A conversation with Ava Ghaiumy, former Regional Director at Delivery Hero, and an ongoing student of life.
Hey Ava! Thanks for taking the time to chat. Let’s start by talking a bit about yourself and your background.
I was born and raised in the south of Germany and grew up in a German/Iranian family. Germany has been my home for the majority of my life, but I did live abroad during my studies, in Singapore, Argentina, and the UK. My background is primarily in business, and I’ve earned degrees from ESB Business School and The London School of Economics & Political Science.
When I finished my studies, I began a career in the media industry, then pivoted in 2017 to work as a Business Developer at Delivery Hero, the world’s leading local delivery platform. Over the course of five years, I had the opportunity to build and lead a number of departments in business development, logistics, and operations.
Earlier this past year, I decided to take a bit of a break to travel, enjoy life, and ultimately decide what I want my next move to be. This was when I decided a great next step would be to found my own company and explore my own ideas. That’s pretty much how I ended up here!
What led you to take a career break?
I wanted to take some time to recharge my batteries and do something new and different. Also, I believe that creating a bit of space — literally headspace — to think about what is next helped me a lot to understand this is something I really wanted to do.
Did you always want to start your own company?
I come from an entrepreneurial family so I’ve always had the entrepreneurial bug. Both my father and brother are founders, so to become a founder myself was always something I thought about. But, being a woman, especially a woman of color, there are unfortunately not many role models, so it took me a while to gain the confidence and ask myself, why wouldn’t I try?
Can you speak more on your experience as a female founder?
During one of the last dinners we had with all the women in the Antler founder cohort here in Berlin, we were talking about this sense of responsibility we feel that if things do work out and we end up becoming successful, we want to be role models for other female founders as we have all felt underrepresented. We want to show that what we are doing is not an impossible task. Since there are so few female founders, it is easy to think that doing it takes superhuman capabilities. There are challenges, of course, but that’s the case with everything. We try to support each other in having that confidence.
What are some sectors that excite you?
Coming from the food industry, food is the obvious answer. I am especially excited by the aspects of it that I haven’t had much exposure to — like thinking about how we can make what we consume more sustainable. People-related topics are also interesting to me, like HR tech and everything concerning the future of work and education to prepare for the changing demands in our global work environments.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Working in a high-demand work environment, exercise is something that keeps me sane, so I enjoy staying active in whatever way I can. I am also a mega-extrovert so I spend the majority of my free time around family and friends. If they’re lucky I’m taking them out to dinner, and if they’re unlucky I’ll invite them over and cook them dinner.
Regardless of what I am doing, I always try to learn something new. Whether that’s learning how to surf or brushing up on my Spanish, I enjoy getting out of my comfort zone. When learning how to surf earlier this year, having to get back on my board again and again after falling off was a reminder of how tough I actually am. I am a firm believer of doing things you are not good at regularly.
What are you looking for in your co-founder(s)?
Definitely a strong sparring partner because we’ll be spending a lot of time in a room pushing ideas back and forth together. Also, alignment on values and ambitions on where we want the company to go is key for me. In terms of skill set, I think it all depends on the market and product we’ll be tackling. In the beginning of the Antler cohort, I did what I always do and made a spreadsheet with different criteria and check boxes, though I know that at the end of the day I’ll decide with my gut.
How would you describe the cohort?
We have a very positive energy in the group. It is great to be surrounded by so many people who share the same mindset of wanting to start their own company. I am looking forward to seeing how different teams develop, in addition to seeing who I may end up working with and what problems we’ll take on.
No matter what happens in the future, I know that I will be grateful for this experience because of the people I was able to meet.
Want to join Ava and other exceptional founders? Applications for the Antler Berlin cohort starting January 16, 2023 are still open.
