744: How to Raise Your First Million and Build Your Cru with Cru Founder Tiffany Dufu

Support is Sexy

In this episode of Support is Sexy, Tiffany Dufu gives incredible advice from her experience in starting and building her company, The Cru. Tiffany, an inspiration for any woman looking to make a difference in the world, discusses aspects of her business from inception to present, the importance of intentionality, accountability, and commitment, and what prompted her to raise a million dollars for The Cru. Tune in for real advice on raising capital from someone who’s been there in this episode of Support is Sexy.

Elayne Fluker

Elayne Fluker is author of the new book, “Get Over ‘I Got It’: How to Stop Playing Superwoman, Get Support and Remember that Having It All Doesn’t Mean Doing It All Alone.” As host of the SUPPORT IS SEXY podcast, she interviews more than 500 successful women entrepreneurs around the world, who share inspiring, true stories of the ups and the downs of their entrepreneurial journeys. Elayne is also founder of SiS.Academy, an online learning platform for women entrepreneurs. For more information about Elayne Fluker, please visit elaynefluker.com. Thank you for listening!

About our Guest:

Tiffany Dufu is founder and CEO of The Cru, a peer coaching platform for women looking to accelerate their professional and personal growth. Author of Drop the Ball, a memoir and manifesto that shows women how to cultivate the skill of letting go, Tiffany serves on the board of Girls Who Code and Simmons College and has been featured in The New York Times, ESSENCE, O, The Oprah Magazine, and on NPR. Tiffany’s life work is advancing women and girls.

Insight from this episode:

• Strategies on leveraging technology to connect in new ways and increase productivity during COVID pandemic.
• Behind-the-scene details on how The Cru works and what it took to get it off the ground.
• Strategies on testing your entrepreneurial “hypotheses” and root those ideas in your customers’ pain points.
• Insights into Tiffany’s decision to raise venture capital and strategies on how to be successful in that process

Quotes from the show:

• “I’ve been very much catapulted by a group of women that I call my Cru, who I can share my ambitions with, who help me create a plan, who hold me accountable to that plan-- sometimes in ways that I donʻt like because they really hold my feet to the fire. And I feel like every woman needs a Cru.” –Tiffany Dufu Support is Sexy Ep. #744
• “If we have a problem, the first question we’re likely to ask ourselves is “How am I going to solve this problem?” When the more important question to be asking yourself is “Who’s going to help me solve this problem?” –Tiffany Dufu Support is Sexy Ep. #744
• “I had no business plan. I just needed to know, can I put someone out in the world that consumers will respond to? I’m not going to spend time on a business plan unless I have some semblance that people want this first.” –Tiffany Dufu Support is Sexy Ep. #744
• “People will say “yes.” 98% of it is not that people don’t want to support us, or we don’t have the bandwidth, help, or resources that we need-- we haven’t asked.” –Tiffany Dufu Support is Sexy Ep. #744
• "Sometimes when you don’t know what you’re up against, it’s probably better.” –Tiffany Dufu Support is Sexy Ep. #744
• “When you have someone who is ushering you through the process, you can save a lot of time.” –Tiffany Dufu Support is Sexy Ep. #744

Stay Connected:

Elayne Fluker

Website: elaynefluker.com

Twitter: @elaynefluker

Facebook: Elayne Fluker

Instagram: @elaynefluker

LinkedIn: Elayne Fluker

Youtube: Elayne Fluker

Tiffany Dufu

Website: TiffanyDufu.com

Twitter: @tdufu

Facebook: @TiffanyDufu

Instagram: @tdufu

LinkedIn: Tiffany Dufu

Youtube: Tiffany Dufu

Support is Sexy

Website: Support is Sexy Podcast

Facebook: Support is Sexy

Instagram: @supportissexy

Youtube: Support is Sexy Podcast Playlist

Post-production for this episode was provided by Podcast Laundry.

[Music: “Stomp and Clap” by Scott Holmes from Free Music Archive]

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