From Kickstart Global To Bae HQ Founders Associate

‍Aishwarya Agarwalla: 0:00

I think one of the main reasons why I got involved with BAE HQ is how enthusiastic the team is and the community is about giving back.

‍Amardeep Parmar: 0:13

Today we have a special episode with Ash, who's our new found associate and the first full-time in-person employee we've ever had, so you can learn more about her background, what she's going to be doing for us and also how to get in touch if you want to get more involved with BAE HQ. So thanks, ash, so much for being here, and it's been a pleasure to have you for a week so far. Let's get into your background first of all. So what was your experience with startups before joining BAE HQ?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 0:43

Great to be here, yeah, so before joining BAE HQ, I was pretty involved in the startup ecosystem. So right after high school, I took a gap year because of COVID and I worked with a few startups and I realized that I loved working in a small team of really ambitious people who want to make a real impact in this world. I wanted to stay connected to the startup ecosystem after high school as well. So, going into LSE, I decided to join Kickstart Global at the end of my first year and Kickstart is essentially the biggest student-led accelerator program in the UK. We run annual programs where we work with really ambitious students in university who want to build something, get connected to the startup ecosystem, grow the network and, yeah, if their business model is actually viable, maybe raise funding and actually continue with their post-university as well.

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 1:41

So we have an accelerator program that runs for, I want to say, eight weeks approximately. So we cover topics such as how to build your go-to-market strategy, finding a product, market fit, fundraising, pretty much everything and it is run by people in the industry who are really good at those things so founders, investors, etc. And, yeah, that's essentially what we do. So I was in charge of just running that program. Other than that, I also worked for a startup last summer called Quester, which was an amazing experience. Uh, worked with incredible founders, uh, we were essentially scaling the team while I was uh working there, so I helped with hiring, but also, uh, pretty much every other aspect of the business as well growth product, uh, yeah, so that that was really exciting. I loved having a broad, broad job profile and just wanted to stay connected with the ecosystem post-graduation as well, so BAE seemed like a great opportunity.

Amardeep Parmar: 2:56

And then, what made you want to apply to BAE HQ? Why did you want to work for us other than me, obviously?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 3:00

Of course, being Asian myself, it's great what you guys are doing, supporting British Asian entrepreneurs, investors, operators and connecting them, uh, so we can all benefit from each other, grow our network, help each other out, um, and also all the different pathways through which you support them, including, uh, obviously, there's the events in media, which is probably the most popular. But also, something that I'm the most excited about is futures, uh, which, uh, yeah, I'm really excited to go out there, go to different schools and universities with people from underrepresented backgrounds and help them see entrepreneurship as a viable career path. So, yeah, I'm really excited about that.

Amardeep Parmar: 3:50

So we've been working hard in this first week. Can you share a bit about the life as a founder associate so far and what you've been up to?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 3:56

Yeah, so the first week was a lot more fast-paced than I'd imagined, but yeah, it's been really exciting. Feels like I've been working here for a month. Yeah, meeting some really incredible people through the podcast, but also just calls and I guess some events before I even joined the team as well, has been really incredible and I guess that's going to be a part of my job going forward as well. I broke 20 wine glasses yesterday, which was fun, uh, yeah, so they're doing some damage to the company, but yeah, uh, just figuring out how I can get involved with all the different verticals. Um, meeting some early stage founders, setting up calls with universities, planning events. Yeah, it's all been really fun and excited to see what happens in the next month and hopefully the next year.

Amardeep Parmar: 4:54

So obviously, as a recent graduate yourself and having been a part of Kickstarter Global, you've worked with so many different students who all want to go into the startup ecosystem and learn more. What advice do you have for them?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 5:04

So the advice I would have is to just get involved with things. So, if you're in university, definitely call us to your university for an event. We would love to host one for you. Talk to the students, maybe do a workshop. We really want to get involved with students and give back as much as possible, so do reach out. Uh, definitely join societies such as entrepreneurship society. I know it's there in most universities. Um, join venture capital societies. Uh. Reach out to different startups. Uh, you can use BAE Wiki to do that as well. Just find different founders working at different startups who look like you and, yeah, reach out to them, ask them if there's any opportunities for you. You can also use our job board for that. Yeah, just explore the ecosystem. Talk to people. Ask people to meet for coffee chats. In the last few years, I've realized that everyone in the startup ecosystem is just really helpful and always really willing to give back. So if you reach out, I'm certain you'll have a positive response.

