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Pip Jamieson

Interview Phadria Prendergast

Founder and CEO of professional network for creatives The Dots Pip Jamieson, talks with WOTC about dyslexia, community and raising capital for your business. 

Phadria: Tell us about where it all started for you?

Pip: Well, Forbes called us ‘The next LinkedIn’ and the lovely team at Apple said The Dots is ‘networking for the modern world’ – but we’re probably best described as a professional network for people who don’t wear suits to work. 

The whole reason the platform came about is I was surrounded by people who were working in a very different way than the traditional ‘white-collar’ way. 

My friends and teammates had much more fluid careers; dancing between full time roles, freelancing, side hustles and remote gigs. Our careers were also less hierarchical and more collaborative – instead of becoming specialists, we were more ‘slashy’/‘t-shaped’ people whose skills were constantly evolving. While paycheck was important, so too was purpose and working in an inclusive environment where we learnt and felt valued. 

What I realised is there was no online professional networking home for me and my peers, so I’m that crazy female founder, who decided to go up against LinkedIn. The rest, as they say, is history!  

What we’ve created is a completely different professional solution that caters for the needs of this modern workforce. Instead of promoting themselves via a CV, our community post projects they’ve worked on and credit the full team that worked on that project. For example, a project can be an app (with the full team credited including product designers, developers, product managers etc.) or a magazine, with the full editorial and design team credited. It’s a recognition that creation is a team sport. 

“While paycheck was important, so too was purpose and working in an inclusive environment where we learnt and felt valued.”

Our community can then connect to like-minded people and thousands of freelance, remote and full-time roles, plus upskill at virtual learning events. They can also help make ideas happen via our Asks forum where the community can post collaborator call outs, find mentors and get advice. 

Phadria: How did you build such a strong community?

Pip: I guess it’s because both myself and my amazing team deeply care about the community we serve. We’re all very hands-on. I never wanted us to be this faceless tech brand that didn’t listen and empathise. I wanted people to know there are real people behind The Dots and we’re here to help. 

We do this in a number of ways. We hold focus groups and one-to-one interviews with our community to help us understand their hopes, fears and challenges and how we can best help. We have an amazing Beta Club who give us advice and feedback on early feature releases. Our customer service team is all in-house, so we keep our finger on the pulse of what is going right and wrong on the platform. The Dots’ Asks forum – where our community posts call outs for advice – is also an amazing place to get real-time insights into what's worrying our community. Personally, I’m very active on the forum, asking our lovely community for feedback on The Dots and helping give advice and answer questions where I can. 

In many ways, The Dots has been one big collaboration between us, our community and our partners – ensuring we build something that genuinely helps our members navigate the new world of work. 

The most important thing? We’ve focused on creating a positive, inclusive, diverse and values-driven alternative to existing social platforms – a place where everyone feels welcome. We have zero-tolerance for nasty and unkind people…. to be honest, I would have been the worst person to run Twitter, as I would have deleted Trump years ago! 

Phadria: What is the future of work and freelancers?

Pip: The Dots was built for the future of work, and that future arrived much quicker than even I expected! Remote working is here to stay. Flexible teams and work are dominating. Professional networking has moved virtually. This has translated to The Dots’ growth accelerating in a post-COVID world. 

In the short term, and while usually I’m an optimist, sadly I think the worst is yet to come. There will definitely be lots of companies that have teams on furlough who will struggle to bring them back on again, which is heart-breaking. In the short-term, it will also be a tough time for freelancers and juniors, as companies desperately try to keep their existing staff and not onboard new people. 

However, there are definitely opportunities too! Thank goodness. The tech industry is thriving, so while we’ve seen an overall stagnation of freelance and full-time roles being posted on The Dots – tech roles, and non-tech roles in the technology sector continue to boom. My advice? If you’re in a position to upskill, now is a wonderful time to learn digital skills. Shameless plug, but there is a heap of upskilling opportunities on The Dots via our Events hub!

