Sehreen Noor Ali’s Post

This is a pediatric health company that I’m really stoked about — product and founder are both 🔥🔥🔥 Jena Quinn, PharmD, BCPPS congrats on all you’ve done and where you’re going!

You know the podcast "How I Built This?" Here's a similar take from an operator-turned-VC who is committed to sharing the real-deal with founders on how they should fundraise. Rebecca Sholiton Kahnweiler shares a behind-the-scenes on her earliest days of grind and hustle to launch her food business. She get into the financial nitty-gritty of how much $ she put in personally, how much she needed, and how she convinced others to give her investment. Don't miss the rest of the interview, packed with insider tips and frank advice -- link in my bio

Want to fundraise? 💵 Then make more friends. Especially founder friends. And be friendly with investors and experts... get on their radar, and get their input, as EARLY as you can. In others words, be relational. We think it's about having the exact right template, running a tight process, etc. but don't forget the grease that moves the wheel: personal connection > transaction. If you've ever seen a founder raise quickly, I'm betting it's because their personal connections were strong. And it doesn't mean they were born with that network - most of these networks can be built. This webinar with the wildly generous and candid Rebecca Sholiton Kahnweiler gets into this and the nitty-gritty how-tos about how to set yourself up for success. And speaking of friends...Rebecca and her crew have catalyzed 42% of the pre-seed and angel deals that've been completed by founders of color in Chicago. 🔥 https://lnkd.in/eUSyPeZZ

I graduated from Harvard University with an Ed.M. On graduation day, 2 of my friends and I made a pact: we were going to come back in 3 years as MBA students. You see, we never felt good enough with "just" an Ed.M. Societally, we place so little importance on education vs. business that it's no surprise we planned to spend $120K we didn't have to close our own self-esteem gap. After all, the social hierarchy on campus reinforced it: The only thing considered less cool than being an Ed student was being a Divinity student. No wonder so many successful founders without an MBA face-off with that itsy, bitsy internal whisper that says... "you're not a 'real' business person because real business people have a degree they earned, they don't have to figure out things with real world experience." Even if WE ARE JUST AS SUCCESSFUL as MBAs. I've had this convo with numerous founders recently, i.e. that secret imposter syndrome of not being a business expert even if our IRL achievements say otherwise... Turns out, none of us returned for that business degree. 1️⃣ One became a prolific international author. 2️⃣ The other started & exited an award-winning social enterprise in the Middle East. 3️⃣ And you know what I did. Lesson learned: Yes, the degree often matters. But often seeking the right experience, and using THAT as your body of knowledge, can be just as relevant as a paper with a nice, three-letter acronym. (Somewhat inconvenient side-note: overcompensation may also be a factor to how some under-estimated founders often drive better business outcomes)

My nerves are not appreciating this nail-biting Oilers vs. Panthers Stanley Cup Final... I haven't watched hockey this season - or for most seasons in the recent past - but today it's a family imperative b/c half of them are die-hard Oilers fans. 12 years ago, I published an article about what hockey means to my immigrant family, - the side that came from East Africa AND the side that came from Pakistan. Re-reading it, I'm shocked at how one of my takeaways is something I wish I revisited as a first-time founder, when I kept looking over my shoulder to see if someone thought I didn't belong: "Belonging does not come to you, you assume it at every move and hope the rest follows." https://lnkd.in/ef8nBZbX

What's in the crevices of transition after a startup? A lot of what you'd expect. But also some crazy personal insights: Here's my biggest one: ⚡ building Sleuth gave me a false sense of control over my own kids' health ⚡ A very stark conversation with my therapist revealed that I took the progress of my startup as a progress in my child's health situation. At some levels, it was a little conscious, i.e. I remembering thinking, "maybe via Sleuth I'd stumble on someone with her exact thing." (She's still an N of 1). But at most levels, it was subconscious. Whatever space had opened up by stopping startup operations was then filled with vexxing caregiver anxiety. No cough went unnoticed, no headache went unaddressed, no mild stomach bug wasn't something more serious in my mind. My mind spiraled. So, in some ways, Sleuth might have been a 'trauma response' or a healing. Perhaps it was both? I think this might be true for a lot of founders who build from personal pain or invisibility instead of JUST personal experience. I know many founders, ESPECIALLY female, who've turned their pain into purpose and profit, such as in: ✨ infertility ✨ PTSD ✨ neurodivergence ✨ post-partum care ✨ depression/anxiety Building from this space is incredibly powerful. And definitely an asset, especially in the view of investors. What's helpful is being more self-aware about our 'why'. Looking back, at least 40% of early stage building is mindset, overcoming limiting beliefs, and making a distinction between personal emotions and the logistics of building. I see this with the other founders I coach too -- so many know what they're doing, but we take the why very much as something that doesn't require deeper inquiry. I don't think it had any major effect on the business that I didn't know, but it certainly does in terms of deciding what's next.

