Madeline Feldman Of StartUpNV: Why We Need More Women Founders & Here Is What We Are Doing To Make That Happen
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Don’t cap your revenue or limit your impact! Perhaps you designed an advanced algorithm to review all your coursework in between soccer games and the night shift… don’t miss out on an opportunity to monetize that solution for others! Explore ways to scale, test and explore, brainstorm with others with different skill sets.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Madeline Feldman.
Madeline’s background spans startup incubators & accelerators, early-stage venture capital, and helping build the first clinical development startup working with psychedelic medicines to become a publicly traded company. In addition to her work throughout the startup ecosystem, Madeline writes, directs, and produces live entertainment for major casinos. She has recently returned to her favorite startup team of all, StartupNV, as a fund manager, investor, and VP of Southern Nevada for Nevada’s Statewide Startup Incubator & Accelerator.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I started my first business in college, and in pursuit of help figuring out what the heck I was doing, I stumbled across a startup incubator. While it became clear that my business was not a scalable tech startup that would be a fit for the incubator, I fell in love with the energy of a startup community and convinced the director to hire me. From there, I worked at various incubators, accelerators and early stage VC funds, and consulted on innovation for top corporations, military groups and international governments, while building a successful production company. I eventually “caught the bug” and joined a startup as a founding team member, taking that wild roller coaster, and eventually finding my way back to helping many startups at StartUpNV.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Tough question! “Interesting” is so subjective, and I have had so many experiences that have shaped my career that I can’t pick just one.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
This is only funny long after the fact, and since we managed to ‘turn that ship around’. I was writing, directing, and producing live entertainment for my production company and we got our first big showroom residency with a major casino brand, Caesars Entertainment, at a property in Reno, NV. Prior to this, we were selling out nightclubs and edgy theatres with bold, sexy, and uncensored variety shows.
We now had a 6-month residency contract for the late show at Harrah’s, and I can vividly recall looking out at the audience from backstage before our opening show and seeing a sea of white…. hair. One lady was asleep in the booth before the show had even begun. Harrah’s loyal customer base of high rollers turned out to be a much different demographic than our previous nightlife patrons. Needless to say, the show was not well received, we sold literally 7 tickets to the second night of the show, and had to completely re-create the show (and our marketing strategy) over the next few weeks (then sold out the rest of the residency and got an extension!). This was an expensive mistake in failing to do customer research. I’d looked at the numbers — previous ticket counts and types for prior shows at the venue- but not at the people who would actually be helping me make payroll. Lesson: DO NOT build a product before understanding your market & customer, and never stop listening to them.
Now, I stand in line for my own shows and ask the ushers to seat me amongst other people so I can see their reactions, and I must admit to hanging out in a bathroom stall in the ladies’ room after a show…it’s a great way to hear customers share their uncensored experience!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am BIG on the value of mentorship and a quality network. I’ve been fortunate to have many amazing mentors that have helped me thus far and you’ll often be surprised by the willingness of people to grab a coffee with you or make an intro, if you just ask! I’d also like to highlight my gratitude for the ones who said no, the doubters, the haters, the ones who underestimated. For those of you who are committed and competitive like me, proving ’em wrong can be a powerful motivator. “No’s” are part of the startup journey so if you can find a way to make them fuel you vs. crush you, that’ll come in handy.
I’d like to give a particular shoutout of gratitude to the Executive Director of StartUpNV, Jeff Sailing, who got me a job interview at a venture firm (who was not responding to my cold outreach or picking my resume off the stack) years before Jeff and I actually met. (p.s. I got the job!). He did this based on the reference of a mutual colleague, and showed me the power of the warm introduction in the startup community! Now, I’m honored to be working daily with Jeff and Maggie years later, helping unleash Nevada’s startup ecosystem with StartUpNV.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Ray Dalio’s “Principles”. I try to re-read this every few years- in fact I’m probably due for a refresher. There are so many aspects of this book that resonate, but here are two quotes that I especially love for founders:
“Whatever success I’ve had in life has had more to do with my knowing how to deal with my not knowing, than anything I know” and “strive for a lot and fail well”
I would have had a lot more success by now if I’d realized the value in knowing what you don’t know, finding people who do, and being less concerned with the “image” of failure.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
Of all the beautifully written & powerful quotes that have resonated, it is a simple mantra that has stuck with me. An incredible founder & mentor, Mellie Price (founder of Front Gate Tickets), was speaking to a group of young female coders we were hosting at an accelerator in Austin, TX. She shared with them the phrase she said to her 7-year old daughter every day on the way out the door; “Do your best and forget the rest.”
