Jessica Mendoza, Founder and CEO of Monadd, is no stranger to change.
The idea for her company, a service that helps people manage accounts and addresses through relocations and other life adjustments, was formed by her own experiences moving internationally as a child and living across four different countries and many cities as an adult. She knows firsthand how difficult it can be to acclimate to a new place, and she wanted to build a solution to one of moving’s most notorious headaches: updating personal information across the dozens of utilities, banking, and other accounts that power our lives.
We asked Jessica about her journey founding and leading the London-based company: both the lessons that she’s learned along the way and the advice she has for others building game-changing technology.
Q: Tell us the story behind your company’s founding: What led you to start this business?
A: Ever since I was a kid I’ve been moving. At age nine I moved to Scotland from Venezuela — the culture, the weather, the houses, everything was different. Since then, I have moved across four countries and many cities and each experience is eye-opening and enriching. I aim to take the hassle out of moving admin with my business, Monadd.
Q: In what ways do you think differently about your industry than others do? In what ways are you disrupting your industry?
A: We are laying out an ethical and strong foundation that combines multiple sectors into one solution. This is done with the purpose of allowing the user to be fully responsible for their address admin and manage it with ease.
Q: What’s one thing you wish you had known before starting your company?
A: It takes twice as long as you think it will to be able to get a product to market. All your projections and money asks are worth rechecking, setting realistic expectations, and exploring different scenarios.
Q: What’s been the #1 lesson you’ve learned about hiring since you started your company?
A: Hire slow, choose wisely and allow room for growth. Slow hiring is perhaps one of the most difficult things for any entrepreneur to do, because often we want to hire fast. Yet, hiring too fast may satisfy a short-term need but may not help build the long-term vision. Allowing room for growth will pay off in the long run. Do not give in too much, too quickly.
Q: What do you find most challenging about hiring?
A: Maintaining the awareness that referred candidates must go through the same process as any other competent candidate. One must understand that hiring from one’s network already comes with established biases.
Q: Which books, podcasts, educational programs, or other resources have been most helpful to you since starting your company?
A: The Headspace meditation app. Meditation helps me to have more focus and clearer thinking when making difficult decisions. Aside from that, listening to the Masters of Scale podcast is like attending a masterclass from the best leaders in the tech world. I definitely recommend it.
Q: If you could start all over again, would you do anything different about how you fundraised?
A: I would start with friends and family, and angels. I started going after VCs first because I had more connections in VC. It was putting the cart before the horse.
Q: What advice would you give someone starting out on the journey you’re on?
A: Build, gain traction and then keep going. Money and support will come if you have a product or service that gains attention on its own.
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You can find more stories from incredible female leaders in the Crunchbase “Female Founder Series,” a series of stories, Q&As, and thought-leadership pieces from female founders who overcame the odds, raised funding, and are now leading successful companies.
