You can find the full transcript and podcast audio on the Angel Invest Boston website.
Qiuyan Xu, PhD, and co-founder of Gravitate AI recently discussed some of her life experiences in starting a business and how she continues to learn as an angel investor member of Walnut Ventures.
Qiuyan's continual interest in learning new things, and learning them quickly, is in part what has driven her into so many new areas. She also gathers insights from fellow entrepenreurs and passionate leaders by being invovled with the Beacon Venture Partners and TBD Angels.
Advice for Start-up Founders and Angel Investors
In addition to recapping the podcast interview with a few of her statements, here are three things Qiuyan has learned that can help start-up business owners and angel investors, alike.
1. Push yourself beyond your strengths
Whatever is your strength, or your area of study, is just the beginning.
"Founders, do start.... life science, academic founders versus business founders. I do think founders, especially on the academic side, people who grew up "academically"...think about the business side of things and then try to acquire some of those background and knowledge as well. Either through mentorship, either through other venues, we have an ecosystem here, especially in this area [Boston]."
2. Invest in new things, but go with caution
Don't make too large of an investment on your first attempt.
"I do think it's good to think about the goal, what's the budget of the year, and is that something that I would be able to allocate while I still satisfy my other cash needs... kind of personal portfolio management view...or you could get caught in the passion [of an idea]."
3. Keep up that growth mindset
Learning is how to build confidence in decisions.
"I feel like the first stage, for me, is to know what kind of company I don't want to invest. I almost learned my lesson...when a company comes in now, I would just say, "No, I don't really want to do that..."
Ongoing mentorship and on-demand skills
No matter how you're learning, there are ways to keep moving forward. Partnering with Gravitate gives you both ongoing mentorship and on-demand skills to achieve your start-up goals.
Schedule time for a consult if you'd like to learn how we can help.