International Women's Month: What Bootstrapping as a Student Founder Actually Looks Like with Julia Vidal
What does it actually take to build a startup from scratch, no funding, no team, just a Google Map and a lot of rejection?
In this Deal Girls Spotlight, we sit down with Julia Vidal, founder of Badge, for an unfiltered conversation about what early-stage building really looks like. Julia started Badge while living across Amsterdam, Vienna, Lisbon, Singapore, and São Paulo, noticing the same problem everywhere: remote workers with nowhere good to work. So she built the solution herself, one café pitch at a time.
We'll get into the real stuff; the scrappy beginnings, the 50 pitches that mostly said no, and what it actually feels like to build in a space that wasn't designed for you.
What we'll talk about:
The moment Julia knew Badge needed to exist
What bootstrapping as a student founder actually looks like
How she kept going through rejection
The hardest parts of founding that nobody talks about
Building as a woman in the startup world
Who should join: Student founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anyone who's ever had an idea and didn't know where to start. If you're building something from nothing, this one's for you.
About Julia: Julia Vidal is the founder of Badge, a platform connecting remote workers with laptop-friendly cafés. Curious about how work, cities, and everyday spaces shape the way we live, she's spent time across Amsterdam, Vienna, Lisbon, Singapore, and São Paulo — and turned that curiosity into a company. She's currently based in Milan, finishing her Master's in Marketing Management at Bocconi University, while building Badge from the ground up.