2023 AIChE Annual Meeting
(284d) Letting Go of Your Dreams: Managing Your Emotions and the Realities of Pivoting or Shutting Down Your Startup.
Author
Rau, N. - Presenter, Sackett Solutions & Innovation
The mass extinction of startups has begun. The pace of startups shutting down is increasing with fundraising difficulties, undefined business models, and capital being more expensive. Chemical Engineers generally sought deep science related technologies rather than mobile applications causing longer timelines for typical venture capital investors. Your core team members might move on when cash runway is limited, further causing your startup to fail. As a leader, it is critical to navigate the changing technologies and company pain points that might disrupt your company, losing team members, and missing milestones all causing fundraising problems. This two-part talk will focus on: I) the resiliency and convictions of the entrepreneur to believe in his company with market changes and II) managing your emotions, expectations, and lessons learned from shutting down your startup.