Welcome to Women Disrupting Tech.
My name is Dear Kanupkas, and on this podcast I give the women
who work in tech the platform they need.
To. Inspire and empower each other.
Join me on a journey into the world of entrepreneurship,
funding biases, and role models to discover the strategies for
success in the tech industry. In other words, how women can
disrupt tech. Are you ready to listen?
Hey, welcome back to Women Disrupting Tech and thank you
for tuning in to episode 121. I'm your host tier Konukas, and
today I'm joined by Diana Marin Valencia.
Diana is the Co founder of Adasite, a company that helps
startups and scale UPS unlock the full potential of their
data. Originally from Colombia and now
based in Amsterdam, Diana and her husband built their company
during the AI boom without VC funding, and in this episode,
Diana and I discuss how she pulled that off.
By listening, you'll discover how data can be a copilot for
growth. Learn why she and her husband
created a Remote First Global team from day one and see how
bootstrapping shaped Ada Site's success during the AI boom.
What struck me in our conversation is how she frames
entrepreneurship as a purpose, as a way to build something
meaningful while helping others to do the same.
In the end, it's a beautiful, deep, deep personal conversation
that I hope captures the essence of Ada Site as a company and
Diana as a person. So when you're ready to listen
and learn how Diana bootstrapped Ada site to global growth,
please welcome to Women Disrupting Tech Diana Marine
Valencia. So how I started as Co founder
of other sites. So for this I would like to give
a little bit background about me.
So I was always very entrepreneurial.
So I was born and raised in Colombia.
I did study industrial engineering and then when I
graduated was 2012, it was the boom of technology.
Facebook had some years already in the market, many startups
were popping up. So I decided to pivot my career
and I was very attracted by technology.
So then I started taking a lot of courses and one of those
courses was at Stanford. Stanford Open a global program
for people to upskill. So then we form a group.
So the methodology was to form a group and the group have to
create a startup and also had to pick a lane.
And then I picked the marketing lane and I became a marketer.
So that's how basically I decided to to go by that.
I was very passionate about numbers and also the combination
with business creativity. So I think it was perfect for
me. Then after that experience, then
when my teammates at the university, we decided to launch
a startup company. We were backed by the
government, by the Ministry of Technology back then.
So that was my first entrepreneurial experience, but
we noticed we lack of skills. I mean, we were in Colombia in a
very small town. We were talking about the
startups. Nobody could really understand
what we were talking about. So at that particular time, then
we said we need to probably leave or to be in a place where,
you know, we can be encouraged then to talk about technology.
So then I decided then to start looking for a master abroad.
So that startup didn't work in the end.
So I started looking for, for masters abroad.
And then I joined the UVA and the FU in Amsterdam for a
mastering business with some focus on entrepreneurship.
And I, I ended up in Amsterdam. So then I was already having
this interest, of course, in marketing.
So my first jobs were in marketing until I ended up at
booking.com. That was one of my references in
tech and I ended up doing international marketing,
managing the advertisement in long tail.
It was called long tail. So in companies like Groupon,
Honey, Science, Capital One, so we're basically advertising
booking.com to gain market share of those in those markets.
And that's kind of the beginning.
Then you ask me how others I can do the picture.
The thing is, despite of having a corporate career, I wanted to
do a startup again. So with my husband who is also
my Co founder, we had a little bit thinking what can we do?
So he was working first at Optimizely that was an AB
testing company quite famous. Then he was hired by Amplitude
and that is a product analytics company.
And then I was coming from marketing.
So we decided to join forces and then basically created other
sites. So that was a little bit how how
the story came. We saw a gap in the market.
We saw that all scale labs have a marketing team, have a product
team. But when it comes to the growth
operations, specifically for data and analytics, they fell
true. And then we thought it's not
quite there yet to have a full Time Team, but it's needed.
So then we decided then to kind of join forces and create a
service that address that needs. So Jaeger's company went IPO
while he was there. So he had some capital.
