Notes While We Build Podium — Vol. 7
Reflections on Demo Day, and new Podium Bootcamps!
Hi friends,
Being a founder is hard, but being a female founder comes with its own set of challenges. There are days we second guess ourselves, look at male-dominated crowds within the ecosystem and feel outnumbered. Other days, we lean into it, fully embrace standing out, and use it to our advantage.
Demo Day: All hands on deck, sparkles & more
The past few days have been a whirlwind as we geared up for Accelerating Asia’s Demo Day: 8 founders out of 700+ startups pitching to a room of 100+ investors. Of the 8, we were the only female founders pitching which felt empowering yet intimidating. Not going to lie, we were really nervous leading up to the day.
In a sea of company branded tees, our team was decked out in sparkly jackets, our booth covered in more bling with sequined tablecloths and disco balls. We didn’t even try to blend in. It was awesome.
If there was one thing we took away from the conversations we had, it’s that we’re onto something real. Women kept pulling us aside to share how having a solid community of other women changed everything for their careers and lives.
Those conversations brought us right back to our “why”, reminding us that we’re building for all the right reasons. It gave us the confidence to double down on what’s working and keep experimenting. Speaking of which…
New format: 4 hour Bootcamps!
We launched our very first Bootcamp on Starting Your Own Business which sold out so quickly! These are focused, intensive 4 hour sessions designed to help you get out of your head and into action.
We created them to go deeper on the topics you’ve been asking for, combining the learnings from Insight Hours with the peer perspectives from Mastermind. We’re eager to hear feedback from everyone attending and what other topics you’d like to explore in this format.
Thanks for cheering us on from the sidelines, showing up to our events, or simply being part of this with us. We’re building this together.
Sparkles & all,
Mai & Alka 🪩