Paint & Pipette: The Art & Science of Innovation

Ep 03: Challenging Assumptions with Maite Diez-Canedo and Itziar Diez-Canedo

Oct 20, 2021

51:10

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world of remote work has had to advance spectacularly in a short space of time. One company that was uniquely positioned to help businesses during this dramatic transition was Via, an online platform that allows companies to seamlessly build remote teams across countries in 48 hours. Via was co-founded by Maite Diez-Canedo and Itziar Diez-Canedo during their time at Stanford and underwent a significant pivot prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While countless successful businesses have been founded by siblings, it’s rare for those siblings to be sisters rather than brothers. We unpack some of the societal prejudices that female founders encounter while fundraising - as demonstrated by some discouraging statistics - and how skepticism increases when investors are faced with female co-founders, especially sisters. We hear more about how Maite and Itziar address these biases when they encounter them, and how they have been able to overcome initial ignorance or prejudice through direct and honest communication. Later, we examine some of the practices, habits, and mindset adjustments that have helped Maite and Itziar in entrepreneurship and creativity. We also take a hopeful look at the importance of challenging assumptions and how bringing playfulness to a problem can open up new possibilities. Make sure you tune in to this informative and inspiring episode to hear it all!

Key Points From This Episode:

Get to know today’s guests Maite Diez-Canedo and Itziar Diez-Canedo, and the services of their company, Via.
How they pivoted Via into the company from its original incarnation on Launchpad to what it is today.
How their pivot to helping companies hire remotely subsequently aligned with some of the global changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why they hired an external consultant to help them structure their pivot.
How they used sales experiments to bolster their conviction that their pivot allowed them scalability.
How they managed their pre-seed money and their mentality around spending.
The challenge of managing your team and keeping them excited and engaged while you are pivoting.
The benefits of co-founding a business with your sister.
The challenges and prejudices that are inherent to fundraising as a woman and how being sisters can exacerbate those prejudices.
Why explicit prejudice or ignorance is easier to address when fundraising than implicit bias.
How persevering through adversity and prejudice can strengthen your sense of conviction that the business you’re pursuing is exceptional.
Some of the practices, habits, and mindset adjustments that have helped Maite and Itziar in entrepreneurship and creativity.
The importance of identifying and challenging assumptions.
How COVID-19 has accelerated their business and some of the things they are excited about, like democratizing access to talent.
How they find a balance between different modes of thinking, acting, and collaborating in their day-to-day work.
Why the framework of ‘leaning in’ as a woman in order to blend into a male-dominated work culture is limited and problematic.
How to identify whether you have an ‘idea problem’.