For Michelle Skodowski, launching a startup fresh out of business school wasn’t a gamble—it was a calculated leap into a world full of possibilities. As the co-founder and COO of BOTfriends, Michelle found that starting without the weight of heavy personal commitments actually became her greatest asset. With no mortgage, no family obligations, and a minimalist lifestyle honed during her student days, she was free to take risks and embrace challenges that seasoned founders might shy away from.

From Business School to Startup Success

The seeds for BOTfriends were sown in the classrooms and corridors of her business school, where Michelle and her future co-founders first connected. Bonded by shared internships and an unyielding curiosity about emerging technologies, the team discovered chatbots—a nascent technology that promised to revolutionize customer engagement.

Their early experiments even caught the eye of Porsche, which became their first customer after the founders developed a chatbot prototype during an internship. This seamless transition from student life to entrepreneurship gave them a strong foundation without the financial and professional risks that more experienced founders often face.

Learning Leadership on the Fly

Yet, the journey wasn’t without its growing pains. With no prior corporate experience to lean on, Michelle and her team had to learn leadership and management on the fly. The initial relaxed atmosphere of a small startup soon gave way to the need for robust processes and agile methods.

“None of us had worked for several years in a corporate environment before starting BOTfriends,” Michelle recalls. But this lack of traditional experience also allowed her to approach challenges with fresh eyes, designing organizational structures that were tailored to their unique company culture rather than copying established methods.

The Unexpected Advantages of Being a Woman Founder

Being a woman founder opened unexpected doors as well. Invitations to speak at conferences and deliver keynotes not only elevated her visibility but also brought valuable recognition to BOTfriends. Although this extra attention wasn’t on her agenda, it became a powerful platform for sharing experiences and strategies with other women entrepreneurs—a community where every struggle and success was a shared opportunity for growth.

The Power of Mentorship and Shared Learning

Mentorship played a pivotal role in Michelle’s journey. Driven by the belief that “you can never learn enough,” she joined the Google for Startups Immersion: Women Founders program in 2019. Already part of the Google for Startups Cloud Program, BOTfriends used tools like Dialogflow to build their chatbots, and the Immersion program became a catalyst for rapid skill development.

Workshops on OKRs, go-to-market strategies, and marketing not only sharpened her leadership skills but also connected her with a network of like-minded founders.

“Sitting with other women founders, sharing our daily challenges and victories, made me realize that I wasn’t alone in this journey,” Michelle reflects. This shared sense of community reinforced her trust in her own process and provided the resilience needed to navigate inevitable startup hurdles.

The Biggest Lesson: Hiring the Right People

When asked what advice she’d give to other founders, Michelle emphasizes the critical importance of hiring the right people.

“Hiring the second best can create a domino effect—each subsequent hire could be less effective,” she explains. For her, assembling a top-tier team from the start isn’t just a business strategy; it’s a foundational element of sustainable success.

Redefining Success as a First-Time Founder

BOTfriends’ story is a vivid example of how starting from scratch, without pre-existing burdens, can open up space for innovative thinking and adaptive leadership. Michelle Skodowski’s journey shows that sometimes, being a first-time founder can be the perfect starting point to learn, grow, and ultimately, redefine what it means to succeed in the startup world.