Olivia Parkes - Founder - Persi

Well that was WILD.

'Can this founder execute against this idea and get people to pay for it?'

Rarely do I come across founders who truly embrace the hustle. The messiness, the grind and the rollercoaster that comes with startups. The 'not knowing' and the 'oh my god wtf' of what's going to happen next.

Olivia Parkes is one of those founders.

When investors look at tech businesses at an early stage, they're looking at the founder and asking one question.

'Can this founder execute against this idea and get people to pay for it?'

And that idea is Persi - a personal wardrobe builder that integrates with ecommerce retailers to recommend more relevant products based on a consumer’s existing wardrobe and style preferences.

We spoke about:

- Taking that hour each day to train, exercise or practise mindfulness in attempt to balance the yin and yang energies of the startup world. It is a million miles an hour, those 60 minutes can be game changing, something which Olivia kept throughout her startup journey but also before and after pregnancy!

- Early exposure to entrepreneurship and the impacts it has on risk appetite and outcomes. For both of us, entrepreneurial journeys run in the family. Regardless of level of involvement, when you grow up in this environment you can witness the highs and lows of difficult decisions, but ultimately the feeling of 'everything can and will work out in the end'. No path is linear and no path is planned.

- Building a tech and AI business in a world where technology is rapidly developing. I've seen a lot of this narrative recently, but we have to remember that outside of the tech world is a non-tech world. And it's pretty big. You might be able to use technology to code faster, but that doesn't beat a strong go to market or customer acquisition/retention mechanism. Focus on your problem. Focus on your customer. Not all technology has to be proprietary. 

- Be strategic with your investors. Not all angels have to be large ticket holders, not all investors have to be accepted. Understand the impacts of selecting your investors in a way that helps open up doors and opportunity. Having said that, Olivia has locked £50k of her remaining round for female investors ONLY. The funny thing is, there's plenty of other investors knocking on her door to take up the rest! A diverse cap table is a strong cap table and representation is important. Reach out to Olivia if you want in!

A continuous theme was understanding and focusing in on your customer and building something they want and also love.

I always refer to this as the 'Minimum Loveable Product' (thanks to 😎 Caroline!)

Persi is definitely one to watch or jump in on, whether as a consumer or investor!

Thank you as ever to Vestd for supporting our series!