Sonalie Figueiras

As a brand operating today in a world where your products can be easily called out on social media, I would be careful not to use the term sustainable packaging and instead I would opt for transparency when describing my packaging design and materials: I would stay away from marketing terms and descriptive terms and instead focus on communicating: what is the packaging made from? how can consumers dispose of it responsibly? how am I as a company improving on the packaging if it is still plastic/non recyclable? I would also avoid empty imagery and icons that are non regulated and basically a form of visual greenwashing (recycling symbols, earth/planet, green leaves).

Teach people something new or interesting that may be useful to them and your stakeholders will immediately see value in you. Share information, facts, and data that is not easily available or curate content in an easier-to-read way. Also if you are just starting out, offer your time in 20-minute increments for free as a way to showcase your knowledge and expertise! Most people out there are looking for better data and better content!

This is crucial and something most people aren't doing well. Social media often feels a bit one sided with folks/brands/founders boasting and waxing on about their thoughts/achievements to no end. LISTENING to your stakeholders and customers is so important and is the best way to improve your product/service offering. Use tools like forms, polls, open-ended questions to gather information and spend time reviewing and answering the responses.

This is tough because partnerships with people you've only just met can end very badly. I think the best thing to do here is to VET any potential partner by 1/conducting a mini background check (ask common contacts to share feedback) and 2/work with them in discrete phases that start out small so you can test the waters. Successful long-term partnerships are hard to get right so go in with your eyes open!

I think a key thing to keep in mind is that getting funding for your startup is essentially a full time job and to do it right you need to be prepared to dedicate all your time to this. Most successful startups will send out hundreds of pitch emails, take at least 100 meetings or calls and then maybe close 3-5 of those. As for going the way of grants, that's another time-sucking activity. Grant applications take a long time and often there's a bit of an art to them so it's worth seeing if anyone in your network has experience applying to them. With VCs, be aggressive!I remember years ago at a mini conference, one ambitious founder printed out copies of his deck and handed them out to everyone he spoke to. It worked and he raised fast!