We’ve also seen a sharp rise in remote roles being posted on The Dots, which is super exciting for the future of work and freelancing more broadly. Lots of companies are now moving to ‘remote-first’, Twitter is a great example. The wonderful thing about this is that you no longer have to live in London to get a great gig – you can work for a company anywhere in the world. Which means, in the long run, there will be a much wider pool of opportunities. This does of course mean there will be more international competition for roles, but on a whole, the growth in opportunities will be positive – particularly for parents and people who crave a more flexible way of work.  

I also see a more fluid future where you can embrace a freelance/multi-hyphen/slash/squiggly approach to your career, instead of a traditional hierarchical career path. This is a massive trend we’re seeing on The Dots already, with lots of our community using the platform to start businesses, launch side hustles, build collectives, find collaborators and evolve their skills. 

Most importantly, I see a future where careers are more socially/purpose-driven, inclusive, diverse and fun. I told you I was an optimist!

Most importantly, I see a future where careers are more socially/purpose-driven, inclusive, diverse and fun. I told you I was an optimist!

Phadria: I am sure you are a major inspiration to many who have dyslexia. What advice would you give them on how you were able to overcome something that is usually viewed as a barrier? 

Pip: Until very recently, many sperm banks rejected donors that had dyslexia – it was perceived to be a disability. However, with 35% of entrepreneurs being dyslexic and 40% of self-made millionaires (including Richard Branson, Anita Roddick, Steve Jobs, Jo Malone, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, Walt Disney, Holly Tucker, Albert Einstein and countless more!) this has made me reflect on my own dyslexia. I’ve found that the skills that dyslexia amplify are, in-fact, superpowers. Everyone with dyslexia is slightly different. However, on average we’re more creative, intuitive, resilient, curious and empathetic – which is why we tend to make great leaders and entrepreneurs.

Don’t get me wrong, there are of course challenges, and to be honest, I don’t think we ever completely overcome them. Our brains are just wired differently. For example, we tend to see and hear differently, which translates into reading and writing challenges. But the key to succeeding as a dyslexic is to focus on your strengths, develop coping methods and surround yourself with people that support your weaknesses. My husband and my team proofread all my important comms, and I listened to books instead of reading them. Most importantly, I’m upfront with people I work with about my day-to-day challenges, so they can get the most out of me. For example, my team knows not to send me long emails, they just take too long for me to read. A short paragraph or a quick chat is a much more effective use of my time.  

Phadria: What advice would you give on raising capital?

Pip: Raising investment is a gruelling process for any founder, but it can be particularly tough for women. The stats speak for themselves. Here in the UK, only 9% of angel funding into UK start-ups goes to women-run businesses. While at my level only 2.2% of investment goes to female founders. If you look at investment into female Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) founders, the numbers are even scarier.  

In terms of advice, most importantly, don’t raise investment unless you have to, as raising investment is a bit like going into a marriage, without the benefit of make-up sex. If you do need investment – which most tech companies do – then choose your investors wisely. A sophisticated investor will be there when you need them and not when you don’t. Never let them interfere operationally – you know your business best. 

Things are even more challenging at the moment, as many investors are spending a lot of time supporting their existing portfolio due to COVID than necessarily looking for new deal flow. With this in mind, my next tip is to look into alternative funding vehicles that women can capitalise on, such as crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and crowd investment platforms like Seeders and Crowdcube. There are also amazing organisations like Angel Academe, an angel network that only invests in businesses founded or co-founded by women! 

When you start pitching to investors, always get a few practice runs in before you meet the investors you really want! For example, when we raised our last £4M round, for the first few weeks I lined up meetings with VCs that I’d heard were tough (not so nice) that I wasn’t interested in working with. These investors gave me an absolute grilling and got me pitch ready. It was a gruelling process (and there were a couple of evenings when I got home and started crying on my husband's shoulder) but in hindsight, it was the best approach, as by the time we met people we really wanted onboard, I was ready to answer any question they threw at me.  

