39. Michele Chaboudy - Feel the Boot Interview

I recently had the chance to talk with Michele Chaboudy.

She is an experienced senior executive, serial entrepreneur, consultant, and angel investor.

Michele is vice-chair of the north bay angels and teaches innovation at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Her background and experience are wildly diverse giving her insights broad applicability.

In this interview, she shares tons of useful advice for any founder or CEO.

In the course of our conversation, we talked about:

how many young entrepreneurs misunderstand networking. It is not handing out business cards over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. It can happen every day, all the time.

her favorite analogy, taken from her experience racing motorcycles. You need to be looking at least two turns ahead because you go where you look.

her process for evaluation companies as an investor, and what matters most to her.

how she teaches founders to develop a strategic mindset

what entrepreneurs need to know about researching their intended customers

Feel the Boot Founder’s Alliance: https://ftb.bz/alliance

Michele’s startup consulting website: https://macabbey.com/blog

Michele’s suggested resources for founders and entrepreneurs:

https://helloalice.org---co founded by Elizabeth Gore, who was also interviewed on Feel the Boot.

Simon Sinek— https://simonsinek.com/ particularly his “Start with Why” (book) and any of his speeches.

Scott Berkun— https://scottberkun.com/ - “Dance of the Possible” book and “Saving My Creative Soul” (video). All of his books and talks are excellent.

Malcolm Gladwell, recommend all of his books including his latest, Talking to Strangers.

Tina Seelig— http://www.tinaseelig.com/ - Stanford prof in engineering dept teaching innovation. Favorite book: Ingenius. Recommend any of her books and Ted Talks.

Jason Calacanis— https://thisweekinstartups.com/ Interviews Start-up Founders/CEO’s. Recommend his book on angel investing for tech start-ups.

Range by David Epstein. Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. —The worst thing you can do is ask a kid what he or she wants to be when they grow up. Try to keep all your options open and don’t worry about starting “late” in a pursuit.

Lean Impact—How to innovate for radically greater social good by Ann Mei Chang. Takes the Lean Start-up concept and applies it to non-profits.