THE ONES WHO DARED
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THE ONES WHO DARED
French Landing: From Aerospace Engineer to Startup Founder—Chasing the American Dream | Elisabeth Bykoff
Elisabeth Bykoff is a powerhouse in the SaaS world—startup founder, investor, advisor, and global operator with over 17 years of experience scaling companies across the tech landscape. She is the Founder and CEO of Boxsy, an AI-powered SaaS platform helping startups scale. She is also an Operating Advisor at Alinea Ventures, supporting early-stage startups in CLM, fintech, AI, and DEI. Previously, she held leadership roles at Agiloft and YayPay and began her career at PwC. Elisabeth holds an MBA from the University of Washington and a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from ENAC.
In this episode Elisabeth shares her courageous journey from French aerospace engineer to American tech entrepreneur. Her new memoir, French Landing: A French Woman's Journey to Her American Dream, offers a humorous and insightful look at the American experience through European eyes. With clarity, grit, and a deep understanding of both startup chaos and corporate culture, Elisabeth opens up about the cultural contrasts, bold career moves, and the resilience it takes to thrive in a male dominated sector.
In this conversation, we explore:
• Leaving PwC after 10 years despite being on track for partnership because of burnout and feeling the expectations were different for women
• Building Boxee, a platform to help entrepreneurs scale smarter by providing operational guidance and best practices
• Navigating cultural differences between France and America, from education systems to credit scores and healthcare
• Challenges of being a female founder in tech, including fundraising difficulties with only 1.8% of women getting funded
• Learning resilience as an entrepreneur and finding support through networks of fellow founders
• Taking calculated risks throughout life, from 155 parachute jumps to quitting stable jobs to starting a business
• Creating a solution that increases the success rate of startups making it from seed funding to Series A
From go-to-market strategies to exit planning and AI integration, Elisabeth brings clarity and vision to what it takes to grow smart in today’s fast-moving landscape.
You can connect with Elisabeth on:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethbykoff
🌐 Learn more: www.boxsy.io
-Links-
https://www.svetkapopov.com/
https://www.instagram.com/svetka_popov/
Hey friends, welcome to the Once who Dared podcast, where stories of courage are elevated. I'm your host, Becca, and every other week you'll hear interviews from inspiring people. My hope is that you will leave encouraged. I'm so glad you're here. Elizabeth Bykoff, welcome to the Once who Dared podcast. I'm so delighted to have you on today. Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Well, it's a treat to have you, because you are a French-American executive, a SaaS expert, a founder of your own company called Boxee. That is a platform that helps entrepreneurs scale smarter, not harder, With two decades of experience in global business brand strategy. And now you're sharing your personal story in a new memoir that just came out, called French Landing A French Woman's Journey to Her American Dream. And so here you open up about leaving France, starting all over in US, and what it takes to really chase a dream with courage and resilience. And so I'm really excited to dig into both pillars your professional climb in the industry as a woman, as a minority in that sense, in a male-dominated market with AI and tech, and yeah. So tell us a little bit about how you got started and where you are today. There's a whole journey there.
Speaker 2:Where I got started back in France. Do you want just a career side of things that started here, because it's too different.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, we can start with the career side, first of climbing up that ladder, and now you're a founder, which is really incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, so I'm aerospace engineer by training. That's what brought me here, came as a visiting grad student and the easiest way for me to stay in the US was not to finda job, was to get a second degree. So I rerouted to business, got my MBA right away. I was one of the babies of the program. I got in and it was almost they were letting me in or I was going home. So you know, knock on wood, they let me in and then from there, I really wanted to stay in aerospace engineering.
Speaker 2:Believe it or not, I, the dream, was Boeing. Right, I was like, oh, I went to school in Toulouse, airbus Boeing. Seattle made sense, and I actually met the general counsel at the time, back in 2005, 2006, of Boeing commercial, and after two coffees he literally, literally told me do not come and work for Boeing. So my dream was shattered. Uh, what? My dream job? This is what I wanted to do. But, um, you know, it was very. It was african-american, believe it or not, in a very white, male oriented industry. And he was like you're going to be one of the ants. You will not get in on the business side, even though you're getting an MBA. They hire, you know they move engineers into business positions and, based on your personality, just go do something else. I don't know you very well, but after two coffees you should go and do something else.
Speaker 2:So that's when I explored consulting and interviewed with all the consulting firms, did my internship at BCG back in Paris, pulled that card of the American MBA back in France and ended up at PwC in 2007. I kind of found my home there. That was my way also to obviously stay in the US and get my first international experience, and I spent 10 years there in tech, get my first international experience. And I spent 10 years there in tech and I had a chance to build a US Salesforce practice for PwC here, literally. You know it was after the non-compete with IBM ended, so I don't know if you know the story there, but they had sold their consulting business to IBM back in 2000, 2004.
Speaker 2:And so I had, you know, right place, right time. In a way, I got thrown into a project, sold the project as a baby, and then that took me into a journey of helping build a practice from zero to 200 million globally, and I really liked that part more than selling and delivering projects and consulting. And so in 2017, it was time to sign my life away and be a partner. And I said no, not here, not now, and I just quit, which everybody was very surprised. They were like you don't believe we're going to make you a partner. And I said, no, I actually I don't believe it, that's yet another challenge we can talk about.
