What lessons did you learn during your childhood that you’ve carried into your career?

Being raised bilingual in French and English made me open to other cultures and gave me an early love of languages. It also allowed me to think of my own identity as being more fluid than simply “American.” The gift of two languages was the greatest gift my parents gave me, other than the gift of life!

What did you study and how has that influenced your career?

My background is in film: I majored in Film Studies as an undergrad at Yale (minor in Women’s Studies) and subsequently Fémis (France’s national film school). I started my career as a documentary filmmaker, so when I decided to teach my son French, I naturally returned to media. I was thrilled to be able to bring award-winning filmmakers and editors to my creative team when I produced the Little Pim language series.

Do you think a college degree is becoming unnecessary for individuals to advance their careers?

No. I think college offers an important time to dream, learn, socialize, create lifelong friendships, and make mistakes before it matters too much. I loved my college years and most of my peers feel the same way. I really think I learned to think at Yale. I also had to get comfortable with always having more homework and more leaning options than I could possibly complete. The ability to function well while being flooded is one of the best trainings I got for being an entrepreneur.

What led you to develop Double Digit Academy?

When set out to raise venture capital for Little Pim, I had already raised close to $3M in angel funding and thought “how hard can it be?” Ha. I entered into a process that was as time-consuming as it was opaque and frankly discouraging because I didn’t know how the game was played. Raising venture capital is especially challenging for women because it’s still a boys club by and large. Only 4% of all Venture Capital gets invested in women-run companies in the U.S. I want to see that percentage grow into the double digits, so when I closed my round I decided why wait? I decided to pass on what I had learned and created Double Digit Academy, a one-day boot camp for a small group of women that demystifies getting venture and large angel round funding. I love working with ambitious women to help them go further faster.

What’s the greatest opportunity you’ve had so far that acted as a stepping-stone to “cross the river”?

The first major river I had to cross came when I faced making the move from the comforts and benefits of having a full time job to the much riskier world of start-up life. It required a huge leap of faith: believing that if I pursued this dream of creating Little Pim everything would work out for my family and me. I had a baby at home and a husband working in the nonprofit world. No real safety net there. Securing my first Angel investor provided the first major stepping-stone and just trusting my own abilities was critical to hitting the gas pedal to onramp onto the entrepreneurial highway.

What’s the worst mistake a founder can make?

Not knowing what you don’t know is probably any founder’s greatest liability. If you can identify what you are not good at (while owning and championing what you ARE good at) you can then find others who compensate and create an amazing team. You can also go GET some new skills. I am a huge believer in professional development and lifelong learning.

What’s the most common Startup error?

The days of “I will build it and they will come” are over! If they ever existed in the first place. But sometimes entrepreneurs are so in love with their product that they don’t focus enough on marketing. In today’s advertisement-saturated world where new companies rise up and fail each day, every entrepreneur needs a good marketing plan…and a budget to execute it!

What does “fail fast” mean to you?

“Fail fast” is succinct explanation of what it means to be a startup: be willing to fail, and to identify your failures sooner rather than later, and move on.” I like this quote from The New York Times article “How to Be a ‘Woman Programmer’”: “You need the willingness to fail all the time. You have to generate many ideas and then you have to work very hard to discover that they don’t work. And you keep doing that over and over until you find one that does work - In the words of John Backus, inventor of the Fortran programming language.”

When’s the right time to seek funding?

After you’ve bootstrapped your company to get it as far along as you can without raising outside money, then you should start seeking capital. My litmus test is: does the company have a valuation that allows you to give up an amount of equity that isn’t too painful? Have you asked yourself do I want a bigger piece of small pie or a smaller piece of a bigger pie? Would the money get you so much further so much faster that you would raise the value of the company in 12-18 months? Then it’s time.

Thoughts on crowd-funding?

I haven’t used crowd funding myself, but it seems like a great way to raise money for the types of projects that lend themselves to this platform. Some companies/projects/products are more suitable for angel or venture capital, where you can get good, smart advisors in addition to the money. In Little Pim’s case, for instance, we draw heavily on the contacts and expertise of our angel and venture backers.

If you could fix one thing in the startup eco-system right now, what would it be?

I’d love to see more women CEOs going after and obtaining angel and venture capital. Very few businesses can go to scale without outside investment, and women have been less likely to raise money and less likely to obtain funding, but I am hopeful the tides will turn. With incubators and courses like Double Digit Academy, Springboard and WIM, we are growing our ranks!

What should startups be focusing on in 2013?

People. As the recession retreats further into our rearview mirror, there will be increasing competition for talent. Whether it’s salespeople, CTOs, CFOs or programmers, it will become harder for startups to compete with big companies that are once again flush. To prepare, make sure you know what unique value your company brings to the table that would make someone want to work there because they can usually make more money working somewhere else!

As a founder, what do you wish you had known about launching a company and what are some more resources you wish you had had access to?

I never attended business school, so I felt was missing some essential training when I first entered the fray. After three years in business, I joined Accelerator, which is a program run by EO (Entrepreneur’s Organization), an international network of entrepreneurs. During my first year in that program, I learned everything I didn’t get in business school including how to manage the finances, properly incentivize staff, create unique company culture, marketing etc. This was a game-changer for my business and I‘m still very involved in EO as a board chair.

Best advice you’ve ever gotten?

1. Know your own value.
2. Ask for help or support when you need it.
3. Learn to delegate.

Guess who’s coming for dinner…who would be your dream dinner guest(s) and why?

I would love to have Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, to dinner to hear first hand the story of how she built the Spanx empire.

Best thing about being a woman in tech?

Sharing my work with my family is deeply gratifying. I created Little Pim for my boys (who are now 5 and 8) and it means a lot that they not only understand what I do, but are proud of me for doing it. They help me test products, come up with new ideas and know mom runs a company. I love that.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I would love to see thousands more women entrepreneurs not just starting businesses but taking them to scale as high revenue businesses ($10-$50M annual). I feel that is the next big conversation we need to have as women business owners. How are we helping to create a landscape where more women can access capital and grow their businesses? I respect every woman’s choice to do what she feels is right for her with her business – whether that is a lifestyle business from home or a small staff of two or in my case wanting to grow to be an internationally recognized brand with multi-million dollar revenues. Where I feel we need to put more focus is on helping the women who DO want to take their businesses into the major leagues to cross that chasm into what is often still a very male-dominated club. We need to each do our part to “lift from where we stand” and help other women see a future where they can run a big successful company and have work life balance. I believe in “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it” and want to make sure the next generation of women starting businesses sees plenty of successful women entrepreneurs killing it. And loving it! Like I do.

This post was created by Raine Dalton, WIM’s editorial and community innovation intern. Raine is passionate about finding creative ways to empower women globally through tech. In addition to WIM, Raine has written, tweeted, and posted for the Global Banking Alliance for Women, WITNESS, and 90.7 WFUV News. You can find her work at www.rainedalton.com or get in touch with her through Twitter @rainedalton, or by emailing raine@wim.co.