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What is the end goal, and what does great look like? At 1848 Ventures, asking another question is central to the work we do every day. We ask “how might we,” and we respond “yes, and.” We develop empathy for others. Hear directly from our storytellers, the People of 1848 Ventures, how our Culture Catchphrase “Ask Another Question” comes to life. To learn more, visit: https://insde.co/b4gj

As a Questioner myself based on Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies framework, the ethos of 1848 Ventures, backed by Westfield resonates deeply with me 🚀 Curiosity and the quest for knowledge are at our core, embodied in our Culture Catchphrase 'Ask Another Question.' It's not just about asking - it's about understanding and empathy. 🎥 Watch our team share their experiences and insights on how this culture of inquiry shapes everything we do. hashtag #1848Ventures #CultureOfCuriosity #InnovationThroughQuestions #AskAnotherQuestion

The culture of 1848 Ventures, backed by Westfield is foundational in all we do. It can be felt in how we talk to each other, collaborate, connect, make decisions, grow, and drive results. One of our behavioral areas "Ask Another Question" ensures that empathy and compassion are always present. We understand that in order to reach high performance and drive business results we must seek to understand through empathy and thoughtful conversations. Working together in this way leads us to new possibilities and unseen solutions. We are productive, appreciative collaborators, building stronger bonds and better solutions with every interaction.

If I’ve learned anything over the past two years, it’s this: when Samuel Gerace offers insight into building businesses, listen as closely as you possibly can.

“Invent and Reinvent Yourself” was the theme of last week's Chicago Innovation panel event that brought together entrepreneurs and innovators who live by it.   Sharing a “say-invent” moment with Norman Jeddeloh (a litigation attorney turned creative writer who published his first must-read romantic thriller: A Boat Named Blind Faith) and Brittany Hizer (a mom, innovator and co-founder of Pluie, reinventing public baby changing table to be self-sanitizing).   At Hellowiz , we are reinventing retirement. If you are considering retirement, stop, re-think, re-start, and join us on www.Hellowiz.com. Together, let’s invent un-retiring!

How do you know co-founders are aligned on the company's mission? Matthew Harrigan offers a simple test. Ask each of them individually: What are you building? Why are you building it? Company Ventures conducts this type of workshop with its companies to help ensure everyone—marketing, sales, engineering—is aligned with the mission. And that all starts with the founding team. Or, as Matt puts it, if you hear daylight between the responses, that daylight multiplies at multiple levels of the organization. Catch my full interview with Matt on the Rho NY Seed Round pod linked below!

I switched 3 cofounders before meeting the one I ended up appointing legally. How did I know it was finally the right person? I can say a lot of things about values, working ethics and patterns, #cofounder chemistry and other stuff that you already know. But to me, these three key points made up my mind: 📌 Proactive approach. In the two months that we have been working closely, my cofounder was never waiting to be assigned tasks – she'd pick them up herself or step in to help me. Her initiative has finally helped me progress beyond the phase I was left at after Antler. 📌 Feeling challenged. I have always been striving to surround myself with people who don't cut me too much slack. In my business partner, I needed exactly that – the power to push me, ask difficult questions and even contest me when it's best for the business. 📌 High standard of human relationship. When I was ill to the point that I had to call an ambulance, and they virtually did nothing, my cofounder was insisting to travel with me to A&E and pressure them to do something. It was late weekend night, she lives on the other end of London, and my flu was supposedly contagious. I eventually decided to just sleep through, but her willingness to be there for me at a critical moment assured me in our tandem even more. Obviously, our #startup story is only beginning, and no one would be able to tell how it's going to evolve. But for now, I've got someone to share this journey with, and it's an incredible difference to walking it alone. How did you meet your cofounders?

The biggest highlight of my career so far... I am BEYOND giddy to announce that last month I became an angel investor for the first time 😇💰📈🎉 Candid Studios (Lily Angel Barrett + Aimee Barrett) Backing a business that couldn’t be more YAY if they tried, the girlies at Candid Studios (the hottest new self-portrait studio in London), had me ready to sign on the dotted line 5 mins into our first meeting. Injecting empowerment and self love into everything they are and do, it couldn’t have been a better fit. 📸 🎞️ 💖 Despite female angel investors helping drive more than £2bn of investment in companies across the UK in the past decade, only 14% of angel investors in the UK are female. Having the privilege, and honour to be able to be a female, supporting a female-owned business with a whole host of other PHENOMENAL female investors is just beyond my wildest dreams and is something I never thought I would be able to do 🥹. With brains like Alice Benham, Rachel Harris and even Megan Barton-Hanson on board, and incredible leaders (who I so greatly admire) Heather Elkington and Sneha M. in the mix I’d say there’s nothing short of the dream team putting our all into building up the female entrepreneurial space 🚀 I am the No1. believer that business doesn’t have to be boring (hello party hat in my new LinkedIn headshot 👋) and am so committed to honouring that in my business, the clients we work with and the businesses I choose to support. Want to know more about my journey + process to becoming an investor? Drop me a comment below or DM me 🙋🏼♀️

Team red flags 🚩 that will make or break an early stage company: 👉🏾when one co-founder is more committed than the other 👉🏾 when both founders are conflict avoidant 👉🏾 when one co-founder consistently defers decision-making to the other co-founder

Beyond proud of what my pal Christy Wyskiel has built with JHTV. So much value has been created in just 10 years by translating scientific discovery to commercial ventures for and from students, entrepreneurs, The Johns Hopkins University and #Baltimore. Watch this space (https://ventures.jhu.edu/) - I predict 100-fold output in the next 10 years!