Future of FFR + Tech Series + Events across the UK

Hope that you had a wonderful bank holiday weekend .

I wanted to share something that is really important to me and to say thank you for all your support to date of the work we are doing.

When I set up Female Founders Rise it was just an idea and a dream 💭

I didn't know if it was needed or if it would take off like it has. 

To be honest I've been amazed to see the demand and support for Female Founders Rise

People from all over the UK have been joining our community (we've had over 2000 applications to join). So much so that I've been solely focused on our founders and haven't had a chance to connect with most of the 300 or so people that have been in touch to see how they can support 😩 sorry! I will.

Looking at where we are now it's clear that without our members, this would still be just an idea in my mind - our community has brought it to life.  

Everyone has got on board this mini-revolution to see female founders represented and to enable freedom through entrepreneurship.

I want to continue doing this all the time as I love it, and there is so much demand for it to grow (both in the UK and further afield). I know that to maintain that growth I will need resources and money and need to pay people! 

So from July, I will charge all new members that join a small monthly fee to be part of FFR (under £10 a month). All existing members won't need to pay a monthly fee until 2024 as I want to thank them for being part of this journey, for believing and supporting, and for their feedback and words of encouragement. 

If they want to contribute then there are many ways to support and in time I will share those - things like helping us get sponsors, PR, helping at events, contributing a small amount.

SUPPORTING FOUNDERS

I've also been thinking, with our advisory board, about how FFR can support founders with their different needs and at different stages.  We have product, tech and service providers and these all have their individual challenges and requirements.

Some of this will be looked after by joining PODS, but we're thinking about what we prioritise in terms of helping each of those individually. It's been really good to have super-focused events on the different segments and we will continue to think about the best way to support everyone.

EVERYWOMAN AWARDS

Female Founder Awards with Everywoman - free to enter.  Info here

FEMALE FOUNDER TECH SERIES

We are super excited for our first Female Founder Tech Series on fundraising at Google on 18th May

Big thanks to Neil Lock for hosting and Vauban from Carta and Capdesk from Carta for partnering with us on this event.

We have an amazing line up of panelists including

Joanna Jensen Carmella Sternberg and Siddhi Mittal

Anthony Rose Christian Gabriel and Victoria Armstrong

And VCs and investors joining us too.

APRIL MEET UP

Photos here thanks to Anna Lachlan - see if you can spot yourself. Big thanks to Katie and Jade from Talent Tent for sponsoring and turning up with a lot of chocolate (FYI that is how you do sponsoring!).

PODS

PODS is a supportive peer group with a monthly group session online, a Whatsapp group if wanted, and invites to relevant FFR events, led by an allocated leader from within the group. This is a paid option. We’re in beta with a group and will start setting that up for everyone else when we have help (June?) and send more info on that. In the meantime, you can join the other 80+ >> WAITLIST HERE

EVENTS OUTSIDE LONDON

The first in-person meetup outside London in Leamington Spa happening on Thurs 22nd June  - Save the Date. Also planning Manchester and Cardiff. And we have a few tickets left for our London meet-up on the 16th May here (female founders only)

FINANCING OPTIONS FOR FOUNDERS

Thanks to Saranyah Douse and Tim Fenwick for sharing so much insight covering 

💥 Pros Vs Cons of Equity

💥 Some business models can be monetised so bootstrapping is easier- don’t always need equity funding.

💥 VCs take a lot of risk. They need a fund returner so scalable business models are popular (hence interest in tech businesses) 

💥 How much to raise

💥Down rounds vs structured rounds

💥 Different loan types (bullet, overdraft, revolving credit and amortising)

💥 What Venture Debt is used for

WELLBEING

We have free morning meditation every day for our members. Thanks to Mamma Wellbeing for offering this.

We have two parties planned around London Tech Week. We are looking for sponsors to help us bring those to life if you know any organisations that might want to get involved.

Have a great week

Emmie

PS. Please share this newsletter, spread the word about Female Founders Rise, and invite people to join the community (we welcome men and women as allies)

⚡️ Week ending 7th May '23 - 4698 LinkedIn followers.

Come and get involved Female Founders Rise

 #femaleentrepreneurs #femalefounders #businessgrowth