Speaker 2:Right, the carrot was always moving, and for the last eight years, you know, I thought let's go where things are being built, which was San Francisco Bay Area. You know the startup ecosystem, and so I've been taking jobs from, you know, very late stage. That was an easy transition for me, coming from consulting to just all the way to pre-product, pre-revenue, helping founders build their companies. So make a couple of angel investments, learn about that, be an advisor for a bunch of startups, including part of the Morgan Stanley Inclusive and Sustainable Ventures Lab, and being on all sides of the table. I thought, hey, how do we help more entrepreneurs be successful and how do we change a bit the game in that ecosystem? And that's how Boxee came about. So that's the last hat I needed to hang on my head, I guess, which is not the easiest one, by the way. I should have started making that one. I did a bit everything in reverse, and so that's really the journey behind where I'm at today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, and that is quite the resilience. And there's so much risk there, too, for quitting a company that you're comfortable with and getting this opportunity, which a lot of people will be like wow, this is a fabulous opportunity and partnership. So what made you decide to say you know this isn't for me and maybe see another possibility with that?
Speaker 2:To be honest, a couple of things were happening back in 2017. You know, I was burned out. I was traveling every week West Coast to East Coast for five years straight. I didn't realize how burned out I was and how my body was, you know, completely out of whack. I was pretty tired. The partnership was in reach but at the same time, it felt like I needed to deliver way more than some of the men that were getting promoted. You know, the expectations were different. It was about being French. It was always not whether I sold or delivered. It was always my communication style and you know you're too direct and you got to you know you're rough on everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're rough on the edges polish the you know the edges, or something like that. And you know people. I recruited people. I had great teams, I sold, but somehow it was, it was never enough. That's how it felt, like they were going to keep pushing, pushing the goalpost. And so, um, it was not an easy decision. Uh, you know, it was absolutely not an easy decision. I had to grieve it for a couple of years, believe it or not, because I thought this was my ultimate make partner and then keep growing within the firm. And I got home, looked at my savings and my husband was like, okay, you want to quit, let's take a deep breath, you know, just think through it. He looked over my financial. He's like, ah, you can quit.
Speaker 1:Just whatever, just do it.
Speaker 2:You know, don't even bother if that's how you do it. I'm here, uh, and yeah, it took me another two weeks to really it's like, no, don't do anything rash. And then something happened. I woke up in a hotel room in in New York on my own and picked up the phone, looked at an email and somebody had thrown me under the bus in front of all the partners and I started crying of frustration and I thought I think, think that's it, I think I'm done.
Speaker 2:I shouldn't be waking up alone on my own on a you know in a New York hotel and start crying because I'm so frustrated about what's going on, and so that kind of triggered helped me trigger and make the decision, and by that Friday afternoon I was calling my partner and be like hey, I think I'm done. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And did you also feel that there was, you know, disparity between male and female in the industry? I know that you're more of a minority as far as a female being in the tech, but did you feel that there was some form of discrimination with that? Or as far as like raises and promotions and things like that? Or what was your experience?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting because you know, in France you have to pick your specialization in high school, if that makes sense. So you know you, for us it's three years, so you're 16, 17, and 18. And the first year, depending on your grade, you got to select. You know science or economics or literature, or then there's the trade kind of trade path and I was really good at you know math, physics, stem. So I ended up in the scientific path for the last year of high school. So I was already a minority, if you know.
Speaker 2:It was 25 or 30 percent of women or girls, right, um, in those paths. And then I got into prep school and got into engineering school, which was also still at the time, 20, 25 percent, and so I kind of grew up with boys, yeah. And so when I got into consulting here in the US which same thing, the you know, at the time the mix was still 25, 30 percent of us, maybe women, in consulting. I didn't it at the beginning. You join and you're like well, that's all I've known since I was 16 or 17. Right, so I was, and I was always one of the boys somehow during that time. So I didn't see, I didn't see the issue, right.
Speaker 1:I was like oh yeah, we're just a minority.
Speaker 2:But fine, you know, I'm a junior, I'm doing my job, I'm building my brand internally, so I didn't really see any issue until I really got to director and then the first, the last step was to make to the part, you know, partner and the partnership. Then I think that's where I realized, whale, like everything's changed now that you're trying to get into those. You know the last, you know the last, stop, almost right, those leadership position. That's where now I was still part. You know I was like one of the boys, but they were like just different criteria or expectations of me to get there. Um, where if I had been a man it was like, yeah, she's, type a, she's this, you know she's, yeah, she's, but as a woman you're supposed to be nice, or you know, or you're, you know the bias of like right, it's like you're too direct.
Speaker 2:if you're female right and so you know I don't're, you know the bias of like right it's like you're too direct if you're female Right, and so you know, I don't know if there was discrimination, um, even though some people around me might have thought that. And did I get screwed over? Yes, absolutely, I can say that, Um, but I didn't. I didn't feel it until later on, when really it was almost like time to break the ceiling. Here we go Then, you know, you know, um, that's where I felt that something more was expected of me compared to my peers, and I've seen peers that treated people like shit and never sold and you name it and they were still making it and you're like wait, I'm not understanding.
Speaker 2:I'm checking all the boxes and I'm still not in it. So for sure, towards the end I mean towards that last, you know, the last three years and four years trying to get there was very different for me. And then moving out of that into yet another male oriented, pure tech sector yes, again same thing, even though I was in leadership positions. You know, again, there was bias around. You're too direct and you're too you know.
Speaker 1:You're too assertive and you know, and too assertive and you know, and so it's, it's been, it's been interesting, because for me it came later in life, versus feeling that from yeah, and, like you said, because you were always around boys and males through the different stages of your life, you felt like you were part of them, like there wasn't a big difference. You know, I mean, I'm sure there was some, but in the sense you got along and there wasn't like that. But when you get to the top tier of the pyramid, then it's like, oh OK, to be a CEO or founder, it's a little bit different, right? I'm curious to know what made you choose Boxy and the company that you started and the company that you started. What was your thought behind just organizing this type of company and what do you hope your company does for businesses At the Once For A Year podcast?
