04/20/2022
And another episode of our videocast aired on 04/05, and the spotlight was on women, as the theme was #WomenInTech – Entrepreneurship is About Adding. From INSI’s side, we had our CMO and creator of the project, Tássia Skolaude, who welcomed B2Mamy’s Head of Acceleration and CTO, Bianca Levy and Micheli Junco, respectively. In the first part of the interview, the conversation focused on the challenges faced by the B2Mamy organization. For those unfamiliar, it is a company whose purpose is to make women and mothers leaders and economically independent, which is achieved through three pillars: education, community, and research.
Micheli shared that the hardest part was getting people to believe that women and mothers can talk about business, not just breastfeeding and motherhood. “When we knocked on the first companies’ doors, they didn’t believe us. So, we had to show numbers — the economic impact generated within the community. We had to fight hard, help women with training and entrepreneurship so that we could go back to those brands and say, ‘Look, now I can.’ Before, we were seen as a community circle, but no, we are aggressive with numbers and we love people,” added Bianca.
When it came to business, the discussion revolved around the Brazilian entrepreneurship landscape, especially considering the many unicorns that have come from our country. Junco explained that this market is growing, and if we look at data on women’s presence in technology over recent years, we can see this evolution. However, this perspective still mostly covers entry-level positions, as there is still clear inequality within leadership roles. “We see a constant growth trend, but it’s slow,” she says. One factor that slowed this growth was the pandemic, which decelerated progress for several reasons. But even slowly, it hasn’t stopped.
Tássia also gave a lesson on innovation in the entrepreneurial world. Disruptive innovations — those that shake the market structure, like a new currency or a new artificial satellite — represent a tiny share of overall innovation. It’s more common to see innovative actions aimed at improving processes or solving existing problems. Therefore, innovation in entrepreneurship is often found in day-to-day actions, in knowing your audience, and in continuous improvement. This is why it’s important to understand the value chain and place the customer at the center. “If you’re interested in starting a business and entering this market, you don’t need a super disruptive idea, because that’s not exactly how it works,” she explains.
When it came time for tips, the guests shared many insights. To start, something that seems obvious but is often overlooked: understanding what entrepreneurship really is. It’s not just opening a business and selling products. That is a romanticized view of the heavy work behind the scenes. Another tip is to fall in love with the problem — with the pain you want to solve. Dive deep, learn everything you can about it before thinking about results and delivery. Connecting with people is more than a tip — it’s almost an obligation. Have a community you can call your own. Studying, staying open-minded, and being strategic rounded out the advice for entrepreneurs or those interested in starting out.
And the highlight of this videocast was undoubtedly the humor and lighthearted conversation. Like friends sitting around a bar table sharing their worldviews. Still, valuable content was present throughout the episode — with simplified terms and lots of information about B2Mamy, such as: case studies, enrollment, programs, methodology, and more. Curious to learn more about one of the mentor companies of The Next Gen challenge?
Watch the full episode and get all the details.