Ahana Banerjee

I'm excited to be working with WVC:E to investigate the experiences of women in VC having children, taking parental leave and returning to work. Spoiler alert... it is not good. There are unique challenges of working in VC, like the fact that only 16% of general partners in Europe are women so there are very few role models, investors have seats on the boards of their portfolio companies, which are not easy to give up, and the seasonality and cycles of investing make it hard to take time out in busy periods, to mention only a few of the issues. There are many more, including harmful industry norms, which we are uncovering in our research. If you are a woman in VC and have any views on this topic, we would be hugely grateful if you can spare 2 minutes to complete this anonymous form. We are gathering insights which we will share back to the community. Link in the comments 👇 #VC #women #investing #gender #research

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Here’s my best piece of advice to any graduate wanting to build their personal brand: 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮 🫡 People assume that a personal brand is only built through a complex mix of: ✘ LinkedIn posts ✘ Public speeches ✘ Conferences ✘ Video recordings ✘ Panel events Yet, it’s much simpler than that. It’s actually built by: ✔️ How much of a positive impact you’re making on others ✔️How much you’re challenging the status quo ✔️How much you believe in what you do ✔️How much you tackle important problems ✔️How consistently you communicate your values and principles Yes, it’s super important to also share all of your achievements online ♻️ HOWEVER, a deep dedication to making a meaningful impact in the world is what will truly build your personal brand in the long-term. Your personal brand = the level of your impact 🙌 Never forget that.

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Reflecting on one of my favorite milestones from my time at TikTok – the #BeYourOwnBoss community entrepreneurship programme. In partnership with Simon Squibb, we brought together 11 of the UK's most influential entrepreneurs, including Andrew Bloch, Mark Tilbury, Jessica Butcher MBE, and Gymshark’s Ben Francis, to discover and empower the UK's next top entrepreneur. This programme was more than just a search for innovative ideas; it was dedicated to nurturing the ambition, knowledge, and perseverance necessary to turn those ideas into thriving businesses. The insights gained from this experience opened my eyes to the entrepreneurial spirit—a journey I am passionately continuing at MYTHOSMKRS. Here, we take this entrepreneurial ethos further with our Creator Ventures service, helping creators evolve their intellectual property into successful, purpose-driven brands. We empower them with a direct-to-consumer strategy that transforms their communities into super-fans. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to have Simon as my mentor, guiding me to eventually becoming my own boss. It’s a challenging, but immensely rewarding journey, filled with continuous learning and personal growth. To anyone dreaming of launching their startup or transforming a creative vision into a commercial reality, remember: it’s all about persistence, continuous learning, and leveraging every resource. #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Mentorship #CreatorEconomy #CreatorVentures

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Mentorship is broken. I’m afraid we’ve lost the plot of what it truly means to be a mentor. The number of 30-minute calls you take on platforms like Adplist doesn’t make you a mentor. Reviewing cv’s, talking about how to make a portfolio and how to apply to jobs, doesn’t make you a mentor. Having a large pool of people you don’t know, having Q and A sessions with you, doesn’t make you a mentor. To truly be a mentor, you’re making a choice to build personal connections with a number of people you can genuinely give equal levels of significant attention for years. You’re interested in understanding and contributing to each person as they succeed, fail, grow and evolve through their experiences. You’re making yourself open to them for not just scheduled calls, but spontaneous conversations across different parts of their life at anytime with little to no care for the number of minutes spent. You’re not just talking about how to apply to jobs, or how to make a portfolio, you’re helping each person write their unique stories. You’re involved in the highs, the lows, the promotions, the lay offs, the presentations, the fights at work, their weaknesses, their strengths, their entire journey. You’re there to be a part of their journey from the junction you get picked up from, right till the end. Always listening, always understanding, always guiding. This is the thinking behind Braudit. It’s why we exist and it’s why we’ve built the next best thing to the mentor people wished they had. We’ve set out to fix what’s broken.