Finally, I think the reason I’ve managed to break the glass ceiling is because I’ve focused on building a world-class product and team. Once you have a thriving business gaining traction, you get a little hard to ignore!

Phadria: What is your leadership style?

Pip: I guess it’s part and parcel with my dyslexia, but my leadership style is pure empathy! I love my team – without them The Dots wouldn’t be possible. They make coming to work each day a pure joy. 

I think it’s ridiculous that many leaders still see their teams as simply resources, not people. I’ve found the best way to foster a happy and productive work environment is to create a space where everyone supports each other and feels they can bring their whole self to work. Part of this is about leading by example. I say sorry when I’m wrong. Try to always ask for feedback on my personal performance. Talk openly about my personal life. Check in as much as I can when I know a team member is having a tough time personally or professionally. And I’m also a big hugger –not the best skill in a post-COVID world I admit!

My key OKR (a bit like a KPI) as CEO is the happiness of my team, because happy teams really are productive teams. Putting employee happiness at the forefront means I focus on helping everyone not only reach their professional goals (pay, career progression etc.) but also their emotional goals such as finding purpose and meaning at work, being flexible to family commitments, minimising politics, and making our workforce fully inclusive for diverse talent. 

Phadria:Who advises or mentors you? 

Pip: I’ve found monthly coffees with a ‘mentor’ is not an effective use of time. So instead, I have a portfolio of mentors who are experts on different topics like raising capital, growth, leadership, product development, design etc. When I have a problem, I contact one of these mentors; we might speak multiple times that week – then I leave them in peace, often not bothering them again for months (or even years) until I have another problem.

When I first started, I had my heart set on being mentored by leading women in tech like Sherry Coutu and Martha Lane Fox. However, I came to realise there just aren’t enough senior women at the top to help the wave of women coming through. For example, I personally get over 60 emails a week from female founders asking for advice – I can only imagine the volume women like Sherry and Martha get. It’s physically not possible to have coffees with everyone. However, there are an army of amazing men (particularly the ones with daughters) who want to see women rise the ranks. So I’ve managed to punch way above my weight and secure an army of male CEOs, VCs, ECDs etc – something that would be harder for my male counterparts to do!

“There is a fine line between coaches and mentors, but where I see the distinction is that coaches don’t tend to give you advice like mentors do.”

I also have an amazing coach, who I catch up with every month or so. There is a fine line between coaches and mentors, but where I see the distinction is that coaches don’t tend to give you advice like mentors do. Instead, they help you unlock what you already know subconsciously –I guess it’s a bit like founders’ therapy.

Phadria: Are you a thinker or a doer?

Pip: A bit of both to be honest! Maybe I’m best described as a starter! My brain runs a million miles per hour, so I’m very good with coming up with ideas, starting projects and kicking off partnerships. To make this effective, I’ve surrounded myself with an incredibly diverse team that thinks differently to me and challenges me (in a positive way) so we don’t start too many projects. They are also excellent executors, making sure we nail anything we collectively agree to start. 

Phadria: What’s 3 of the most valuable things you have learnt about acquiring clients?

Pip: Firstly, we never refer to clients as clients, but as partners! It’s a small distinction, but a really important one. 

Secondly, having a network is everything. The success of The Dots is in part due to the network I’ve cultivated over 20 years. Big partnerships take time and trust, especially when you're starting up. For example, when I first started The Dots, I had to convince amazing companies like Google, Burberry, Conde Nast, TATE and Warner Music to use the platform, before we had a sizable community to hire from. Those early partners were all thanks to intros from people I’d built relationships with over the years. 

Thirdly and most importantly, never underestimate being a nice person when it comes to sales. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done a favour for someone, given them advice, introduced them to someone, or just helped them when they’d lost work or fallen on hard times – with absolutely no agenda or ask in return, only for that person to pop up years later in an amazing role, at a huge company, and sign them up as a partner.