Interview with Connie Moser

How do you motivate a team who are making the shift from a university spin-out to something that’s much more commercial?

There’s a lot of teaching, and it also requires patience which sometimes I don't have – but over time, you’ve got to figure out how to empower them to embrace it and to evolve. If they come to me with a problem, I ask, “What would you do about it?” They may say, “I don't know, I'm coming to you with the problem.” But if I answer the question, I’m going to be wrong 50% of the time. They’re in the position and therefore closer to the answer, but I will help them debate and work through it.

Once they realise the value of that, then you become more of a team. They also realise their value and I get so much more out of it. In a company, you need to figure out the right chemistry, with the right people in the right positions, and you move them around a little bit to get that interaction going. I also had to get them to believe and trust in collaboration across departments. It's amazing how even in a small company, you get siloed. Now they cross lines. They trust each other which is critical for scale and for quality, frankly.

Navenio has recently raised some funding. The last time you raised was in 2021 when cash was king - how did you approach this differently in 2023?

Being focused on what you are going to do with the money is critical. For us it's scale, it's sales, it's marketing, it's UK, it's US, it's looking at other potential geographies - but proof of concept in them.

How, if at all, has your ambition for Navenio changed since you joined as CEO early last year?

I believe this absolutely could be a $100 million company in a few years. What we need to do to get there is scale. We are ready commercially – now we’re focused on marketing and sales. This is such transformative technology that when it catches, it will skyrocket. Nobody else does indoor mapping with just their phone. If they do, they only do it with an Apple phone. We use Apple and Android.

When I came in, the company was still in that research phase, trying to figure out how to get to the commercial phase. Practical realism is where I'm at right now for the next three years until we get more of a bite of the market, and we’ve got some really good direct sales guys and channel partners to help us do that. There are two roads: there’s direct to healthcare and there's channel partner to healthcare. We're using both, and that's why I believe in the growth that we can get to.

What’s been the most surprising aspect of this role?

Everyone's been really welcoming. That's wonderful because as a female, that’s not always the case – especially when you're coming in from the outside. I was also coming from the US into a UK company, so I was prepared for a little bit of resistance. I didn't get any of that.

We have a very diverse organisation, which I love.

Diversity of background, experience, and thought is what makes a company grow. Pulling diversity of thought out of each individual is hard work, but it's rewarding when people can feel safe enough to give their opinion in a constructive way.

What advice would you share for future CEOs of high growth companies?

Women in leadership positions have natural soft skill sets. Use them, and don’t be afraid of them. It's almost like writing and speaking. You're working on it every single day – some days you are really good at it and some days you just aren't. You need to allow yourself that grace and say, “You know what? I interacted with that person absolutely in the wrong way,” and go back at it the next day. The secret ingredients are the chemistry of the team and the empowerment of the team.