CAROLYN: The process getting into MCIL is incredibly thorough. Some might say intense. I found out about the program from other founder friends who had already participated and across the board they each cited MCIL as that one program that really elevated their game and really helped their businesses to scale and grow very quickly.
TIFFANIE: It's a fun and scary type of application process: A lot of questions, a lot of different interviews. We saw the application years ago...OK, we're not ready. We can't answer half of these questions. And I knew in 2021 we were ready.
SINDHU: For us, it was the right timing. We had a couple of category-leading customers in our portfolio that would really help us grow efficiently and Morgan Stanley was at the right time and the right place to help us accelerate that growth.
CAROLYN: What surprised me about being a part of MCIL is how much it really is like a family. From day one, they put us at ease and helped us to know that yes, while we are investing in you as a company and as a founder, we consider ourselves to be silent co-founders.
TIFFANIE: So the main activities included weekly meetings with your team, that really help you tackle a lot of different things that you're focused on throughout the five months. So it can be fundraising, it could be hiring, it can be thinking about your go to market strategy.
DANNY: You actually meet with your team, which includes some Morgan Stanley internal people actually talking to you practically about your business needs and what you want to work on on a weekly basis.
TIFFANIE: I really love my mentor. She's been amazing, and she has so much expertise on purchasing and procurement and buyer and vendor relationship. She selected me: 'I want to work with Tiffanie'.
DANNY: One of my mentors, an entrepreneur in residence, who is a founder of an Ed Tech startup and an angel investor himself, and that was super helpful from someone that had scaled a company up themselves.
CAROLYN: Being a part of MCIL in the middle of our fundraising process has also been incredibly helpful. We're raising our seed round and being able to pressure test and talk with my individual team about our raise, about investors that we are considering.
TIFFANIE: Just having that name of Morgan Stanley behind you as a small startup growing is so important because it showcases a lot, not only to your customers but other investors that, 'Hey, if they are supporting you, then it's good to support us as well'.
SINDHU: I think this is one firm that any founder would like to have on their side, especially as we are growing into raising series B and maybe one day going public.
DANNY: One of the main things me and Playlister Club learned through the lab is that storytelling is super important at all stages of the company. You have to be ready to tell a compelling story about your business, whether you're grabbing a coffee or in a boardroom.
CAROLYN: Innovation contributes to bringing more equity to our world. For me, as a founder, this five month period of time has been really unique. More goodness to come.
