Name: Catherine Nisson
Position: Co-Founder
Company: Renude
Industry: Heath/Fem Tech
How did you get into the tech industry?
I studied Physics during my undergrad and had a few courses that required coding, mostly mathematical languages (e.g. MATLAB, R). After university I found a startup looking for someone with knowledge of MATLAB to run experiments. They were doing something interesting in the space of applied neuroscience so I joined!
What is it about tech that you love?
The power it gives you to innovate! If you see a problem in society, there is almost always some way tech can help.
What’s been your career highlight so far?
Pitching the concept for Renude to the Chief Digital Officer of L’Oreal (Lubomira Rochet) and her immediately loving it.
What challenges have you faced as a Female Founder?
When you’re getting started it can be difficult to get people to take you seriously. There will always be people that doubt whether you will be a successful Founder or whether your idea is any good. Whenever I encountered this it just made me that much more determined to prove them wrong.
What tangible advice/guidance would you give to aspiring female founders?
Ignore the naysayers! Do what you’re passionate about with conviction in yourself.
What does career success look like to you?
Making a measurable positive impact on society.
Who else in in tech should our readers be following?
Laura Douglas, Founder & Director of Product at MyLevels
Leighton Turner, Founder & CTO at Juno Bio … and a great ally and mentor to women in tech.
Any tools, resources, organisations that are useful and helpful?
codeacademy for getting started with new languages and kaggle for getting into Data Science
Do you find that non-technical skills are ever helpful in your role? If so, how?
All the time! As a Co-Founder, I’m learning new skills and applying skills I picked up along the way on a daily basis. On Monday I’m a designer, Tuesday a copy-writer, Wednesday a product manager, etc.
What would you tell your younger, more junior self – with hindsight?
Don’t be intimidated by big institutional names. I was too scared of getting rejected and never put myself out there. The unfortunate truth is that reputable institutions carry a lot of weight on a CV and can help you get what you want.
