Demystifying the Venture Capital World for Founders with Mikayla Sullivan from ISA Ventures
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Mikayla Sullivan, an associate with ISA Ventures, an Iowa multi-stage venture capital studio. Emily first got plugged into the ISA world when she joined their accelerator in early fall of 2021 with her other company, the hummingbirds, a local influencer and brand matchmaking business. Mikayla joins the podcast to chat about the venture capital world and how to navigate it as a first time founder.
Mikayla got her start by building her own company in college, KinoSol. KinoSol is an Iowa-based startup that creates creates solar-powered food dehydrators to reduce post-harvest loss around the world and has a mission to help end global food waste, improve livelihoods, and create entrepreneurial opportunities for subsistence farmers in developing countries. After six years running that business, Mikayla started at ISA, helping founders all over the state work on their pitches, improve their business strategy and connect to resources.
Listen as Mikayla shares more about what venture capital is and why founders may seek it out. She goes into what makes ISA different from other VC firms and the resources they can provide. Mikayla explains what her team looks for when partnering with new startups and what the entrepreneurship lifestyle is really like.
If you’re interested in scaling a company or pivoting into seeking out venture capital, download this episode!
Tune in for topics like:
What is venture capital
Types of companies who should seek out venture capital funds
What differentiates ISA from other VC firms
The three most important questions you need to ask yourself before pitching
Having a give first mentality
One of the biggest misconceptions early stage founders have
Why generating revenue is always better than raising capital
How to know which fundraising option is right for you
Links from the episode:
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