Founder Institute San Francisco, Oakland & Las Vegas

#UEC2024: THE 3 SIMPLE RULES FOR DAILY LIVING - CHRIS FOLTZ Hey guys, we bring you the 3 simple rules for your daily living as prescribed by Chris Foltz, Managing Director of Responsible Solutions Ltd, Silicon Valley, #USA during his presentation at the grand finale of the 2024 Ugwumba Enterprise Challenge in Abuja. 1) Never forget where you came from: Never forget the lessons, morals and values you were taught when you were growing up. Or the struggles you overcame to get to where you are today. You can never tell if you are moving forward if you do not know where you started from… 2) Never lose sight of where you are going: It is easy to lose sight of where you are going, if you forget where you are coming from. It is easy to look in another direction and it is easy to give up. And it is easy to become somebody you do not want to be. 3) Stop and find out what makes you the same with others: Unfortunately, we spend so much time focusing on what makes us different that we forget what makes us the same. If we all take time to find out what makes us the same, we will be able to positively affect the world through collaborative innovations. Hey guys, this message is apt for all Nigerians at this time. Instead of dwelling on the things that divide us, why don’t we focus on those that unite us? God bless Nigeria! Ugwumba Uche Nwosu Rajan Nazran Emil Nabo Ekiyor Eduard Soponar Dr. Karim R. Ellis H.E Dr. Alisa Whyte Jack Melcher-Claësson Regina Summer Krim Talia Sara Kappelmark Omid Ekhlasi Carina Gunnarsdotter Filippa Malmegård #UEC2024 #UgwumbaEnterpriseChallenge #Entrepreneurship #Startups #Innovations #Technology #Funding #Grants 

Valuable insights from the Keynote speaker, Sir Chris Foltz (Transformation Strategist, Startup Advisor, Inspirational Speaker, and the Managing Director of the Silicon Valley-established firm Responsible Solutions Ltd) at the just concluded #UgwumbaEnterpriseChallenge organized by Ugwumba Leadership Center: #3 simple rules he lives by daily that if we follow, are going to help us along in our journey: 1️⃣ Never forget where you came from: Never forget the lessons, morals and values you were taught when you were young. Or the struggles that you went through and overcame them to get to where you are today. You can never tell you're moving forward if you don't know where you started from. 2️⃣ Never lose sight of where you're going: It's easy to lose sight of where you're going, especially if you forget where you came from. It's easy to look in another direction. It's easy to give up. It's easy to become somebody you don't want to be. 3️⃣ Always take the time to stop and find out what makes you the same: The same as everybody else in the room. We spend so much of our time focusing on what makes us different that we forget what makes us the same. If we all take the time to find out what makes us the same, we'll be able to positively affect the world through collaborative innovation. #youcantoo #buildinganempire #kcumejiego

Always exciting to join #FIWorldwide for Startup Pitch Practice. Come share your idea and get expert feedback. This is your chance to refine your pitch, share your startup idea, and get valuable expert feedback on how to make your concept stand out to investors. Register below. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gzWdW6F5

🚀 Join the Fundraising Ready Workshop by Women in AI Club on 11/26 in SF at 6-9 pm! Are you an early-stage AI founder looking to raise your next round? Join us for an empowering workshop designed to prepare you for success in fundraising and beyond. Thank you to our amazing instructor Jeni C. for leading this in-person workshop. Space limited, RSVP today: https://lu.ma/li93eq5q

Just in. A bit of good news 💥 Greether won Startup of the Year at World Travel Market (WTM) London. I won. Girls, We won😭🥹💙 A women-owned, proudly Latina female travel company with a mission to help us travel safer, at one of the biggest travel conferences in the world. 👀Pay attention: Women are not only the future of travel but the present as well. We make the majority of travel decisions and are the fastest-growing sector in the industry. Today has been hard, before my pitch, I spent an hour crying and not knowing how I was going to keep it together on stage, but in moments like this is even more important to show up and speak up. The competition highlighted other 2 female founders and for once we were the majority on stage, it was an incredible competition. This is a win we needed today, as a reminder for women everywhere, that together we are stronger. Women's empowerment is important, especially on a day when it feels as if our own country told us we aren’t enough to deserve respect and equal rights. There are fortunately many of us who care deeply about making the world progress for the better, not backward. A huge and special shoutout to all the other women in travel communities and entrepreneurs rising in the tourism industry—women I admire and who inspire me every day, and who everyone in the industry should be paying attention to Alessandra Alonso Women In Travel CIC Hyojeong KIM (She/Her) NomadHer Iris Serbanescu Nina Kleaveland Female Founders in Hospitality Katalina Mayorga Jessie Fischer Jennifer Loh Stephanie Daniel Stefany Hernandez Elisa Spampinato Christine Winebrenner Irick Carolyn Ray JourneyWoman™: Women Over 50 Travel Sally Bunnell NaviSavi Travel Hilary Matson, MBA Nikki Padilla Rivera If I have missed other women who are disrupting travel please tag 🙏them below let’s keep the community growing. If ever I have a daughter, I’ll tell her I did everything I could to protect and elevate women around the world. Sarah Payne, MBA Anibeth Turcios, MBA a16z Talent x Opportunity Expedia Group UnTours Foundation Project W Libra Leaders Mercury

