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Jessica Mah at Female Founders Conference 2014
15 segments available
Jessica Mah, cofounder of inDinero, at Female Founders Conference 2014
Segments Timeline
From Dorm Room to Startup
Jessica Mah shares her journey from founding her first company in middle school to starting inDinero from her UC Berkeley dorm room. She discusses her experience at Y Combinator and her passion for inspiring fellow computer science students to consider entrepreneurship.
"Jessica ma is the founder and CEO of indinero a company that takes care of counting payroll and taxes for businesses Jessica founded her very first company in middle school and started in daero from h..."
The Leap into Y Combinator
Jessica recounts how she and her co-founder, Andy, decided to apply to Y Combinator despite initial hesitations about equity. She emphasizes the importance of pursuing their startup dreams instead of traditional jobs, highlighting their close friendship and shared vision.
"come speak to the students I really wanted to get my CS classmates to think about starting their own startup and the first person I invited was Drew H howston who was the founder and CEO of Dropbox an..."
The Confidence of Youth
With youthful optimism, Jessica describes the excitement of launching their accounting startup, inDinero, and the initial media attention they received. She reflects on their confidence and the lavish spending that followed their funding round.
"we we put in our application for this idea called the mint.com for businesses and a lot of people would say why accounting that sounds like such a boring idea why not like Facebook apps for something ..."
Facing the Reality of Hiring
Jessica discusses the challenges of hiring and her first experience with firing an employee. She reflects on the pressure of maintaining a high-performing team and the lessons learned from her investor's advice.
"raised 1.2 million in funding and the first thing we did with all of this new money was of course get a fancy office there's the hot tub in the back and I remember feeling like we're going to be the n..."
The Illusion of Success
Jessica shares the harsh reality of their financial situation despite outward appearances of success. She recounts a conversation with a friend that forced her to confront the truth about their business's performance.
"before and he had this evil grin on his face Jessica you're telling me that you have all a players you don't have any B players your team is amazing and I'm thinking no that's not what I'm saying at a..."
The Wake-Up Call
After realizing their business model was flawed, Jessica describes the pivotal moment when she decided to pivot the company's focus. She emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs over chasing funding and PR.
"really arrogant you you got to calm down and I had one friend who just sold his money for his company for a lot of money and he said how much money are you making and I said well making $80,000 $80,00..."
Admitting Failure
Jessica reads a heartfelt letter to her parents expressing her struggles with the startup's financial pressures. She reflects on the emotional toll of entrepreneurship and the importance of seeking support.
"retired serial entrepreneur and he teaches at Berkeley and Stanford and I invited him over to my office to hang out get some advice and he saw the hot tub and he shook his head a little bit and and uh..."
Reassessing the Business Model
Jessica discusses the realization that their initial pricing strategy was unsustainable. She shares how they shifted their focus to a more viable business model that better served their customers' needs.
"job Jess it it was really bad uh and my dad replied I don't know if I was looking for sympathy or advice thankfully I got both he said I I am sorry you are feeling kind of sad it is normal to feel bad..."
The Pivot to Accounting Services
After reevaluating their approach, Jessica explains how inDinero transitioned to providing comprehensive accounting services. She highlights the importance of adapting to market demands and customer feedback.
"actually a really good idea why don't we do that and he's like no I I didn't mean that far but I slept on that for a few nights and I decided that this is actually what we need to do this this is the ..."
Building a Sustainable Team
Jessica shares her experience of hiring again after the pivot, emphasizing the need for a dedicated team that aligns with their new vision. She reflects on the lessons learned from their previous failures.
"better and a lot more relieved after we made that decision and here's us playing Starcraft uh we we decided to take a break from all of this we took a lot of time off to go to Monteray Santa Cruz spen..."
Finding Real Revenue
Jessica discusses the shift in focus from vanity metrics to actual revenue generation. She emphasizes the importance of understanding what businesses are willing to pay for and how that shaped their strategy.
"this so it's back to the drawing board after we got back from our trips we wanted to figure out how to get ourselves out of this rut and the question was what will businesses pay real money for becaus..."
The First Customer
Jessica recounts the excitement of landing their first paying customer after the pivot. She describes the proactive approach she took to secure the deal and the significance of that moment for the company.
"and then that way we'll actually make some real money uh and then that idea led to us deciding let's just do the accounting ourselves let's just do the taxes ourselves and that's the idea today in an ..."
Learning the Ropes of Accounting
As inDinero began to grow, Jessica realized the need to understand accounting herself. She shares her journey of studying and obtaining her IRS enrolled agent license to better serve their clients.
"business and and through all this we we realized we actually didn't know how to do accounting and now we actually had to file tax returns for these customers who offered to pay us money even though we..."
Overcoming Stigma and Fear
Jessica reflects on the emotional challenges of facing failure and the stigma associated with it. She discusses how she learned to embrace her journey and the importance of resilience in entrepreneurship.
"floor and we lived in another bedroom and we bit about a dozen employees here and we stopped caring about about billions of dollars under management and all those terrible metrics now it was just real..."
Embracing Unapologetic Confidence
In her closing remarks, Jessica encourages aspiring founders to define their own paths and embrace their unique strengths. She shares her journey of growth and the importance of confidence in overcoming challenges.
"they're just not used to women with really strong personalities like like what you have and I didn't know if I was supposed to feel insulted or what but I was taking a back a little bit but you don't ..."