Join us in this insightful conversation as we sit down with Muna Ikedionwu, a startup expert and seasoned business strategist. With a passion for making business easier for underrepresented founders, Muna offers practical advice and key strategies for startups in the beauty, wellness, and tech industries to launch, scale, and exit successfully.

About Muna

Muna is a startup expert, seasoned marketer, and founder of strategic advisory firm M.KEDI (editor's note: pronounced em-KAY-dee). She started her career early at just 17 years old and over the past ten years has worked with Madewell, Warby Parker, Gucci, Topicals, Chillhouse, TikTok, and the WNBA among others. She's extremely passionate about making business easier for underrepresented founders and now works with beauty, wellness, and tech startups to help them launch, scale, and exit with ease. She's also the Executive Director of Sad Girls Club, a global mental health organization providing cultural mental health resources for Gen Z and millennial women and girls of color. Since moving part-time to Paris in 2023, Muna also hosts Le French Conversation, a meetup group for cool girls learning French in NYC.

In This Episode We Discuss:

• The importance of a solid business strategy and what investors are really looking for.
• Essential elements to include in your business plan to attract investment.

• Challenges that women-owned and BIPOC founders face and strategies to overcome them.
• Fundraising tips for first-time founders, including the differences between investors, angel investors, and VCs.
• Tips on securing grants and navigating the ins and outs of brand partnerships.

Chapters

0:00 Intro

3:20 Muna’s Background

21:11 Balancing Executive Director Role at Sad Girls Club

27:32 The Importance of a Business Strategy

31:16 What Investors Are Looking For

35:17 Important Things To Include In Your Business Plan

40:03 Difference Between Customers & Consumers

41:30 Challenges Women Owned & BIPOC Founders Face and Strategies to Overcome Them

47:47 Tips On Fundraising For First-Time Founders

52:39 Difference Between Investors, Angel Investors, and VCS

57:15 Most Important Step When Securing Grants

01:00:05 The Ins and Outs of Brand Partnerships

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