I also had my capital from my chairs at booking.com.
So we decided then to give it a go.
So that's how other site came. OK.
And where does the name other site come from?
The name other site. So when we started like
searching for a name, CHA JPT came along as well was in beta
and we were like searching for a name and then we were I was very
inspired by the story of Ada Lovelace.
She was the first woman computer programmer basically talking to
to machines, using data to talk to machine.
So I was very inspired by the story and then I decided to use
part of her name for our company and then Insights.
It's the second part. So that's how the name came.
OK, so Ada Lovelace I think assisted no the the companion of
Charles Babbage. Yes, yes.
And and then insight into data and you focus on marketing data
or data more broadly. No, it's marketing and also
product data. So yeah, it's both.
But we not only focus on data. So recently we launched more
services. So that's we named growth OPS.
So growth OPS is a combination of data processes, analytics
processes, experimentation and also optimizing workflows with
AI and agents. So it's a little bit more broad
now than when we started. OK, cool.
So it's about data, but also then the sort of second step
what I'm hearing you say is you're using that data to
optimize your product, your operation flows, etcetera.
So maybe go to if you can explain a bit what what the
problem is that the startups that you help run into and why
that is a problem and why they don't seem to have a solution
yet. So how I will define the
progress, I think when a company starts there are more important
things that data because you have to kind of balance
different roles within a company.
You have sales that is the primary or marketing acquisition
of users etcetera. And I think like data comes a
little bit to a second place. But what I have seen that the
startups made a mistake is that they don't measure early.
So then when it comes to pivot or optimize product market fit,
they don't know how because they don't have any reference data to
do so. So we advocate for the startups
to start early in the journey. You don't need to have a
complicated setup. You don't need to see data and
analytics are something complex, but rather lean and having those
early indicators, data from your customer reviews, data from heat
maps, from your tracking just to guide your efforts, what you are
going to do next or if you think it's necessary to pivot, why?
And then trying to explain that with the data as a copilot.
I don't think the data is a decision maker.
I would see it as a copilot and that you need that to make
decisions and that's what we do. We are the copilot of marketing
and product teams. OK.
And you then also help more strategically, I guess on the on
the on the pivots companies have to do.
Yeah, I think there are different phases.
I think when a company is early phase, they are looking for
product market fit. Sometimes they have to do wild
pivot, some other times when they are more in a scale up
phase, they have to find the hints on what to double down,
what to scale down and that's how other side helps them.
So data has many use cases can be optimizing channels for
marketing. If you have a budget of example
$1 million per month, you need to know how to distribute that
to reach your user acquisition goals, your revenue goals.
So that's kind of A use case on a on a more scale up phase.
But when you are an early product, you still need this
data then to kind of guide what brings more retention, what
brings more engagement and then just Polish that product.
OK. And is Ada site and a sort of
layer that comes on top of the existing let's say data or
systems layer or how do I see that integration wise?
We are, we are a fractional team that comes in and then we also
have our AI products. More recently we developed our
AI analyst that basically takes data from marketing from product
and can help a marketer answer basic or complex questions from
their data or product teams. We have processes and then we
also have tech on top of those processes.
But within other side team, there is an array of talent,
team members and people that also support it strategically.
Because I think as I explained earlier, the data is a copilot.
You need to read the data with context, you need to read it
with expertise. So it's not, you know, when you
hire a junior analyst, this person maybe hasn't worked in a
in a tech company, hasn't seen many products.
So it's basically seeing just a piece of the picture.
And then that's basically how we collectively try to help those
companies from our expertise and different, different experience
with different companies. OK.
And when do companies come to you?
That's for more when they're when they're in growth stage or
can it also be let's say I've I'm, I'm building a product and
want to know what works, yes or no?
Both we have, we have been supporters of early phase
companies. So we also recently did a
partnership with Project Europe where we support early phase
companies trying to find product market fit and trying to read
basically qualitative data, quantitative data to find those
those leverages, if we want to call it like this.
