What Happens When Your Startup Fails - And Your Name Is on the Door | Cecily Motley

In this episode, I sit down with Cecily Motley — founder of Harriet and previously the CEO of Motley, a direct-to-consumer jewellery brand that raised millions before collapsing in the wake of Apple’s privacy update.We talk about the emotional toll of shutting down a business with your name on the door, the lessons she brought into building a venture-scale B2B company, and how she's leading a startup while raising two young children.This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, and what happens after your startup fails.⏱️ CHAPTERS:00:00 - Intro: Cecily’s story in 20 seconds01:15 - Why her first startup, Motley, shut down04:33 - The hidden costs of DTC and the iOS14 death blow08:10 - The emotional experience of failure as a founder12:00 - Starting Harriet: a complete pivot to B2B HR tech15:45 - What Harriet does and why it matters18:20 - Lessons from DTC applied to B2B SaaS21:30 - Fundraising post-failure: the mindset shift25:00 - What makes a defensible company in 202528:00 - Building while parenting: realities vs LinkedIn myths32:40 - Maternity & paternity leave: how founders should lead36:15 - Advice for founders dealing with failure39:00 - The importance of self-identity beyond the startup42:00 - Final reflections and Cecily’s founder advice#Startups #Founders #B2B #DTC #Harriet #Leadership #TheEverydayFounder #Entrepreneurship Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.