As we’re just one day away from the 3rd Edition of FFMH, we’re excited to introduce an awesome line-up of new mentors joining us from Singtel Innov8, Central Capital Ventura, Prasetia, Mana Impact, Skystar Capital, Elev8.VC! As each session is only 13-minutes long, founders, please do your due diligence and read up about insights into the mentors’ background, their investment strategy, what they enjoy discussing with founders and their top tips for office hours below.
In the third edition of Female Founders Mentoring Hours, we’re heartened by the number of returning mentors and new mentors alike joining us to achieve the same vision. As Cocoon Capital plans to run FFMH every 4 months, do drop Lauren (lauren@cocooncap.com) an email to find out how you can join us as a mentor to kickass female founders!
Please check out the rest of the series from the first two editions of FFMH here!
Paul Burmester, Singtel innov8
Paul is the Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Singtel Innov8, leading a team responsible for identifying and engaging with innovative startups globally, supporting their growth and driving engagement, in support of the Singtel Group strategy. The team also builds and drives various Singtel Innov8 programmes and partnerships to activate and grow awareness in the startup ecosystem, such as the Innov8-Connect programme; ICE71, Asia’s first cybersecurity startup hub and ecosystem; and the Go-Ignite alliance, an initiative that offers startups access to over a billion customers through engagement with the Singtel Group, Telefonica, Orange and Deutche Telekom.
What is unique about Singtel Innov8?
It offers portfolio investments unique access to all the elements of the Singtel Group around the globe.
What investments do you enjoy looking at?
Those that are truly innovative, either doing something that’s never been done before or disrupting a mature industry for the first time.
Which part of an investment do you enjoy most discussing with a founder?
Go to market strategy & scaling the business.
What are your 3 top tips on how to make the most of the mentoring hours?
1. Listen & note all the advice given, reflect on it a day later & choose carefully as to what you act on now, later or never.
2. Build lasting relationships with you mentors & contacts as you never know when you’ll be of help to each other.
3. Follow up on all actions promptly, while they’re fresh in everyone’s minds.
What advice are you giving to startups on how to navigate COVID-19?
1. Understand how the market is reacting to your sector (i.e. prioritising it, putting it on pause until post Covid-19 or it’s no longer important to them) & plan your operating plan accordingly.
2. Try to have 18 to 24 months cash flow to hand & plan your burn & fund raising accordingly.
Are you giving the same advice to scale-ups (post series B)?
Yes.
Michelle Suteja, Central Capital Ventura
Michelle has extensive experience in the Indonesian startup ecosystem. Prior to her venture capital days, she was a founder of several tech companies. In addition, Michelle consulted several start ups to help them grow their business. Michelle graduated from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
What is unique about Central Capital Ventura?
As the venture arm of Indonesia’s largest private bank, Bank Central Asia, we are uniquely positioned as strategic investors into the nation’s top fintech gateways. Moreover, we invest and partner with companies that can add synergistic value to our larger business ecosystem.
What investments do you enjoy looking at?
At CCV, we have primarily focused on fintech or fintech-enabler deals. But as other industries are aggressively integrating financial services into their products and platforms, we are finding more and more opportunities to expand our investment scope.
Which part of an investment do you enjoy most discussing with a founder?
Personally, I place a heavy emphasis on the founder(s). Beyond the business models and metrics, the most important part of the equation for me lies within the people responsible for making it happen. While I definitely do not tolerate unpreparedness, I believe the founding team is the most essential element for success.
What are your 3 top tips on how to make the most of the mentoring hours?
a) Come prepared to connect with the VCs on a personal level. Understand where you are adding value to then and don’t give a general blanket pitch to everyone.
b) Be honest and straightforward. Don’t be afraid to ask hard and direct questions just because you want to appear more impressive.
c) Understand who you are and why you are doing this.
What advice are you giving to startups on how to navigate COVID-19? Are you giving the same advice to scale-ups (post series B)?
At CCV we have always recommended that startups grow sustainably. Focus on your strongest points and pivot if you must. Most importantly, fortify your mindset and prepare for the long haul because the ramifications of this crisis may last a lot longer than you think. I believe this way of thinking applies to early-stage and scale-ups alike.
Maria Natashia, Prasetia Dwidharma
What is unique about Prasetia Dwidharma?
Prasetia Dwidharma has focused on early-stage B2B Startups since 2016. To date, Prasetia has backed more than 100 scalable and fast-growing Startups in various industries across SEA (predominantly in Indonesia) & the United States via regular invitations from Y Combinator. The Investment arm is led by Prasetia’s founding twin brothers, Arya Setiadharma & Ardi Setiadharma. As founders themselves, Prasetia’s main principle is to be a founder-friendly and long-term partner to the entrepreneurs. Through advising and mentoring, we aim to guide our portfolios to their maximum potential.
What investments do you enjoy looking at?
We focus mainly in early stage B2B companies
Which part of an investment do you enjoy most discussing with a founder?
The problem solution statements, founder’s vision for the company, and the founders experience including how they cope up with failures over time.
What are your 3 top tips on how to make the most of the mentoring hours?
1. Keep an open mind; we share advices based on our experience but we understand that you know best about your vision so modify the advices when it is necessary
2. Prepare some specific areas of your business that you’d like feedback on
3. Do research about the investors’ network and mentoring can also help us to extend our networks aside from the advices
What advice are you giving to startups on how to navigate COVID-19? Are you giving the same advice to scale-ups (post series B)?
Take good care of your mental health first and then I believe you will be able to keep the morale of the team better to catch on the opportunities provided by the crisis.
