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Time to ditch the ‘friends and family round’ in startup funding

Entrepreneurship should not be a closed shop for people with privilege

Credit: Lana Brow / Shutterstock

In a world where many of the most famous and wealthiest people in the world are tech founders, you would assume that society recognises entrepreneurship as one of the most valuable and important pursuits anyone can follow. 

However, when I left a successful career in banking to become the co-founder of a startup, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Everyone – colleagues, friends, family – thought I was making a huge mistake. 

When you become an entrepreneur, you replace the comfort of a loyal employer and regular paycheck for financial risk and uncertainty. In my case, my co-founders and I built a startup that has eventually become a unicorn, but it was a long road that took a lot of hard work. The company has experienced great success, but at no point was success guaranteed and you never know what the future holds. ...