Sometimes, in the most difficult spots we end up gaining the most. That’s exactly what happened with today’s guest, Nathalie Molina Niño. As her career coincided with the growth of internet technology, she learned everything she could to become the successful entrepreneur that she is today.
Nathalie Molina Niño is a serial tech entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Brava Investments, and the author of Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs. While teaching budding entrepreneurs at Barnard College and searching the globe for investment-worthy startups, she’s met or advised thousands of entrepreneurs who’ve gone from zero to scalable businesses. In this episode, Nathalie shares her refreshingly frank and witty advice on what women and minorities need to do to get investors’ attention, why entrepreneurs should forget competitors (and what to focus on instead), and how to overcome the hurdles facing entrepreneurs who don’t have family money, cultural capital, or connections.
Coming full circle
Nathalie Molina Niño grew up with immigrant parents from Colombia and Ecuador who started off in the US in the sweatshops of Los Angeles. Seeing what they went through pushed her away from the world of manufacturing and into the world of technology. She even started her first company while still in college! Now as a full-time investor, she has invested in some of those manufacturing fields and come full circle back to her heritage. Her bicultural and bilingual background taught her to be flexible, “culturally agile,” and set her up for success later in life. Her specialization has come in the globalization of tech, as she has lived in different worlds and built bridges between them.
Key moments in the journey
Nathalie Molina Niño started out studying environmental engineering and then cartography, just as GPS was beginning to be “a thing.” She taught herself to code and negotiated website services to a car dealer to cover the cost of buying a car when she didn’t have the money. He was pleased and told a few friends and her first business was born.
A karma thing
Nathalie worked in partnership with a large company doing globalization of software; they partnered together to bridge the gap to the developing internet. As Nathalie Molina Niño brought them into the current technology of the time, she started other ventures in Seattle and gleaned much knowledge and experience, even though she was forced to go against the values and beliefs she stood for. Ironically, she was later involved in the hostile takeover of that company. You know what they say about karma.
A “monster boss” moment
With a dichotomy of ferocity and empathy, Nathalie admits that warm and fuzzy are not her strengths. In 2003, with a new team, new partners, and a new context, she was solving a problem for the biggest technology company in the world. A wake up call in a confluence of events brought her to the realization that she had prioritized profits more than a person, which wasn’t how her family raised her. She had lost her way, gone away from her core values, and become someone she didn’t even recognize.
The birth of Brava
Brava Investments is all about outcomes, not optics. They live within a framework and an industry unapologetically for profit. Nathalie wants to prove that investing in women is lucrative and not a philanthropic endeavor. The industry of gender-lens investing has been around for awhile, but still brings the concern that women of color are being overlooked. Nathalie Molina Niño calls this the “valley of death” – where women are just in survival mode.
Forget passion
If you’re starting a business, Nathalie says to make it something that people really need. Following your bliss is not always good advice. Nathalie teaches women to start a business around “something you want to punch.” If it’s a problem that people want solved, then you can build a successful business around it.
Forget YES
At the Animus Conference in Puerto Rico, Nathalie spoke about “Getting to Yes,” which is all about the art of negotiation. She realized that women have been saying yes for millennia and what women really need to do is to exercise the no muscle to all the “bs” around us. She explains how these concepts of yes and no relate to the recent rise of the Me Too movement and the importance in building alliances, because, let’s face it, one voice may not make a difference, but you can’t ignore a chorus of voices.
Advice for others
Nathalie Molina Niño says her best advice for women minorities getting the attention of investors comes down to two main points. She says you have to get your numbers in your head so you can never be doubted. The next step is to get your story down about why you are the best person suited to solve the problem. Where do you start? Nathalie says to look no further than that “thing you want to punch.”
Friends and family funding
Statistics show that most people have less than $5000 in savings. The truth is that your friends and family are not the answer to funding your startup. The key to reaching investors is to show traction. Show that those around you believe in you and that they have “skin in the game.” Crowd sourcing and crowd funding can be key elements in your success.
Highlights of the Episode:
- 4:00 – Key steps from working class to entrepreneur
- 5:18 – The motorcycle, the car, and the website business
- 7:20 – The journey to entrepreneurship
- 12:26 – A huge pivot point
- 20:47 – Remembering humanity and knowing your demons
- 23:05 – Brava: the mission and purpose
- 29:38 – Forget passion and find things you want to punch
- 32:00 – Forget yes and get to the no
- 36:57 – Advice for getting the attention of investors
- 38:40 – What to do about friends and family funding
- 40:35 – Fem Five
Resources Mentioned:
- Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs by Nathalie Molina Niño
- The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use if for Life by Twyla Tharp
- www.leapfroghacks.com Email [email protected] to enter the giveaway for a free copy of Nathalie’s book!
The Fem Five:
1. Favorite book for women?
- The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use if for Life by Twyla Tharp
2. Favorite self-care hack?
- “The app, Zeal, where I can get a massage therapist to come to my home to fix what’s broken.”
3. Best piece of advice and who gave it to you?
- “One of my mentors, an opera singer, said, ‘You are the source of your own supply’.”
4. Female thought leader of CEO you’re into right now?
- Arlan Hamilton – Founder of Backstage Capital
5. One piece of advice you’d give your five years younger self?
- “Get more sleep!”
Last Time on The NextFem Podcast
Take Your Achievements to the Next Level by Unlimiting Your Beliefs – with Karen E. Brown
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