Startup From Scratch Merna & Kennedy

Today we sit down with Iain Usiri. Iain is a repeat founder and the CEO of Ramani, a Tanzanian based company working in the informal retail space. Listen to Iain candidly talk about pivoting and launching again. Iain shares with us how to successfully lead a team through company transitions, the importance of intellectual humility, and the power of understanding your users' "why" when building profound products.

Remember that product launch that went exactly as planned? Yeah...me neither. Launching your product can be an uncomfortable process filled with many growing pains. How do you interpret that pain when leading your company? Listen to us talk to Avi Press today on how he's interpreted pain while building his own company Scarf. He doesn't just share with us how he practically faces challenges, he also gives us insight into a founder's emotional process when building a startup from scratch.

Today we sit down with the incredible Catalina Bentz, the founder and CEO of Catan Pisco. Catalina is the first Chilean woman to own a Pisco company and bring it to the US. Catan launched in 2018 and is in over 25 Binny's locations, restaurants and bars across Chicago. Catan was picking up momentum until the COVID-19 shutdowns took effect. For a spirit like pisco that is not terribly well known in the U.S., Catalina was tasked with not just selling during a pandemic but educating consumers from afar to get them to grab a bottle of Catan the next time they venture into a store or do an Instacart order. Listen to this episode to learn more about how Catalina navigated traction and customer acquisition during the pandemic in one of our most inspiring episodes yet!

Today we talk to Kyle Woumn about launching beta. Putting the first version of your product out can be scary and exciting. Listen to Kyle tell us about his experience launching different business and how he measures success.

Today we sit down and talk about fundraising! Kennedy has successfully fundraised at her company Banting. What do you need to consider when fundraising? How do you vet your investors? When do you say no to an investment? And SO much more! If you are fundraising soon, this episode will set you on the right track!

Today we talk about value proposition. For a company to be successful, your value proposition has to align with you as a founder, your customers and your investors. Tune in for Kennedy's story about Banting's value proposition and how that impacted every aspect of her business.