By Penny Dickerson - Reporter - Innovation & Entrepreneurship
For eight years, Jacksonville-based venture capital fund PS27 Ventures has been celebrating female entrepreneurs, bringing together woman who have founded and run a range of companies.
This year's sold-out Female Founders Forum — held March 3 at the UNF Adam Herber Conference Center — will feature Sarah Kauss, the founder of S’well, an reusable water bottle and insulated products company. Staring with $30,000 in savings, Kauss has taken the business to more than $100 million in revenue.
Leading up to the event, Kauss sat down with the Business Journal to talk about the challenges she has faced and how she's overcome them.
What challenges have you faced as a female entrepreneur?
It’s hard for me to answer that as a female entrepreneur because my challenges weren’t really different from any other entrepreneur. Most venture-backed companies are men, and for many years at the beginning of S’well, I didn’t always have the confidence that I have now. I felt like I had to have all the answers and pretend like everything was going well. Now, I am openminded to saying, ‘I need help.’ A specific decision I made as a woman is that I never raised capital. I didn’t have a background in raising funds or venture capital. I bootstrapped and was scrappy for a long time.
What advice do you offer new founders at the onset of their launch?
I would say go all in. I was fortunate that I was able to leave my job and devote all of my time and attention to what I wanted to do. I have a lot of respect for those who can do two things at once and dabble on the side, but if at all possible, go all in and really commit. Tell others, ‘This is what I’m doing’ so you’ve got community champions who are pushing you along the way.
How has networking with women enhanced your rise to success?
I’ve been successful because I had a positive community around me. You know, being an entrepreneur can be quite lonely, so networking started early in my career. I didn’t like being an auditor, but I learned a lot from the teams that I was on and from clients assigned to me. One of my first bosses became a mentor who encouraged me to take something from every opportunity and experience that I was a part of. That stayed with me years when I started S’well. Having new founders around you encourages others. You champion their success and commiserate when things are going poorly.