But also in a growth scale is where this becomes super
relevant. I would say like more mandatory
in that way, because you know, you have big budgets, you have a
lot of features within a product, you have a lot of noise
and then you need to cut through the noise to really know what to
do next and what makes sense to to actually do and invest your
resources with. So I think both an important but
a company scales. Of course this process becomes
more complex and other site has a lot to to offer when it comes
to the scale up phase. Yeah, Let's switch gears for a
bit because you're a remote company, partially remote
company. In fact, we're not.
You're not in Amsterdam when we are recording this.
How do you look at the return to the office debate that is
currently going on? Yeah, that's a good question and
yeah, reason why we started this company as a first remote
company. So when I was at booking, I was
working global markets. So I have teams in the US in a
pack Australia like a lot everywhere.
So I really enjoy these combination and and the talent
from everywhere like that kind of philosophy.
So then when we started the other site, I wanted to bring
the same. So I wanted a global team.
I envision having clients from everywhere.
So that was kind of part of the vision.
And then we managed to do that. We have team members from
Moldova, Japan, Germany, Spain, Pakistan, Indonesia, pretty much
everywhere. I think the only requirement is
being very talented and of course bring value to the
company. So I was very fortunate to bring
people from Sony, from Y Combinator, companies like
Marcos in Pakistan, for instance.
We also have a team member from Gojek that is a Unicorn in
Indonesia. So I think that mix of talent
was very important and I think being open for remote allow me
to gather the team. So for you, it's actually it was
sort of a design principle, let's say.
Yes, absolutely. I think it was by design.
It was in purpose that we decided to to define it that
way. Our clients come also from
everywhere because my network was also from everywhere in a
way. So first when we started looking
for clients and that then our network was very important.
So that also set the tone where our team members were going to
be because we are spread from day one.
Well, yeah. So how do you attract the the
right talent? How we did in the other side.
So I think it was the philosophy.
We were positioning ourselves like, first of all, companies
that financial attracts talent, but we were also kind of trying
to put brilliant people together.
So we're like, OK, we are people from everywhere with many
backgrounds. We have worked out all these
companies and then we have to help these companies scale and
we have to solve hard problems. And I think by nature that
attracted the right people. Sometimes I joke with Gregor
that I'm like chief recruitment officer instead of CEO because
one of my focuses was attract the right talent for the
company. And I was interviewed every
single member of other site from the beginning, right?
There was times where I have even 10 interviews a day for
certain roles. So I was very, very focused on
that, on attracting the right people.
And so far, has it brought you what you hoped to get out of it?
Yes, definitely. I I believe it did.
I also focus a lot on promoting other side as well.
I believe that it's not you know that I was not focusing only on
market fees or that but companies actually have a
picture of other site when they go on LinkedIn, when they go on
Gregor's or my profile that they know who the founders are.
So we are in the end we are people working with people.
So I think it's important to have those references as well.
And then I think all of this together plus the approach, the
values of the company help us to to attract the the the team we
needed. OK.
And how do you how do you manage this because you have people in
Pakistan and Indonesia and let them they're in different time
zones, they're different people, different cultures.
How how do you manage that? Is that one stand up a day where
everyone's present that is sort of picks at the central moment
in time or how does this work operationally?
Operationally, I would say it's, it's interesting.
I think everyone works in the time that works best for them as
well. We try to have an overlap of
four hours at least between different time zones.
So that might be a challenge sometimes, especially when we
are travelling where we are in the US.
We also have team members in Germany and Spain and so on.
So we are very, very spread. So important to have an overlap.
We have weekly calls, we have two weekly calls basically where
we gather the whole team and there are specific team calls.
So then in those we have the the team organized better squads and
then they have their own rituals their their own kind of way of
working. So I wouldn't say we tried to be
in meetings where like the whole team is often we try to avoid
that because of the time zones, but it has worked well.
It's very asynchronous. We use this like we communicate,
we give a lot of updates. We are building in public.
