Business
Are you frustrated with traditional pathways to capitalize your startup?Our guest, Aja Atwood, is an entrepreneur, team-leader, and cannabis advocate with over 15 years of experience in the engineering industry. She is a mechanical engineer by education and graduated cum laude from Northeastern University. She cut her teeth professionally as an engineering consultant and specialist, working in natural catastrophe risk engineering, and by 2011 started her first entrepreneurial business. Through these experiences, Aja honed her technical skills, fostered the engineering talent of her team, and learned valuable lessons along the way. Aja is currently the co-founder of Trella Technologies, which provides technical, innovative solutions to make indoor and urban farming a sustainable, long-lasting industry.Her business ethos is rooted in the belief that success comes from creating innovative technologies that can be shared with communities that need them the most.I’m so excited to introduce you this extraordinary female founder! Here are my 3 takeaways from our conversation:1. Straddling a side-hustle and full time job is hard to juggle and you’ll know it’s time to go full time with your startup when both are suffering.2. Launching a new innovative device: you need to build in the education component to your marketing – it takes time to get folks willing to try something new.3. As a woman of color founder, Aja quickly realized her odds of raising traditional capital were less than 1%, so she turned to Regulation Crowdfunding to capitalize her business. Side benefit: it forced the team to get really good at marketing!To learn more about Aja's regulation crowdfunding campaign: https://www.startengine.com/trella Visit Trella Technologies here: https://trella.io/Please follow Aja on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajaatwood/Are you ready to "command your moment?" Please reach out to Eric Cox and Media Prepared here: http://www.mediaprepared.com/If you’d like to receive an alert whenever I post a new episode, please follow the Startup Life Show wherever you listen to podcasts, including: Stitcher, Spotify or Apple/Google Podcasts… and let’s connect on social media! You’ll always find me hanging out at my favorite social media bar – Twitter! https://twitter.com/AndeLyonsTo receive an alert for my live shows, please join my Meetup group here: https://www.meetup.com/Startup-Life-LIVE/Do you have a startup story you’d like to share on the Startup Life Show podcast? Please reach out to me via email – ande@andelyons.com. You'll find tons of curated DIY startup advice on my YouTube Channel Andelicious Advice: https://www.youtube.com/user/AndeliciousAdvice and please subscribe to my bi-monthly newsletter, Let’s Stick Together -> http://bit.ly/AndeliciousNewsletterDo you need a pitch deck reviewed? I've raised millions from VC and thousands from Angels... and I'm a co-host of a monthly pitch event in Boston. I can make sure your deck is ready for investors and a pitch event. Click this link to learn more: http://bit.ly/PitchDeckAuditAre you ready to stop struggling alone and take your business to the next level… without wasting money and valuable time? I offer Startup Strategy Sessions, Funding Strategy Sessions, Monthly Founder Support and Emergency Founder Support. Book a free intro call here: https://andelyons.as.me/Need an audio or video transcribed? Use Otter.ai: https://bit.ly/StartupLifeOtter Listeners - thank you so much for tuning in - I am genuinely grateful for your time and presence. Stay strong, stay focused – and please remember – you’ve got this – Cheers!Ande ♥