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The next days and June are probably packed with events not just for me but for everyone. The bigger ones, such as London Tech Week, alongside fringe events and other networking meetups, can be overwhelming, causing FOMO. You can't be at all, and, frankly, it becomes more of a numbers game than a strategy that works for you and your business. Be SELECTIVE and 100% INTENTIONAL. I go to very few nowadays, but when I do, I am well-prepared. When you approach attending events this way, you soon realise that you really have very limited time to take advantage of the ones you choose to attend, but also that these are perfectly ENOUGH. There's no such thing as a bad event; some are just not for you or you have not selected or planned it well. So, the little time you have for networking, invest it wisely. How do I choose which to attend? I have my tried and tested ones that never fail and I have tried a few that did not deliver for me ( not the right crowd or format), these are automatically off my list. Is there someone I'd really love to meet? How likely are they to be there? If they are not speakers, in which case they'd be listed on the website, perhaps people I am keen to meet posted something on social media about attending... When I see a name that stands out, I like to say hello before. I use event apps, LinkedIn or X to connect with anyone I do not want to miss, before the event. If I can, I try and set up a quick 101 or at a bigger event, try and get to the right discussion group. I do not often attend many nowadays unless they feature my target contact as speakers or panelists, in which case I think of a couple of questions to engage with them during Q&A sessions or after the talk. I check if the event provides ways for post-event follow-up to maintain and build upon the connections I make. And I make sure I create these opportunities for myself! I look for resources for follow-up and continued engagement with the key people I meet. If there are ways I can be of help to someone I meet, I am. Even if you make a wrong judgment and the event you chose did not fully deliver, there's always a positive outcome. It might be one event crossed off your list for the future, but perhaps a valuable connection made in the crowd who could prove useful down the line, or an opportunity for you to offer assistance to someone! What's on my list for the next few weeks? There's an interesting US investors event which I will attend. I have a couple of London Tech Week events penciled in, as well as Foras fringe events - https://lu.ma/foras Want to learn more about the London ecosystem and how to leverage that for your business, join the Foras panel session on 12th June, I'll share more on the topic. If you are Raising the Bar (RTB LDN), our next event reveal might be coming to your inbox in the coming week, too! Watch out. https://lnkd.in/etcUTFkH Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend. And if you see me at an event, make sure to say hi!

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I love being around people more successful than I. However I've discovered that most successful people are terrible at giving advice. Here's my view on why: Firstly, as human beings we tend to underestimate random factors and luck causing us to wrongly attribute our results to the wrong behavior (or at least an disproportional amount). The litmus test is asking oneself "If one followed the exact steps in the exact same order again, would one achieve the same results"? The answer in almost all cases is no. Most of the time the opportunity is gone, the market has changed... highlighting just some of the factors that are out of our control. Secondly, for "successful people" in particular, the advice given is often greater valued making it more effective. Ironically, the same human error has potentially greater negative effect just because it comes from someone with authority. In short: Just because it worked for them it doesn't mean it will work for you. Seek advice and listen carefully but understand that context is key.

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Founders, we don’t need a new dating app. We need a new way to date. Despite the market being as packed as a rush hour subway, founders keep trying to invent the next big thing in dating. It’s Bumble for those on parole! It’s Tinder for insect collectors! Why stop there? Just merge two startup ideas into one. It’s OkCupid for the unbanked! Let’s face it: the dating app scene is older than my browser history. Claiming 'people need a new way to date' isn’t a groundbreaking strategy—it’s a recipe for swiping left on your pitch deck. So, let’s move on to something fresh. How about a vertical with actual opportunities? And by 'actual,' I mean opportunities that aren’t just AI for sushi." #startup #founders  #venturecapital

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It feels like London has this hustle culture that everyone always is doing something, or has places to go. You can feel how fast the environment is from just how fast everyone walks around. I love the fast pace of things, where things are constantly happening. Surrounding yourself with ultra-productive people just causes you to become ultra-productive as well. But realising, sometimes it’s nice to stop and just smell the fucking roses and just take some parts of life slow. I used to never go out to coffee shops and just enjoy them- Having my 15 year old sister from Canada fly in, having dozens of lists of things she wants to do and places to see. This made me realise how I never had the chance to enjoy and more importantly, appreciate London, a city tourists purposely come to sightsee - Not just work. Seeing her just twice during the duration of 5 years, and always being too busy with work to visit, made me not only want to subsidise some guilt of not being a proper sister and spoil her to make up for lost time. I’ve realised the importance of things we tend to overlook like spending time with family, and that time is difficult to get back, especially with loved ones. For the past few weeks, I’ve realised that just slowing down, seeing beauty in the environment I’m in and establishing relationships with people. Rather than optimising for solely productivity, but also considering happiness as well as I find this generally benefits you more as an individual ☀️ #Mindfulness #Familytime #Worklifebalance

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Needed a boost this morning and looked over our feedback from last week's M&A Day. If you're thinking about attending Crafty Fest on 5 June, this might help you decide. Certainly helped me to stop LinkedIn doom scrolling and get back to work! "A fantastic event as always, filled with great insights and useful discussions - Crafty Counsel needs to find a way to trade mark its 'vibe'" "Without question: one of the best legal conferences that not only focuses on the joy of connection within the in-house legal community, but provides a platform for sharing cutting-edge expertise from its carefully selected network of members, partners and subject matter experts" "Well organised, fun, friendly and inspired a sense of community. Good mix of topics and great central location. Overall, really enjoyed it, looking forward to the next one and just generally becoming more engaged with the Crafty Counsel Community!" "The best of these types of events I've yet attended" "It made you realise that we are all in the same boat and together as a community we can support each other throughout these deals." "Look no further than Crafty Counsel's M&A Day if you're keen to listen to peers and industry experts share their firsthand transaction experiences and valuable tips for efficiently navigating deals." "Attending Crafty Counsel's events is a must for any in-house lawyer keen on easily staying up to date with the latest in law and industry practices. Beyond the invaluable learning, these events offer a lively and supportive community, making each experience thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile"