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Speaker 2:So at the end of 22, I quit the last full-time job and Chad GPT had just been released publicly and I thought, if one more startups asked me to build a B2B sales process in Salesforce, I'm shooting myself in the head. You know, lowly I was like there has to be. You know this is not the competitive advantage for any founder, any company or operations. They have to be focused on, you know, building and selling their product, right? So how do we take the wealth of knowledge that's out there not just me, but all the other advisors and best practice, everything that's on the internet, right, like there's so many published content to bring that? You know those guidance, you know those best practice, those templates. You name it to founders so they stop wasting their time like calling the network or, hey, I need help. You know where, how do I do this? This? So it started that way and really helping more startups be successful.
Speaker 2:And then, throughout the last two years, obviously the tech's going so fast that it's not just about guiding anymore. It's almost how far can we automate operations for first-time founders, small businesses, people that have great ideas but sometimes don't even manage to raise capital or don't know where to start as well as, to be honest, as the more time I've spent in the ecosystem, it's an interesting game of probabilities, right, as an investor, you meet as many founders as you can. You make, you know, 100 bets and you hope for the best that one bet is going to hit right. And you know, coming from a math background, like, well, that's great, but hope's not a strategy. And we all know that if you get two or three that hits, your returns are going to be higher. It's just. It's just pure math. Right, there's no rocket science behind this. But a lot of the you know, especially on the VC side, are very hands off. That's just the way the ecosystems has worked in the past, compared to more private equity or some other model of capital.
Speaker 2:And I've always been surprised about that because you know they put money and into companies and, yes, they can't, they don't have full control, they can impose anything but fiduciary. You know they have investors themselves that want to see return Right, right. So I thought, you know, I got pulled into that world, that side in that world, to say, ok, well, how do we create a virtuous circle and better collaboration on both sides? To say, hey, it's not all about capital, it's about also helping operate the business so they do better, you do better, right, it's, you know, it's. It's pretty obvious. There's nothing there. That's you know. That's again rocket science. Wow, elizabeth, you're saying something that nobody knows.
Speaker 2:And I think you know the time is right. The industry's switching. I mean, you just see it, ipos windows are closed. I mean there's not enough liquidity trickling down to early stage.
Speaker 2:Some of the VCs are changing. They're going to multi, what's called multi-asset strategy. So they're not doing ventures with their fund, they're doing RAs and hedge funds and all that to really increase returns. And they are at a point now that they realize that if you want to keep those companies growing, they will have to be part of the operations, if that makes sense, right. So guide them more, be more hands-on, and so we're really trying to build that platform for them to do that and just collaborate and find better deals.
Speaker 2:Help more, you know, help more startups and help the startups in the process to small businesses, right, that are looking for capital. So that's really I got. I got pulled into that and you know it's a big, it's a big change in mindset. Hopefully, you know it's the right time and, yeah, the vision is really to see how you know if, instead of one startup, you know, 90% of seed startups never raise A. That's just a stats out there. But if we can bring that percentage point you know, add one, two, three percentage points and more, more startups get to series a, I've won. That was the idea, right. It's how do we push more entrepreneurs through that hump and then cause then they have a higher probability to exit to, you know, to be successful. That's really the idea behind Boxy.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and so is Boxy targeting more of the tech sector, or what type of sectors do you guys target or help with currently?
Speaker 2:Yeah, because of my background, I started with tech. You know, mainly SaaS, but we've already got interest from CPG, health tech services companies to like freelancers and agencies, which was interesting because we started providing a single pane of glass, really to know your metrics. So start there, like, how's your business doing? So, yeah, we always intended to go through and start adding. You know those different industries, so I think it's going to happen sooner rather than later, which is great. But yeah, the idea is that you know, I'd like to see how far we can push it and be completely industry agnostic, right? So no matter what business you're starting and we help you, I'll need people to help me because, you know I don't know all industries, right, as you can imagine. But yeah, the idea was to try to touch as many entrepreneurs as we can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. And so, in the middle of all this, you decided to write a book, which is quite an undertaking. Anyone who has tried to write a book wrote a book. You guys know how hard that is. I think there's like 80% of Americans want to write a book, and I forget the percentage that actually starts writing, and then there's a really tiny percentage who finishes, and even a smaller percentages I think it's like 1% or something like that Don't quote me on that but that actually publishes a book. So you've done a lot of hard things besides moving to US from France at a young age to getting your master's here and working in a male dominated industry, and now you decide to write a book. So what got you to make that decision? What inspired you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, covid, um, you know it started during COVID. Uh, I was part of CHIEF. Um, I don't know if you know the. You know the Women Professional Network that had started in 2019 out of New York and, of course, during COVID, all face-to-face um events were online and, um, we got a webinar on how to write a non-fictional book proposal by two of the community members and so for an hour they explained how they wrote about 70 to 100 pages for a book proposal that they could submit to an agent or you could submit to directly.
Speaker 2:You know publishers but, as you know, you have to go through an agent right to maybe pick you up and all this to get a book deal. And then you get an advance and you know you have to go through an agent right to maybe pick you up and all this to get a book deal. And then you get an advance and you know you're off on your way and, very naively, I thought, if I ever write a book, it'd be about 150 to 200 pages, so why would I write half the book to try to get a book deal? So I, you know we finished the call and I thought I'm writing a book and you know it was in between jobs, on top of that during COVID, and so it was like perfect, I have nothing else to do. Quote unquote uh, spend some time. And I didn't want to do a business book. Uh, I thought you know there's plenty of those out there, this is boring, so let's. Let's write about something I know. And I thought, oh well, I have plenty of funny stories of me coming to the US as a French woman and not understanding half of what I thought I knew from the silver screen and the TV shows out there and whatever they teach you.
