Ep91 Show Notes
About Julia Pimsleur
Julia Pimsleur is CEO and Founder of Little Pim, the leading early language teaching program for children in the U.S. and author of “Million Dollar Women: The Essential Guide for Female Entrepreneurs Who Want to Go Big” (Simon & Schuster, October 2015). Little Pim has won 25 awards for its proprietary Entertainment Immersion Method® and its products are sold in 22 countries.
Little Pim is one of the few women-run businesses backed by venture capital in the country, and after raising millions for her own company, Pimsleur created the “Double Digit Academy”, an online fundraising bootcamp to help other women do the same. Pimsleur has blogged about entrepreneurship for Forbes.com since 2012; has been featured on Today, NBC Weekend Today, and Fox News; and her company has been highlighted in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. She won the 2013 Smart CEO Brava! Award for women entrepreneurs.
Key Conversation Points
- Appreciating complementary energies
- Understanding the best ways for you to recharge
- Avoiding general and entrepreneurial “burnout”
- Realizing that the same course of action might not work forever
- Getting out of your comfort zone
- Raising venture capital
- Becoming “conversational” in fundraising language
- Understanding the “three magic ingredients”
- Streamlining your search with internet research
- “Going Big”
- Understanding the differences between how women and men tend to approach business
- Recognizing the personal-professional dynamic and how it affects your business
- Letting go
- Delegating tasks to focus on what you are best at doing
Detailed Conversation Highlights
Julia Pimsleur is an extrovert and successful entrepreneur that took her father’s language learning approach and spun it into a profitable platform aimed at young children. She originally believed in some of the stereotypical introvert behaviors, but after gaining a greater understanding, she actively seeks to work around them. Pimsleur faced many challenges in getting her company to flourish, and instead of working harder focused on working smarter with some advice from her successful cousin. Venture capital is an area in which women entrepreneurs are grossly underrepresented. Pimsleur looked into venture capital as a means to save her business, which worked beautifully.
Being one of the few venture-backed women, Pimsleur acknowledged a need and began to coach other women entrepreneurs in pursuing venture capital as well. Her classes have lead fifty women to raise over ten million dollars for their businesses and eventually partnered with Morgan Stanley. Following that success, Pimsleur decided to write a book in order to help more women use venture capital to propel their companies. Crowd funding is a trending and novel means for entrepreneurs to acquire money for their ideas, but Pimsleur warns that the support you receive relies heavily on your own network. Navigating the venture capital scene and language doesn’t require fluency, but it does require that you are conversational.
Entrepreneurs of all personality types can struggle with the idea of asking others for money, but the networking aspect of it can pose additional challenges for entrepreneurs. It is highly recommended to “do your homework” online and target angel investors that have a higher likelihood of backing you. It is also important to pursue your own definition of “Going Big” and to realize that there are a lot of talented people out there that can take most of the burden off of you. Wearing many hats may end up costing you in the long run, and depending on the situation, you might be helping another entrepreneur by utilizing their skill set.
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast
The Introvert Entrepreneur: Amplify Your Strengths and Create Success on Your Own Terms — Beth L. Buelow
Million Dollar Women: The Essential Guide for Female Entrepreneurs that Want to Go Big — Julia Pimsleur
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — L. Frank Baum
AngelList
JuliaPimsleur.com
Julia on Facebook
Julia on Twitter
Julia on LinkedIn
Download this episode (right click and save)
Andrea’s Introvert Island Book Selections
The Early Bird — Richard Scarry
Chéri — Colette
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead — Brené Brown
Sharing is Caring! (Tweets for you!)
Why your #business life should be a marathon + not a sprint. #Podcast via @IntrovertCoach @JuliaPimsleur
What is most important: Mindset, Skill Set or Network? #Podcast via @IntrovertCoach @JuliaPimsleur
Find out why working hard in your #business can sabotage your success. #Podcast via @IntrovertCoach @JuliaPimsleur
What are the three magic ingredients women need to fund their #business? via @IntrovertCoach @JuliaPimsleur
Only 4-7% of women #entrepreneurs are venture backed. Find out why. #Podcast via @IntrovertCoach @JuliaPimsleur
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