So we are very transparent as how we build a company, how the
cells are doing like we have different channels to
communicate that too. So I think that has helped how
we work. You also because you founded a
other side sort of during the AI boom, but you chose to bootstrap
and I was wondering why, except that you had some capital lying
around to deploy. And what And what did you learn
from it? Yes.
So it was very interesting because was, yeah, in the middle
of the AI boom and then we saw even more opportunity was
probably the perfect time for us to start in a way and to learn
your skills and also to find the value proposition of the
company. Why we decided to go bootstrap.
That's a very interesting question.
I think for us, we had, we didn't have institutional,
institutional capital. We didn't raise any money, but
we have the, the capital that I explained earlier that it was
publicly our own. So we have a wrong way and a
wrong way was it was quite risky.
When I think about it, even I've been naive because I, I jump, I
quit the job and I have a wrong way and then I still have to
find market fit. But I, I wanted to believe that
this was, was going to be fast and this was going to be the
case. But I was fortunate that I have
that capital and I was fortunate as well that after four months
of the company, we have saved our clients line up basically
and we were working through several clients.
But it is, I would say it's, you know, it's not that simple
either. There were moments as well where
I wish I would be good to have more leverage, right.
But I think he also gave us the tools to focus on revenue rather
than raising capital. And Gregory and I were very
obsessed to get clients for other side into value and to
find what was our service market fit basically.
So I think that remove a little bit the distractions and allow
us to refine our offering that people were willing to pay for
and that was the focus. So it gave you actually the the
focus on getting the first client through the door and to
make something that was meaningful for them.
Yes, I I believe that was important many investors when I
was you know, like I had just quitted booking some investors
approaches like why you are building and then I was like,
well, it's service companies, right.
No, also not investor thing, but I believe I wanted to prove OK,
people are willing to pay for this and I can scale that app
basically and later I can see if there is opportunity to develop
tech products and, and you know, being being more informed and
also and more comfortable with my journey, I would say.
So can you talk through a case where you helped one of those
early clients? Maybe not name the name of the
company, but just give the use case that you you worked on and
how you solved it. Yeah, there, there have been.
I think I will like to make a distinction.
So with companies that are early phase, we allow them to to
measure basically like I think they never heard the word of
measurement. Their founders are very eager
and have a lot of energy and and so on.
But when it comes to find product market fit, I think
certain guidance is needed. So we have helped them to
measure that towards product market fit to attract the the
first sticky users and then just to detect that this basically
data works like a diagnosis, right.
You have marketing, you have product and it's basically
measuring the functions and trying to find what you need to
do more of. So we have helped these early
stage companies in that journey, more mature companies.
We have several cases, but maybe the most recent one was a
company that was already investing like half a million
per month in advertisement and then they want to manage their
channel distribution basically and that we advise them like how
they could invest these budget better across channels etcetera.
And also then a full journey that means what to do as well
when it comes to the product, what change with which features
are more relevant than others. And then caught the noise and
then the company from like was spending 500 in advertisement
with an ROI of 50%, became like an ROI of 100% and then also
improve retention along the way. So I think when we are able to
achieve those results, companies stick with other side for long
time. Yeah.
But I wouldn't say permanently because at some point as they
mature, they also start building this engine in house and
knowledge transfer is also one thing that other side does as
well and that's OK and that's also part of our model.
So talk to me then also about the knowledge transfer.
How do you, because you, you sort of help them build
something and then how do you transition that knowledge to
them? Is it also recruitment that you
do for for the data and list that they hire later or is it
job descriptions or is it processes that they have to run?
Yeah, that's a very good question.
Yes, in fact, there are all these things.
Part of it, one thing is the team design.
I like how the team needs to be a structure then to support this
growth of we have a lot of people in our network with the
skill set as well. So if we need to introduce also
new people to form that team, we are also capable to do so.
And that's part also of the knowledge transfer.
And then all the processes that are the site handles little by
little starting owned by the company.