Speaker 2:So I really quickly structured the book that came to me pretty quickly and then started writing. And I didn't even, you know, I started just I call it vomiting, right, it was just like in bed, take the computer and I was just writing what was coming to my head. So, no, you know, no structure on the chapter. But just like, hey, let's tell the story. And I went through, I think I don't know, 10 chapters, 10, 12 chapters, and then then it took me, you know, got a job, and then it took me more time to finish it up. So it's been more of an adventure and four years of four or five years in the making, but yeah, that's what got me started. Just somebody who was like so it was almost like a challenge what you want me to write, what? So I need a hundred pages to get a book. I'll just write the book, there's no point.
Speaker 1:I love it. See, that's how you approach life, so I love that attitude, which is probably what makes sense to you being a founder at this point in life. I was laughing out loud reading your book and some of the things that you wrote, from schools to getting your driver's license and all the absurdities and culture differences from France to US and, I think, anyone moving to any different country right, we have culture shocks and there's things like you know, you go to another country and you're like why do they do this this way? And some things are for better or for worse, Like in US. If you go to Europe from US, you notice the US stalls have about an inch like hole where people can see you. It's like why do we not close that door all the way and seal it so people standing in line to go to the bathroom don't see your private business?
Speaker 2:so there's there's a lot of like annoyances. You know that. Well, you go to china and you have no doors, in some cases not in the cities, but like outside the cities, I experienced and you got to go in the bathroom in front of everybody.
Speaker 1:So here we go I have not been to China yet. Okay, I would love for you to just hit in a few chapters of like schooling. Let's talk about that. What were some differences that you noticed between us and here? Cause you started college so you weren't going to elementary or high school here, and some of the things that were really different for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the first and I have that in the in the chapter and in the book is you know I came as a visiting grad student but I still had they still had me take 400 classes right To kind of ease into the program, you know, to the year. And I remember taking that first 400 classes about matrices and you know I kind of sat down and I was like wait, they teach us that in high school back in France. So at the end of the day it ended up being a very easy class for me and it's a great way to ease into my first year. You know, in the U? S but I think and you know we talked about that and you know there's studies around that and research and stats being tracked.
Speaker 2:But I think, um, the big difference I would take there's a big difference with an 18 year old in the US being, you know, going to school in the US and I think an 18 year old in anywhere in Europe. Somehow the requirements are very, very different in terms of curriculum and I think, you know, because of the size of the country and the culture, I think we're I mean, I wouldn't say better rounded it, if that makes sense, out of Europe, but because of the wars and where you know so much things that have happened historically out there, um, we might be a bit less self-centered, but again, you know people could challenge me on that that there's way, there's a lot way. You know, we're just told way more good and bad stuff that obviously those countries have done. Don't get me wrong, we, we're not, we're not there, we know that Right. So, um, but you know that's something that's always been like wait, um, and one of my stepson ended up taking pottery to graduate from high school and I was like Whoa like.
Speaker 2:I would never had that luxury to take a pottery class to be able to right, like the school is a full-time job. In France, even, you know, in high school, it's 30 plus 35 hours a week, like you know. You're just like, yeah, it's your job as a kid, right, which here it's not exactly that way. There's a big emphasis on sports. For us it's more an extracurricular activity. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So it's different things that have been that were the big, the big surprise when I first landed, um, it does change, you know, when you go to grad school, I think here the graduate programs, whether it's a master or PhD, then takes it to a complete different level compared to France because of the grants and the research projects and the you know, the, the private and sector being involved in that, which then it reverses, if that makes sense, right, like, you get to that level of of schooling and it's it's a complete different game and that's where a lot of europeans come here to. You know, do research and study might change based on what's going on, but you know, yeah, still still a lot of things.
Speaker 1:So I was telling my kids that um, high schoolers in france go to school six days a week half a a day Wednesday and half a day Saturday. Is that still true there? Yeah, According.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, except if something's changed and they got a lighter load, but yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's fascinating. So then, and also, you guys have, you're required to learn at least one language, if not two, which is another thing too. That's different, because anytime you go we travel for business in Europe a lot, and so anytime we do go there, most people speak another language, and usually it's English, you know, or German or whatever. But here it's you are. Most people only know one language, and Spanish is something that's taught, but it's not even like it's required in high school and some high schools not even all across the board. But then you know, if you don't use it, you lose it, and so it is interesting, though just that alone. What were some of your other biggest culture shocks that you entail about?
Speaker 2:You know some of the things that retirement, health care, you know the usual things that we take for granted out there. Um, yeah, you know we grew up with. Uh, you come here and you realize the I mean not the culture, but it's just the system is different. 20, 20 years, almost 21 years in the us. I still don't understand the health care system. I'm like why is it so complicated and why are you trying to make all that money? I mean, you know anyway. Still, I think that my European side still prevails on that. I do think that health care is a, you know, universal right now.
Speaker 2:I agree, I don't know about that. Our system over there doesn't work either. Don't get me wrong. Right, care is, care is has degraded, uh, because of budgets and stuff like that. But, um, you know, that was always like what people can get bankrupt because of healthcare. I don't think that's normal, um, and then retirement and uh, 401ks and playing with the market. You know, I think I call it like betting betting your retirement away, retirement away, right, yeah, which we don't have out there. People are pretty self-assured with a, you know, federal pension, call it whatever you want to call it. Um, are still in that's. You know. I'm mentioning specifically the retirement because I knew as I moved to the US that I was, I was forfeiting my retirement. You know, my assured retirement in France, right?
