Mimi Chan - Littlefund (Episode #011)

Mimi Chan — Building Three Companies, Overcoming Self-Doubt, Fundraising while Pregnant, Fighting Over the Home Office, Creating Productivity, Exciting News, and More (#011)  

“Thinking back to those early days, those long nights, those moments where I had to pick myself up from the disappointment and push through it, surviving through this pandemic. And somehow with the combination of luck and preparation and just the belief and conviction in what we’ve been doing with Littlefund, we were able to have this amazing outcome.” —Mimi Chan

Mimi Chan (@mimitoday) is the Founder and CEO of Littlefund (@littlefund), a financial gifting app for modern families to save with family and friends for their child’s journey. In continuing her passion for early childhood education and quality of life improvement, Mimi started Littlefund as a second time tech entrepreneur. 

She realized after becoming a new mother that parents were overwhelmed with the rising costs of raising children but lacked a simple way to save for those milestones, especially when family and friends were part of a generation that was okay with giving cash gifts instead of material gifts. Ultimately, Mimi saw this as a start to tackling a fundamental problem with tremendous future implications. 

Littlefund’s mission is to help everyone invest in a child’s future, one gift at a time, to prepare and build sustainable futures using technology to reimagine savings and gifting on the path to financial wellness.

Prior to Littlefund, Mimi led Pencils of Promise as the Founding COO, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit providing global primary education. Today, Pencils of Promise has built over 500 schools that serve over 100,000 students. Currently, Mimi resides with her family in Oakland, California.

Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Littlefund Founder, Mimi Chan, and Moms Who Build host, Margie Chuang!  

Show Notes

• Mimi’s journey building three companies. [2:47]
• What inspired Mimi to start Littlefund; her idea to create a financial gifting platform. [7:03]
• About Littlefund and how a child’s financial journey can become a family affair. [11:50]
• Mimi’s upbringing and early lessons in frugality and spending that taught Mimi about financial wellness. [17:54]
• Mimi and Margie share stories about what it was like to grow up as children of immigrant parents. [18:30]
• Mimi and Margie share how they talk to their children about financial wellness [24:07].
• Feelings of insecurity and self-doubt and the emotional rollercoaster of running a start-up. [28:07]
• The invisible work of launching a company and what it feels like to raise money as a female founder. [32:05]
• How Mimi overcomes self-doubt and paralysis. [33:14]
• Mimi’s take on the relationship between Jay-Z’s song lyrics and fundraising [35:40]
• How to get people to believe in your product. [39:04]
• Finding a cofounder. [39:34]
• Getting your first users. [44:42]
• Mimi speaks candidly about what it's like to fundraise and build a company while raising a family. [45:54]
• Mimi and Margie open up the doors of vulnerability and share what their lives are like at home. [54:49]
• Mimi’s self-care routine. [59:56]
• Building a parent inclusive and women empowered workplace. [1:03:03]
• Planning Mimi’s fertility cycle around the fundraising cycle. [1:06:18]
• Mimi’s reflections on creating more predictability in her life as a mother and entrepreneur. [1:10:23]
• What’s next for Littlefund? [1:14:04]
• Mimi gets the official word to share some exciting news