Why we think this is important, Some companies are fine with
these setups so that other side continues being this growth OPS
department for them. But some other companies tech is
embedded, it's part of their value proposition and data is
basically the core of the value proposition.
So at some point it becomes necessary even to have it in
house. So other side supports with
talent, we take products because now I just mentioned the, the,
the small product we are testing at the moment.
So we we can support them in that journey basically, but we
don't need to to be always with them.
OK. So what do you consider most
optimal if if you had to run a company, let's say in a
marketing area, would you do it in house over the in the long
run? So initially you have this, this
the other side is a fractional data officer.
But would you then advise a company to offer time transition
or to keep it at the other? Side like this it really
depends. So they are for instance
e-commerce as is an example where they have a lot of
different type of operations that are not necessarily related
to marketing of or or data. So in their case, they need to
scale differently. And then for that a scenario,
sometimes it's good to have a long time partner like other
sites. However, there are different
companies like B2B SAS, tech companies where they don't have
anything physical beyond the product.
And then for them the data is like, you know, and then they
might want to be the next Netflix, the next booking.com.
And then also the philosophy of those companies was data.
It's such an important part of of them.
And then it's good to have some company helping at the beginning
of the journey. But as they scale way beyond, I
believe it's important to have it in house.
And then in that a scenario we can serve with technology, we
can serve as consulting company, we can serve introducing the
right talent for that next phase.
But I would I would advise to do that eventually.
So basically if if data is let's say a by product, then you keep
it within data site. If it's central to your value
prop to your company, you shift to in house over time and that's
where the the consultancy and the recruitment and the the team
building let's say comes in. Yes, definitely.
And that's also why we focus on AI product as well that we can
serve to those companies and apps killing.
There are many things we do with them as well.
So I we always optimize what's best for the company.
The moment that we don't help the company reach their
resource, then it's like, you know, it's then.
Yeah, so. If it doesn't work, it doesn't
work. It's as simple as that.
Exactly. So and also what is more optimal
and then that's one of the principles of other side, what
is more optimal for the company at that particular phase and
then that's. Let's move to the role of women
in AI, because you're a woman in AI in tech.
Did you have any role models growing up?
Yes, I did have role models. Well, of course, my mom and my
family, I believe they were very entrepreneurial, very
hardworking. And I think in tech as I as I
was in Colombia, I was missing that a little bit.
I didn't have many people that were talking about text that
were having a startup that were raising capital or any of that
sort. And that that made me a little
bit to seek that elsewhere. And as I was selling earlier,
then I move then to Amsterdam and then I started of course,
having my, my references, having my mentors.
And then yes, I had different role models across my career
incorporate and also as entrepreneur.
Yeah, so but and also mentors within booking.
Yes, I have a mentor within booking and I would advise
everyone to have a mentor. So if you want to grow in your
career, there are many decisions as well you have to have to
make. I was still young, I had, you
know, I was unlocking different roles, different
responsibilities and then you are discovering as you go.
So it's important to to have someone that can speak from
their experience and can help you navigate the challenges
specifically from from the corporate, which are very
specific in in US entrepreneur. Absolutely.
How did you choose your mentor, Dan?
How I chose my mentor. My mentor at Booking was the VP
of Measurement and Marketing. I was in a role that it was very
data-driven. I have a global scope, have to
deal with multiple countries with multiple cultures,
negotiation way etcetera. So I thought his experience was
very relevant and then I was very ambitious as well as I seen
the corporate, I wanted to grow fast etcetera.
So I think it was it was a good match.
Yeah. Did you choose him or did I?
Did he choose you or she? A man or a woman, by the way.
It was a man, it was a man, but it was both, both ways.
It was both ways. He was in an area measurement,
which I really like at Booking. I was very passionate also about
AB testing. Booking was Pioneer.
He was many years in the company and then, yeah.
And then, yeah, we just met within the company.
And then I decided that he was going to be my mentor.
