Thoroughly Modern Mogul: Ieva Balciute

Running a company is one of the hardest things a person can do. Unless, that is, you run three. In this week’s Speaking of Startups episode, meet serial entrepreneur Ieva Balciute. 

Creator of the sustainable fashion brand Alfa Vega – which has just in the past week been acquired by Finnish Sustainability Leader IVALO.COM – plus Senior Vice President at TV production company West One International, and founder of AI company, 93 inc, Balciute’s CV could clothe a village. Not that she’s noticed. “It’s fairly easy to manage”, she tells us.

As you’d expect, Balciute has more than a few tips for time management. While most of us organise our year around the summer holidays, Balciute plans her 12 months around her sales cycles. She’s also an expert in the trendy area of passive income. 

“A lot of the things that we build, because I have experience in tech, are automated,” she tells us. “If I can’t spend as much time as possible on the business, it grows by itself”.

In this way, Balciute is part of the new generation of entrepreneurs borne from modern work trends. She doesn’t work 9 to 5, she says, but anytime she can. She sought meaningful work by founding three firms that connect with her values. And she views good work-life balance as a blend between professional and personal commitments, not the bar between them.

If I travel somewhere to see some friends, I usually will try to meet some clients in that area. And also a lot of my friends are industry friends. That's why I'm able to spend so much time working, because a lot of the time it doesn't really feel like work.

Another thoroughly modern move? Balciute’s founder journey began by bootstrapping, an increasingly common route into business for those who don’t have a secret horde of cash to get started (“four months of savings, in London, goes very, very fast”, she winces).

That’s one area where, sadly, attitudes haven’t kept up with the new startup world. Balciute opens up to us about the female funding gap, and the challenges of raising money when just 2% of venture capital funding goes to women-owned enterprises.

Even better than fundraising, she advises, is to start a business while you’re still in your job. But if you don’t want to tell your boss that you’re taking the plunge then, also in the episode, Balciute dives into the secret steps founders can take to get ahead now.

I put myself under an immense amount of pressure. If you have a job or a part-time job, you can do so much, start doing your research and your preparation, now. You can even start working on your website and client list, all while having income.

We hope you enjoy this episode of Speaking of Startups, and be sure to subscribe to ensure you always get the next available episode first.

This episode is hosted by Eloise Skinner, founder of two businesses herself, as well as a published author and contributor to multiple sites, including our own Startups.co.uk, as well as Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and Management Today. You can learn more about Eloise and her own journey at ⁠eloiseskinner.com.