This quote is always relevant to me, because despite how much you try, there are always things beyond your control. Focus on what you can do, and don’t let the noise distract you. It is important to reflect and learn from our mistakes, but dwelling on the past or on other people’s actions is a recipe for exhaustion and depression. You are here, now… so do your best and forget the rest!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I suppose by having success on this career path, I have avoided trying to make a singing career… and the world is definitely a better place for that.
In general, I just try to open doors where I can, make that intro, give that credit. Reminding someone that they are talented, capable, seen, and powerful is a pretty simple way to create some positive ripples.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
First, let me start by saying there is absolutely nothing wrong with women being in support roles, if that’s where they want to be. But if they’re in a support role, building someone else’s vision instead of realizing their own, only because society has taught them that’s where they belong, then that’s where the work is to be done! I also have a theory that there are way more female (co) founders than the numbers show, they just aren’t getting founder credit (or founder equity).
In order to empower more women to start a business, we need to work with the media to highlight the work of female founders and give female founders platforms to tell their stories to inspire others. We also need to report and prosecute all sexual misconduct or abuse of power in our communities and companies, get more women in VC and advising startups, encourage more capital to go to female founders, and collectively rewire our biases, expectations, and (non-existent) limitations, including our own about ourselves.
In my experience, I see a lot of women who get their start as a founder after losing their job or leaving a toxic work environment. I love a good revenge plot, but would love to see more women choose to be founders not because they have to. The only permission you need is from yourself… and that is the beauty of entrepreneurship!
Can you share with our readers what you are doing to help empower women to become founders?
At StartUpNV, we provide free programs and resources to founders at all stages and industries… including the startup “curious”. We ensure that our speakers, mentors, investors, and instructors represent the founders we serve, and we are fortunate to have many successful female founders who pay it forward by mentoring and supporting new founders. Additionally, we provide space online and in person for founders to find community with other founders, which I believe is an integral part of empowering the brave & bold to keep building. We’re also passionate about getting more women into angel investing and have a very low 5k minimum investment for our annual AngelNV conference fund & investor education.
This might be intuitive to you, but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
It’s good for the economy. It’s good for my portfolio. It’s good for the planet and humanity. It’s imperative to continue innovating and adapting to have as much diversity in leadership as possible. Just like any ecosystem, diversity is key to thriving.
Can you please share 5 things that can be done or should be done to help empower more women to become founders?
1. There are very real glass ceilings, but be careful not to carry it with you when you walk out the door. Historically, gender roles taught women that our greatest value was to one person (husband) or a family unit of a few very well cared for people. The potential of women is truly limitless now, and we need to know our value.
2. Be seen. Be loud. Write checks. Write blogs.
3. Don’t cap your revenue or limit your impact! Perhaps you designed an advanced algorithm to review all your coursework in between soccer games and the night shift… don’t miss out on an opportunity to monetize that solution for others! Explore ways to scale, test and explore, brainstorm with others with different skill sets.
4. Take stock and support others. Is your female COO or CPO actually your co-founder? If so, make it official. Are you a successful female founder? Make introductions, network and ultimately mentor others.
5. Build a team. Female founders and companies with diverse leadership teams consistently outperform those without. Broadening your leadership team could lead to more investment dollars and open up your expertise and networks.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Join me and StartUpNV and learn how to angel invest, how to source and evaluate companies, and how to take advantage of the wildly lucrative asset class that startup investing is as a part of your portfolio!
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Whitney Wolfe Herd! We do a monthly Founder Hour in Las Vegas, and we would love Whitney to come share her experiences with our startup community about building a billion dollar company with a baby on her hip.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow all the incredible work we are doing at StartUpNV by following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube!
https://www.linkedin.com/company/startupnv.org/
https://www.facebook.com/StartupNV
https://www.youtube.com/@StartUpNV
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
Madeline Feldman Of StartUpNV: Why We Need More Women Founders & Here Is What We Are Doing To Make… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.