The importance of community: 5 inspirational founders share their stories
The journey of any founder is an exciting one full of opportunities and challenges. Yet, it’s no secret that it can be a lonely journey when starting on your own, or even with a small team. Meet 5 inspiring entrepreneurs who brought their ideas to reality with the help of the NEF+ community.
Over the years we’ve seen thousands of founders pursue their ideas, the secret to many of their successes has been their involvement in great founder communities. Meet 5 inspiring entrepreneurs who started building their founder network and developing their ideas through the NEF+ programme.
1 . Yang Liu, Co-founder & CEO of JustWears
Yang Liu is a NEF+ Class of 2017 alumni and the co-founder and CEO of JustWears. Launched in October 2018, the brand creates the most comfortable and functional basics for men using sustainable biodegradable materials. Since joining NEF, JustWears has been growing 3-4x per year. The business scaled up at 288% year on year during the pandemic.
“I was transitioning from a high-flying VC job to becoming an entrepreneur. NEF provided me with such a great community, including its alumni who were already running their own business. Many of them are similarly ambitious and it makes conversations so easy to start.”
“When I first pitched the idea of JustWears in the early days, people had a good laugh at it.” And like every great founder story, that took a turn. When JustWears launched its first campaign on Kickstarter, it became the most-backed apparel project in the UK within 30 days. For Yang, this was the market validation she needed: “I had lots of self-doubt before launching it, and this was a great turning point. It finally felt like an idea that solved a problem.”
The Dragon’s Den producers soon took notice of JustWears too – a moment that Yang describes as her “third-biggest moment” in her whole journey, “especially going on national TV as an immigrant entrepreneur.” Yang had received two offers from the Dragons. “It was a great moment when I learnt to see that I was value of the business, that I was investable – and that you can be successful in whatever you put your mind to.”
2 . Finn Sims, Founder & CEO of Previously
Finn joined the 2019 NEF+ programme but remained crystal clear about his deeper mission beyond just building a business. “I was never a visionary or entrepreneurial in that sense… I started this business dedicated to making the most sustainable tech on the planet. It’s been a lifelong ambition of mine to make stuff, but in an upcycled and thoughtful way.”
“The best thing about NEF+ for me is the networking and being around other aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs, to really understand where you are in the world in the entrepreneurial space. It’s easy to feel imposter syndrome when you’re starting a business, so to be surrounded by other people that are just as vulnerable and hungry for growth is incredibly supportive.”
Finn had won the David Pearl Pitch Prize when he completed NEF+ in summer 2019 – and after losing his job in 2020 he used his prize money to fund production of the Previously Speaker 01. Converting a spare room into a “micro factory” and investing in a 3D printer. “I realised that it’s not the idea or execution, it’s about how you need to grow to facilitate that and NEF+ was instrumental in that.”
“I remember bringing in one of my first prototypes which was a portable charger called ReLi and giving it to Georgie [Nightingall, a fellow NEF+2019 participant]. She said that it was a really cool product and asked about my next steps. I listed a laundry list of all the reasons as to why I couldn’t do it, and she told me ‘just do it’. I often think back to that moment.” Some of Finn’s closest friends are still from his cohort, where they’ve helped to keep an accountability loop.
3 . Maud Millar, Founder & CEO of Adapt
After university, Maud began as an opera singer on global stages. She left the trade after 5 years to teach English language and literature. Maud dedicated most of that time to the Teach First programme and the King’s College London advocates – a programme that gets teachers and social workers to think about how they could widen the impact within classrooms, to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds gain entry into University.
She continued to expand that passion with her podcast called Lit, a series that helped teenagers demystify the set texts by bringing rappers, actors and directors to talk about these books as books, and not just things you have to study in school. “They got turned into fun pieces of literature that we can all enjoy.”
These milestones eventually pushed Maud to make one final pivot into joining the 2019 NEF+ programme, to make an even larger impact “and widen the net” beyond her own classroom.
“When I first joined NEF+, I was thinking of starting my own charity or social enterprise. As a result, the programme completely changed my journey and direction, helping me identify the gap where students need to have actual entrepreneurs thinking of them as consumers – and not just charity cases… There are so many people within the NEF+ network working on the same sorts of problems and going through reiterations – and NEF+ was even able to recommend hires who knew how our area of startups functioned and was capable of filling the roles required at Adapt.”
As part of the NEF+ programme, Maud did an attachment with a company where Adapt was later born out of. Maud joined as Chief Product Officer and won the CVC Young Innovators Award through the NEF+ programme. That money enabled them to hire an engineer and launch Adapt 3 months later to a waitlist of 40,000 students.
Adapt eventually went live with 130,000 downloads. Maud recalls: “we’d just managed to reach 130,000 students when they cancelled exams for the first time in history. They didn’t even do that during the world wars. We’ve had to reiterate Adapt since, to work out how we can be the most valuable during Covid and beyond.” When its largest reason for existence – exams – were cancelled during the lockdown, it had to get creative with expanding its use case.
4 . Kike Oniwinde, Founder & CEO of BYP
Kike graduated with a BSc in Economics from the University of Nottingham and MSc in Management from the University of Florida. During her time in Florida, Kike was on a track and field scholarship, and this gave her the opportunity to meet a lot of talented, black individuals. Kike realised the potential and power of connecting black individuals to each other, and so the idea for BYP Network was born - a social platform for black young professionals to network, socialise and date.
