Setareh Rezaee from ShineTech, winner of Health VentureLab Weekend 2023 and Group 19 VentureLabbie, recently sat down with VentureLab North to share her experience of VentureLab Weekend. Setareh brought her own idea to VentureLab Weekend, but the win was truly a team effort.
First up we asked how did attending the event help her and her startup? Setareh was enthusiastic in her response:
“It honestly helped more than expected and more than I realized in the moment. I truly valued the opportunity to expand my network, meet coaches who are in the field I am interested in, and be provided with useful feedback for my business model that I still use today. The competition, even without an idea, provides help from team members and attendees that also teach you insightful lessons. Another thing that was a surprise to me was that my team members shared the same passion as I had for my own idea, and it became a shared idea in which everyone was able to give their input. The environment was full of energy and everyone felt comfortable, the price is nothing compared to the value.”
Another aspect that Setareh truly benefited from was the pitching workshop, and she mentioned that she was provided with further help from her ShineTech teammates on pitching.
“I always have felt comfortable about presenting, but it was about the team, not me alone and one of my teammates really helped me, I loved that she was on my team. She kept reminding me to say the need again and again, it was like a coach before boxing. The environment was full of energy and everyone felt comfortable, the price is nothing compared to the value.”
We then asked Setareh how the coaching experience was for her team, to which she happily replied: “It was really good, the level of the coaches, considering they were all experts from medical fields, whether they have had industrial experience or startup experience, they all shared similar problems, in which they could call their connections and contacts to help me with certain issues that I faced”. She also noted that these experiences that the experts shared allowed her to perfect her business canvas model. Setareh also reminded people to “grab everything you can, grab all the opportunities available to you, and the contacts you make will also be available to you in the future”.
So what would she recommend to other entrepreneurs wanting to sign up for the weekend?
“Don’t miss the event”, Setareh replied. “It is a gift that you can give to yourself, especially for those who have doubts about their journey. This experience helps you feel more confident with the results: It helps you challenge yourself, and it isn’t about winning, it is about experiencing the aspiring environment, the networking possibilities and the opportunity of receiving valuable feedback that will help you for the time being and the future”.
We also were intrigued to ask if she had any general tips for aspiring entrepreneurs that are just getting started, which she replied with:
“I would say especially for the university students, people like me who came from an academic route, we have a good background regarding the technical aspects, but we lack on the business aspects, and it is not easy to sift the mindset from academic to business. I was reading books, doing online courses and listening to podcasts, but being immersed in the business culture is different, seeing the correct people and rapidly growing a network is truly beneficial. My schedule is now fuller than it was previously, but I wouldn’t change a thing, this is how VentureLab North can help. No one believed in me, apart from my family and myself, yet after joining the VentureLab Weekend, people started taking me more seriously and placing more trust in me”. and now, they all call me a business woman, or they take me serious, especially after winning, I clearly saw more trust from them, and it is a big thing, it is really important to see that.”
Furthermore, when asked about the feeling of being in the VentureLab Weekend, she replied with: “The energy in the VentureLab Weekend was super intense and happy, even if everyday we left at 9 or 10 pm, I would go home and I would be searching for tips and ways of improving her work, even past midnight. The three days is super exciting, people were sitting on the ground doing everything they can to fill in all the necessary information before having to present or submit our posters, it was a different kind of energy and it made me really happy to see that”.
So how did it feel to hear her team’s name announced as the winners? “It is actually a funny story, because they started calling out the fifth place, and after the fourth and the third teams I thought well this is it, we didn’t win, and I was thinking we were done, but then I heard our name and I couldn’t stop screaming. I screamed a lot — the feeling of being recognized is amazing, and I am proud to have had people share the same passion I had towards my idea.”
At the end of the interview, Setareh had some thoughts of her own to share: “I would like to mention the reason I am here is that I got loads of help for free, and I also like helping other people; there were people that were passionate to help me, and I would love to spread that more. I think people should learn more about the opportunities there are, the environment is too kind; you might think business is too dry or isolated, but people are really helping me and I want to spread that positivity with the opportunities that are available.”
Thank you so much to Setareh for sitting down with us for this chat and for sharing your insightful experience— it was great to have you as part of the Weekend in November, and we are thrilled to hear it was such a positive experience for you.
