Why Your Story Is Your Strategy: Brand, Storytelling & the Art of Scaling from Zero

Sheelpa Patel. CEO & Founder Mavens & Mavericks

https://www.mavensmavericks.com/

About SheelpaSheelpa Patel is the founder and CEO of Mavens & Mavericks, a marketing and scaling advisory working at the intersection of technology, education, and commercial reality. After 20+ years in global brand, marketing, and business transformation roles including pioneering one of the world's first corporate startup accelerators at Nissan across Southeast Asia and North America.

She left the corporate world to help entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. She is also a Senior Advisory Board Member at the King's Entrepreneurship Lab, University of Cambridge, where she spearheaded Spark, the first professionally-led incubator at King's College helping PhDs turn their ideas into investable pitches.

What We CoveredThe origin of Mavens & Mavericks — how running Infinity Lab at Nissan, working with 100+ entrepreneurs, lit a fire that led Sheelpa to leave the corporate world entirely.

The Spark Incubator — a four-week, professionally-led residential programme for PhDs and postgrads, combining fundraising, business model, brand, legal and storytelling — culminating in an Investor Demo Day at King's College.

The biggest blind spots for PhD founders — focus above everything else, and the challenge of translating brilliant science into commercial language.

Building a company narrative — why the baseline story must stay consistent across every channel and audience, and how it anchors everything from hiring to investor pitches.

Storytelling for different platforms — always start with the audience and the desired outcome, then let that drive your content strategy and channel mix.

The power of partnerships — especially for early stage founders, partnerships are about borrowing trust and reaching new audiences. Everyone has something to bring to the table.

Customer traction over technology — the tech is a given; what investors want to see is proof you've been out talking to real customers.

Maintaining story alignment as you grow — why the mission stays consistent even as the narrative evolves, and the importance of building the right team around you at the right stage.