<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[The Runway]]></title><description><![CDATA[Guiding Ventures to Successful Takeoff]]></description><link>https://www.belindashaw.co.za/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:37:03 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.belindashaw.co.za/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[REAL WORLD FOUNDER LESSON #2:]]></title><description><![CDATA[Meeting overload is not productivity. At one stage as a founder, my diary had become ridiculous.  Meeting after long meeting. And so many people.  Everyone who might conceivably need to know what was happening had been invited.  For my own sanity, I started questioning it. How much were all these meetings actually costing us - time is money right?.  And what were we getting back?   Try this calculation yourself.  It will shock you:  Meetings per week × duration × people attending × average...]]></description><link>https://www.belindashaw.co.za/post/real-world-founder-lesson-2</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9fe1804fe15f8db1587618</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 11:54:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/79f932_53557e71d31f461da8324fbae815df5f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Belinda Shaw</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[REAL WORLD FOUNDER LESSON #1. ]]></title><description><![CDATA[1. Never let funding pressure you into scaling ahead of commercial reality. 2. Do not confuse access to capital with evidence of a market. 3. Never let the size of a future funding opportunity hide today’s downside risk. In 2018, we launched our company with seven employees, backed by grant funding and matching investment capital. Then COVID-19 arrived. We quickly developed a plant-expressed SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein for potential use in diagnostic test kits. Through introductions and new...]]></description><link>https://www.belindashaw.co.za/post/real-world-founder-lesson-1</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a9ebb1186dc91efcefe44bb</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:18:55 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/79f932_8b47c87422454ffc91466a46b7a262e8~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_821,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Belinda Shaw</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>