How do you start with a revolutionary technological product, no educational credentials, and $600 in your pocket and sign up a huge name in your market?

How do you stretch your time and money so far that one small order from one surprise customer opens up an entire market for you?

How do you get over self-doubt, blatant reverse ageism and sexism to create a product that literally saves lives for less than the cost of filling gas in your car?

In this episode, entrepreneur and vc analyst Tayyaba Ali talks about how she strategically used pitch competitions to win a neat pot of startup cash, how she reverse-engineered exiting products to build a completely innovative new product on a shoestring budget, how she learned to overcome thinking small, doubting herself and negotiation pitfalls to bootstrap an industry-changing social impact venture, and much more.

Episode Highlights:
- How to find inspiration for innovation from your lived experience
- How to supercharge impact via product design innovation
- The hidden pitfall social ventures and nonprofits succumb to, and how to avoid it
- How to right-size your product scope
- Shortcuts to bringing product to market without breaking the bank
- How to raise funding without diluting your stake and wasting your time
- How to find high-impact customers without risking your brand
- How to create a perfect-fit advisory board when you have no money and no network
- How not to sabotage your startup with bad pricing decisions, especially if you're a woman
- How to get over crippling diffidence as a woman founder and maximize confidence 
- Secret funding sources nobody knows about, and how to pick the right ones for your business
- The risks of fundraising as a woman, and how to stay the course
- The high cost of social impact entrepreneurship, and the massive rewards that make the struggle worthwhile