Speaker 2:So that's been something throughout my career that has been, you know, in the back of my mind constantly of I need to make sure I have enough money for retirement, because France will not provide for me, and so you know, every decision I've made have been calculated risk around that, or any investment I've made has always been longer term, like it doesn't matter what happens now. It's more like can I retire eventually comfortably and not be in trouble? Um, and I know that's because I'm coming from a country that well, if I had stayed I would have been assured that somebody or the government would have taken care of me, right. So I would say these are the biggest one, but I'll'll put the dating one in there because I think it's a fun one. Oh yeah, you know. So that you know, hedging your bets and versus we don't hedge our bets, we go one after the other in a sequential manner was an interesting one that I had to get taught and I still couldn't do it. So here you go.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, couldn't do it. So here we go, yeah yeah, and the other one too. That's really interesting and I just find it just having kids myself.
Speaker 1:The credit score it's such a wild idea, right? Because you are encouraged to get in debt so that you pay off the debt, and that's how it's determined whether you can get a mortgage or a loan. But yet you can get in crazy amount of debt by you know, going to getting student loans as well, and so by the time a college student graduates, they are just loaded with debt. And somehow you're encouraged, by the time you're 18, to get a credit card. Actually, you need to get two credit cards in order to up your score.
Speaker 1:Get a car loan instead of paying in cash, because that also helps your credit score, and so in a sense, it's this consumer mindset is really encouraged and that's the better the score, the better you know you are scoring in possible financial opportunities in the future. So and you thought that was really absurd too. I mean, I could see why someone would think it is. It is just a wild idea. It's like what? Why are we rewarded for being debt free, for not having, for being able to buy your car in cash, for example, or a house, or put a down payment rather than reverse.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I guess it's back to, culturally, how we're being taught. I think again, my parents and I think most I mean I would think most of French people teach their kids to live within their means, right, because we didn't have that. Getting debt in France, at least when I grew up, was not that easy. You know, it's not like you. We didn't have the concept of credit card. A credit card is really a debit card in France. And then now you're seeing more and more credit cards have come around since I left, which then same thing. It's like a revolving, you know, line of credit, but I evolving, you know, line of um, but we, I didn't grow up with that. It was very rare and so it was always. Well, if you don't have the money, you can't spend it, right. If it's not, it's a debit card, right. So it's not there and it's not like you have overdraft, that's like automatic you know automatically okay, or anything like that.
Speaker 2:So we're kind of being taught to live within our means or whatever cash you have on balance. And here it's well, no, I know, no, you don't have to. You know it's. Just go get a credit card and, by the way, that helps you with your score and, to your point, the more you spend, the more you're rewarded for being able to for, for the spending and the fact that you can pay. But, by the way, you don't have to really pay. All you have to pay is interest if you want to, and just keep your balance until you actually can pay. But, by the way, you don't have to really pay. All you have to pay is interest if you want to, and just keep your balance until you actually pay it off. Or you know what I mean? You also have that. It's not like you have to pay the full amount every, every, every month or anything like that. And so you know it's.
Speaker 2:How do you not expect people getting in trouble? That's, I think, the question. You know it's. You know those people, people if you're giving them the ability to, um, spend this without having the cash, then of course, why not do it like? I'll figure it out later right. And so it just feels it's not just a consumerism of like, hey, go buy more to get a better credit score and then make sure to pay it back, it's also also. It just felt like a trap to me. That's how it felt when I first landed. It was like are you just trying to get people into trouble? Like nobody would ever tell somebody just go and spend, oh, don't worry, just spend more on this credit card and then you'll figure out later Like well what happens.
Speaker 2:You don't figure it out, you know.
Speaker 1:And the more you spend, the larger your um balance becomes too. So if you don't spend a lot, you actually get penalized, and then you have a lesser credit card balance and it's yes I I never understood either, like how they're?
Speaker 2:you know, you have three agency um calculating your credit score and then you know, then you get a master's call, let's call it right an average whatever, yeah, how they're really calculating this time of credit and you know, to your point, balance, whatever.
Speaker 2:I'm sure there's like a magic algorithm that we're not private to, but, um, which again doesn't make sense to me, to your point. It's like, well, I would think that you could have credit cards at zero balance. And it's like, oh cool, this person doesn't live on credit. That's actually I don't know. But then somehow, no, you need more balance and then paying it off, and so, I don't know, I think it rewards a certain category of people that can actually spend more and just pay off right away, but it doesn't help. You know the category of people that's actually in need of that money because they just you know, yeah, you know, and then they can't pay it, maybe immediately, and then it just, to your point, snowballs, right, and so in that case, what like, okay, you can, I like what. Well, then, what? What do we do? Like? What do we do with those?
Speaker 1:yeah, and then Dave Ramsey comes into play. You know, getting out of debt. There's that system too. I'm curious to know what did the American dream look like to you before you came to us, and then, how has that changed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so I think the naive French girl that I was when I first landed was I knew I was. I mean, I knew I really wanted to have an international experience in terms of career before maybe going home. And so now, when I first landed, I think it was you know, engineering, and then it ended up turning business. It was you know engineering, and then it ended up turning business. So I'm not too far from that compared to you know. If you ask me what I wanted to be as a kid, then yeah, I'm totally far away from what I wanted to be as a kid. I wanted to be a film director, obviously so, but I thought being here would maybe allow me to reroute, and I was closer to Hollywood, at least geographically, than being out there, if that makes sense, right, maybe I would find my way there, um, and then there was this grand idea of having been, I'm going to say, raised on sex in the city, that I was going to live in New York and I was going to be Carrie and or some kind of combination of all the fours Right, and have this glamorous, um life of finding Mr Big and you name it, right, um, so see, I said I was the naive French girl, 22, that I was when I landed, and that's not at all what happened. I mean, I, you can say I found my Mr Big. He's older than me but he's English, um, though, and yeah, so ever, actually everything, nothing really hit in a way. Do you know what I mean it was?
