Female Founders: Marcela Sapone of Alfred On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
I believe that we are all capable of becoming a founder, and would encourage anyone who has a big idea or a dream to pursue that. However, the road to success is not always easy. From my experience, to become a successful founder and entrepreneur, you need three things: courage, integrity, and true grit.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marcela Sapone.
Marcela Sapone is the CEO and Co-Founder of Alfred. Sapone launched Alfred with a mission to make help a universal utility in every home. Since 2014, under Sapone’s leadership, Alfred has expanded to serve more than 130,000 residents in 44 cities across the United States and Canada, and has been named as Fast Company’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Sapone’s experiences living abroad and studying Urban Development in Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Beijing, and Bangalore as a young adult greatly influence her work. Over this past year, Alfred has expanded to include three properties in Norwalk, offering a unique residential experience for those who want to escape the city without giving up “city life.”
In Summer of 2021, Sapone was accepted into the Norwalk Zoning Commission, where she supports initiatives and creates opportunities for urban development and growth, while also providing Alfred residents with deeper connections to local businesses and organizations throughout their neighborhood.
As one of the first leaders in the sharing economy to advocate for fair compensation of service workers, Sapone adopted the company-wide policy of hiring all Alfred staff as W-2 employees. Sapone has worked with the U.S. Department of Labor and the White House under the administration of President Barack Obama, as well as The Brookings Institute and The Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities and Financial Security Program, to advance these efforts of economic security for the future of employment.
Along with Alfred’s Co-Founder, Jess Beck, Sapone supports founders who want to live more consciously through WHITESPACE Ventures, a seed investment firm focused on design-led tech for better business.
Named one of Goldman Sachs’s “most intriguing entrepreneurs,” Sapone writes and speaks frequently on principled leadership, human-centered technology, and her commitment to being a steward of good jobs and meaningful change. Her writing has appeared in Forbes, Quartz, and Recode, among other highly reputable publications. She has been included in Fast Company’s Most Creative People list and featured as the face of Consumer Tech in Forbes 30 Under 30. Sapone earned her BA from Boston University and holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I have always found myself extremely passionate about finding balance, and being the best in the world at the things you love — play and personal life. At the time, I was working 90 hours a week in finance, and before that consulting. I really began to self-evaluate and found that I wasn’t taking good care of myself, and I really had no personal life. It wasn’t a sustainable lifestyle, or even one I could enjoy. My friend, Jessica Beck, who I met at Harvard Business School, and I built the company for those like us, who question how it’s going to be possible to be a successful entrepreneur, partner, parent, and friend. We reached out to a lot of different people we knew in VC, accounting, finance, and marketing, and asked them: “How did you stay in the workforce and still maintain a personal life?” They said, “help.” So, it was simple. We instantly knew that the answer was to make help accessible for everyone, and now, it’s possible to live life with a sidekick, with Alfred.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Early on in my career, I went to the White House and got to join a roundtable with the Secretary of Labor and dozens of people who are running large fortune 500 companies, like Walmart, airlines, and those who were inspired by the way that we were thinking about stewardship of good jobs. Having a voice at the table so early on in my career made me realize how much impact you can have if you can stick to your values and keep going.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When Jess and I first started out, we wore many different hats as businesswomen, because we weren’t quite sure what we were looking for in our initial hiring days. Essentially, we were the first Alfred Home Managers, and took on those responsibilities. One time, I will never forget, a resident had selected our dry cleaning & laundry service. Since Jess and I wore that hat back in the day, we had forgotten to actually pick up the laundry to take back to the resident. It was not our finest moment, and we learned early on that developing a talent scorecard is essential in creating a strong, united team. Now, Alfred has 156 employees over 44 markets.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I was reading a case study on how the CEO of Cloudflare and an HBS alumni, Matthew Prince, was scaling and conquering the challenges of starting a company. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the case, so I decided to tweet him and let him know how the piece affected me. He ended up responding and said he was in Boston, so we met up and got to chatting. We continued to build a relationship, and he ended up being the reason that Jess (Co-Founder of Alfred), and I applied to TechCrunch Disrupt. He was the best sponsor to have in our corner and was there with us at the conference, behind the stage, telling us how we were going to win. We ended up winning, and it just goes to show how important it is to have a sponsor in your professional career. Without someone believing in you, especially someone who has gone through similar experiences in their company, it’s nearly impossible. Success comes through making connections and developing these relationships along the way.
Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
Women face a completely different psychic tension than men. According to the work/family narrative and broader cultural notions, “their commitment to family is primary by nature, so their commitment to work has to be secondary,” which has innately pushed women to embrace this intensive family-first stance from society. This has proven to take a significant toll on their careers and personal endeavours. The problem lies in the fact that there’s still a strong majority of society that expects “traditional” partnerships, in which the partner’s career takes precedence. Women’s careers, work-family conflict, and the gender gap in leadership are all still prevalent and one of the main reasons for founding Alfred. We’re paving the way for women to experience life that isn’t consumed by second-shift duties, and instead creating a life that’s grounded in support right from your home.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
Speaking generally, women tend to gain confidence when their ideas are backed by evidence, whereas men are less likely to need evidence to feel confident. In creating Alfred, we soaked up as much information as possible on the industry: we asked questions, read studies, and talked to knowledgeable people. We continue to follow what most successful entrepreneurs have done in the past: know your audience and tailor your message. Women entrepreneurs must maintain a mentality of success and to not think of their gender as a hindrance. Instead, use it as an advantage. We all have hidden superpowers, we just have to find the confidence to use them.
I remember when Jess and I attended TechCrunch Disrupt in 2015, we had actually adjusted our presentation so it landed better with the male-dominated audience by designing our presentation around a fictional Alfred customer named Dan to capture our audience’s attention. So, we detailed how Dan, who lived in Silicon Valley, could use Alfred to make his life easier.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
It’s inspiring to women as a whole, when we see female entrepreneurs, or women in high power positions, because that has not always been the case in our society. When more women are becoming high level executives, founders, and voices for other women, it encourages us to strive for those power positions. It becomes a ripple effect, which is why it’s crucial for women to continue to hold these positions.
I’m extremely blessed to be able to share my founding title with Alfred’s co-founder, Jessica Beck. It’s powerful when you share a passion and mission with someone — it creates an unstoppable force. It’s that same force that happens when women are courageous enough to make their idea into a reality.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
MYTH: Being a founder means you’re only accountable to yourself.
When you are a founder, you are responsible and accountable for your entire team and company. Every move, every communication, is a direct reflection of yourself and what you’ve built. You have to make sure that these reflections are in direct alignment with your original dream and goal.
MYTH: Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
As a founder, it’s important to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and individuals who are prominent in your shared industry. By doing this, you are able to take advice, and say “no” to opportunities, or ideas, that may not always be the best. Sometimes, it is okay to say no, if it’s ultimately for the good of yourself, and your company.
MYTH: It’s all about making money.
If you truly believe in what you are doing, the money shouldn’t matter.
MYTH: You work for yourself. You’re your own boss.
This is not entirely true. There are so many important individuals that make up a successful company, and you are not the only one. It’s important to encourage an environment where employees are able to speak up, share ideas, and “check you” if needed.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
I believe that we are all capable of becoming a founder, and would encourage anyone who has a big idea or a dream to pursue that. However, the road to success is not always easy. From my experience, to become a successful founder and entrepreneur, you need three things: courage, integrity, and true grit.
Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Sequencing: Through experimentation, I learned that you don’t need to do things that are at odds with each other and that take away resources. Rather, I learned to focus on one thing at a time and carefully sequence my next moves.
Scaling: Don’t focus on the fires. Learning how to delegate and coach our team to handle what was previously my responsibility, so that Alfred could begin to scale and grow.
Spending: It’s important to focus on your spending. I learned to be careful where we allocated funds, to support as many opportunities and outcomes as possible. Fundraising can also be very distracting, so it’s important to plan how you’re going to put your money to use.
Speed: These questions were helpful for me to consider: How quickly do you need to get your next market? How quickly do you need to hit your goals? How are you meeting your competition demands? How are you creating barriers to entry?
Talent: Talent is the most important component of a company. Take time to evaluate your employee roadmap and strategize how you want your team to grow.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Alfred is all about making residents and buildings lives easier, and altering the future of real estate. We’ve seen from experience how real estate plays a key and crucial role in driving world-positive outcomes. And we are proud to play a hand in that.
I am excited for some big reveals in the coming year as we reintroduce ourselves as an all encompassing resident company. Consistent with our reputation for bold stances, we have been piloting a net zero building project that’s had amazing reception. I’m excited for us to lead change on ESG and sustainability issues in the same way we’ve set precedent and tried to inspire a higher standard for service workers when we first launched as one of the first W-2 platforms in the sharing economy.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Making help a universal utility for everyone.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would love to have breakfast with Lauren Powell. Lauren uses her wealth to make people’s lives better by educating people about the opportunities for art and technology. She’s also been an advocate for changing our lifestyle and what we eat including plant-based diets, something I’m extremely passionate about and would love to collaborate with her on.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Founders: Marcela Sapone of Alfred On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.