Meet Hester
Hester knows like no other what it takes to re-invent yourself, pivot from a corporate career to entrepreneurship, and balance entrepreneurship with family. In 2019, she took the leap of faith and gave up her 15+ international corporate career with PwC and Deutsche Bank to pursue a projects with purposes that drive her deeply. She revolutionised Germany's education landscape with the coding school '42'. In support of this venture, she raised double-digit millions from the country’s largest company and foundation, hired teams and found the route to market. In spring 2021, two campuses successfully launched.
Now based in Singapore, she co-founded and leads Epic Angels, Asia's largest all-female angel investor collective. The community of over 550 female investors she built from the ground up.
As an entrepreneur and investor in female-led startups, she knows what it takes to build and scale a company. Hester sees dozens of founders every month, has invested in over 30 startups herself, and is regularly judging on pitch competitions for renowned accelerators and programmes. She even wrote a book about it - in 'Thinking Big and Small: a guide to activating your entrepreneurial mindset', she lays out the essential attributes of successful entrepreneurship.
With lived-life experience and a great passion for breakthrough ideas, efficiency and equality, Hester loves to create paths of access for women to become change-makers through allocating time and capital.
On why she started Ladies who Launch she says: 'The freedom and fulfilment that I experienced when I made the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship I wish for anyone, and by leveraging my experience, expertise and global networks, I can help others get there too. I understand women between 35-55 years old who are looking to create something for themselves - after all, I am one myself! - and that is why I like working with this group.'
On the importance of developing the entrepreneurial mindset, besides learning the technical aspects of building a venture, she says: 'As an investor, I seek out the founders with the right mindset before making an investment. This mindset blends a grand vision with the tenacity to execute, the ability to learn, and the resilience to overcome valid excuses to quit. It's a key predictor of success—far more important than academic excellence or polished business plans—and it can be learned by anyone.'
Hester knows how to inspire people and is easy to relate to thanks to her international and cross-industry experience working with both corporate leaders and entrepreneurs.
Listen to Hester here:
- Watch TEDx talk The Trust Paradox in Investing ("If we change who invests, we change what gets invented")
- Watch TEDx talk The Power of Perspectives in Transitions (link coming soon)