One of the smart kids: Ellie Desiree Cachette

Ellie Cachette was never someone who would back down from a challenge, no matter how hard that challenge was.

And it shows.

She is the founder of Cachette Capital Management, a global trust fund focused on early-stage venture capital investing, as well as software development, and mobile products.

Before that, she was, in her own words, “one of the smart kids”.

She embarked on the journey of coming to Romania to work in the tech industry, gaining a lot of experience in the field.

Yes, the going was tough in the beginning.

But the ripe tech scene taught her a lot about developing software and building a business.

Sports or tech?

Ellie was a prodigy from the get-go.

Growing up in Silicon Valley, she was just 13 when she decided that she wanted to become a professional tennis player.

She was driven.

And she worked hard.

But her dad cut this dream short.

He said that “Women don’t make money in sports.” and before she even realized the meaning of it, Ellie had already set her eyes on other ventures.

It was only natural.

And the tennis world may have lost a big player.

But the tech industry gained a perseverent go-getter.

The quest for knowledge

Ellie was not just smart.

She was incredibly curious too.

Before taking the dive into the tech world, she wanted to be an epidemiologist.

The scientific world suited her curious nature.

And she wanted to change a lot in the public health industry.

Not that she wasn’t already achieving things.

She was also an award-winning activist.

And her younger years are filled with short-lived enthusiasm for a lot of fields of interest.

But stability came when she noticed a compatibility between public health and computer sciences.

She realized she can make the change she wanted without counting on tenure from a University.

So she began developing apps for people that wanted to live healthily.

For example, she made a calorie counter.

It was nothing fancy, but Ellie was hooked.

She realized this was her calling.

And she gave into it.

The Romanian playgrounds

After working in Silicon Valley for a while as a software engineer, she received an offer to work in Cluj-Napoca.

It looked like a challenge.

And she saw it as a chance to have a new beginning.

So she accepted.

The Romanian mindset is very entrepreneurial. — Ellie Cachette

Right after accepting, she had to face another challenge, as she had no clue where Romania was located.

After she found out, she was even more eager to come.

While working in Romania as a technical manager, she was first called an entrepreneur by her Romanian superior, but she had no clue about this term either.

When she asked about it she was told the following:

• She likes making money.
• She is really efficient.
• She is constantly watching the budget.
• She is trying to find an edge all the time.

She accepted these as fundamental for an entrepreneur and learned to craft them even better, now that she was aware of them.

The entrepreneur spirit

She was offered a deal in Boston, but she scrapped it when New York offered her a better deal.

She stayed there for seven years, learning about funds and ending up managing them, before venturing out on her own.

There is always an entrepreneur spirit. It lives in the heartbeat. — Ellie Cachette

She has learned valuable lessons.

One of them is doing more for less.

She would do anything for a check because, in her opinion, every penny counts.

That way she learned how to manage money and how to use them properly in order to get the best results.

More for less

I have done more for less: whatever it takes to make your payroll. — Ellie Cachette

Ellie is also a persuasive person.

She knew that for a venture fund to work, she needed investors.

So she went to work on the wealthy people of the US.

80% of the people she sat down with ultimately invested.

The relationship between the investor and founder is essential:

• You can either pick your terms and take the money that you get
• You can pick your investors, who can have your back when you are dealing with issues

Ellie prefers the latter option because she loves to see her investors as humans first, then business people second.

In her opinion, we are all the same, regardless of the financial situation, so we should be capable of understanding each other’s needs when it comes to this relationship.

If you’re thinking about starting your own company, then you need to be aware of the budget and make an emotional budget as well.

That means calling a close friend who knows their way around the matter and asking for honest advice.

The investor will be happy to pay for the marketing and engineering as long as you have a solid and profitable plan.

But you need honest feedback for that.

The formula around it has several key terms:

• You should think about the product.
• You should forge a marketing plan for it.
• You should estimate sales.
• You should see how it helps the world.

If you got these right, then you can think about growing something big.

But you need to tick those requirements off the list.

Only think about yachts and global reach after you’ve got a solid plan.

Ways to get to the investors

None of your plans are worthy without the financial backing to implement them.

So you need to be able to convince investors your plan works.

You need to make them see it just like you do.

You need to share your story.

Do whatever it takes. You can’t really take a ‘no’ for an answer. — Ellie Cachette

How do you get in touch with the investors in the first place?

The approach should be formal, within meetings or conferences, then exchanging cards and keeping in touch.

Never address them on social media or try to call them.

