Mary Iafelice's guest appearances

Mary Iafelice

Life Skills That Matter | Create Work That Works For You

The Global Shuffle

Sarah Nolet

Dorie Clark

David Allen

Gene Hammett

Travis Sherry

Chris Guillebeau

Sarah Mikutel

Fabian Dittrich

Mike Vardy

Thomas Frank

Omar Zenhom

Chris Bailey

Scott Young

Pete Mockaitis

David Burkus

OwlTail

Underserved entrepreneurs are often folks who traditional investors and venture capital firms might overlook. Do you think you fit the bill? Mary Iafelice believes in helping people like you by investing in problems worth solving. She’s the co-founder of Humble Ventures, based in in Washington, DC. It’s focused on investing in disadvantaged or underserved entrepreneurs. They invest in companies most traditional VCs would pass on like an urban barbershop app, an employment review website for veterans and a platform for women’s GI health. There’s a ton of great lessons in this interview including:  The diversity challenges facing venture capital investment. Why empathy is such a crucial life skill in the future of work. How Mary and her co-founders started their VC fund and how they work differently from a traditional VC. How well an entrepreneur knows their customer is a core indicator for Mary to judge how well a business might do. Some advice for introverts on how to build your network.  Life Skills That Matter In This Episode  Self-awareness Build community Empathy  How Mary Works and Thinks  Wake up time:  Sometimes 9:30-10:00am, but usually around 8:30am. Core work activities + habits:  1) Facilitation with the founders she develops.  2) Getting out and being present in the community.  3) Working on curriculum design for the companies they bring on. Superpower:  Synthesizing information. Regains focus by:  Going out to the country. 90-day goal:  To win money through non-profit fundraising.  Inspirational Quotes “Different types of people are going to have different experiences, but you know, just because I may not experience the same thing in my own life doesn’t mean that it’s not valuable or it’s not a problem worth solving.” “The more you focus on the people that you’re serving, that, to me, is the best indicator of a company that will do well.” Coaching Advice Mary shared this important advice for first-time founders: 1) The importance of customer discovery and making it as personalized as possible.  Getting out on the streets and doing the groundwork to understand your customers and their problems. 2) Work on understanding pricing.  Learning about willingness to pay, which ties back into understanding your customers personally. Resources + Bonus Materials DC Startup Week The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab Ray Crowell Harry Alford Quiet by Susan Cain KweliTV Dark Cubed True Made Foods Connect With Mary Website Medium Humble Ventures on Medium Twitter LinkedIn Thanks for listening! Enjoy this episode?   Subscribe Review Feedback  The post Investing in Underserved Entrepreneurs With Mary Iafelice (163) appeared first on Life Skills That Matter.

<a href="https://lifeskillsthatmatter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Mary-Iafelice.png" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a>Underserved entrepreneurs are often folks who traditional investors and venture capital firms might overlook. Do you think you fit the bill? <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryiafelice" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Mary Iafelice</a> believes in helping people like you by investing in problems worth solving. She’s the co-founder of <a href="http://humble.vc/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Humble Ventures</a>, based in in Washington, DC. It’s focused on investing in disadvantaged or underserved entrepreneurs. They invest in companies most traditional VCs would pass on like an urban barbershop app, an employment review website for veterans and a platform for women’s GI health. There’s a ton of great lessons in this interview including: <ol> <li>The diversity challenges facing venture capital investment.</li> <li>Why empathy is such a crucial life skill in the future of work.</li> <li>How Mary and her co-founders started their VC fund and how they work differently from a traditional VC.</li> <li>How well an entrepreneur knows their customer is a core indicator for Mary to judge how well a business might do.</li> <li>Some advice for introverts on how to build your network.</li> </ol> <h3>Life Skills That Matter In This Episode</h3> <ul> <li>Self-awareness</li> <li>Build community</li> <li>Empathy</li> </ul> <h3>How Mary Works and Thinks</h3> <ul> <li>Wake up time:  Sometimes 9:30-10:00am, but usually around 8:30am.</li> <li>Core work activities + habits:  1) Facilitation with the founders she develops.  2) Getting out and being present in the community.  3) Working on curriculum design for the companies they bring on.</li> <li>Superpower:  Synthesizing information.</li> <li>Regains focus by:  Going out to the country.</li> <li>90-day goal:  To win money through non-profit fundraising.</li> </ul> <h3>Inspirational Quotes</h3> “Different types of people are going to have different experiences, but you know, just because I may not experience the same thing in my own life doesn’t mean that it’s not valuable or it’s not a problem worth solving.” “The more you focus on the people that you’re serving, that, to me, is the best indicator of a company that will do well.” <h3>Coaching Advice</h3> Mary shared this important advice for first-time founders: 1) The importance of customer discovery and making it as personalized as possible.  Getting out on the streets and doing the groundwork to understand your customers and their problems. 2) Work on understanding pricing.  Learning about willingness to pay, which ties back into understanding your customers personally. <h3>Resources + Bonus Materials</h3> <a href="http://dcstartupweek.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">DC Startup Week</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Industrial-Revolution-Klaus-Schwab/dp/1524758868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517325788&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=the+fourth+industrial+revolution+by+klaus+schwab" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Fourth Industrial Revolution</a> by Klaus Schwab <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-crowell-29a20721/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Ray Crowell</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/harryalford/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Harry Alford</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking/dp/0307352153/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517327779&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=quiet+the+power+of+introverts+in+a+world+that+can%27t+stop+talking" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Quiet</a> by Susan Cain <a href="https://www.kweli.tv/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">KweliTV</a> <a href="https://darkcubed.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Dark Cubed</a> <a href="https://www.truemadefoods.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">True Made Foods</a> <h3>Connect With Mary</h3> <a href="http://humble.vc/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a> <a href="https://medium.com/@maryiafelice" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Medium</a> <a href="https://medium.com/@humbleventures" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Humble Ventures on Medium</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/maryiafelice" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryiafelice" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> <h1>Thanks for listening! Enjoy this episode?</h1> <ul> <li><a href="https://lifeskillsthatmatter.com/subscribe-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe</a></li> <li><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/life-skills-that-matter-find/id1180432038" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Review</a></li> <li><a href=" https://lifeskillsthatmatter.com/contact-us/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Feedback</a></li> </ul> The post <a href="https://lifeskillsthatmatter.com/podcast/underserved-entrepreneurs-mary-iafelice/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Investing in Underserved Entrepreneurs With Mary Iafelice (163)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://lifeskillsthatmatter.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Life Skills That Matter</a>.

Investing in Underserved Entrepreneurs With Mary Iafelice (163)