🌟When women come together, we are unstoppable🌟 ✨During TechCrunch, with Women Founders Bay, we hosted a panel called "Navigating the Funding Landscape for Women," with tech leaders like, Jeni C. from Founder Institute San Francisco, Oakland & Las Vegas, Aury Cifuentes from How Women Invest and Natalie Pan from Not Too Crazy. Here are some key takeaways from our discussion: 📊 The Current Landscape: Women represent 35.7% of tech founders and start 50% of all businesses in the U.S., yet all-female teams receive only 1.8% of venture funding. This statistic underscores the urgent need for change. 📢 Your Distribution Channel is Your Biggest Asset: There’s no larger platform than social media. Start creating content, find your target market, and grow your audience. By building a strong online presence, you have a huge competitive advantage for your startup. ⚖️ Overcoming Bias:  Women often face biases during the pitching process. A Yale study shows that women tend to receive more defensive questions instead of positive ones. Instead of framing your answers around potential failures, focus on the positives and all the upsides. It’s also important to highlight your traction and unique story. Share your "why" and build a compelling narrative around your mission. 📈 The Characteristics of Funded Companies: Successful female-led companies often show early traction — big waitlists, letters of intent and ARR —along with a solid network of VCs. A big social media presence can also play a significant role in gaining visibility. 🤝 The Power of Community: As women founders, we can come together to fund each other, use each other’s products, hire one another, and be our biggest advocates. By supporting each other online and offline, we can amplify our impact and grow together. 💪 To all the incredible women founders out there: You are not alone! Together, we can amplify each other and create a fairer funding landscape. Let’s keep supporting each other on this journey! 🌍✨ If you found these insights helpful, I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences in the comments. And please tag any fellow founders who inspire you! #WomenFounders #TechCrunch #Funding #Empowerment #CommunitySupport #Inspiration

🚨Pitch Mayhem Investor Alert🚨 🎉 We’re thrilled to welcome Chris Foltz as an investor judge for Pitch Mayhem! Chris is a transformational strategist, startup advisor, and Managing Director of Responsible Solutions Ltd., where he leads global change and transformation initiatives from Silicon Valley. Chris's journey is nothing short of inspiring—from overcoming personal adversity to becoming one of the most sought-after advisors in the global startup ecosystem. Recognized in the Institute for Real Growth for his transformative leadership, Chris has worked alongside Fortune 100 leaders from brands like Google, Procter & Gamble, and Ford Motor Company. As a Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Founder Institute and a mentor for Techstars, Chris has empowered startups on five continents. His impact has helped founders achieve international recognition, including the 2022 Startup of the Year award at the Africa Tech Festival. With an approach that’s authentic and visionary, Chris continues to make waves in boardrooms, classrooms, and communities worldwide. We’re excited to see him bring his expertise to Pitch Mayhem! 🌟 #PitchMayhem #StartupCommunity #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Leadership

🚨Pitch Mayhem Investor Alert🚨 🎉 We’re thrilled to welcome Chris Foltz as an investor judge for Pitch Mayhem! Chris is a transformational strategist, startup advisor, and Managing Director of Responsible Solutions Ltd., where he leads global change and transformation initiatives from Silicon Valley. Chris's journey is nothing short of inspiring—from overcoming personal adversity to becoming one of the most sought-after advisors in the global startup ecosystem. Recognized in the Institute for Real Growth for his transformative leadership, Chris has worked alongside Fortune 100 leaders from brands like Google, Procter & Gamble, and Ford Motor Company. As a Global Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Founder Institute and a mentor for Techstars, Chris has empowered startups on five continents. His impact has helped founders achieve international recognition, including the 2022 Startup of the Year award at the Africa Tech Festival. With an approach that’s authentic and visionary, Chris continues to make waves in boardrooms, classrooms, and communities worldwide. We’re excited to see him bring his expertise to Pitch Mayhem! 🌟 #PitchMayhem #StartupCommunity #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Leadership

🚀 Excited to be hosting and speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt tomorrow! 🚀 Join us tomorrow at 11:30 AM in Breakout Room #2 for a panel hosted by Women Founders Bay on Navigating the Funding Landscape for Women. We'll deep dive into fundraising trends, practical strategies, and ways to empower women founders in a funding landscape where we still receive less than 2% of venture funding. 💡 It's time to change the game! If you're a women founder and would like to get ahead in fundraising, I’d love to see you there. Excited to share the stage with: ⭐ Aury Cifuentes, Investor at How Women Invest ⭐ Jeni C., Managing Director at Founder Institute ⭐ Natalie Pan, Executive Coach at Not Too Crazy See you all tomorrow! If you're a women founder and you're attending techcrunch, you can join our Women Founders Bay techcrunch whatsapp channel: https://lnkd.in/g_kus83D! #TechCrunchDisrupt #WomenFounders #InvestInWomen #FundingGap | #BreakingBarriers