"Connectd didn't just introduce me to support, it also helped me to funnel that into really proactive outputs."
Bel, Founder, Omnichunk: When we first started, I was oblivious. You don't even know where to start looking for help. I found out about Connectd through a recommendation. I joined at a time when it was pure chaos in my head, and that was the main thing that triggered it. For someone to come along and say, "We have a platform that helps put you with the right people," just felt like someone taking a bit of the weight off that searching part.
When I joined, I had a meeting with Emily, my account manager, who talked me through how it was going to work. From there it was really straightforward. We got access to all these advisors. Emily sent through some she thought would be most relevant. One of them, Kristen, a CHRO, was so passionate about what we were building and a brilliant person to have on board. She also introduced us to our first pilot and customer. And then we worked with Julian, who advised us on all things sales. I just don't know how many people have access to a head of sales at a really cool tech company to help them learn sales. It helped us so much.
Bel: Sales was the main thing, to be honest. There are a million things we could have used help with, but that was the thing we felt we mostly didn't know about. Looking back, we could have done with a lot of other things I didn't know at the time. But at the time it was simply: how the hell do we do sales?
Bel: I think just how easy it was. It was managed by other people and the platform. That was why it was right, because we didn't have the capacity to do all that ourselves.
Bel: The engagement and interest in the problem we were trying to solve was the main thing. I'm a very intuitive person, and I think you just have to feel comfortable around someone. That's the most important thing when working with anyone.
With Kristen specifically, it was her deep understanding of the problem we were trying to solve, and the fact that she genuinely wanted to solve it herself. One of the first things she said to me on our call was, "I've been looking for somebody to solve this problem." That was massive.
And secondly, knowing that anyone advising us had to have a genuine interest in being supportive and helpful. When you're a founder, loads of people offer to help, and often it's disingenuous. When you connect with somebody who doesn't seem to be gaining anything from it, that makes quite a big impact on you.
Bel: With Julian, it was his personality. He was always asking, "I want to be able to give you what you need from me." That came through from both of them. And with Kristen, it was that industry expertise, deep knowledge, and genuine passion that was so important.
Bel: For both of them it started off slightly differently to how it carried on. We started with an hour meeting every two weeks, then moved to half-hour meetings every week with Kristen, and 45-minute meetings every two weeks with Julian.
We realised it's quite difficult to maintain the right cadence because things change so much. There were weeks where not much was happening and we didn't need advisory meetings, and other weeks where things were moving fast and we needed a lot more feedback and support. We had them both on WhatsApp and would message them whenever there were updates.
With advisors, you can turn up to a meeting and realise you haven't prepped properly. We were actually using Omnichunk itself to prep: what do we actually need to get out of this session and how do we run the meeting most effectively? Ad hoc, I would say, mostly.
Bel: Between both of them, they secured our first customers. That's the most significant outcome. Kristen by putting us in touch with the right people, and Julian by helping us actually be salespeople when we're not. That's it.
Bel: Two things. One, think about how much a single person can change the trajectory of your company if you choose the right advisor. Two, prepare for every meeting you have with them, because the time runs out really fast. Six months of the pro bono programme can go by very easily without you having made the most of it. You can always get something useful out of your advisors. If you've chosen good ones, they always want to help. Optimise your resources and make sure you're getting the most out of every interaction.
Bel Germon, Founder, Omnichunk
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