From honest conversations to one-to-one mentoring: introducing Turn the Table

Most founders can recall the moment they realised that the conversation that would have helped them most was happening somewhere they had not been invited, in a room they could not quite find, among people who already seemed to know one another.

For many women and non-binary founders, that moment arrives early and keeps returning, and it is where our thinking began on Turn the Table, a series we are building at CodeBase with the support of Techscaler as our action towards the Pathways Pledge, part of Pathways Forward.

Every good gathering begins with someone setting the table, and ours has been laid with a particular order in mind, opening with roundtables, held in different places and online, where the questions founders carry with them, from raising money to taking a business abroad, are put to people who have already been through it and are generous about what they learned.

From there the table grows into a full day in the same spirit, with more room to work, bringing strategy sessions, breakouts and hands-on pairing under one roof, and then it narrows to two chairs for one-to-one mentoring, which gives whatever a founder is working on right now, at whatever point they have reached, focused attention.

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Each of the three works as an invitation in its own right, so founders can join one, two or all of them:

• Roundtables: Open discussions, hosted in person and online, where founders trade honest stories with experts and experienced entrepreneurs and leave knowing a few more people who understand the road they are on.
• The full day: A hosted day of interactive sessions and conversations, with founders paired alongside team members who have built startups themselves, and looked after throughout with good food and a few thoughtful touches.
• Mentoring: A match with a mentor for tailored guidance on whatever will move your business forward, such as a sharper pitch deck, a well-placed introduction, or specialist strategic guidance, with focused sessions shaped around your priorities.

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The seats are set for cisgender women, transgender women and non-binary founders at every stage, whether they are still shaping an idea at a kitchen table or already selling in several countries, and for those joining from a different city, a different time zone, or a screen on the other side of the world.

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The first roundtable: Scaling Globally

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The first roundtable, hosted by CodeBase with the support of Techscaler and in partnership with ACCEND, takes place online on Wednesday 18 November from 15:00 to 16:00, and it was designed for ACCEND Horizon Europe around a question that sits quietly behind most ambitions to grow, which is how a founder finds, pitches to and chooses the right capital when the investors, the regulations and the markets are in another country.

International investors and founders will take that question apart together, looking at how to build a financing plan for cross-border growth, how to pitch in a market that does not yet know you, and how to work through the blockers that most often slow an expansion down.

The conversation is led by people who have seen this from several sides of the table, with Sarah Anto, an investor in deep tech and AI based in Finland, Marissa Fayer, CEO of DeepLook Medical in the USA, Anne Ravanona of Global InvestHer in France, and J. Kelly Hoey, investor and author, bringing perspectives from across the investor and founder experience, while Jennifer Forbes Iannolo, who works as VP of Business Acceleration at CodeBase, moderates.

Founders can expect to leave with practical frameworks for structuring an international financing plan, a clearer view of the regulatory, market entry, and strategic considerations that come with seeking cross-border venture capital, and the criteria for vetting potential funders for fit, alignment, and long-term value, along with tactics for auditing and building the international advisor and investor relationships that make the next conversation easier.

An interactive Q&A leaves room for your own questions, and because it stays off the recording, it is a space to ask them freely, while the rest of the session will be recorded.

You can register by clicking here, and if there is a founder in your own circle who would value a chair, please pass it along, so that the table is full of the right company by the time we begin.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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Want to be the first to hear about upcoming roundtables, mentoring opportunities and what’s next for Turn the Table? Register your interest below and we’ll keep you in the loop.

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