Emma Sinclair is the co-founder and CEO of EnterpriseAlumni, a software platform for organisations to engage with alumni for boomerang hires, brand advocacy and referrals.
The London-founded but global company counts the likes of Marks & Spencer and BlackRock among its customers. The platform, which can integrate into an organisation’s existing HR tools, also serves as a community for alumni that can act as a source of potential customers.
Sinclair was awarded an MBE for services to entrepreneurship in 2016 and campaigns on issues supporting women in business. She helped lead the successful campaign to reverse an increase to angel investor income thresholds, which disproportionately affected women. Today she is launching a nationwide campaign, called #BeMyAngel, to drive more investment into businesses founded and led by women.
Before co-founding EnterpriseAlumni, Sinclair was the youngest person to float a company on the London Stock Exchange at the age of 29.
In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, the EnterpriseAlumni boss explains why startups shouldn’t rely on funding for their initial success, reveals some industry leaders she admires, and shares advice for promoting diversity in the workplace.
1. What funding advice would you give to a first-time founder?
Emma Sinclair: There is no ‘one size fits all’ piece of advice, but generally, I would say don’t rely on funding for your initial success. Fundraising is a challenging and sometimes almost full-time job. If you can go into fundraising with revenue or not rely on it to ‘get going’, that’s the best-case scenario.
If you’re a first-time founder, your most likely source of capital is friends and family – people who know you. Keep that in mind.
2. Who is a leader you admire in your industry?
ES: There are so many! To name just a few, my good friends Melissa Morris, Emily Forbes, Sarah Mcvittie – all fellow founders and CEOs heading up SaaS businesses – as well as Melissa Di Donato, the epitome of strength and a constant source of inspiration.
3. What’s the best way to promote diversity in the workplace?
ES: The key thing is actions, not words. EnterpriseAlumni has a gender-balanced board and a gender-balanced cap table for example.
We live and breathe what I stand for: promoting women in business and making sure everyone has a place at the table.
4. In another life you’d be?
ES: This is a hard one! It really depends on what day you ask me this question. In my early years, I wanted to be a ‘rockstar-ballerina-mermaid’.
I now wonder if I should have pursued that idea as being an entrepreneur is hard! But I think I’ve always had business in my blood: I became the youngest person in the UK to take a company public.
5. Which nascent technology holds the most promise?
ES: This is another tricky one – technology evolves so fast and there’s no simple answer. Like life and advice, the best things come from collaboration.
So I can’t hold one thing up as being the most promising: when the best of technology comes together, that’s when tough problems get solved.
Founder in Five – a UKTN Q&A series with the entrepreneurs behind the UK’s innovative tech startups, scaleups and unicorns – is published every Friday.
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