Nisha Dua
Partner, BBG Ventures and Founder, #BUILTBYGIRLS
Discussion
M
Nisha Dua
@nisha_dua
Hi - I'm Nisha Dua, partner at BBG Ventures and founder of #BUILTBYGIRLS. I'm excited to be here. I invest in female founders and consumer start-ups. We think at least half of the next decade's unicorns will be led by women - so we're also passionate about the next generation of female founders - and we're gearing up for the #BUILTBYGIRLS Challenge Pitch Day tomorrow in San Francisco. Ask me anything about the Challenge, backing girls in tech to female founders and investing in consumer start-ups.
upvotesharetweet・
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hi Nisha, thanks so much for joining us today! What piece of advice do you often find yourself giving to young female founders and women in general looking to get into the tech industry?
@ems_hodge happy to be here! Young female founders - explore a bunch of different roles, talk to as many people as you can. At #BUILTBYGIRLS we're working on matching high school girls with women (and men) across all roles in tech from product dev, UX/UI to hardware to ecommerce - it's exposure to a variety of different paths that will help them nail what they love, what gives them energy and ultimately help them be successful in tech (great advice for all of us)
Nipun Gupta
@nipungupta · Veni. Vidi. VC. Podcast
Hi Nisha, congratulations for starting a great initiative for female founders. Are your investments restricted to founders located in United States ? If not, please give us examples of non-American entrepreneurs that BBG has invested in.
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?
@bentossell Mark Zuckerberg. Might not be an original answer, but if you want to look at where the world of media is going, you can always look to what Facebook is focusing on - his execution of that strategy, and his foresight is remarkable. However, I might be answering the question "If I got to live inside the brain of a tech CEO for a week" ...
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered when building and launching #BUILTBYGIRLS? What were some positive and negative surprises along the way?
@tomstocklein 1) Biggest Challenge - being confused with being a coding program; to us code is just the beginning --> we're focused on how to encourage and support young women to be leaders in tech, which could be in any career; 2) Biggest Positive Surprise - the number of men who are some of our biggest advocates. We might be called #BUILTBYGIRLS but the platform is about as inclusive as any movement. Women's movements should not about exclusivity.
Anthony Stylianou
@anthony_stylianou · Social Media Manager, CatchApp
Hi Nisha, hope your well.
What specifically do you look for when investing in female founders?
Being the founder of #BUILTBYGIRLS, what has been the biggest challenge for you in growing the organisation and driving awareness to the challenges?
Finally, from the consumer start-ups you have invested in, would you be able to give your top 3 favourites?
Looking forward to your reply,
Regards,
Anthony
@anthony_stylianou now is the best time to be a young woman excited by tech; we've found that partnering with incredible organizations like Girls Who Code, Black Girls Code, Kode with Klossy, Girl Scouts, amongst others has been the right way to drive awareness.
@anthony_stylianou and another point on awareness for the #BUILTBYGIRLS Challenge - the rule is the same for us, as it is for any start-up: go where your audience is. For example, during deadline week, my team of 2 and I spent three days directly messaging girls involved in tech programs to encourage them to apply to the Challenge before the deadline. You have to find your audience, and find them at the right moment of the funnel.
Bridget McGraw
@mcgrawbridget · Enchanted Book Inventor
Hi Nisha. Thank you for your time today. Do you find that Silicon Valley expresses ageism? @karaswisher often uses the word "mirror-tocracy" describing the scene here. I've worked in tech and education since the early 1990s and (finally) have a consumer product that I want to launch. Any advice for finding angel investor opportunities for middle aged ladies?!
@mcgrawbridget I think the advice for any entrepreneur is the same when looking for angel investors: 1) find investors who deeply believe in your idea/product/get it; 2) know your stuff back to front - an investor is backing YOU
Bridget McGraw
@mcgrawbridget · Enchanted Book Inventor
@nish67 Thank you. I'll look for you tomorrow at your event. Stat tuned for @CoEnchanted @kickstarter!
Theoharis Dimarhos
@theo_dimarhos · Marketing+Biz Dev at AngelouEconomics
Hi Nisha! What is the best way for a non-technical person to get involved with a venture firm and investing? What are 2-3 steps you'd take?
Honey Raj Varma
@raj_ventures · Raj Ventures, R&Ds, Internetechs
Hey Nisha,
1) What criteria do you look for in consumer startups?
2) how do you sum up your next few years vision and mission for the company?
3) Asked already by @nipungupta what groups outside of US have you backed?
@raj_ventures @nipungupta 1) the standard criteria for many investors apply, of course - founders, opportunity and product are key -- but we're really looking for consumer founders who get how to build a great consumer brand, uniquely understand their customer, are always thinking three steps ahead and can execute; 2) we want to build one of the best seed stage funds for consumer tech start-ups, that just happen to be founded by women; and 3) still in the US today, but fascinated by the Indian market
Patrick Heffernan
@patrick_heffernan
Hi Nisha, thanks for taking the time to chat with us!
I'm really excited to see the #BUILTBYGIRLS finalists tomorrow - can you share more info on the finalists, what they have designed and how you think they may help more young women be empowered?
@patrick_heffernan we're blown away by the calibre of finalists tomorrow - we have everything from a 'neighborhood watch' style platform that helps crowd source safety buddies for college kids feeling unsafe to a young woman from Kansas who is using facial recognition software for early Parkinsons' diagnosis