Opening up the conversation on founder mental health by Ushma Baros of Big Health. Here’s what you probably already know: leaders being candid about their mental health struggles is a good thing. Of 1,000 employees surveyed by Forbes, 62% said having someone in a leadership role speak openly about mental health would make them feel more comfortable talking about it themselves. These conversations can help create a more open culture.
It's time to unbundle Instagram. Holyn Kanake of Twitter argues that opening the Instagram app today is a noisy experience. As Instagram matures into a modern QVC, the magic of community and connection gets lost in translation for users. Holyn explores the opportunities and new companies that are emerging to unbundle Instagram.
Interview with Tzvete Doncheva
Tzvete is in Investment Banking at Stout and is the founder of Ecosystems. Ecosystems is a project aiming to tackle closed networks in venture and address the barriers to entry for industry outsiders.
Can you tell us about your career to date?
My career path hasn’t been linear - from a very young age, I’ve been interested in politics and wanted to understand better how the real world moved. I quite naturally got into journalism straight after graduation - as a trainee at BTV, the Bulgarian television channel with the largest viewing audience. I can confidently say the newsroom training received helped me form the 'hustler', relentless attitude that has shaped my career ever since (and has been particularly helpful in finding my way in the venture). As a journalist, one constantly needs to pay close attention to popular culture and the underlying trends shaping consumer behaviour. Slowly technology took over as what I thought was most fascinating, and I joined a prop-tech startup as a first employee(helping in building, launching and branding the company). It was there that I first started to host ‘community-like initiatives with members of the startup as well as guests from the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem. The knowledge exchange and demand for this sort's initiatives were clear - and when I got the opportunity to set up something at a bigger scale and help develop the urban mobility ecosystem at Bosch’s co-creation hub for transport innovation, London Connectory, I took it. Access to funding is key for any entrepreneurial ecosystem, and the exposure to the interplay between finance and technology led me to venture. I have worked in a platform capacity at the VC spin out of multinational real estate investment manager Round Hill Capital and on the investment team at Amplifier, a Berlin-based, supply chain-focused early-stage fund. Still on the venture path, but to better understand the world of finance (and ultimately become a better investor), I took a role at a global investment bank and advisory firm Stout. Throughout my journey, I have understood and do appreciate how difficult it can be for (especially first-time) founders, who lack the support network, and are not part of industry circles, to gain access to investors and raise that first institutional round of capital; and later on to get the opportunity to scale their ventures. The desire to contribute to changing the status quo to get to a point where more capital flows into tech businesses, started by women, inspired me to start the ‘Ecosystem’ project. It aims to help tackle closed networks in venture and address the barriers to entry for industry ‘outsiders’ through a weekly newsletter (resource sharing) and online initiatives (#EcosystemGiants).
Why are ecosystems so important?
Innovation ecosystems are important because they facilitate knowledge exchange, growth and overall technological advancement within society. They are a key pillar underpinning the creation and expansion of early-stage businesses. For these ventures to scale, deliver products/services that will improve existing solutions, and benefit society, entrepreneurs must have access to finance, human capital, and market reach. Commercials aside, human connections take a while to build and require a long-term commitment. The very early days are critical. As Brad Feld has said, a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem cannot be driven by a single entity - it has to be the community that pushes it to develop further and forward. One is highly engaged, inclusive of all ‘members’/ groups involved and joined behind a common philosophy or desire.
What’s your favourite book?
I tend to pick up books that help me better understand the human mind/behaviour or are startup/VC-focused. Every time I read/come across a resource that resonates with me, I try to share it with the community of my ‘Ecosystem’ project. ‘The Courage to Be Disliked’ (this isn’t an affiliate link) by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi is a book I can signal out and recommend 'Heroa' subscribers to read it. It highlights the importance of self-care and mind-decluttering. There is an entire passage about having the courage to say no to opportunities that are not aligned with your goals and values and the strength to 'close doors that lead nowhere.
What’s your favourite app?
Probably Twitter - although it took me a while to become an active user. It is the first app I open in the morning and primarily where I get news/content from the world daily. That world, of course, is quite niche, venture-focused and probably shapes the prism through which I see what is going on around me.
What’s next for you?
I’m looking forward to continuing growing the ‘Ecosystem’ project; I would love to make my first angel investment by the end of the year(criteria are flexible - but would love to invest in a woman, working to tackle the climate crisis and ideally with a link to SEE/CEE). Work-wise, I will be able to share soon :)
Events
Antler’s UK demo day is on Tuesday the 15th of April at 14:00 GMT. You can be the first to hear from their newest start-ups.
The Techstars Sustainability Summit is from Tuesday the 15th of April at 16:00 GMT to Wednesday the 16th of April at 16:00 GMT. The summit will bring together the climate and sustainability ecosystem to share learnings.
TERN Investor Showcase is on Wednesday the 28th of April at 18:30 GMT. Backed by Atomico, this event will allow attendees to invest in or support refugee-led businesses.
Opportunities
Mosaic Ventures is looking for an Investment Associate
Weezy (the on-demand supermarket) is looking for a Business Development Associate
Sifted is looking for an Operations Manager
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.