Back to school: What to expect going through an incubator program
This is my fifth post in a series where I share my personal journey launching my startup, Mayven. Head here to view all previous posts in this series.
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A year into launching Mayven, I was hungry for my next milestone. I needed something to propel the business forward and strengthen the company’s credibility. Even though Mayven continued to be a “side hustle”, my passion for the idea and concept only grew stronger with time. Deep down, I knew that if I didn’t bring my idea to life, someone else would — and I would be full of regret.
APPLYING TO AN INCUBATOR
On a cold, otherwise uneventful day, I serendipitously stumbled upon that next milestone while scrolling through my LinkedIn newsfeed.
In case you’ve never heard of an incubator before (or know it as something for keeping babies warm): “A startup incubator is a collaborative program for startup companies — usually physically located in one central workspace — designed to help startups in their infancy succeed by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring and training” (U.S. Chamber of Commerce).
As I would come to learn, participating in an incubator would be a crucial step on my startup journey. I had no idea if Mayven would qualify for DePaul’s pilot program, but I thought it would be worth a shot. Reviewing the syllabus and program details, there was one item that jumped out: the incubator would meet Monday nights from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.
While this may seem unexceptional to some of you reading this, 6:00 to 9:00 PM includes dinner time, bath time, and bedtime for our toddler, plus attending to any needs our dog Peja might have. My biggest concern was no longer whether Mayven would qualify, but how my husband would react to flying solo every Monday night during the worst part of Chicago’s brutal winter. I decided not to worry about it and submit my application. If and only if DePaul selected Mayven, I would have the conversation with my husband.
NAVIGATING “MOMMY GUILT”
Two days into the new year, I received an email that I had been accepted into the incubator! As excited as I was to see my idea getting recognition, the acceptance meant I had to hit unpause on the anxiety I had been feeling when I first applied. Upon closer examination of my thoughts, I was feeling guilty about the amount of parenting duties I would be placing on my husband in order to pursue my dreams. I am no stranger to this specific brand of guilt, and it even has a name: “Mommy Guilt”. It is something that burdens many moms when we step away from our families to do something for ourselves.
Pushing through it, I told my husband my good news. He was super excited for me and told me he was proud. “But…there’s a catch,” I continued. “The program is on Monday nights for seven weeks which means you’d be on baby and dog duty while I’m at class.” Without any hesitation, he reassured me that we could manage just fine.
I’m not sure why I was so concerned. Mike has always been a great, hands-on dad. From the very beginning, he’s been vocal about wanting kids and a family. His support and willingness to take on an equal amount of parenting responsibilities (if not more) has allowed me to be successful in my Mayven endeavors.
BACK TO SCHOOL
It was weird but exhilarating stepping back into a classroom. With the pandemic still raging and my consulting job being WFH, it felt good to get out of our Chicago condo and have the opportunity to be around people (even if it meant strapping on a face mask for three hours).
We were asked to prepare a five-minute pitch for our company in advance of the first session. Pitching our ideas to one another would help us get acclimated with each other and our respective businesses. Setting out to create a pitch deck, I started to review the many grant applications I had submitted over the past year.
Even though I wasn’t a finalist for any of them, I got better at telling my story and articulating Mayven’s value proposition with every application I submitted. And as silly as it sounds, I became a pro at answering the infamous “tell me about yourself” question that so often comes up. Even though it was taxing to continually apply for things and get turned down, there was definitely value in fine-tuning my story each time. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.
Tip: Every time you apply for a grant, be sure to save a copy of the application. This will not only save you time when applying to future opportunities, but will provide a written record of the evolution of your value proposition.
On the first day, I was scheduled to pitch toward the middle of the pack. This gave me the chance to listen to a handful of my peers introduce themselves and their businesses before the spotlight fell on me. Even though I had presented many times in corporate settings and in front of senior leaders, I still had jitters. “WHY am I SO nervous?” I thought to myself walking up to the front of the classroom. In retrospect, maybe it was because this is the first time I was allowing myself to be vulnerable by formally presenting a new and untested idea. I couldn’t fully shake my nerves so I did my best to articulate myself and engage my audience while presenting the slides below.
Thankfully, five minutes flew by and before I knew it, the audience Q&A had started.
“How did you find the brands to put on your site?”
“Are you generating any revenue?”
This brought me back to the early days of Mayven and the questions my close group of friends asked me when I told them I had a business idea. Explaining a business idea that is still a prototype can be very intense. But these questions are some of the most valuable feedback I have ever received because they helped me see things from a new perspective and check any blind spots I may have missed.
Each of the next five weeks of the program was structured around a key theme and featured a guest speaker who helped bring it to life. I created a summary of what we covered below.
During week two, DePaul paired us with a mentor to act as a sounding board and resource as we continued to build our businesses. I found this to be one of my favorite aspects of the incubator. My mentor was Kison Patel, the founder and CEO of DealRoom, an M&A lifecycle management software. I am immensely grateful to Kison for his invaluable support.
GRADUATION
The final week of the incubator brought things full circle. Each participant had the opportunity to re-pitch their business idea incorporating the lessons and strategies learned over the previous seven weeks. This time, however, our mentors and other members of the community were in the audience. The goal of this was to simulate what it would be like to pitch to a VC (venture capital firm) and the questions they might pose. I am pleased to report I felt calmer and more confident in my value proposition than on the first day of the program. The incubator had been a success.
Following the pitches, my peers’ mentors, many of whom are also investors, offered feedback on Mayven. It was at this moment I began to take note of how gender would play a role in raising capital for Mayven. When talking with men, their questions and body language generally exuded skepticism.
“How are you getting the data?”
“What’s the tech behind it?”
“I think you may be on to something but I’m not quite sure I completely understand the concept.”
This wasn’t the first time I found myself struggling to get through to men when discussing Mayven. 70–80% of U.S. consumer spending is controlled by women (Forbes), so it makes sense that females are more receptive to resources and websites which make shopping easier. Unfortunately for me, much of the VC world is controlled by men. Going the VC route to raise funds for Mayven would not be without its challenges.
On the other hand, a female mentor present that evening praised my idea for Mayven. Her questions radiated curiosity, optimism.
“How big is your team?”
“Are you funded?”
“What’s your plan to scale?”
It was clear she “got it” and encouraged me to continue running with the idea.
I left our final session that night feeling a sense of accomplishment. Taking to Instagram, I proudly posted the picture below to continue the momentum and push Mayven out to the world.
I didn’t know it at the time, but this post would prove to be life-changing.
To be continued…
