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Emma Rees
Serial Entrepreneur | Founder @ Deployed, a Microsoft Ventures-backed start-up | Expert in B2C, B2B & Enterprise SaaS | Advocate for Women in Tech | Mentor & Fundraising Coach
Professional Background
Emma Rees is an accomplished serial entrepreneur with a diverse range of experience across B2C, B2B, and Enterprise sectors. With a unique knack for identifying market trends and leveraging opportunities, she has successfully grown three startups, which include a blend of bootstrapped initiatives and one that received substantial venture capital funding from notable investors such as Microsoft Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Portfolio Ventures, Amrock, Angel Academe, and Hermesa.
In the early 2000s, Emma launched her first on-demand business, becoming an innovator in the beauty services industry before the term 'on-demand' even came to prominence. She introduced the UK’s first on-call fast beauty services, setting a benchmark in the market. Leveraging her extensive experience in the beauty sector, she built a successful chain of blow dry bars and app-based services, which enjoyed tremendous popularity and established her as a thought leader in the beauty and tech industries.
Most recently, Emma has been at the forefront of innovation as the founder of Deployed, an Enterprise SaaS platform designed to streamline project success. As the former Chief Executive Officer and now Executive Chair, Emma has played a vital role in guiding the company's strategy and growth. Her transition to the Executive Chair position showcases her dedication to navigating the complex landscape of enterprise solutions and her commitment to fostering an environment of success.
In addition to her entrepreneurial ventures, Emma is also a certified coach. She is passionate about enhancing relationship dynamics within both professional and personal realms. Her coaching blends strategic insight with personal development, helping individuals and teams refine their investment approaches and growth strategies to ensure that their ventures are poised for success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Education and Achievements
Emma holds a degree in Business Economics, Economics, and Accounting from Birkbeck, University of London, which has provided her with a robust foundation in understanding the financial dynamics of businesses. Her education, coupled with her practical experience, has allowed her to guide numerous startups in refining their business strategies, paving the way for them to achieve their goals.
Throughout her career, Emma has received several accolades that highlight her contributions to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Notably, she was the recipient of the Female Founder Global SaaS Competition Winner award at M12 - Microsoft’s Venture Fund, reflecting her success in leading a female-centric initiative that not only emphasizes innovation but also the importance of diversity within tech.
With a background that also includes a strategic role as a Program Manager at Nuffield Health and her time as the Founder of Candy & Bloom, Emma brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to all her endeavors. This diverse career trajectory enables her to approach challenges from multiple perspectives, making her a versatile leader in the industry.
Achievements
- Serial Entrepreneur: Co-founded and successfully grew three startups across varying market sectors.
- Founder of Deployed: Launched and scaled an Enterprise SaaS platform, showcasing her ability to innovate and lead in technology.
- Award Recognition: Winner of the Female Founder Global SaaS Competition at M12, representing her significant impact as a female leader in the tech industry.
- Pioneering On-Demand Services: Launched the UK's first on-call fast beauty services, becoming a trendsetter in the beauty services sector.
- Coaching and Advisory Roles: Dedicated to coaching entrepreneurs and advising startups on refining their strategies for investment and growth, ensuring they are equipped for long-term success.
- Diverse Language Skills: With fluency in English, Spanish, and a knowledge of Australian culture, Emma has the ability to connect with a broad audience and adapt her approach based on linguistic and cultural contexts.
Highlights
For all female founders raising capital. I’m publishing the raw data from my pitching process with Deployed – over 420 VC firms, 143 meetings; 196 “no” and raised ~$5M over the pre-seed and seed rounds.
I am a meticulous note keeper and data junky. As I have moved on from Deployed as CEO, this now gives me the opportunity to talk more about funders and founders.
Here is my data on my first round of the process to get meetings from an original list of 4,000 in a Sankey diagram.
✂️ I shortlisted 420 funders 📣 I reached out to 342 funders ❌ I got 196 first nos 🙋🏼♀️ I met with 143
A couple got lost along the way. I will be digging into this data over the coming weeks and I will update with more insight based on my meticulous notes 😁
Future topics I will cover:
- What the numbers mean: how many meetings, how much prep, how much time and duration-stats.
- Choosing the right market - European fundraising in context: Sitting next to the biggest pile of money, Europe is not it.
- Down-selecting: How I selected who we emailed for meetings and pitched to from 4000 potential funders.
- Warm Leads - the No’s and the Yes’s: How a warm lead is most definitely a better strategy than cold outreach (what my data suggests).
- Wrong questions, wrong time: the importance of asking, and being asked, the right questions for the stage and thesis. - Preparation: I used DocSend, and here are the numbers of when VCs would go into the document, and where they would spend their time. This is eye opening 👀 - First and last pitch analysis: Of the 143 pitches that I made, further analysis of the process to reach the final lead and follow on investors.
You gossip junkies - I won’t be calling anyone out, and I’ll reflect on what I wish I knew from the start. The material will be written for both funders and founders as balanced as I can possibly be.
Share in the comments below any other topics you want me to cover.
#vc #startup #femalefounder #fundraising #womenintech #womeninenterprise #venturecapital #data
Thanks Francois Mazoudier & Marcela Donatello.
Elizabeth Stokoe Dana Kanze Ladi Greenstreet Sally Guyer Angel Academe - increasing female investment HERMESA Amrock Ventures Ltd M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund Navjot Virk Mayfield Fund Portfolio Ventures Karina Vazirova Jessica Lin Marla Shapiro Sarah Turner Amy Lewin