Speaker 2:You know I didn't find a Mr Big. At least you know I didn't end up living in New York, even though I tried. I mean, I ended up later on, but I don't regret that. And so, yeah, it's completely, completely, completely different than I think the silver screen you know idea I had when I when I moved. So, but I would not change anything I've done. You know, I would not change it for anything. To be honest, I wouldn't be here today, I think, even talking to you, if I had not one moved here and two had all the opportunities and the twists and turns that I had got you know I got yeah and tell the audience where are you sitting right now or today, where are you at and what are you up to.
Speaker 2:I'm in Austin, texas of all places, after having lived in Seattle, san Francisco and, obviously, new York right before COVID for 13 months. So yeah, french girl in Austin, texas How's that? I'm not the only one. There's a decent small community of us here. But never thought I would have ended up in Texas, I just never.
Speaker 1:So funny yeah. And so what are going back to your business side. What are some of the biggest challenges that you faced as a founder and how did you deal with them?
Speaker 2:What are some of the biggest challenges that you faced as a founder and how did you deal with them? In terms of the challenges, you know, I think it's it's really three things and some of them are common, I think, across founders and I think others are a bit different because of who we are. But number one is I am not a tech founder. I'm a non-tech founder in a tech company. So I'm dangerous enough to read code, but I can't write it. So one of the things that's always tricky when you start a company like that is finding, you know, the technical partner that's really going to help you and see the vision and really help you deliver. And I am on my third CTO, so that should tell you right, it's been a bit of a challenge, um, in terms of finding the right partner and, and you know, some of the previous partner actually exited, um, because of personal reasons. Right, People need to go make money and all that which makes total sense. So, um, but it's hard because you know you just sometimes you just want to jump in and hope you, you can help out more or do it yourself or I don't know whatever, and so, um, you know something that's not true for every founder in in tech, because a lot of people are technical, but it's, it was true. For me it's still true, I think.
Speaker 2:The second is fundraising. Um, you know we all have challenges fundraising, I think. But you know the stats right, women only 1.8 percent of us get funded in that space, which it's not a lot, and if you're BIPOC, it's even worse. The percentage are even worse. So, you know, even though there's like great capital sitting out there, it's, you know you got to break the boys club again. So here we are again. You know I had to do that the first time around. I have to do that a second time around, and so, trying to trying to find my way around that I mean around, meaning you know, hey, I have to go through the motions and figure that out, and then you know, the last thing is resilience. You know, I think there's a lot of I call it peer pressure on LinkedIn around starting a company, a tech startup.
Speaker 2:So a lot of people look at the really huge successes that are out there.
Speaker 2:You know the Bezos, the Zuckerberg, you know, there's right, I'm talking about them, but there's plenty of people out there that I think that's one version of success and I think people forget the other versions that exist out there. I know founders that have completely bootstrapped their business and, you know, got through ups and downs, had to go back to work and you know, yeah, came back out, and but somehow we all try to pretend that we're all super successful and it's a great journey and all that, and we don't always talk about the lows like really lows, and I think some of us are trying. I'm not always and I'm also guilty of that. I don't always post when I feel like I'm in the hole and I don't know what to do, but mentally it's been interesting just having to. I was just talking about that with my husband, which was the previous job or any of the previous job. I always felt like I was in control and you know, on this one I just don't feel like you know.
Speaker 2:So I have some days I'm like I'm not controlling it, like I'm very uncomfortable with it, by the way, but you got to learn right, you don't have a choice. So that's been interesting to work on the mental, the mental side of things, of pushing to, continuing to push through, put stuff in perspective, forget about linkedin and whatever's posting. You know it's okay, it doesn't have to be. We don't have to all have the same process, the same way of doing things, of same way of getting there, um, but you have.
Speaker 1:You know it's a constant reminder yeah, I mean, and it's up to you to keep on keeping on like no one's gonna tell you hey, elizabeth, you should do this, or you know you gotta get up and get to work.
Speaker 1:It's up to you to keep on keeping on like no one's going to tell you hey, elizabeth, you should do this, or you know you got to get up and get to work. It's like you have to do that, no one's yeah. And then there's people that depend on you your investors and your partners, and if you have employees and so forth so that that is pretty challenging and I think, too, not everyone deserves to know your story, not everyone deserves what's going on, you know. I think it's important to share that within a safe space where you can get proper feedback and honest feedback, where people can really just say, hey, you know, or like him. This is what I'm struggling with and I'm like freaking out right now because you know, let's just say, ai is constantly changing and you never know where it's gonna go from day to day, you know, yeah that's.
Speaker 1:That's on top of my mind too, yeah yeah, so how are you um dealing with that or how are you combating those, some of those thoughts and processes, because that's yeah, it's a lot um I'll tell you right now, not very well, uh, especially the last four months.
Speaker 2:Uh, we launched commercially in February without a CTO and I was like we're still going, let's go, it doesn't matter, we're going to try, let's see what happens. And the self-care went into the through the door, um, cause, you know, trying to find another CTO and keep pushing and fundraising and all those things, and so I wouldn't say, you know, I'm the, I'm the best at that right now. But what's been really helpful is, you know, sometimes catching up with founders that I, other founders that I know that actually remind me of this. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but and it's not like I don't know, I haven't heard it before but sometimes hearing from your peers like like hey, sometimes you need to slow down, to accelerate, or yeah, elizabeth, you know better, you've got to take care of yourself. It's a marathon here has been super helpful to just have those obvious comments or reminders of hey, we've been there, we know what you're going through. You know, feel free to call and vent, yeah. Yeah, been there.