Shefali Dodani, Skystar Capital
Shefali is part of the Investment team at Skystar Capital and has nearly 3 years of VC investment experience in Indonesia. As one of the first few hires, she has carried out the end to end investment process and managed over 10 companies across various sectors, namely Fintech, Logistics, and Commerce. Additionally, she has spent over 9 years in India and Hong Kong, where she gradually developed her interest in technology and finance.
What is unique about Skystar Capital?
Skystar Capital is a Seed to Series B focused fund that takes on a hands-on approach to investing. We tap into our anchor investors network to bring founders strategic added value. While we are SEA-focused, we focus on start-ups that are operating or have an expansion plan to Indonesia, as that is where our team can help significantly. We are founder-friendly and take pride in backing technical entrepreneurs and domain experts that have seen first-hand the problem they are solving in past experiences.
What investments do you enjoy looking at?
While we are sector-agnostic, we like companies that aim to solve a significant pain point for the mass, with a market opportunity of at least a US$1B. Additionally, we value and enjoy having close discussions with founders that have grit and perseverance, with a well-defined “S.M.A.R.T” goal. For us, the flavour of the year has been Edutech, Healthtech and Fintech.
Which part of the investment do you enjoy most discussing with a founder?
Uncovering how co-founders meet and the underlying motivation behind their new venture excites me. It is always a plus if a founder can concisely explain the existing problem and the shift in solutions overtime. One such example would be a discussion on recruitment platform models from ad placements, listings to matching technology today. Lastly, I enjoy diving deep into a company’s operational metrics to identify the profile of sticky customers and user-loving product features.
What are your 3 top tips on how to make the most of the mentoring hours?
1. Come in well-prepared with top 3 discussion points and questions that you would want to dive deeper into
2. Do some background research on the fund and the network it has to offer, which will save you some time to ask other questions in place of what is readily available online
3. Keep an open mind
What advice are you giving to startups on how to navigate COVID-19? Are you giving the same advice to scale-ups (post series B)?
Extend runway by cutting cost and unprofitable business units. Use this time to restrategize to a more sustainable growth and recalibrating how the new normal will impact existing business models.
Patti Chu, Mana Impact
Patti is a people-connector and is passionate about making social impact. Patti’s experience ranges in the fields of banking, access to finance, education, and renewable energy. Her wealth of project experience includes working with banking institutions in China to offer microfinance products to MSMEs; Evaluating Lego Foundation’s grantee portfolio in Asia and creating a new strategy for the region; Analyzing and implementing improvements to increase production efficiency and lower costs for Siemens wind power division.
What is unique about Mana Impact?
Mana Impact is a unique, women-led impact investment firm that focuses on making impact on the areas of Food and Agriculture, Oceans, and the Circular economy. Our focus area is primarily East- and Southeast Asia and we have accumulated decades of experience in investments through the founders’ background with multinational financial institutions.
What investments do you enjoy looking at?
We look primarily at early-stage to pre-Series A type companies.
Which part of an investment do you enjoy most discussing with a founder?
The two parts we enjoy the most are, firstly, the exploration of how awesome companies are making a true impact and delving into their world of positive change. I equally enjoy working with our companies on their operational and growth strategies.
What are your 3 top tips on how to make the most of the mentoring hours?
1. Focus on the areas where Mana can support the company.
2. Helpful to have clear slide deck prior to the mentoring session
3. Take note on the action items and follow-up on advice
What advice are you giving to startups on how to navigate COVID-19? Are you giving the same advice to scale-ups (post series B)?
The general advice is to find ways to survive the pandemic from a cash-flow perspective. Good companies with a great mission will be fine post-Covid, but it’s important to have a strategy for staying “afloat”. This could either be through being cost cautious, but also through finding new/alternative ways of generating revenue (even if it might be in new fields where the enterprise can add value).
Harleen Thakral, Elyas Ash, Elev8.VC
Harleen started her career in banking and real estate, giving her a strong foundation in capital markets. These experiences cultivated her strengths in investment analysis, cementing her career in venture capital. Harleen currently supports the team at elev8.vc in working with founders in the B2B Deep Tech space, bringing their innovations to light.
Prior to joining Elev8.vc, Elyas launched and grew a health and wellness startup that created bespoke amenities for renowned hotel brands (e.g. Hyatt, HPL Hotels & Resorts). Elyas was previously a Senior Officer at A*STAR, where he worked on public sector funding of medical technology research and commercialisation.
What is unique about Elev8.VC?
elev8.vc is an early-stage venture capital fund based out of Singapore, focusing on deep tech investments. With its global network, elev8.vc specialises in helping B2B companies scale and grow. elev8.vc is also an appointed partner of the Singapore government for equity investments.
What investments do you enjoy looking at?
We enjoy looking at future technologies in 4 key segments: (1) Mobility & Autonomous Vehicles, (2) Communications Technology, (3) AI & IoT, and (4) MedTech.
Which part of an investment do you enjoy most discussing with a founder?
We enjoy focusing on differentiating factors, productization plans, and growth strategy
What are your 3 top tips on how to make the most of the mentoring hours?
There is no such thing as a ‘silly’ question, if it is important to you then it is important enough.
At the same time, come prepared with specific questions and areas for feedback.
No two journeys are the same, and mentorship is very much a two way street.
What advice are you giving to startups on how to navigate COVID-19? Are you giving the same advice to scale-ups (post series B)?
It’s important to stay true to your mission but at the same time be prepared to pivot. Later stage deals are actually seeing continued support from investors. If you have an offering that fills a need in the market, along with the right management team, you already have a strong base to navigate your way through more difficult times.
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To read about tips and tricks on how to impress the mentors, check out A Guide to Getting to What You Want written by Alexandra Baranowski from Playfair Capital.
Do keep an eye on our LinkedIn and Facebook pages and blog for updates!
If you’re a male founder and would still like to pitch us, please submit your application for funding on our portal here.