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This week is Fashion Revolution Week, it's the perfect time to reflect on our mission at Meyi and how we're championing change in the fashion industry. For me, Fashion Revolution Week isn't about rewriting the narrative of fashion in just one day. It's about making it a bit more sustainable, a bit more ethical, a bit more inclusive every single day. And you know what? That's already something worth celebrating. This week serves as a reminder that every choice we make as consumers and industry professionals has an impact. It's about asking the tough questions: Who made my clothes? What materials were used? How can we do better? Here are a few insights into the goal of Fashion Revolution Week and some actionable steps for all of us, share this with your friends: 1️⃣ Educate Yourself: Take some time to learn about the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry. Knowledge is power, and the more we know, the better choices we can make. Support Ethical Brands: Choose to support brands that prioritise sustainability, fair labor practices, and transparency. Your purchasing decisions can drive positive change. 2️⃣ Get Involved: Whether it's attending virtual events, participating in discussions, or even starting your own initiatives, there are plenty of ways to get involved in Fashion Revolution Week and beyond. 3️⃣ Embrace Secondhand and Upcycled Fashion: Vintage shopping, clothing rentals (HURR, By Rotation or LOANHOOD) and upcycling marketplaces (Alterist). Giving pre-loved garments a new life not only reduces waste but also adds unique taste to your wardrobe, believe me! 🔄 So, let's make it count! ✨ #FashionRevolution #Sustainability #EthicalFashion #Meyi #EmpoweringChange

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30 is flying by. After 10 years working in growth, I feel like I've learnt so much about its ups and downs. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the things I learnt about startup growth before I turned 30 - and things I am continuing to learn more about every day. Here are my top 30 startup growth lessons that I've learnt before the age of 30 (excuse my handwriting 🖋). 1. There is no perfect growth formula 2. You will always be learning 3. Test fast! 4. Never underestimate the importance of operations 5. Your product page and landing page should be different 6. Keep squeezing the lemon! 7. Growth is not marketing 8. Just because growth is broad, doesn't mean you need to know all areas 9. Don't be afraid to get help 10. Don't put all your eggs in one basket with channels 11. Take time to zoom out 12. Define your growth levers 13. There is no perfect growth process 14. PMF is not a black-and-white thing 15. Focus on retention over Cost of Acquisition (CAC) 16. High social proof can hide underlying PMF issues 17. Test emails and websites on mobile 18. Don't underestimate the impact of site speed 19. Don't underestimate the power of Message-Market Fit 20. Don't be afraid to niche down 21. Understand your customer's Jobs to be Done 22. Knowing how to write copy is a huge plus 23. Celebrate success more! 24. Document your personal wins 25. Your growth rate is not your happiness 26. See failures more as learnings 27. Take risks. More risks. Even more risks!! 28. It's a marathon, not a sprint 29. Be a fire preventer, not a firefighter 30. You DON'T have to be on TikTok! (Controversial one, I know) To 30 more years of growth lessons 🎉 If you want to learn more about what I mean about each lesson, click the link in the comments to read my full Medium article. #growth #growthprocess #growthconsulting #startupgrowth #DTCstartups

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London Tech Week has grown into a massive event 🇬🇧 ...yet, I spent most of my time at the Founders Stage. Honestly, every time I book my flight tickets and hotel rooms, I ask myself if splurging all that time and money on these events is truly worth it. My answer is almost always yes, but I usually only realise it on the plane home, when I finally have a quiet moment to reflect on the conversations I had and the talks I attended. This year's London Tech Week was no different. I can't imagine a better opportunity to learn more about the London startup ecosystem from both the founders' and the investors' perspectives. How challenging is it for UK startups to secure investments? Where is the VC money going in 2024? Is the London ecosystem attractive to non-UK founders? When is it a good time for a business to go public? These are just some of the important questions that the panels addressed. The insights gained and connections made are invaluable. I'm looking forward to LTW 2025. I’d love to hear about other startup events in the UK that you’d recommend. Any suggestions? #ltw #londontechweek #tech #founders #startups

