Until imbedded – https://youtu.be/R3BKxRcqHOk

The Incusive Leadership Journey of a Gen Z CEO & Founder

In this episode of the Inclusive Exec Series, Inta Busa, the ambitious founder of Dealita, shares her journey from a junior marketing position to CEO. She discusses her drive, the importance of working smart, and the need for transparency and inclusivity in the investment world.

Key takeaways

• • Accelerated Path to Leadership: Inta’s determination and willingness to work hard propelled her career forward.
  • Building a Strong Team and Culture: Inta emphasizes the importance of working smart in addition to working hard.
  • Transparency and inclusivity: Inta advocates for a more transparent inclusive investment environment.
  • Navigating the Investment Landscape: Bringing fintech to all audiences

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Diversity

Inta discusses her drive and rise in the business field. 

The Dealita Journey

Inta explains how she founded Dealita to address the time-consuming task of validating potential business deals. She discusses the need for data-driven decision-making in investments and the importance of focusing on the deal itself rather than subjective biases.

The Importance of Inclusion in the Workplace

Inta shares her efforts to promote inclusion in the workplace, including working with different generations and fostering open communication. She also discusses the challenges of working with diverse teams and the need for understanding and respect.

Looking Ahead

Inta is optimistic about the future of Dealita and the investment industry as a whole. She believes that by focusing on transparency, inclusivity, and data-driven decision-making, the industry can become more equitable and accessible to all.

Connect with Inta

• LinkedIn Inta Busa 
• Instagram Startup Diaries 
• Email: inta@dealita.ai 

 

Download the Inclusive Leadership Playbook

 

—

 

Often I receive the question “What are the challenges you overcome as a woman founder?” And this sometimes irritates me because I have the same challenges as men founders.

 

Welcome to the inclusive exec series where Inclusive Matters connects your D&I ambitions to measurable business results. Join us as we spotlight inclusive leaders around the world who are driving commercial success with effective DEI strategies.

 From marketing maverick to AI innovator, meet Inta Bhusha. She’s a former CEO of a top Baltic marketing agency. The team of 30 crafted campaigns for the likes of Coca Cola, Lego, Samsung, and Panasonic. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Inta’s entrepreneurial spirit took flight with Dialita, an AI powered due diligence platform, revolutionizing how investors make decisions.

Inta is also a lecturer at Riga Stratens University, shaping the next generation of business minds.

 

Welcome, Inta.

Hi, it’s super nice to be here.

 

The Meteoric Rise to CEO

 

Why don’t we just jump right in? How did you get to where you are now, career-wise?

 

I’ve always been very ambitious, so from a very early age, I’ve always seen that I can do something bigger, larger, the next big thing. I had only one option where I wanted to study. It was political science studies in Riga. So I graduated as a political scientist. And somewhere in the middle, I was looking for new business opportunities or somewhere I can also spend my free time.

And that’s how I started from a very junior position and got to the CEO position in a company called BSMS where we did a lot of marketing strategies for very large international well-known companies. So that’s been my journey to the CEO position. But I want to build something of my own. And that’s why I founded Dealita the previous year.

It sounds so easy. You came in while you were studying into a junior position and then before you know it, you have a CEO title. What happened there?

 

So I worked as a junior project manager for one year and I was very ambitious, but also I think at that time was just curious. And I was thinking, okay, I see, as a marketing agency, we are doing this, but trends and the market are growing in some different direction. I was thinking, okay, I see market potential. We need to do a lot of different things. We need to rebrand the whole company. And I had a list of things I wanted to do.

I went to the CEO of the time, and he’s also a board member. And I presented my ideas, which were also based on data and my “lack” of experience, I would say at that time.

Okay.

And he was like, okay, sounds about right, I agree with you, so let’s start step by step. And then I was, for one year, I was a project manager. I wanted to bit more understand the landscape we were in. So I worked there and that gave me a lot of knowledge, how actually market works.

Then after one year I was promoted to business development manager and that’s how I actually started to implement my ideas. It started, I would say, step by step and the CEO position was just the next step and very logical continuance to my career actually grew at that time.