And then I said he was, he was like that.
And then he. Was he was appointed mentor?
Yes. And then I'm like, oh, can you
be my mentor? And then I really want to
develop in these areas and I want to grow in the company.
And then that's how the mentorship started, yeah.
OK. And and so you had your your
parents role models for the entrepreneurial side, you had
your mentor within booking. How important were these to you
in terms of career paths, in terms of of making it other side
work? I I believe it is.
It is according to different phases in lives.
I think Diana, in Colombia, they had certain challenges that my
parents helped me navigate and for those then they were
mentors. But as I moved to Amsterdam, I
had different challenges to navigate.
So I had teachers that were mentors and then in my career at
booking, I had a mentor, but as entrepreneur, I also needed
mentors where they have been either other founders with a lot
of experience, you know, managing people, hiring A-Team,
racing capital, launching different products.
So I think in different phases of life depends on what you want
to accomplish. You need to surround by people
who can help you accomplish that, who can introduce you to
the right people who can also teach you, share their expertise
and then that's that's very important.
Yeah. So I want to switch back for a
minute for to to the mentor. Can you share an example of a of
a critical moment in your career at booking where having that
mentor helped you? Yes, there were many moments,
especially when I was looking for a promotion like just trying
to see gaps. There were moments where I was
spreading to thing where I was trying to to do many things at
once, trying to cover many projects, many areas.
So I needed certain guidance on what kind of projects to choose,
what would be more beneficial for the next step.
And then things like like that, I would say also projects with
different areas of booking as well.
I did projects with measurement, I did projects with media.
I did several projects as well on that curiosity, yeah.
OK. And that was also there he
helped you out with guidance on how to do things and where to go
and who to talk to. Yes, absolutely.
And then I, I think also the cultural booking was very
collaborative as well, where people were very happy to share
their knowledge of the different areas as well.
So I was not shy to go and talk to, you know, the head of media
to understand certain things better, to learn about certain
area of the company better. So I would say, yeah, people are
just open to help you. And then that's one of the of
the things I would highlight about the culture there.
Yeah, in a more corporate setting, what can men do to to
ensure that women that we get a more women in to AI and B that
they also flourish? Yeah, I would say when when you
say like, oh, I support women, I would say it's support
translates to me like introductions.
It's like make sure that you know she is in the room where
she was not invited in the 1st place.
And then trying to support and to advocate when we when we seek
talent. Because I will include myself
also in that. When I have seen talented people
in other sites, I make sure to highlight them as well to give
them a stage where they can speak about their expertise and
their talent. And I think that's very
important, especially for the young talent.
And I have been supported throughout my career and I think
that's what I would continue doing.
I would expect other people also to.
OK, so but do you then also expect other people to pay it
forward? So the people who receive your
advice, your mentorship, your sponsorship?
No, I, I didn't mean that way necessarily.
I meant in general, how important is supporting like
young talent. And then when you see talented
people, talented young woman is like, then you ask yourself, how
can I support? And then at this point at my 34
years old Diane, I have a network, I have a company.
And if I can give this talented person an intro stage, I will do
so. I think it's in general more
that's an invitation to be open and open door for others and
especially when we don't see a lot of that.
So you were asking me, oh, we don't see a lot of women in tech
in AI. And then but if you encounter
one that's very talented, just make sure she has the right
support and then she is introduced to the right people
and you can advocate for for her as well.
Yeah. How important is it though to
pay that forward? I mean, you've, you, you are
doing that because you received the sponsorship and the
mentorship within booking. So how important is that?
You sort of build a culture, build a structural solution
where women in tech, in AI, in data feel that.
Yeah, I, I believe it's extremely important to, I feel
that it's a little bit, I don't want to feel that it's in depth,
but I felt I was supported. Therefore I, I should support
others as well. But I will invite people in
general from, from like, you know, if you have a tech
position, if you're an entrepreneur, I always feel the
need to be open. And then I feel like that's.
