Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

The founders of Squire, Edlyft, and Promise explain how personal experience helped them identify problems worth solving. Squire set out to improve the barbershop experience with business management and point-of-sale software, while Edlyft aimed to support students who lacked encouragement and resources to pursue computer science. The speakers describe reflection, mentorship, early customer conversations, and startup structure as ways to manage the risks of building a company. They also discuss widening access to technology entrepreneurship and supporting more Black founders.

A series of talks and panels at the Female Founders Conference shares practical lessons from building companies, finding product-market fit, fundraising, and scaling. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins describes founding Promise to address pretrial incarceration and explains how her labor and operations experience shaped its mission. Founders from Vanta, Remix, and Gemnote discuss validating demand, doing manual work early, measuring customer value, and setting boundaries with customers. Alexandra Zatarain, Jess Lee, and Holly Liu reflect on building Eight Sleep, Polyvore, and Kabam, emphasizing persistence, learning from setbacks, and creating inclusive company cultures; founders of PadPiper and Nifty also receive live feedback.