Esme Verity supports founders, those who are 'Zebras'. The insights she shares throw light on to a world which favours a cookie cutter approach to success, even within the area of start-ups where our expectation may be different. Fiona explores Esme’s journey and the interesting experience she’s gained on “building a business that doesn't fit into this mainstream mould that we now have, a sort of Silicon Valley mould.” Why by investors looking only for businesses that offer a 10x return on investment leads to so many startups that are critical to the world being disregarded and left struggling to survive. 

Esme ran an antique jewellery business from the age of 18 and throughout university. When she left, she sought funding to help grow that business, and that’s when she was thrown into the world of Venture Capital. The VC world is very much focussed on finding the next unicorn business, something that’s going to grow incredibly big, very quickly. But Esme explains how she thinks that this reflects ‘a very limited definition of ambition’ and just ‘because you don't want to build a huge giant business doesn't make you not ambitious, it just means that you want something different.’ Wanting to do things differently and support the diversity of people within the start-up world, not just the unicorns, Esme has been on a mission ever since to advance her understanding of alternative approaches to growing a business that’s sustainable and to share that knowledge with others. 

Esme teaches about alternative funding and has worked with hundreds of purpose-driven start-ups, non-profits and governments to help democratise access to alternative funding sources.  Prior to founding Considered Capital, she was Director of Chapters at Zebras Unite, an international and intersectional hybrid cooperative dedicated to creating new financial instruments for the next economy. Esme is an active angel investor and was named one of the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise by Pioneers Post. Esme is the founder of Considered Capital, a platform for start-ups and organisations seeking alternative funding. Considered Capital simplifies and speeds up the journey to finding and accessing the right funding fit through courses, community and content.  

To find Esme go to Linkedin or her website Considered Capital

For Zebras Unite click here 

For more from Fiona and her startup Oka click here.