Navigating the Business World When Your Startup is Just Getting Started

Where do you begin with a business idea as a young entrepreneur, maybe while you're still in school? How do you get that idea off the ground? How do you create a brand identity and gain a reputation in the business world? Where do you find funding? How do you navigate scaling and building a consumer base when you're still learning yourself? How do you stay true to your mission and use the power of your work to also help others?

Guided by authentic storytelling, co-founders of local food truck sourcing startup Goodfynd will share the experience of starting their business as recent Virginia Tech grads with just and idea and growing their business to a full-scale fintech company with over $1 million in VC backing. Attendees will gain insights on navigating startup life from the unique experience of these two founders, who with their team were able to grow their business while pivoting their vision to serve the particular needs of local food truck owners and giving back to the DMV community.

Moderated by our very own Co-Founder and COO, Kelly Grant.

Q&A to follow.

More on Sofie:

Sofiat Abdulrazaaq, JD, is co-founder & CEO of Goodfynd, a payments platform & marketplace that harnesses the power of aggregation to boost the accessibility and discoverability of mobile food businesses. An impact-first executive, Sofiat’s entry into the fintech industry was born by her desire to pair her foodie status with an easy-to-use payments platform that would help food truck operators, many of them immigrants & people of color. Sofiat brings a decade of experience translating business goals into developed products having held prior positions at The College Board, United Way Worldwide, & operating her own consulting practice. A first generation American, Sofiat is passionate about entrepreneurship & utilizing the power of fintech to support the underbanked & underserved.

Read more about her at Forbes, Ebony, and Alexandria Living.

More on Lemaire:

Lemaire Stewart is co-founder & CTO of Goodfynd, a payments platform & marketplace that harnesses the power of aggregation to boost the accessibility and discoverability of mobile food businesses. As a purpose driven leader, Lemaire’s passion for technological innovation and for solving real world problems shines through every aspect of product development. After previously holding positions as a senior software engineer and consultant at EPAM Systems and Booz Allen Hamilton, he found that building a better future meant developing products that address day to day challenges for food truck owners, who are traditionally underbanked and underserved. By staying close to the product and truly connected to the end user, Lemaire is able to leverage fintech for good.