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Anne Cocquyt
Founder & CEO at The GUILD | Investor and Advisor to Startups, VC, and Accelerators | Author | Speaker | Lecturer
Anne Cocquyt is a seasoned entrepreneur, startup advisor, and founding partner of Crest Collective. With over 12 years of experience, she specializes in helping startups grow and navigate the US market.12
Professional Background
Anne's professional journey includes:
- Founder and CEO of Crest Collective, a platform connecting startups with fractional C-suite talent14
- Founder and CEO of The GUILD, a networking platform for professional women45
- Strategic Advisor and Fractional COO at Opio Connect, Inc.4
- Award-winning lecturer at UC Berkeley12
Expertise and Achievements
Anne is known for her multifaceted expertise:
- Startup Advisory: She helps founders with fundraising and growth strategies, focusing on digital health, fintech, and CPG sectors1
- Author: She has written on topics related to entrepreneurship and innovation1
- Mentorship: Anne is recognized as an award-winning mentor through the Start2 program1
- Business Model Innovation: She has been involved in creating innovative business models, including the recent launch of Crest Collective3
Recent Developments
In June 2023, Anne launched Crest Collective, which aims to provide fractional C-suite services to startups. This new venture was introduced at J.P. Morgan's executive center, marking a significant milestone in her career.3
Anne Cocquyt's LinkedIn profile (username: annecocquyt) showcases her role as a serial entrepreneur, startup advisor, and corporate innovation expert.26 Her diverse experience and commitment to supporting entrepreneurs have established her as a valuable resource in the startup ecosystem, particularly for seed to Series A stage companies.1
Highlights
Fun and insightful webinar on the latest trends in #M&A for early-stage startups. Thank you Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center for putting on a great webinar! Replay at: https://lnkd.in/gByt8i-m
Shout out to Nicola Corzine, Tucker Serenbetz and @brendan-mahan
🔥 Great fireside chat with Lip-Bu Tan at Berkeley SkyDeck with Caroline Winnett about the #startup #funding climate, best practices, networking, company culture and the pitch deck.
He likes to ask founders to define ~5 milestones when investing in seed and holding them to these to reach the A round.
Start your pitch with the mission, show the size of the opportunity, explain your first three customers and your traction, outline company culture you strive for and your team, show that you gel, highlight the rough financials and scalable business model.
I couldn’t agree more. 🤩
Other quotes:
“A good entrepreneurs never takes “no” for an answer”
“Set a stretch goal that you CAN achieve - otherwise you destroy the energy and trust with all stakeholders - Underpromise - Overdeliver”
I believe the former Starbucks CEO should have listened to that…
Other nuggets:
“Be accurate, fast and scalable as a genAI company”
“Try to find new business models for incumbents not just AI generated efficiency.”
“Data is huge (getting the right, detailed and deep data)”
“At the early stage I like 1-2 board members who talk less” 😅
“I’m more interested in life science now because of AI to do more accurate drug discovery”
“Pharma companies put so much money into R&D but the number of FDA approved drugs goes down. I call it reverse Morse law”
“Huge potential in robotics and AI in manufacturing and warehouses”
Thank you for the invite!