That's very, very crucial, especially if you are an
entrepreneur as well. So I think in this phase of
life, I'm more reflective of how important is to pay forward.
Maybe before I didn't reflect as much, but now as entrepreneur, I
am vocal about is I advocate and I try to do so and, and and
yeah, it's, it's, it's very important to pay for.
Yeah, yeah. And I, I understand that this
comes later in life, don't get me wrong, but it's more it, it
just, I mean, you need to build up something to, to for yourself
as well. It's a bit of footing.
A little bit. Yeah, so.
So let's say there's a woman listening who is in a corporate
job like you were, and who's thinking of starting in
something in data or AI. What would you advise her that?
And let me rephrase that a tiny bit.
Would you advise her to first look within the company, or
would you advise her to go somewhere else and find your own
way? It really depends.
I think maybe cheesy what I'm going to say, but sometimes you
feel it right. And then I feel there are
different moments in life where you want different things.
And then at that particular moment when I decided to start
my second company, that's how I felt.
So I was very sure about and wanted to follow my
entrepreneurial call if you want to say it like this and I plan
for it. So I have a wrong way.
I was very diligent to have a plan and I think for us in
corporate, I think that's important because we already
have a career, certain expectations, mortgage, certain
obligations. So you cannot be that light
about it. I was living abroad on my own,
right. I have a husband as well who is
also my Co founder. So it's like we are both on the
same boat. So we have to plan these
strategically. So I would advise to have a
plan, follow your intuition if you really want to pursue, if
it's an area you are passionate about, you see a gap that
opportunity, you cannot let it past and go for it and have our
own way. I would I would advise that too.
Yeah, that's usually quite helpful as I'm finding out
myself anyway, So I want to rewind a bit too.
Earlier in the conversation you said that you had been talking
to investors really early on but decided to bootstrap anyway.
So the, the the podcast starts with the statistic that two,
only 2% of VC money goes to female led companies.
What are investors missing when they're looking at female LED
and bootstrapped companies? I would say so.
It's quite interesting because bootstrap companies, there are
different ways, right. You can have a tech product in
our case, well services and then we were quite successful I would
say against the odds. We have a 7 figure revenue.
We have a team of 15 people and we are only two years and half
in the market. So I think we were very
systematic. We had experienced already.
So I think that was a big plus that we could leverage that
corporate experience for Gregor and I had.
And then basically we had seen things before.
So then we can build on top. So I think what investors might
miss is that maybe that expertise as well.
Somebody had a career and then decided to go for for a company,
you need to have conviction. So I would say that can be
missed as well. Of course, you're you.
I'm not in my 20s, but I have certain experience that allow me
now to scale this company. So I would say this might be
overlooked and or other people as well.
I'm not the only case that that is overlooked in that in that
case, I also feel in a way, instead of chasing growth
erratically, we were chasing for a sustainable model, a company
that can last, you know, like different crises that can last
over time. And I think that that's very
particular of the trait of women.
I would say that you you build something that lasts.
It's like I would describe it in that way.
But yeah, I would say those those two things.
Do you think investors focus too much on the hockey stick?
Yes. So that's a very good question.
I believe and I think now it's an era where like these my
company service LED approach, we have tech products, but they are
more at the core. At the core is the service we
offer, how we offer, how we assemble the team on the
systems. So I think at the beginning then
of course people try to to move into the direction of creating a
product especially like investors.
But I think by by now other side reach certain milestones I would
say and then I am willing to go and having those conversations
just to kind of dismissify if they if they will be passing
over my model or not. But I would say they prefer
other type of models in general. So let's talk about the future
other side. What's in store?
What kind of plans do you have? What?
Where do you want to be in in a couple of years?
Now we are focusing well as I explained earlier, we are
diversifying our offering. Before we started with data
analytics experimentation second and now we are in operations,
basically scaling operations, applying AI agents and products
for for growth teams. And that was part of the plan
and we have been executing on that.
