263: Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone: Emily Dinu on Mindset, Grit, and Preparing for Venture Funding

Leading Women in Tech Podcast

Ready to raise venture funding—but wondering if you’re actually ready to lead at that level?

In this inspiring and honest conversation, I sit down with Emily Dinu, founder and CEO of Numinous Capital, to explore what VCs really look for—and what kind of leadership mindset shifts are essential to succeed as a founder in today’s market.

We go deep on the emotional and strategic prep work that’s required to lead through uncertainty, communicate vision clearly, and move forward with grit and clarity—even when you feel uncomfortable or underqualified.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How to build executive mindset tools to lead with confidence in ambiguity
• Why clarity often beats charisma in VC pitches
• The truth about confidence vs. clarity in leadership
• How to reverse engineer a successful exit
• What it looks like to lead with values while raising capital
• The role of decision-making clarity and thought reframing when the pressure’s on

💬 What’s the bold move you’ve been avoiding?

👇 Drop a comment and share: What’s one thing you’re ready to do—even if it scares you?

✨ And if you want support building your founder mindset, strategy, or leadership presence, let’s talk: 📞 Book your free strategy session: https://www.tonicollis.com/lets-chat

You don’t have to do this alone. 🚀

**Useful links**

• Connect with today’s guest and sponsor, Emily Dinu:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilydinu/
  • www.numinouscap.com
• Emily’s current read: Trauma and the Unbound Body: The Healing Power of Fundamental Consciousness by Judith Blackstone
• Join the Leading Women in Tech community in Slack where we discuss all-the-things for women’s tech leadership, covering everything from early-career leadership to C-level executives.

This episode was sponsored by our Gld PR. Thank you GldPR for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community!