I recently attended a couple of in-person events at Atlanta Tech Village that had a similar key message for entrepreneurs. Christine de Wendel spoke at a Women + Tech event about owning the room, and a panel of investors spoke at the Atlanta Healthcare Entrepreneur Meetup about owning being the expert of your space and company.

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Owning the room

Christine spoke about how to really own the room in any sales or fundraising context. Sell the vision, be excited, and command the attention and respect of those in the audience. You want people to genuinely desire to follow you. To be ready for this situation, be sure to practice and build up your confidence so you truly believe in yourself and what you are pitching. If you don’t believe in yourself, why would somebody else believe in you?

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Owning being the expert

When talking about what investors look for in founders, the panelists spoke about really being an expert. Truly understanding your customers, your market, your operations, and your financials. You want to show an impressive level of expertise about what you are doing and where you are going that shows you are on top of running the business. This doesn’t mean you need to have all the answers, but show you deeply understand the intricacies of your business and market including both the opportunities and risks.

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In both events, the theme around taking ownership of the situation, focusing on what you can control, and shaping your own story is a good reminder for entrepreneurs.

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