 

 

I would like to dig in a little bit more to that because the natural next step for many in their careers, we will go through these iterations. First, you’re in a junior role, you move into more beginning management roles and you move forward. Oftentimes those are two to three-year stints. And at the same time, you’re doing a little bit of stakeholder management. You have to make sure those who were endorsing you help you along. Here, it just sounded like it was a very short process.

It was.

How did that happen?

 

I think it’s wrong to follow some kind of, this is how everyone is doing. You need to work at least two or three years in a specific profession, and then you’re going to be like good enough for the next step in your career. I just wanted to grow as fast as possible. And that’s why after one year I felt like, okay, I know it all. Of course, I didn’t, I had this idea that I figured out how things work. So what’s next? And then I just moved in this way.

So for me, it was, I wanted to grow very fast. I was very ambitious. I didn’t ask too many questions to myself or start to doubt myself. Am I good enough? Have I been working long enough in this specific profession? I was just, okay, let’s jump in, I think I figured it out. Let’s move forward and learn as I go.

Tell me about your ambition. There are a lot of people out there who have been on that train. What differentiates you from other ambitious people who are thinking the same thoughts and want the same opportunities to happen at this kind of speed?

 

Yeah, I think it’s important that you have some vision in the future where you want to be. For me, I was also, and I still am, very willing to work hard. I was a second-year bachelor student, I worked full time on this new job I didn’t know much about at that time, and it means also that I worked on weekends and late nights and so on, so I put a lot of my hours there, I learned a lot. In political science, we were actually learning more about how to communicate, how to analyze data and things like that. Not so much about marketing and how marketing works. So regarding that world, I needed to learn it just by practicing and I put a lot of my time there and still do. It’s good that people are ambitious, but that means that you also need to reach that vision, where you want to be, and therefore you need to put hours there, effort.

I also feel that it’s important not necessarily work hard, but work smart. This is a very important aspect in order to be successful. I still think that sometimes I just work hard because I feel like, oh, this tangible result, I can feel that I’m putting a lot of effort there, but not necessarily it’s giving impact on the result where I want to be. So therefore I need to be smart. How to really address the problems or tasks I’m working on, therefore I can be there as soon and as in the most effective way possible. It’s very important not only to work hard, but be also efficient and smart how you do that.

With the CEO, when you came with your ideas, can you tell us a little bit about that time?

 

I was just like this newbie in the industry. 

I didn’t have a lot of experience, but I had huge goals. I was a bit nervous, but I was very determined to get my message out there.

And I’m grateful to him as a CEO and board member that he listened to me as a newbie and respected that and took into consideration all my ideas and things I wanted to put on the table and said yes to me. Actually, two years later, I asked him why did he say yes to the craziness of mine. And he was like, you were so determined, you didn’t doubt yourself, so I also started to believe in you.

For CEOs and for senior leaders, they want people to come not with the problem, but with a solution.

 

Exactly, and as a CEO, that was also my approach how to manage people. So whenever there were some problems in the company or something we needed to solve, I always expected that employees came to me, not only with the problem, but already some solutions in their minds. So that’s how we approach. And I feel that gives responsibility for everyone, that we are part of a team and they’re not the CEO at the top of the mountain, who’s going to solve everything for you. We are a team, we are working on this together, let’s do this together as well.

 

Bias in the Investment World

What aspects of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion around your world in this time?

 

In my industry and in my experience, I didn’t think about this a lot. So I was just focusing on career and business goals and so on. And just later on, I started to pay attention to aspects like, okay, this business, big business table, business meeting, most of them are men. We are only two women at a table there. Most of the decision-makers are men. When I need to pitch my campaigns or my ideas, I need to talk with men. So things like that. Later on, now I’m also working for Investor Club, which is investment media in Latvia. And we see huge gaps between how men and women invest. And it’s not because of financial opportunities or financial aspects.

It’s more about mindset. I feel that men often take risks and just go for it. And we as women often just start doubting ourselves. Oh, am I good enough? Do I have good experience enough? And so on. And I feel that’s maybe why I’m standing out because I just go for it. If I see opportunity, I just go for it. And I take those risks.

Let’s talk about Dealita. You said you wanted to create something of your own. How did you end up being into this investment phase?

