When it comes to building community Isabelle says 1-on-1s are a must. If you want to build insights and truly understand your customers needs 1-on-1s can be a great source.
It was a pleasure to have Plus Eight's Program Manager Isabelle Goldfarb on the show. She touched on her diverse startup experience, moving to Australia from Brazil and the importance of keeping it simple.
Plus Eight Accelerator – Perth’s leading accelerator
Companies Isabelle is involved with:
https://pluseight.spacecubed.com/
Resilience. You’re going to have a lot of ups and downs, and there are no overnight successes. It takes 10 years to build an overnight success.
Listen to your customers so you can make the right decisions.
(1:58) – Isabelle’s first start-up experience in Brazil: No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy. You can do all the strategizing in the world, but until you put something in the hands of customers, you won’t know how it will perform.
(3:27) – Finding first customers for a social app
(5:40) – Isabelle’s critical commitment decision and the importance of being all-in, work life balance, and time management
(10:04) – Isabelle’s experience in financial and management consulting
(11:05) - Who makes the better founder and why? The university drop out whiz kid versus the experienced corporate employee
(13:17) – Why Isabelle started Olabi Makerspace
(15:50) – How Olabi launched through sponsorships, foundations, and corporates
(19:07) – The key to building supportive communities: Genuine care, openness, vulnerability, and shared stories
(22:53) - How start-up founders can apply lessons from building community to growing their customer base: Understanding customer needs and leveraging 1-on-1 conversations
(27:27) - How to scale customer understanding and community to ensure ongoing impact
(31:54) – What founders that are resilient have in common
https://www.hubspot.com/ - CRM platform
https://houseparty.com/ - face to face social network
