Female Founders Rise Show

Hosted by Emmie and Mae

Unfiltered conversations for female founders. Each week, Emmie Faust and Mae Yip break down what it actually takes to build a business - funding, growth, burnout, parenting, and everything in between. Regularly joined by founders, investors and operators who've actually done it. Every episode ends with three actionable takeaways. Just the conversations female founders need, every week. Brought to you by Female Founders Rise - a community of 11,000+ female entrepreneurs.

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    VC Secrets Unlocked With Rupa Popat

    Emmie and Mae sit down with Rupa Popat - exited founder, angel investor, and VC fund manager with close to $70 million in assets under management. Rupa brings a rare perspective: she's been a founder who failed her first raise, went on to exit her first business to a listed company, backed over 30 companies as an angel, and now runs Arāya Ventures which includes the Arāya Sie Fund, backing only female founders and completed its first close just weeks before this recording.  In this episode they cover the real difference between angel and VC money (and why it matters more than founders think), what genuinely makes a business VC-backable in the current AI landscape, and the three things Rupa would tell every first-time female founder to do before pitching a single investor. There's also a moment that will surprise a lot of founders: Rupa's take on personalising investor emails. Download the free one-page playbook for this episode at https://femalefoundersriseshow.com/ Recorded live at The Fable, London You'll learn: Whether your business is actually VC-backable - and how to know before you pitchWhat gets a VC to open your email when they see 75 pitches a weekWhy you should build your data room before your first investor callHow to use strategic angels to create FOMO with VCsWhat to say when a VC asks your valuation and you don't have an answer yetResources mentioned:  Arāya Signal (Rupa's newsletter for founders): https://arayasignal.com/  Apply to Arāya Ventures: https://airtable.com/appig9dfaVY4inUvw/pagT6NVSWYlpwrcbF/form Araya Sie Fund: https://www.sie.ventures/araya-sie-fund Female Founders Rise: https://femalefoundersrise.com/

    25 min
  2. How To Get To Your First £100K

    May 26

    How To Get To Your First £100K

    About This Episode In this episode of the Female Founders Rise Show, Emmie Faust and Mae Yip tackle one of the most Googled questions in the founder world: how do you actually get to your first £100k? Drawing on Emmie's 20+ years in business and Mae's experience scaling her first company beyond that milestone, the conversation cuts through the vanity metrics and gets straight to what actually works. From pricing your services and building founder-led sales, to understanding your marketing funnel and the power of human connection, Emmie and Mae share a practical, honest playbook for hitting that first major revenue milestone. Along the way they challenge some of the biggest myths around paid ads, expensive sales hires, and the shortcut mentality that trips up so many early-stage founders. Whether you are just starting out or have been building for a while, this episode gives you a clear framework for getting to £100k without burning money before you have earned the right to scale. What You'll Learn How to know your numbers - understanding what you actually keep per sale, not just your top-line revenueHow to price your services - and why women consistently underprice themselvesWhy founder-led sales is the fastest, cheapest path to £100kHow to build your founder brand so people know, like, and trust youWhy networking and human connection out performs paid ads at this stageHow to map your marketing funnel and fix the weakest stage firstAbout the Hosts Emmie Faust is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and founder of Female Founders Rise - a B Corp community of 11,000+ female founders. Mae Yip is the founder of ERIC and has scaled her business past £100k in revenue. Resources Mentioned The Rise Report - the largest grassroots study of female founders in the UKFemale Founders Rise - community of 11,000+ foundersClaude AI FFR Personal Branding ChallengeDownload the one-page playbook for this episode at https://femalefoundersriseshow.com/

    23 min
  3. May 19

    Angel vs VC: Why I Chose Angel Investment (And Raised £1M)

    Most founders think VC is the only path. It's not and it might not even be the right one for you. In this episode, Emmie and Mae get into one of the most misunderstood topics in the founder world: angel investment vs venture capital. Mae raised nearly £1M from angel investors after being rejected by hundreds of VC and it turned out to be exactly the right decision for her business. They break down how VC actually works (and why 99% of businesses aren't right for it), the real pros and cons of angel investment, and why getting rejected by a VC doesn't mean your business is bad, it might just mean you're talking to the wrong type of investor. Honest, practical, and no gatekeeping. In this episode: Why VC funding isn't right for most founders and what that actually meansHow angels differ from VCs (it's their own money and that changes everything)The pros of angel investment: flexibility, domain expertise, open doorsThe cons: smaller cheques, slower growth, the hustle of finding themFriends and family funding, the honest takeWhere Mae actually found her angel investorsThe three takeaways every founder needs to hearResources mentioned: SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) — tax efficient investing for early stage UK businesses: gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-for-the-seed-enterprise-investment-schemeEIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) — gov.uk/guidance/enterprise-investment-scheme-introductionFemale Founders Rise Fundraising Accelerator Page: https://femalefoundersrise.com/acceleratorEIS Association: https://www.eisa.org.uk/Melanie Perkins story : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LywX3T5SccGet the episode playbook here: Angel Investment vs VC Funding: What Every Founder Needs to Know.New episodes every Tuesday. Join the Female Founders Rise community — 11,000+ female founders: femalefoundersrise.com

    16 min

About

Unfiltered conversations for female founders. Each week, Emmie Faust and Mae Yip break down what it actually takes to build a business - funding, growth, burnout, parenting, and everything in between. Regularly joined by founders, investors and operators who've actually done it. Every episode ends with three actionable takeaways. Just the conversations female founders need, every week. Brought to you by Female Founders Rise - a community of 11,000+ female entrepreneurs.

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