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🌆 Networking in London can actually be really lonely. Weird, right? 🤔 A city with everything almost has too much. 🏙️ Offering only the top layer of relationships, missing out on the deeper connection when you float from one event to the next for the sake of event going. I didn't know that when I first started.... After 15 months of non-stop events, I burnt out I learned a lot about the city 🔥 Now, I continually refine which events - with whom, where, and for what purpose. 🛠️ In April, I reset again. Max: 3 monthly events. 🔄 The unique ones where I could add value Meet new, disruptive and provocative people 🌟 Doing things I don't do 🌍 The universe provided. ✨ Last week, I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by Wiener Boerse as part of the Vienna Stock Exchange in London, as a partner for Demeter Investment Holdings, where I have a business introducer relationship. 🤝 Beautiful city rooftop venue 🌆 Global people 🌐 Doing things I don't do 🚀 With a similar mindset 🧠 My heart was on fire! It reminded me why I chose London❤️🔥 What did I learn: A little bit about mid market stock exchanges! I'm still processing🤯 📍Sabine Rooftop Bar ______ Hi, I'm Stacy 🧜‍♀️ Ring the 🛎 for more insights on how Equati is changing #impactinvesting for #familyoffice

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How to start showing up for yourself? I was invited to be on a panel at Innovfest @ Asia Tech x Singapore earlier this week to share about Storytelling. I was nervous as I haven't spoken on stage to close to a year now. Since I left my role, I haven't done a lot of speaking in front of a big audience. Leading up to the panel, I was even asking who do I even represent? I even still had to use my previous role as co-founder of Viddsee (thinking once a founder, always a founder anyways :P). And then on stage, I was asked to introduce myself. And I auto-piloted back to my usual spills on what my startup Viddsee does, since it was a panel on storytelling. The first question asked about short vs long form content, and I continued sharing examples from the company. Then midway in my answer, I caught myself speaking, and a thought went in my head. What am I doing - why am I selling what I used to do. As I listened to my fellow speakers. Their key lessons were so apt for me too: Remember the audience, with Shu Fen's advice on brand storytelling for startups starts from understanding your audience Stop selling and start giving to audience, with Jason's experience working on luxury brand where it's not about transactional value, but value to be part of the brand and community   Use stories/storytelling to deliver key takeaways, with Calvin sharing client case studies examples to deliver his takeaways on introducing interactivity in storytelling, and not being afraid to incorporate tech/fun in brand storytelling. When my next question came, I knew I shouldn't be selling what I did and remember these are founders in the audience. I shared my journey as a founder on Linkedin, storytelling. How I learnt to be a more vulnerable founder, and it's not about exposing weakness or oversharing personal details. It’s the courage to be honest to oneself and to be authentic as a founder and leader. And to be human at the end of the day. And in the process, show up to be myself for the first time on stage :) Curious question, how do you show up for yourself? PS Shoutout to our moderator Judson, I love how listens closely to our conversations, and delivers his insights and smoothly takes the learnings to move over to the next speaker. We didn't rehearse and he hasn't gotten a heads up on our answers beforehand! Awesome panel facilitation! #InnovFest2024 #ATxSG #Storytelling

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I've woken up this morning stunned to find out that 90 people have already registered to hear me speak. And I haven't even promoted it yet. Well, here's my pitch: I'm 22 years old and for the last 12 months I've been building a software start-up in public in the hopes of inspiring the next batch of founders. My bio reads clear - we are not trying to grow a unicorn. My co-founder, Kiril Climson and I want to bootstrap this rocket ship straight to a $20M acquistion. And everyday we prove this is possible as we continue to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue and grow. Fast. Everybody tells me that we won't want to stop when an offer that big comes in - that we'll move the goal posts. What they don't know is that before we took Order Editing to market, we sat down and had an honest conversation about why we're doing this. I believe this is a conversation that doesn't happen often enough between founders. And on the 11th June, I'll be taking the floor for two hours to explain both the thinking behind this and the story of how I got here. If that's not enough to rope you in to joining the 60 people that have clicked "attend". Then maybe the fact that it will be hosted by the amazing Chanel Clark and her 4000 person strong community, The Marketing Club AU/NZ, will. 🔗 Click the link in the comments to register and support a young Kiwi founder who's getting after it. #Personalbranding #LinkedIn #Startups

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🚀 Exciting times at Connectd! The platform is buzzing with activity 🤝 🔗 Total connections up 95% 👥 Conversations between founders and portfolio professionals up 59% 🌟 Profile views skyrocketed by 95% 💼 Investor connections grown by 21% 🚀 Portfolio professional roles confirmed up 15% These numbers show a dedication to fostering meaningful connections in the startup community 🌱 Swipe through the carousel for more insights and join us at ➡️ www.connectd.com #Founders #Investors #Advisors #StartupEcosystem #Startups

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