Speaker 2:And I just met a founder last night. He's on um company number four, three in fintech and he had to close the last one after six years. And now he's doing something completely different in sports entertainment and you know he offered. He's like, hey, I've been there, I've had to close the last company after giving it all after six years. And so if you need a, he offered. He's like hey, I've been there, I've had to close the last company after giving it all after six years. And so if you need a van, if you need to like, you know anything you want to talk about, just call, like, just ping me, like I get it right, it is, it is.
Speaker 2:You know it is lonely sometimes, right, solo founder or no solo founder, and so I think you know it's surrounding yourself with your peeps sometimes, you know, and we have a tendency to be so heads down that we forget. And so I've been trying more and more, you know, once a week going to those founders, you know events and just obviously, to meet people and network. But also, you know we are sharing those. It's easier to share those experiences. People understand Right, yeah, for sure, and just being a support network for somebody and they are my support.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Like it's not just one way, right, it's really just being like, hey, yeah, I can help here or oh cool, never thought about it this way. This is super helpful for me and I think that's something that we always we have a tendency to forget, right, because we're so heads down to kind of come up for air and really lean on our fellow founders sometimes. So that's what I've been, that's what I've been doing. So this summer is yet another reset for me on self-care. So let's, let's do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and just come back stronger and with clarity and all the things. Yeah, sometimes rest is the best thing to do. You know, I think in Lamont says if the computers need to be unplugged and plugged back in and that's how they reset. Some of us need to do that every so often and it's like okay, now I'm ready to go with full throttle and I got the energy, and I think, as a founder and entrepreneur um, the word balance doesn't really exist, because there's days that you have to go at a hundred percent, there's days that you have to go at 100%, there's days that you're only working at 20% and you have to. It's kind of like you're juggling all the different balls but it's not all equal. Every day looks different and there are seasons of grind and then there are seasons where, like, okay, I can pull back a little bit now and rest. You know, so yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think it's in that case. I don't think it's finding work-life balance, it's finding your own balance. I mean, I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but you know it's. You still need balance in a way. Now, what does it mean? Is different, I think for everybody, um, and. But there are tactics that work, I think, for most. Everyone like, to a point, disconnecting, even you know um once a week, like take a day, at least take a day off, or something you know, whatever it is right, obviously, but so I think it's just in finding your own balance, right to your point of, which looks very different, I think, for each entrepreneur right.
Speaker 1:If it's for you, if it's like just being around people that understand and get what you're going through and you know, meeting with them once a week or whatever, then you feel like, okay, I feel refreshed now. Well, elizabeth, I want to honor your time and I usually wrap up by asking three questions. One is what is the best advice that someone gave you?
Speaker 2:Um, actually I'm going to do two, cause I'm going to be greedy, um, first one, take care of your people. Uh, and I do believe that I think you know, at the end of the day, even as a solo entrepreneur, you rely on quote unquote a support network. Um, I don't think you're successful always, you know, on your own right. So care for your people, whoever they are. And I think the second one is just do it. Um, you know, I think, uh, it's, it's, it's a Nike moto, right, like the had that ad right.
Speaker 2:But at the end of the day, you know, all those calculated risk I took leaving PwC or switching jobs and then starting boxy, or the book even, was literally just do it, like what, what do you have to lose? Right, it works, it doesn't work. At the end of the day, it's a learning. You know you've learned something and just go back. Even failures are learnings, which I know we're, all you know, a-type, not liking those, but it's a learning opportunity. And so I think that's the two-one Take care of your people and just do it. See what happens.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. That's the two.
Speaker 2:One take care of your people and just just do it, see what happens. Yeah, that's good. What are some pivotal books for you that were transformative in your life? Pivotal books? Uh, interesting, that's a.
Speaker 2:I've heard a lot of books uh, in my life. Uh, sapience was one of them. Um, I know it sounds weird and it's a more recent one, but you know, it was interesting looking at the history of us right as a human race and how we've been through you know, the evolution and, to be honest, remind myself that there's way more coming, that we're always evolving, if that makes sense and, um, what we've contributed as a human race in just such a small amount of time compared to our planet. Uh, and I know I'm going a bit philosophical here, but you know, um, I think this is something, and you know he's written Homo Deus and now Nexus and around information. And I think this is something.
Speaker 2:And he's written Homo Deus and now Nexus and around information. And I think for me it's hey, look what we've accomplished, and some of it is not great, don't get me wrong, but I hope that with AI, that we get to do even more and we get our act together to do a better job at treating each. You know each other and this world. But you know, those books have really been for me kind of thinking through like what's my contribution? Right, like how do I contribute potentially to at whatever level? Right, it doesn't have to be something like known and you're going to be in history books, that's not what I'm saying. But what's your legacy?
Speaker 1:right Like how are you making a positive impact in the world?
Speaker 2:Right Exactly Like what, what do you do, or what do you try to do to make a difference? And it can be just. You know, I have two mutts, I have two rescues and that's my good deeds. You know it doesn't have to be like super extraordinary or anything like that. But just how do you right extraordinary or anything like that, but just how do you, how do you change that? So I think that's one um.
Speaker 2:You know there's been I I do read, uh, I mean, I did read a lot of literature when I was younger. We had to do that. So there's a couple of books, french books, that were pretty, pretty fundamental for me in terms of uh, and it's not Proust, so. So it's not like you know him, cause he's very descriptive and there was no dialogue in his book. So that was not. I was not that kind of person. But you know there's been a lot of um, a couple of books out there, um, la Chartreuse de, you know um, that just turned me into a very big reader that I was not when I grew up. Um, and then, more recently it's been a lot of business books.