Amardeep Parmar: 6:20

We hope you're enjoying the episode so far. We just want to give a quick shout out to our headline partners, HSBC Innovation Banking. We hope you're enjoying the episode so far. We just want to give a quick shout out to our headline partners, HSBC Innovation Banking. One of the biggest challenges for so many startups is finding the right bank to support them, because you might start off and try to use a traditional bank, but they don't understand what you're doing. You're just talking to an AI assistant or you're talking to somebody who doesn't really understand what it is you've been trying to do. HSBC have got the team they've built out over years to make sure they understand what you're doing. They've got the deep sector expertise and they can help connect you with the right people to make your dreams come true. So if you want to learn more, check out hsbcinnovationbanking.com. This is right at the beginning of your journey. You've only been with us for a week, but hopefully you're here for the long term. What are you excited about in the next few months with us?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 7:08

Definitely excited to meet as many people as possible in the ecosystem. It's been incredible meeting the people I have in just the first week, so I can't wait for that. Doing our first school event as well, I think just meeting school students, communicating with them, getting them excited about the startup ecosystem from when they're in school and hopefully have them pursue it when they go into university and once they graduate as well. So that is really exciting something that I'm looking forward to. And, yeah, just getting involved with everything. Uh, the podcasts have been really cool. I don't think we'll be recording another one for a bit, but uh, yeah, uh, that's it, I think.

Amardeep Parmar: 7:53

Okay so now on to the quick fire questions.

Amardeep Parmar: 7:56

First one is to approve which British Asians you think are doing incredible work, and you love to shout them out?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 8:00

The first one would be, uh, Simone Maini, because I met her literally two days back, uh, when we were recording the podcast with her. I think her journey has been so incredible, um, and yeah, it was just such a pleasure to meet her definitely can see her as a role model, so she would be the first one. Reshma Sohoni partnered at Seedcamp. Again, I've only met her briefly once, but she has done incredible things, of course, for the startup ecosystem in Europe generally. So, yeah, I would love to get more involved with her, maybe meet her at an event. So, yeah, if you're listening to this, please do reach out to us.

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 8:49

And Andrew Mitson, he was the founder of Kickstart, a serial entrepreneur. His latest venture was afinity, which is, um, a social enterprise dedicated to removing barriers that some students from underrepresented backgrounds, uh, might face while applying to university. Uh, but he's done so many incredible things and it's always such a pleasure speaking with him, um, so, yeah, he would be the third one.

Amardeep Parmar: 9:17

If you want to find out more about you and BAE HQ, where should they go to?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 9:21

So you can definitely connect with me on Linkedin. Reach out to me at fa@thebaehq. com. Um would love to meet for a coffee or just see how you could get more involved with the organization. Um, and yeah, if you're excited about what we're doing and just want to do an event with us or get involved as a mentor, as an ambassador, uh, do reach out.

Amardeep Parmar: 9:49

And is there anything that the audience listening right now could help you with and the different schemes we have that you're gonna be running?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 9:53

How you can help us out. I think if you're a later later stage founder and just want to give back to the community, help an earlier stage founder as a mentor, reach out to me and I can get you involved with that. We are also regularly doing university visits and school visits. So if you want to talk to people from, say, your university back in the day and just have just help them, have someone to look up to as a role model, do reach out to us as well. Just email me and we can get you scheduled for one of the visits. And yeah, if you just don't know how you could get involved but really this is a horrible answer I'm going to start again. How you could help us out, um.

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 10:51

Definitely reach out to me. If you're a later stage founder, investor and want to help someone who is probably in the earlier stages of their career, who's just founded their own startup, about to launch, um, uh, yeah, we run a mentorship scheme, uh, every few months, uh, so, yeah, uh, if you'd like to be a mentor for a startup, um, reach out to me via email or LinkedIn. We also do university and school visits, so if you want, to say, go to your own university as an alum and just talk to students so they have someone to look up to who looks like them, yeah, reach out then as well. And if you don't know how you can get involved, but would like to, we can meet for a coffee.

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 11:42

So yeah, definitely. If you're listening to this, just reach out and we'll figure something out.

Amardeep Parmar: 11:48

So thanks so much for doing this. I know this is your first time on this podcast. Have you got any final words?

Aishwarya Agarwalla: 11:53

I think one of the main reasons why I got involved with BAE HQ is how enthusiastic the team is and the community is about giving back. So, yeah, I guess that's the final word. Just give back in any way you can. It could be just half an hour every two weeks, talking to someone or connecting them with someone who could help them out. I think that could have a huge impact on someone's life. So, yeah, give back, that's the final word.

Amardeep Parmar: 12:24

Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe. See you next time.

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