Not her first attempt at setting up a business, Kike has trialled and tested several ideas from the age of 18. One thing she learned was how important it was to have the right environment to succeed. On returning to the UK, Kike joined NEF in order to be part of a community, realise her vision and get structured support.
Kike has found that she has grown a lot during her time on NEF, personally and as a leader, something that has been fuelled by the support from coaches and mentors. The NEF network has also been invaluable for expanding her horizons and providing access to opportunities. Since joining NEF, Kike has nurtured her idea and turned it into a scalable platform. It connects future leaders aged 18 – 35, enables them to search for new jobs or entrepreneurial opportunities and build relationships with like-minded individuals in the black community.
With diversity and inclusion being an ongoing issue in many workplaces, BYP is creating a network for corporates to tap into, as well as a community of people to connect and support each other.
Since graduating from NEF, BYP has secured a £25K Sky Technology Scholarship, won the 2018 Founders Forum competition, won first prize at NEF Pitch days and was shortlisted as CVC Innovator of the Year. Kike’s ambition is to create a global network and to be the leader in creating diversity in corporations.
“I got the opportunity to meet people that I wouldn’t have otherwise – on the cohort everyone was from different walks of life and everyone helps each other. If I didn’t have NEF I wouldn’t have the knowledge that I have in terms of what can be done, and how to really grow your startup. I really don’t think that I would be where I am right now.”
5 . Nikita Thakrar, Co-Founder & CEO of Included VC
To perfectly describe her journey, Nikita recalls exploring entrepreneurship “before it became sexy.” At 11 years’ old, she picked up Richard Branson’s book and knew that she wanted to be an entrepreneur. But she also realised early on that “there wasn’t a South Asian woman that I could look up to.” At university, she did things differently by starting entrepreneurship societies and enterprises. She joined NEF+ in 2013, before going on to work in a start-up, a global accelerator, university academia – and finally landing in venture capital.
Included VC is a Fellowship for individuals to access, learn and gain opportunities in the closed world of venture capital. Now paving the way for individuals from overlooked, diverse communities, Nikita has created and built Included VC alongside Creandum, Daphni, HSBC Ventures, KAYA, K Fund, Mangrove Capital, M12 – Microsoft’s venture fund, Notion Capital, Seedcamp, Mouro Capitaland, Wilson Sonsini.
“My goal is that one day, Included VC doesn’t need to exist. I ultimately want the Fellows to take that mission forward… Our Fellows who are now getting jobs will one day employ people who are different – and also write cheques that are different. The impact that it is going to have on the ecosystem will ripple, and hopefully, one day – create waves.”
With over 3,000 applicants for its second cycle, the fully-funded and 9-month long Fellowship includes masterclasses, mentorships, foundational learning, coaching, simulation investment committees and in-person retreats.
Since Included VC’s launch 18 months ago with just a logo and 10 founding Venture Partners, the Fellowship has already taken off faster than Nikita could anticipate. “We were building the rocket whilst it was on the runway.” The first Fellowship saw 1,400 applicants, before doubling to 3,000 applications for the second. Of which, 125 nationalities were represented – two-thirds of the world’s nationalities.
“Before joining NEF+ I always had these big dreams and ambitions to impact the world. However, it made me feel different, especially with where I come from. But as soon as I entered NEF+, I felt ‘normal’ – like every other person in the room. There was always someone trying out and learning something new, or someone wanting to develop another thing.
My absolute favourite parts were the Fridays when we got together. Everyone was doing so many different things and coming together every week for the same purpose. You’d find one corner of the room talking about their learnings, another about a new idea, and another about starting a project the next day. There were so many incredible, different conversations to tap into and learn from.
Early-stage founder and thinking of joining NEF+? Here’s what their alumni have to say.
“This is one of the best programmes in London – I’m so glad I made the decision to apply for NEF! Our alumni group is so resourceful. It’s been over 10 years since the first cohort and everyone’s creating incredible results – and are still giving back to NEF. Not every community has this much loyalty, and it’s great to see that here. I also didn’t expect the NEF network to be as wide as it is. It has a reputable track record across all different industries that you can be put in touch with."
“I applied thinking that this programme would only last a couple of months, and that I’d just move on and start a business. But it’s been 3 years since applying, – 2 years since I’ve graduated from NEF+ – and that value is still growing and compounding. I completely underestimated the scale of the value that NEF+ provided and continues to provide. If you’re hungry to learn and discover things about yourself, whilst bringing a great idea to life, NEF+ is an invaluable way to get there.”
“I found the coaching aspect of the programme really valuable because that’s where I found resilience. I’ve also now got a business mentor through NEF which has been great and is really helping me."
"For me, the most valuable thing from the programme has been A) the high expectations of the classes, and B) the network itself. I still engage with the network when it comes to hiring, I know a lot of CEOs struggle with finding good candidates, whereas we just hired for a position and I reached out to the NEF+ network and there were so many great suggestions, and we hired one of them who is brilliant."
"It’s been great still being a part of NEF+, there’s a real sense of family and community, which keeps people coming back. NEF+ is going to start getting better because more and more entrepreneurs are going to give back – and the quality of the network will improve even more.”
"You will find your home, your family, and most importantly your people. Beyond the foundational teachings, there is also the team that will go out of their way to help you. It isn’t a short term thing. They will always be there."
"You’ll always leave NEF+ gatherings feeling warm, fuzzy and inspired. The culture is that everyone helps to fuel your ambition and keep you accountable."