We’re in!

So 2 months ago I found myself sitting in my front room thinking

I NEED TO GO AND FIND A PROPER JOB.

My sister and I were trying to start a startup from my front room. I have never really had a ‘career’, just lots of internships so how the heck was I meant to not only start a company but grow and sustain it?!!?!?

It wasn’t a crisis of confidence it was a logical thought process of, I am really not ready. Maybe ‘they’ are right. Maybe I need to go and get industry experience first.

And then the very next day I met Paul Smith. CEO of Ignite Accelerator. I went to ask for advice and I guess the saying of ‘when you ask for advice you get money. When you ask for money you get advice’ is pretty true in this case.

After pitching to Paul, he asked, ‘So what can I do for you.’

Me: Tell me what we need to do to be ready for an accelerator, what do we need to do to be considered so we can work towards it.

Paul: I’d consider you now. (And he added, if that’s okay with you? Obviously I had to consider it)

And there I was two weeks later at the ignite interviews. 3 panels. One of which consisted of Alex Depledge who, probably unbeknownst to her, I had been stalking for a while, so I was a little startup starstruck, is that a thing? I first saw her on a ‘girls in tech’ panel at the Barclays Accelerator 2 years ago. She was the only Brit on the panel and her loud-mouthed straight up nature had me wanting to know more. I guess you could say she had me at hello.

The crazy part is I had looked at Ignite’s application form online and said, ‘we aren’t ready, we’re too early for this.’ That, was a crisis of confidence. The reason I am writing this is not to blow my own trumpet (well maybe a little), but it is to say

DON’T GIVE UP.

Yeah, we haven’t made it, but we made it a little further than we were yesterday. Every yes we hear is a step closer to creating our vision. More and more I am realising that the odds of starting a startup successfully comes down to resilience. When the data, the practicalities and the people around you are telling you to give up, you keep going. Keep moving forward. Please don’t give up on your idea or dream. It isn’t impossible. It is just friggin HARD. Oh and always do and go for the things you think you can’t do. I will never tell myself I can’t. And on that note, I’m off to apply to speak at Web Summit about India or the Muslim Market. Wish me luck. The odds are low but from now on I will always aim high.

Go get it people.