Entrepreneur in Residence
MBA
Class of 2015
London, UK
palqee.com
“I compare it to being in a bad rela-
tionship,” says Sabrina today, now
busy and settled in her role as entre-
preneur-in-residence within an in-
dependent family office. “You’re so
Silicon Valley has, since its earliest days, advocated passionate about it, but you get to a
where you can’t continue and
the benefits of failure. Whether failing hard or fail- point
have to make the cut. Things come
ing fast, these are not just slogans but ways of life for and go that give you hope and make
re-engage with your idea, and so
some of the biggest names in technology today. But you
you push another few months, but to
what does it really feel like to close a venture of your do it over and over is exhausting.”
telling the wider team and
own making? What are the learnings, and how do their After
multiple circles of support, the
you dust yourself off to try again? MBA graduate entrepreneurs were down—but not
“I knew I wasn’t finished,” says
and serial entrepreneur Sabrina Palme shares her out.
Sabrina. “As much as those last
experience of coming through the flames fighting. months were draining, we didn’t re-
gret a moment. The MBA had given
us a lot of the knowledge we needed
for Gartenzwerg; but Gartenzwerg
was a whole life-changing experi-
ence by itself.” Buoyed with a new
confidence and perspective, both she
and Andre have gone on to develop a
new venture, currently at ideation
stage, that will push businesses to
tackle increasingly important ques-
tions around data ethics.
Both personally and profession-
ally, Sabrina continues to grow her
knowledge and adapt to the chang-
ing working landscape: “For me,
there was always a horror that what-
ever I ended up studying, I might get
stuck with it. I’m currently teaching
myself C++, as an absolute beginner.
It’s about redefining your skillset,
gaining new skills, because we are
just moving so far and fast in tech-
nology and development. Discipline
is key—that’s one of the challenges
of teaching yourself new things.”
For all the fear around the term,
it would seem then that failure isn’t,
in fact, all that bad? “The most diffi-
cult part for me was telling people
who had invested in us and ordered
our products,” says Sabrina, “because
In early 2018, things were looking good for Gartenzwerg, the hydroponics I felt like we had let them down. We
venture started by Hult alumni Sabrina and Andre Quintanilha. With a had some uncomfortable conversa-
prototype in place and market demand growing for their IoT-driven indoor tions, but the majority of people
gardens, the team was on the hunt for funding. “It was never an issue of in- were very supportive. To develop a
terest from investors,” says Sabrina of the project. “But they wanted to hardware product is huge; it may
come on board after we’d manufactured our first batch.” Without the means have failed, but I don’t feel devastat-
to go into large-scale production, it soon became clear that the business ed by that.” In that spirit: it’s on to
the next one.
would need to make the difficult decision to cease operations.
Sabrina
Palme
62
Ways of Learning
Starting Up, Starting Over
10 Lessons to Take into Your Next Venture
1.
Stay true to you
6.
Take a deep breath
The startup world is, by nature, hectic, volatile, and On that note: channel calm wherever possible.
all-consuming. “It’s easy to get caught up in it all and
keep pushing for things,” says Sabrina. “On the inside
you get so stressed out. Once outside, you see the issues 7.
It’s a rollercoaster. Ride it.
are fewer.”
No one ever said startup life was easy. Prepare yourself
mentally for the risks ahead by seeing the venture like a
rollercoaster: there will be highs, lows, fear, exhilara-
2.
Bootstrap your business
tion, and more. “We read stories about founders who
Early-stage businesses can get stuck in the cycle of need- were losing everything and neatly turned it all around,”
ing to create product to prove worth, but needing fund- says Sabrina. “It’s inspiring, of course, but not the typi-
ing to create product. Focusing on the latter can lead to cal journey.”
hasty decisions. Bootstrap as much as you can, and get
creative. You’ll create value, keep ownership, and get
investors coming to you.
8.
Little bit of luck
3.
Right time, right place, right people all have their roles
to play, and that can’t always be in your control. Hedge
your bets and get out there.
Whatever you do, own it.
Don’t make it work for the sake of working: “It’s not my
mentality anymore. Others will always have different
views, but if I know how I want this thing to work and 9.
The F word
what I want it to look like, I’m not going to deviate too
much from it.”
“Honestly, the feeling of failure didn’t hit me as hard as I
thought it would,” reflects Sabrina. “It’s easy for people
to judge and say, ‘But you studied business, how did you
fail?’ To them I would ask, well, what have you done?
4.
Listen, but not too much
We tried, we had the guts to go ahead, and now things
Speaking of others … be selective with feedback. Yes, you move on. It’s very much in how you deal with it.”
will receive a lot. No, you don’t need to take it all onboard.
5.
10.
The playbook is in your pocket
You’ve got experience on your side—and knowledge is
power. “Having been through it all once, you’ll under-
stand the development, what’s going to happen, the
steps ahead—the next business model may not be exact-
ly the same but you’ve got the playbook, and that in
itself is calming.”
Be proud
Perhaps the easiest to forget in the moment, but most
important of all: you did it. “We still have the original
Gartenzwerg at home, working like a charm,” says
Sabrina. “It’s a reminder to me not just to live more
sustainably and live those values, but of not regretting
the journey. I’m proud of what we achieved and how far
we got.”
Calling all entrepreneurs!
Inspired by Sabrina’s learnings? Looking for support from
fellow business owners? See pp. 68–69 for an exciting new
initiative in the Hult community.
Ways of Learning
63