Ellie says that is one of the most disrespectful ways of getting her attention but different investors can be approached differently so it is worth a try.

However, in order to make a good impression, it’s not recommended.

Founders should respect the time of their investors.

They made it all available to you, so if you are dealing with an issue try to solve it on your own first, then if it’s not possible, reach out to them.

Never call them, though.

Call their secretary or assistant and schedule a meeting. They have work to do too.

For Ellie, this is extremely important as she believes that you have to show that you are dedicated.

So you will try your best to deal with it on your own, without bothering anyone.

She has seen both sides of the coin, so she has a pretty good idea about what it takes to be a founder and relying on investors and how to choose the best idea when you are an investor.

Through Cachette Capital Management, she managed to become very knowledgeable on the subject of funding and she has helped a lot of startups hit the ground running.

The Romanian talent

She believes that Romania is a perfect place for this kind of funding.

In her opinion, the country has some of the best-educated engineers she has ever encountered and there is an amazing entrepreneur spirit that dwells within Romanian people.

The place is loaded with so much goddamn talent, I swear to God, if I’d have a startup, I would come to Romania. — Ellie Cachette

Therefore, everyone is happy to fund if the ideas create and bring innovation, but you have to understand the mechanics and be realistic about it.

Romania’s in a good timezone to manage the European market.

Moreover, being part of the EU plays a big role in really becoming an IT heaven: the connections are so much easier to make, the information flow is stable and meetings can be scheduled within a few days if not hours.

Not to mention the financial stability of the European Union.

But success is not just about where you are.

It’s also about mindset.

Everything is hard if you say it’s hard

There are some differences in the funding approach.

The European approach to venture capital firms is old school, while in the US there is a scientific approach.

But both work.

It’s all reliant on your mindset.

Everyone who says fundraising is hard is just lazy. Everything it’s hard if you say it’s hard. — Ellie Cachette

VCs in the US are wicked smart and they prepare an excellent plan for every aspect of the company, whether you talk about salaries, product, marketing, advertising, HR, sales and so on.

Even then, they expect failures, so they prepare for them too.

If they are devastating, no worries.

They will start again.

If not, then they will recover and they will try even harder. The American mindset is very focused on never giving up and making the most out of anything, but you have to go into it with low expectations.

The European VCs are not prepared to take risks and they like to play it safe, but the results won’t be that great in the end. It makes sense to have a strategic investment, but a little risk is necessary in order to build something extraordinary.

Lower Your Expectations

You can’t go into it thinking you’re building a billion-dollar company. — Ellie Cachette

Ellie wished she could have known about it earlier.

It would have saved her a lot of disappointment.

And a lot of sleepless nights.

Thinking about it now, she should have become a tennis player, because the work can sometimes be extremely exhausting.

She should have worked out more and worked less. She should have taken better care of herself. But now she is content.

She is in a position to say ‘no’ if she feels like it and she will block any founder who will directly contact her through social media.

When she has to catch a plane she asks herself if she is ready to get on the plane, not because it would be necessary, but she has learned to put herself first.

Once again, she is smart about it.

In the end, nothing is impossible. It only becomes impossible if you think that it’s impossible.

The only thing that is hard is when you tell yourself it’s hard. — Ellie Cachette

So she has two pieces of advice for those who are willing to start something:

• Figure it out — nothing is hard and learn from every mistake. If you are dealing with an issue, try to solve it on your own first, see if you can handle it and if you can manage to pull through. These are going to be great learning experiences that will definitely help you later and give you an insight on how to deal with stressful situations.
• Just do it — you have all the information available on the Internet. You should look it up and read about it, do some research and be well informed on the matter that you are interested in. If you care enough, then you will also have enough motivation to keep you going. Don’t hesitate to ask around or call your friends for advice if it helps. You need to operate on a grounded mindset before taking off.

It would seem very hard but it is only as hard as you perceive it.

This is why you have to think outside the box.

Failures aren’t the end of the world.

Hard work always pays off, but you have to be smart about it.

You have to be grounded and really willing to try again if it doesn’t work your way.

There are no reasons to give up.

Why would you do that?

What is the point then?

If you are passionate then you should allow yourself to delve into that passion with all your being and the best will come out eventually.

It is not a matter of ‘if’. It’s only a matter of ‘when’. But as Ellie said, it will come when you are ready for it.

This is a story with key takeaways from the Startup Grind fireside chat in Cluj-Napoca with Ellie Cachette. You can watch the entire conversation at the link below.