Speaker 2:You don't say right it's been a lot like everybody recommends books, right, and I think the one that I started, that I was like oh, you know it makes a little sense, but it was a good reminder was hooked, uh, which is all all about like, how do you build a product that people want to come back and, to be honest, I don't think we're there yet. We haven't found a magic wheel, but that's the book I refer to. A lot in terms of trying to build that product. That you know, is almost an evidence, right, like yeah on it, and they're hooked on it, right, so yeah, um, so yeah, three, three things.
Speaker 1:And then they got to know about it too. So it's like a whole thing Right. What would you say is the bravest thing you've done? And there's a lot of pivots and a lot of turns that you took in your life. Even at this point, I'm incredibly selective about the supplements I choose for me and my family, and Sour Soup Nutrition Gummies by BeMe Beyond Medicine have become a family favorite for me and my family, and Soursop Nutrition Gummies by BeMe Beyond Medicine have become a family favorite. Not only are they packed with incredible benefits, but they're so delicious that everyone in my family enjoys them. Introducing Soursop Cell Plus Immunity Gummies the first ever physician-backed Soursop supplements in the US, expertly formulated with Soursop, elderberry and echinacea, designed to enhance your wellbeing. Experience the benefits of soothing inflammation, balancing blood sugars, relieving stress and anxiety and strengthening your immune system. Use my code, svetka, that's S-V-E-T-K-A on Soursupnutritioncom and get 5% off today.
Speaker 2:Um, I jumped out of airplanes for I was certified. So here you go. That's the bravest thing. I threw myself out of airplanes for 155 jumps and had to open my parachute. You know my safety parachute once what.
Speaker 1:How many times did you say you did this?
Speaker 2:155. I was certified back in France. I'm not doing it anymore since I moved. Oh my gosh. I've done a couple of tandem here and there, but I'm not certified anymore. So here you go. I think that's my. I threw myself out of an airplane. That's, that's good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is no wonder. You're like not risk averse. You're like let's quit this company, let's start a company, let's write a book, let's do stuff, let's just do it.
Speaker 2:It's all calculated risk right. There are more people dying out of car accidents than jumping out of airplanes. That's true. That's true. I mean, obviously, the number of people jumping out of airplanes is also way smaller, right, right, but it's always calculated risks, right, and so you know. But, yeah, I think that's well, it's not the bravest thing, but, yeah, it's close to, yeah, close to having done that, you know.
Speaker 1:Is there anything that you'd love to leave with the listener, maybe something I haven't touched on or asked you?
Speaker 2:Two things I think you know, from a book perspective it was. I mean, you read it, right, it's very self-deprecating, but I think the message for me you know, a lot of people ask me about the book and why I wrote it and one was to it was for an American, it is for an American audience, believe it or not, more than a non-American audience. And it was to say, hey, it's not that easy to immigrate in this country. There's a lot of contradictions that we have to learn, so bear with us us. And two was to say, hey, you still live in a, in a country of opportunities, no matter what's going on, right, that some of us, uh and again, france is a bit different, but there's plenty of countries where you're born and you don't have those opportunities, right, you don't get to go to school, you don't get to maybe make your own way, uh, and so that was really what I wanted to, you know, and say thank, say thank you, right, I don't, like I said, I don't think I would have been where I'm at today if I had not moved and embraced the culture and this country, I think.
Speaker 2:The second is if you're thinking about writing a book or starting a business or anything like that. It's back to just do it. You know it's scary, um, of course, do it within the circumstances that work for you, right. It's not just like, hey, drop everything and go do it right. But you know, I think a lot of people sometimes are reluctant to take the first steps and, you know, hopefully some of us can inspire to. You know, have those people take the first step and really try. And you know, ping me, I'm on LinkedIn, you know if you want to talk about it, I'm happy to help and support. But I think that's an experience that is invaluable and you won't regret it.
Speaker 1:So yeah Well, elizabeth, you are an inspiration to so many. Just the way that you said is calculated risk, but you're still taking risks and, as they say, there are people less intelligent than you that are doing the thing and are successful, because some of us, who are super intelligent, are overthinking and not taking that first step forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know if it's about intelligence, but you know, I think we have different kinds of intelligence. You know, some people are book smart, street smart, you know, and I had a very, very book smart dad, but not very street smart. You some of it, you know, and I had a very, very book smart dad, but not very street smart, you know, it's just, yeah, intellectual and all that. So I think it's just take your smartness, whatever it is, whatever it is, we'll have some smartness and some you know tricks of the trade, whatever you want to call it, right, that's course and figure out what you love doing. Hopefully you can merge. You know what you love doing. Hopefully you can merge. You know what you love doing with. You know starting something, whatever it is, and take a risk. Calculate it, but take a risk.
Speaker 1:Elizabeth, where can people find you?
Speaker 2:LinkedIn is just where to find me. Feel free to connect anytime. I'm pretty good at responding, so if there's anything I can do to help or you want to connect, talk business book, you name it, feel free.
Speaker 1:Well, you guys, check out her book French Landing. It is going to make you laugh and really see some of the interesting things about US from a perspective of someone as an outsider. So I really encourage you to get the book. Elizabeth, thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure talking to you.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the ones who dare podcast. It is an honor to share these encouraging stories with you. If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to tell your friends. Leave us a reviewer rating and subscribe to wherever you listen to podcasts, because this helps others discover the show. You can find me on my website, speckhopoffcom.