'I want people to be braver' - Entrepreneur Roberta Lucca on taking risks and creating new opportunities

CRN Women in Tech Festival speaker tells CRN what she wants viewers to take away from her keynote

Computer scientist and tech entrepreneur Roberta Lucca has said that taking risks and failing has been key to her success in founding a multi-million pound business.

Speaking at day two of the Women in Technology Festival, Lucca will tell viewers how influential that approach has been in giving her the impetus to keep being creative in the industry.

"When people hear me speak, I want them to know that I want people to be braver, to experiment with more new things in technology," she said.

The British-Brazilian entrepreneur is now the co-founder and marketer-in-chief of game developer Bossa Studios. The company has won a BAFTA and raised $11.4m in 2017.

However, that's a world away from where she started as a computer scientist in Brazil.

"It was a big leap to move, and maybe the bravest thing I've done to leave behind all that I knew and a good job I enjoyed. But I was curious.

"It was a real struggle because I couldn't see myself in the world. I've always been a very creative person. But at the same time, I was very good at maths when I was growing up. So I had these two sides of me and not many women role models that I could see.

"I couldn't seem to grasp at anything.

"The moment I moved to the UK was a crucial moment because it was almost like the moment I decided to do something just for me and take that risk, and start a business."

She added that it was about creating a new opportunity for herself in a corporate environment where she didn't feel she neatly fit into.

"It's almost as if by taking that first big step or risk, we give ourselves permission to be more confident and do the next small action, and the next one after that."

She concedes that the approach is easier said than done in a world that often seem like it focuses on the negatives.

However, she stresses that overcoming this is essential. As is understanding that success is improbable without several failures along the way.

"No great creative or great scientist was ever successful without lots of failures, right.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Don't overthink if you can and just understand that we all can fail."

Lucca hopes that the Women in Tech Festival and events like it will give more "reference points" for women in business.

He view is that by hearing a wide-range of women who have risen to the top of their respective fields be candid about mistakes and self-doubt, girls and graduates at the start of their careers will be less self-critical themselves.

And be braver.

"That's key for me. Try to stop listening to all the noisy voices of the world who are telling them ‘This is how it should be.'

"We pay too much attention to the negatives, and seeing what's never been done before as a bad thing.

"I say go for it. Make your own adventure. Because more often than not, you will not regret having tried something.

"You may regret having not."

You can watch Lucca's full speech and all the headline keynotes and interactive panels at the virtual Women in Tech Festival.