If you're confused about how to fundraise at the early stage, please join me and entrepreneur-turned-VC Rebecca Sholiton Kahnweiler tomorrow for a webinar on the topic. I sourced questions from all of you, so we're candidly uncovering topics like: 1️⃣ current trends in the fundraising market (and green flags VCs look for) 2️⃣ how to build relationships & make first contact online 3️⃣ what am I asking for re: check size and terms? 4️⃣ am I supposed to dedicate 100% of my time to this?! 5️⃣ how to negotiate and close investors (i.e. getting through IC, board seats, equity, etc) Link is in my LinkedIn bio - feel free to share

People ask me often how I feel about Sleuth's end. TBH, the failure hit hard. After all, aside from my own efforts, I was leveraging... other peoples' money, other peoples' time, and most importantly, other peoples' faith in me. There's a lot I could say about the journey of coming to terms with it all. There were a lot of tears and self-doubt. But now that I'm on the other side (and some folks tell me I got here quickly), I want to share something, almost *urgently*, to other founders: I wished for this life. I wished for the ability to work as hard as I could to see if I could succeed in something I cared about. In fact, I begged, pleaded, and prayed to the universe for this. When my child was in the hospital, I literally *dreamed* of the life when the caregiving wasn't my only gig, where I could balance caring AND working. This picture is from the moment I realized I was trapped. It was the Friday of Labor Day weekend in 2021, and seeing the boats on the East River pass by to sunnier shores felt like a painful metaphor. I was in shock. I had spent weeks in the Pediatric ICU unit not understanding what happened. She was supposed to be in the hospital for 5 days, but she came out vomiting blood, with no ability to walk or swallow. It was a big surgery with big consequences. And a 2.5 month hospital stay. Everything I had been building at Sleuth (which existed for 2 years before she was diagnosed) seemed even more urgent. Every time I woke up at 5am to change from my PJs to more respectable clothes because I knew her world-class neurosurgeon was going to be rounding, I wondered if I'd get the chance to continue to try to prove that caregivers *actually* knew their stuff. And so, how amazing it is that I had the alchemy of luck to try again? To build something that might make a dent on kids' health? I don't take it for granted that I got go back to being an entrepreneur. That her health improved, that she was eventually discharged, and I could, somehow, work, tend to her medical needs, and parent my older child. So, yes, I failed. But the other side of that story is that I had the chance to give it my all. I had the right structures, people, and inner strength to try to achieve. SO many people in the world just want THAT chance. To match their ambition to opportunity. You know what's cool? The people who most get what we tried to build are other founders. Yes, there are the few who seem to say "I knew it" about my failure, but I noticed they're restrained. They haven't fully unleashed themselves towards something bigger. The people who've built, tried to build, or are building? They are some of the most inspirational people I know. They get it. And that's all I need to move on to the next thing, with a similarly audacious vision. Here's to you, founders. Thankful to have been one, thankful to be in your orbit 🥂

Keep intending to write a similar update - Syed’s reflections are close to my own

🍎 NYC friends, interested in *practical* ways AI is being used to support kids? Then please join on June 18th to celebrate one of my fav founder friends, Sam (Altman) Gardner, and her startup HappyPillar. She's using thoughtful AI to transform early childhood mental health in a way that's trusted, science-backed, and parent-approved. It's *hard* to build in this space and yet the need immensely high; every other parent I speak to is struggling with how to best support their kids. Sam 👏 is 👏 doing 👏 it. Join her for an intimate gathering in a private home in Flatiron to learn *how* AI can be used in new and exciting ways to make our family lives easier. Expect lively conversation and a few surprises! Food and drinks will be served— DM me and I'll share the invite.