About Nicole
Serial entrepreneur; a three-time founder of for-profit and non-profit businesses including G.R.O.W
Have led people development and talent optimisation workshops for Fortune 500 companies, lectured at universities, and served as an advisor for startups. Here’s her website to learn more!
Author of Vekita Full Potential, a step-by-step career clarity guidebook designed for the modern professional
Regular Forbes contributor on professional development and the future of work
Some key ‘a-ha’ moments in this podcast
Entrepreneurship gives you the freedom to design the live you want
“I wanted the freedom to be myself, didn’t want to have someone to tell me what to do…that’s why I went into entrepreneurship. Being a founder, you get to create the life you want”
Building a for-profit vs non-profit comes with making many different decisions - think carefully what type of business you want to build
“Both are very different realms, it gives me perspective in terms of how to approach the business world with these two different lenses. What I learnt from my non-profit is that any of the IP you develop is a public entity, so when you are developing something, you want to make sure you are ok with that…always advise founders to think about what you want to develop”
Learning about entrepreneurship is beyond just learning how to pitch to investors, it is a psyche
“The best course that I learnt from is the Sociology of Entrepreneurship and Innovation - you can actually see what is happening. The actual knowledge of how people have been successful and why”
You may think you know what the market wants, but don’t forget to test it before you invest more time and money into an idea
“You don’t have to go in all at once, you can build in over time. But before you invest your time and money into something, please test it”
Bootstrapping can be done in an efficient way - play your cards wisely!
“One hack is get a credit card with 0% APR for a year and has sign up bonuses, so that you can get to make money for making money…that’s how you can bootstrap your business. And create ways to make money right away - do a pre sale for a product or a service!”
Know your business - wear every hat until you know it, then decide where you focus your energy
“It is important to be a janitor before you are the CEO. Learn different parts of your business, and you can then decide how to manage things better”
Nicole’s advice to women who want to start businesses on their own terms
“Be bold and be bold through kindness and not aggressiveness. You can be assertive but not aggressive - stay true to who it is that you are. In the past, we were stepping into a man’s world when coming into business. It’s not the same anymore. And push your comfort level on what it is that you want to ask for. If it’s a product, put that price up high and you can always give discounts. Always ask for more!”
Nicole Serena Silver, the 3-time founder on a mission to help people grow