Nathalie Molina Niño
CEO at BRAVA Investments
Discussion
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
I'm Nathalie Molina Niño, CEO and founder of BRAVA Investments, proud feminist, passionate entrepreneur, coder and storyteller. I have advised industry leaders in both the for- and non-profit sector ranging from multinationals to early stage startups. I'm an open book, so ask away!
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Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What are top three tips for first time founders looking to get initial funding?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@bentossell Know your numbers, know your audience, know your limits (i.e. when to ask for help).
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@bentossell Also walk into a room with confidence, know that every connection has the potential to result in something, and BE PUNCTUAL.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@bentossell I can't tell you how many people I have not met with again because they were late (not good) and didn't apologize (much worse).
Kate
@katesegrin · Community @ Product Hunt
As a feminist and business leader in tech, what are the main things business leaders are still getting wrong when it comes to getting more women / (and minority groups) into leadership positions?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@katesegrin We're focused ONLY on the c-suite. No one wakes up ready to be a CEO, we need to focus on women who are not yet there, and build the path.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@katesegrin And we need to enlist men, insist they participate in solving the problem of gender parity. Lots of them are ready and need a path in.
Laf. Julius
@laf_julius · co- founder @evolvesports
Good day Nathalie, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years and what sectors are Bravia investments currently focusing on?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@laf_julius BRAVA invests in Education, Health and Consumer Products, all high growth sectors where women over-represent!
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@laf_julius In 5 years, I hope BRAVA will have enough assets under management that we can take it public and democratize access to great investments that benefit women!
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@laf_julius We invest in companies no matter the gender of the founder, so long as their model economically benefits women, at scale. So growth is in our DNA and a priority!
Karla Langhus
@karla_langhus · Jack of all trades , master of none
Hi Nathalie -
As a investor, would investors invest in a private school? Providing they (school teachers/students) produce learning materials?
Just curious
Thanks
Karla
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@karla_langhus If there is a concept to franchise it or somehow scale it so that there is significant growth as part of the model, yes!
Karen Pouye
@karen_pouye · digital producer_whizbang
What is one of your favorite quotes that has inspired you to achieve your best? What is something you tell yourself when you have to face a difficult challenge?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@karen_pouye My mentor gave me a mantra: you are the source of your own supply. It's literally on repeat in my head. Always.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@karen_pouye Her name is Awilda Verdejo and she's a world-renowned opera singer! My best mentors are non-techies.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@karen_pouye I think mentors who come from outside our industries are important, they keep us from drowning in our own little glasses of water.
Karen Pouye
@karen_pouye · digital producer_whizbang
@nathaliemolina thanks Nathalie (sorry for the late reply but I'm in Australia)
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
Hey, if you had to swap lives with a tech CEO for a week - who would it be and why?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@bentossell I did that life, for 14+ years. I left the industry no better than I found it which is why I'm now committed to speaking out and changing it.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@bentossell Also that would be a little like wishing I could go and work like a dog for a week, it's not sexy work, it's a slog, so I'd want to be sure I was super passionate about the project.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@bentossell If I had no choice, then I'd probably be the CEO of @Lyft or @Etsy for a week. They're among my favorite brands, making money and standing for something. #outcomesoveroptics
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hi Nathalie thanks for joining us today. What is your background story? You've accomplished so much in your career how did you get to where you are today, and how can others learn from some of your early-on learnings and even some mistakes?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@ems_hodge Ha, well jumping in, even if you don't know your ass from your elbow, might be the best advice I can give. It's what I've done and it's worked, not always resulted in success, but always resulted in learning.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@ems_hodge I studied engineering, then cartography, then playwriting, and in between helped tech companies go global (localization and global crowdsourcing).
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@ems_hodge Biggest learning on my end, especially of late, is to lean on others and build great teams around you.
Kate
@katesegrin · Community @ Product Hunt
If you were advising Uber during their current "turbulence" (to put it kindly), what would you say to Travis and other leadership?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@katesegrin I'll be honest, I stopped supporting Uber well over a year ago when rape issues surfaced. I would not work with them. Period.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@katesegrin And I think if more women did the same, they'd get a clear message and make changes.
Jake Crump
@jakecrump · Community Team with Product Hunt
When advising early stage startups vs multinationals, what are the consistent mistakes you see? Are there any similarities that might be surprising? Can the large multinationals ever learn from the small startups?
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@jakecrump Large multinationals HAVE TO learn from startups. 40% of attendees at Lean Startup Summit are corporates, so I see it happening already.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@jakecrump Also I think startups can learn longer term thinking from corp and esp how to build replicable systems.
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Nathalie Molina Niño
@nathaliemolina · CEO, BRAVA Investments
@jakecrump Consistent mistake I see, is not planning for the best case scenario (a windfall) and also not planning for global expansion, from day 1.
Karen Pouye
@karen_pouye · digital producer_whizbang
@nathaliemolina @jakecrump Wow...that's something I haven't considered, particularly when I'm in survival mode much of the time. Great food for thought.