 

Yeah, so when I was a CEO, the company’s board asked me to validate potential business deals for them. And at that point, I found out how time-consuming the task really was. It was such a big pain for me and I was thinking, okay, if I don’t want to do that, maybe there’s somebody else who also doesn’t want to do that and wants to just automate the whole process.

Is it a particular market that you’re working in? Is it a particular industry for investments? Where’s your target?

 

We are focusing right now on the venture capital market and as well as angel investors. Those are our beachhead market. But later on, we also see huge potential in business consultation as this is a market intelligence, basically, tool and system. The market is very big and there are a lot of stakeholders included.

What have you done to bridge that opportunity for women that are typically trying to invest, how are you attracting them?

 

That’s the thing we actually, when I opened my Excel sheet with all the investors, I saw that from 100 investors, there were only like nine women investors. So the gap is huge in the investment market. And that’s what I’ve been seeing. The market is growing and that’s good news about it. I think it’s going to be like the next step in lots of women’s careers. So after they’ve been CEO, some board members, they are starting to invest and starting to look into this direction. So I feel like the trend is going to be positive and we will have more and more women investors.

Your CEO made an influential decision on your behalf to showcase you, to move you through the company. Where do you provide the Acts Of Inclusion? The small gestures that invite and welcome a person and their perspective into your environment?

 

Yeah, I feel like it’s very important to give back as well and to help new entrepreneurs. That’s actually why I joined Riga Stradins University, as a lecturer I just wanted to share my knowledge experience with younger people who are just starting their marketing careers.

As a CEO, as a manager and leader, I’ve been in lots of conferences, mentoring new entrepreneurs and professionals. I feel like it’s not only a one-way street. For me, it’s also an amazing opportunity. I can learn from those other people as well. They are sharing a lot of their struggles and the things they need to overcome. And I only can help them with some advice, but I feel like that’s how I can learn what’s happening with other people as well. And it’s very important to understand that.

 

 

Bridging the Generation Gap

Speaking of the younger generations, what’s your take on how well the generations are working together?

 

Oh, this is definitely a huge topic. There are a lot of struggles, especially older generations to work with Gen Zs. I consulted actually a lot of companies about this topic because it’s a bit of a pain for some companies as well to find the common ground working with Gen Zs.

What practical issues are at play when you say that?

 

I feel like one is just communication. The way we communicate is very different. So for older generations, for them, it’s important to just maybe set a meeting, call by phone, just asking those questions, but younger generations prefer chatting or chatting by photos

or by some other ways. And it’s important to understand that and to adapt to that. And also, I feel like for younger generations, it’s very important that they see the impact they are making. And that’s why it’s important to communicate with them. This is the goal we are working on. This is the impact you’re going to make. And that’s how they get motivated.

It’s interesting because I’ve also heard that for the younger generation, they don’t want to be micromanaged. They want to be given a task and then left alone and then come back and show the results.

 

Yeah, exactly. And I think that’s a good approach. So it’s important to give them the freedom to express themselves, to do the tasks in the way they prefer. And, of course, it’s important to have some guidelines, but I feel like it’s very important to give them the freedom to do that.

What do you think about the future of Dealita?

 

I’m very optimistic about the future of Dealita. I feel like we are solving a real problem in the investment industry. And I’m excited to see how we can help more and more investors make better decisions and also make the whole process more transparent and inclusive.

What is the goal for Dealita moving forward?

 

Right now, we are focusing on, first things first, we need to raise the pre-seed round and close that. But in general, what we are aiming for is that we are more transparent, that we are more inclusive, that we make data-driven decisions, not making those investment decisions based on your gut, which is very biased, very subjective. So we want to have a more objective, streamlined way of how we are making investment decisions as well as more transparent.

How can we learn more about you, Inta?

 

You can follow me on LinkedIn and also Startup Diaries on Instagram.

Perfect. Inta, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

 

Important Links:

• LinkedIn Inta Busa 
• Instagram Startup Diaries 
• Email: inta@dealita.ai 

 

Like what you heard? Try more Inclusive Executive Series

[Button link=”https://incmat.com” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Visit Inclusive Matters[/button]