Name: Insights: Female Founders Talk Fundraising, Mentorship, and Advice For Women Entrepreneurs
Uploaded: 2020-01-15
Duration: 4 min 16 s
Description: Fortune sits down with Zola cofounder and CEO Shan-Lyn Ma, and The Wing cofounders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan. (August 2018)

[MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Shan-Lyn Ma, and I am the CEO and co-founder of Zola. Zola is the fastest growing wedding registry and wedding planning company in the country today. Like many successful startups, Zola was born out of personal need. All my friends got married at exactly the same time. And I found the shopping experience on those registry websites to be one of the worst e-commerce shopping experiences I had ever seen. So we set out to create a wedding registry where you can register for everything you want easily into one place. We started Zola with two of us. And we now have over 130 employees five years later. In the earliest stages, investors really looked at who was the founding team and were we the right team for this particular product and problem and market. My advice to any founder is the funding and the people that take a bet on you will often end up referring to your previous work. And so the best thing that you can do to secure great funding for your current business is to have a great track record of producing quality work previously. I'm Audrey Gelman, and I'm the co-founder and CEO of The Wing. And I'm Lauren Kassan, and I'm the co-founder and CEO of The Wing. The Wing is a network of coworking and community spaces designed for women. And our mission is the advancement of women through community. This is our brand room, so just starting the morning here at The Wing. And people are using it to work, to take meetings, to read a book from our library. It's really the sanctuary here. I worked in Democratic politics. I just had so many-- like an experience where I was on a 6:00 AM Acela to DC and putting on a suit and trying to apply mascara in a moving train car bathroom. And I just felt like there has to be a better way. And a space like The Wing, we want it to lighten women's load. The thing I continue to hear is when I walk into The Wing, I just, [SIGHS]. It's a sense of relief and calm. At the beginning, there were so many specifically male investors who had their idea of what The Wing should be. Someone told us not all money is the same color green, and that really resonated with us. And so I think finding people who really believe in you and your mission versus just taking any check is an important thing to do. And when we started The Wing, we met the founders of Soul Cycle. And they've been incredible mentors to us and really having people who've been in your shoes before who have started a business, who have operated a business is so incredibly helpful. Having that support group of other people that you can really say, gee, it's tough pitching to a room of 20 guys when you're the only woman in the room and being able to say that to someone else and them saying, yeah, I felt that, too, is actually a relief. A few months ago, we closed the series D round here at Zola. We raised a total of 100 million. And we are now launching the next product, which is wedding invitations and save the dates. We decided that we wanted to raise capital to be able to expand quickly. We opened in DC. We're going to be opening on the west coast in San Francisco and LA. We're going to London, Chicago, Paris for-- Wing world domination. 

Insights: Female Founders Talk Fundraising, Mentorship, and Advice For Women Entrepreneurs

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Zola cofounder and CEO and The Wing cofounders.

Female Founders Talk Fundraising, Mentorship

Fortune sits down with Zola cofounder and CEO Shan-Lyn Ma, and The Wing cofounders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan. (August 2018)

My name is Shannon Lynn Ma, and I am the CEO and co founder of Lola Foley is the fossil going wedding registry and wedding planning company in the country today. Like many successful startup, Zola was one out of personal needs. All my friends got married at exactly the same time, and I found the shopping experience on the registry websites to be one of the worst Connor shopping I have ever seen. So we set out to create a wedding registry where you can register people everything you want, usually in the one place we gotta Zola with two of us. And we now have over 130 employees. Five years later, in the earliest stages, investors really looked at who was the founding team. And we're we've the right team for this particular product and problem and market my advice to any found ribs. The funding and the people that take a bet on you will often end up referring to your previous work. And so the best thing that you could do to secure great funding for your kind of business is to have a great track record of producing quality work. Previously, I'm Audrey Gelman, and I'm a co founder and CEO of the way. And I'm Laurin, Captain, and I need a battery. The Wing is a network of co working community for women. On our mission is the advancement of women's community brand room. So just starting the morning here in the way people are using it worked to take meetings to read a book from our library. Really? Thanks. You're here. My work in Democratic politics. I just had somebody like any experience on 6 a.m. l a t like putting on a food and trying to apply with Keira in like a moving train car back on dhe. I just felt like there has to be a better way and a face like the wing. We want it lightly with low. The thing I continued to hear when I walk into the Wayne, I just a sense of relief and calm. In the beginning, there were so many specifically male investors who had their idea of what the wings should be. So until that's not all, money is the same color green, and that really resonated with us. So I think finding people who really believe in you and your mission. Taking any check morning down What we started The wing way met the founders of Soul Cycle And they've been incredible mentors, Really Having people who been in your shoes before started a business operated business is so incredibly helpful having that support group of other people that you can really say top pitching to a room of 20 guys when you're the only woman in the room and being able to say that to someone else and then saying, Yeah, I felt that, too is actually a relief. A few months ago, we closed the Series B round here. Lola, we raised a total of 100 million on DDE. We're now launching the next product, which is wedding invitations and save the day. We decided that we wanted to raise capital quickly. You were to be opening on the West Coast of going away. We're gonna London in Chicago, Karen Wing World