So that was one thing, expanding the team of course getting more
clients everywhere and a second part would be raising capital.
We have to develop tech products from another site and we also
realized those tech products have a different goal to market
as well from what we have built so far.
So it would be interesting now at this stage of the company to
have external capital too. OK.
And what, what type of investor are you looking for?
What's your Who's your ideal investor?
They have been recently investors that have also backed
companies similar as Other Side, which I was very surprised about
also with service at the core. So I think investors that wanna
a sustainable profitable model that can last over time.
I think Other Side is a company for that also who believe in the
mission of AI products for in the operations of growth teams.
And then yeah. So I would say that.
OK. So they have to believe in the
mission and they have to focus on on sustainable growth more
than just that quick bug. Yes, I would say that which is
very scarce, But Lucy. Yeah, OK.
Well, I absolutely hope this this helps you get access to
those investors. His podcast.
One more question in terms of practical advice that slipped my
mind. So let's say I'm a founder and I
want to start building an AI agent that helps other men be
better allies. Where do I start?
I would say for me as a woman, I would say like mixed the groups
be when women are be part of the women conversation as well and
then mix women and men together. And then if you encounter A
talented woman, then don't hesitate to be advocate as I
said before, to introduce her to the right people to be in the
rooms where she was not invited to.
So that would be basically something I would, I would say.
OK. And do you think that can be
done through, let's say, an AI agent also to put women in rooms
where they were previously not? Yeah, I think technology can be
used in many, many ways and I, I believe so so and also the other
way around, right. I think it's important as well
to understand each other's and I think the the ecosystem is
composed of both of women and also men.
So being part of each other's ecosystems realities is quite
important for for the future and and also building companies and
what we are talking about today. Yeah, so you've had support from
mentors and allies yourself. What kind of allies ship has
made the biggest difference for you?
What kind of allies? I think.
Were those the mentor who put you in rooms where previously
you weren't? I think it's different kinds.
I think maybe I will highlight more as entrepreneur.
I would say sometimes it's not even about that type of support.
Sometimes I was feeling that, you know, that it was too much,
that the work is heavy, especially as a founder.
And sometimes you need encouragement.
And then you need to also see other people who have
accomplished what you want to accomplish.
And they are. Yeah, that's that.
You can see that. And then you can take that as
reference. And also these encouragement
words from people sometimes help you as well to move forward.
So in my path as entrepreneurs, I had these people that I could
call and said, like, I don't know what I'm doing.
This happened, this happened, this happened.
It's a roller coaster. There are so many ups and downs.
And you can talk to me at 2:00 PM, I'm completely happy over
the moon. And if I say something happened
and then you are not over the moon anymore.
So I think that like those allies, those founders that you
can call and that this happened and can give you encouragement
can also see things that you don't see that clearly because
you are very heads down in your journey.
So I I feel yeah, that's that how has helped me a lot.
OK. So also people who can sort of
pick you up when your head down, pick you up and give you the the
bird's eye view. Yes, yes, that's sometimes you
don't see it yourself and that's also important.
Sounds like a great place to move to my last question.
Thank you for this wonderful conversation, really enjoyed it.
Where can listeners learn more about you and about other side?
Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for making me
part of this. I'm very happy to support your
mission as well and to be an advocate.
People can find me on my LinkedIn as Diana Marine
Valencia and other site also on LinkedIn.
We also have social media. Feel free to connect with me on
LinkedIn as well and then happy to to be connected with your
audience as well. Dave.
Cool. And we'll we'll include those
links in the show notes. So Diana Marine Valencia, thank
you very much again for an amazing conversation.
Listeners, thank you very much for listening.
And until the next episode, keep being awesome.
Well, that's it for episode 121 of Women Disrupting Tech with
Diana Marine Valencia on how she bootstrapped ADA side to global
growth. Diana and I hope that our
conversation has given you inspiration for your
entrepreneurial journey. And if you have any questions
for Diana, please leave them in the comments on Spotify, Apple
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