Mar 10, 2020
What It Takes to Lead a Deep Tech Company: Hear from 3 Amazing Founders
Dr. Nancy A Schellhorn — CEO and Co-founder of RapidAIM
What do you find particularly challenging in your current role?
I feel like I’m writing the script of a play and performing in it all at the same time. I’m also directing the cast, who are all brilliant actors! However, the ending is unknown and unpredictable, and could take many forms! It’s all quite exciting, but at times very stressful!
Is there anything that you did not expect before starting your own venture?
Many things. One of the greatest surprises is that the startup and business community continues to be extremely helpful and supportive. There is an amazing amount of goodwill and comradery among startups and desire to see one another succeed. Another surprise, which is disappointing, is the very conservative response to technology by many in leadership positions. Limited aspiration and appetite to be global leaders. For Australia to move forward and diversify sectors, we need leaders to take risks and really back innovation in the marketplace. Wow, not the first time this has been mentioned.
What do you find most rewarding throughout this experience?
Probably three things: 1. Leading an amazing group of people who are incredibly talented and want to use their skills to solve a big problem. 2. Engaging deeply in the startup ecosystem, from founders to funders is very rewarding. For the most part, these are people who believe that they can make a difference, either themselves or by backing a team, and in some cases they’re willing to take personal and professional risks to achieve their goals and change the world. 3. It’s fantastic to learn so many new skills. Of course there are some days where I’d like to touch what’s familiar, and even learn nothing new — but it’s short lived! and I wouldn’t trade what I’m doing now.
Dr. Silvia Pfeiffer — CEO and Co-founder of Coviu
What do you find particularly challenging in your current role?
I find hiring particularly challenging — if you make a mistake, many thousands of dollars may get wasted, not to speak of missed delivery of customer projects, broken customer trust, and quite possibly negative impact on team morale.
Since we are talking specifically about challenges of female leaders, I’d also like to add that I’ve found it hard to hire and manage men that are as old or older than myself. They are part of a generation where women didn’t lead businesses, so they usually expect a weak leader and try taking control. I find it hard to fight this kind of condescension and avoid it when hiring, but I wished I didn’t have to.
Is there anything that you did not expect before starting your own venture?
I knew that capital raising is hard, but it has turned out much harder than I expected. When you’re working on a problem that you know will one day be something in common use, but you cannot predict exactly when that common usage will happen, you need an investor that believes in it also and is in it for the long run.
Funnily enough, for us, that moment seems to just have arrived, which was unexpectedly quick. It seems my forecasts should have painted a much more optimistic picture to the investors — I was just being realistic. Learn from my mistakes!
What do you find most rewarding throughout this experience?
Many years ago, I had a vision of a product and how it would change the healthcare sector. Over the years, this vision has been adapted through customer interaction, but has substantially stayed intact. It has been rewarding to see this product being created and grow through the years — it’s a bit like seeing children grow up.
Similarly, it’s been very rewarding to see the business being able to stand on its own legs through customer income. We’re now walking quite well and are looking to investment for growth spurts. It’s rewarding to see a real business grow, even if it took an incredibly thick skin and incredible persistence.
Jamila Gordon — CEO and founder of Lumachain
- What do you find particularly challenging in your current role?
The biggest challenge is to find world-class talent, and I spend significant time on this — finding, connecting with and then convincing extraordinary people to join us. Fortunately it’s something I enjoy doing, and building up an elite team is incredibly rewarding.
- Is there anything that you did not expect before starting your own venture?
I knew I would enjoy this, but I didn’t realise just how much! I keep wondering “Why didn’t I do this sooner?!!”. I am pretty intense and driven, and I enjoy leading teams and working with customers to solve really tough problems, so being a Founder and CEO feels like what I was born to do… It just took me a while to figure that out!
- What do you find most rewarding throughout this experience?
There are several things. First of all, I love the fact that the team and I are masters of our own destiny. It’s all about building amazing products that delight our customers, and we’re relentlessly focused on that, with no bureaucracy or wasted time. Tied to that, I love the team. I genuinely appreciate how talented and committed they all are, and I try to build an environment where these remarkable people can be the absolute best versions of themselves. And finally, I am so, so appreciative of all the people and organisations who have been part of the journey so far, including our wonderful customers, the folks at Microsoft, the members of our advisory board and my informal advisors, and of course Mike Zimmerman and the team at MSEQ. There are so many talented and supportive people who ‘have our back’, I feel blessed.
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In celebration of International Women’s Day, Gabrielle Munzer is running the Main Sequence Ventures VC101 session via webcast. Register here.
