Meet the Team Series: Dana Zou
At Metta, we’re introducing our work — supporting startups, industry, and government with sustainable technology-driven innovation — but also the amazing team behind it all.
It’s been a blast to work with Dana Zou, our Programme Associate for the Aerospace Xelerated programme (more on that soon 👀), over these last few weeks and I’m looking forward to the activities we have planned for this next cohort. In part 3 of our Meet the Team series, Dana shares her work as Co-Director of Kickstart Global, a global hub for entrepreneurial students, her top tips for academic entrepreneurs, and why she’s excited about Metta.
Q1: Hi Dana! How did you first get interested in the startup ecosystem? How did you come to join the team at Metta?
I first got interested in the startup ecosystem through my experiences studying medicine. As I was learning at hospital placements, I was really surprised by all the inefficiencies caused by poor tech adoption. Everything from specialist referrals to appointment reminders are sent using post. Patient management software is dazzled with icons resembling the early 2000s with nearly every department using 3 different pieces of software that don’t talk to each other. I couldn’t understand why — so I started attending MedTech talks and conferences, many of which featured prominent start-ups and accelerators e.g. Pando, Vinehealth, NHSX.
I wanted to get involved too. That’s where I stumbled upon Kickstart Global where I joined as a committee intern. I was fascinated by the student founders and what they were building so I stayed on the committee and the next cohort of Kickstart.
I first met Wil at Kickstart’s Demo Day where he was a judge. We caught up during the summer where he spent a lot of time advising the Kickstart team as we planned the next programme. It was so relieving and immensely helpful to have his input as we navigated uncertain but exciting ideas. Once the programme started, Wil, as well as Gabi, kindly agreed to become mentors as well as financial sponsors for the programme.
At the start of this summer, Wil reached out and offered me a role at Metta. I was originally going to do a Masters in healthcare technology. However, the idea of working on an accelerator full-time alongside Wil and Gabi, who are immensely experienced in running programmes, was way too exciting to pass up so here I am!
Q2: What is your role at Metta? What are you currently working on?
I am the Programme Associate for the upcoming Aerospace Xelerated programme, which is a 3-month funded programme for startups to accelerate the growth of the aerospace industry.
I joined in early August so my first week was spent learning about Metta, the team, and the programme. I wrote an interview article with Heather, the team’s Innovation & Sustainability Lead, where she shared her understanding of sustainable innovation and why we must urge the community to approach innovation in a sustainable manner — read it here!
Right now, I am working on scouting start-ups for the upcoming programme (applications open August 23rd!) and preparing for the programme Ask Us Anything event on August 26th (get your ticket here). I am also managing the programme’s Twitter and LinkedIn account, where I learn and share any exciting news I come across within the aerospace industry. There’s a lot going on but it’s a very good way to quickly understand current affairs within the industry.
“Be in the mindset of building a really good product, rather than a good startup. If your product is good, the business side of things will work out later down the line. However, if no one wants your product, it doesn’t matter how good your business plan is.”
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Q3: What are you most looking forward to in the coming months?
I can’t wait for applications to open and the programme to start! I’m really looking forward to talking to and learning from people in the ecosystem — founders about their innovative products, aerospace experts on how they evaluate the technology, and investors on how they evaluate and support startups! I don’t know much about the technology behind aerospace innovation but I’m really excited to hear how founders envision bringing change to the industry.
Q4: Tell us more about Kickstart Global. What makes you excited about the future of academic entrepreneurship?
Kickstart Global is a student-run organisation educating and supporting university students on the very early stages of building a company through bootcamps and accelerator programmes. We gather entrepreneurial students across the UK to form co-founding teams and bring the best concepts through 5-months of workshops and focussed mentoring. I’ve been involved for the past 2 programmes, and we’re actively working on getting ready for the next one so look out for more information coming soon!
Within campus innovation, there is so much untapped potential! Currently, the UK entrepreneurship ecosystem is very siloed and students are looking towards securing a graduate job rather than building things. Students lock in their degree when they join university, so there is little opportunity for them to meet others from different disciplines. Courses don’t teach the entrepreneurial method of understanding problems through talking to the people affected, building solutions that address pain points and iterating based on feedback. As a result, the economy is missing out on a large pool of potentially successful founders.
However, more and more people are noticing this gap in education. Slowly but surely, universities are adapting curriculums (👉 Royal College of Art’s MA Innovation Design Engineering), organisations — student-run and professional — are building solutions (👉 Imperial Enterprise Labs, Kickstart, Conception X).
Q5: What advice would you give to an academic entrepreneur who is in the early days of their startup journey?
- Learn the basics of building an early-stage startup. Y Combinator’s Startup School and First Round Review blog are great resources.
- Find support! (Ex-)Founders and investors can be invaluable mentors in these early stages and you’ll find that most people are more than happy to help.
- Start building and really learn from your customer.
- Be in the mindset of building a really good product, rather than a good startup. If your product is good, the business side of things will work out later down the line. However, if no one wants your product, it doesn’t matter how good your business plan is.
- On a similar line of thought, don’t chase investment. It is unlikely that you need investment in the early days so don’t spend all your time on applications and tweaking your pitch deck.
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Q6: I know you’re a big fan of rock climbing (team trip incoming!). Tell us more about your activities outside of work.
Yes! My friends introduced me to an indoor climbing gym that was 5 minutes away from home that I had no idea existed. Since then, I’ve been going 2–3 times a week with my boyfriend. What I love about climbing is that it’s such a fun way to exercise — it involves problem-solving and you can clearly see yourself improving as you challenge harder routes.
I also love everything about coffee — from brewing coffee to making latte art to cafe interior design and branding. Whenever I’m at a coffee shop, I’m always observing how cafes express their unique personality through the interior, furnishing, branding, scent and of course, coffee. I would love to experience being a barista one day.
Connect with Dana— dana@metta.partners | LinkedIn
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Get to know the rest of the Metta team:
Gabriela Matic and Wil Benton | Metta Co-Founders and Directors
Ksenia Kurileva | Programme Director
Heather Baden | Sustainability & Innovation Lead
Fatema Basim | Lead Researcher
Gianna Pinasco | Programme Associate
Matt Briggs | Key Account Lead
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Want to learn more about Metta — and the latest about #startups, #innovation, and #sustainability? Let’s talk-
Email | hello@metta.partners
Website | Metta.Partners
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Twitter | @mettatalks
LinkedIn | Metta
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